Terrifying Tuesday: The Horror Top 10 Since 1990 (or You Got Your Comedy in My Horror)

Hey everyone and welcome to another Terrifying Tuesday. I've had modern horror on my mind a bit lately. You remember back a couple of weeks ago I told you about the Horror Top 50 list I was involved in, well, B-Sol from Vault of Horror is back at it again. This time it's the best horror flicks for the last 18 years. I struggled a bit with what to put on the list, and I wanted to take a moment here in lieu of your regularly scheduled review to talk a bit about my choices: 

1. The Decent(2005) This is a flick I really had low expectations going into. However the film conveyed such a believable degree of horror and claustrophobia that I caught me right up in its storytelling. It's a film I've watched numerous times and it's yet to lose it's impact on me. 

2. House of 1000 Corpses (2003) Who would have thought that Rob Zombie would have been a good film maker? Sure I went in on the name recognition on it's own and was greeted to such a wild, weird, and ultimately horrific world. Sure he did more with Captain Spalding and crew in The Devil's Rejects, but that film feels more like a road trip to hell. House instead had that insular and frightening feel that puts it up there with the classic unholy family slashers. 

3. Thirteen Ghosts (2001) Remakes seldom do anything for me, but this retelling of the William Castle classic does the job nicely. With Tony Shaloub anchoring the cast and excellent performances by Matthew Lillard and Rah Digga, the acting alone in this film makes it stand out. Add in the visions of some truly nightmarish ghosts and one of the best bisecting of a human ever, and you've got a film that for me has endless rewatchability. 

4. Cabin Fever (2002) There are many reasons I'm glad that I'll never have to shave my legs. This film is paramount among them. Sure Eli Roth has gone on to make two more very disappointing films, but his first is a revelation. It brought the creepy cabin in the woods into a new era and stood convention on its ear. This film embodies the potential that Roth has if only he would apply himself to worthwhile material.

5. Shawn of the Dead (2004) The first horror comedy in years to strike just the perfect balance. A film that demands multiple viewings just to take it all in, and it's coupled with a script that makes those repeat watches a joy each time.

6. Brain Dead a.k.a Dead Alive (1992) Just like Peter Jackson's other horror film, Bad Taste, this film is chock full of totally original ideas. Sure it barely hinted at the type of director Jackson would become, but it proved that right from the start that this was a man with big ideas.

7. Army of Darkness (1992) I've professed my love for this film back over the Halloween holiday so there's no reason to go back into it now. This is one of those crossover films that can delight even the non horror fan, so how could it not deserve a spot. 

8. From Dusk Til Dawn (1996) Sure it didn't turn into a horror film until over halfway through, but then again Quentin Tarantino's portrayal of Richard Gecko is pretty scary. When the film finally takes it's horror turn, it becomes a very interesting vampire tale. I really like the whole nest idea and the battles against the swarming bloodsuckers. Plus it's got Tom Savini as Sex Machine. 

9. Jeepers Creepers (2001) The first in this series is a pretty chilling supernatural slasher. It's the kind of film that improves as you watch it and the film builds layers on layers. Sure it spawned a crappy sequel, but the ending to the first film almost made it deserve a higher spot all on it's own. 

10, Candyman (1992) Well I love Clive, Tony Todd has never been more menacing, and this was the right way to do an urban legend movie. By taking the film to the projects, it gives it something extra that your typical old house or haunted woods film will never have. The film reeks of the desperation all around it, and the dilapidated nature of the surroundings made the supernatural elements seem firmly grounded in real life.  

These are just a few that caught my mind that day.

There are quite a number since I've kicked myself for leaving off (Cube) and a few that I wish I had seen to include them (Let the Right One In). Soon as the lists were starting to come in debate struck. Did movies like Army of Darkness or Shawn of the Dead qualify as horror movies or where they comedies with horror themes. There was quite a bit of e-mailing back and forth, and eventually they were let in on the basis that horror is defined on a personal level.

Having put my two cents in there I wanted to take a quick moment before I got into tonight's film to get me opinion out there. Well, obviously from my inclusion on my list, I feel they both qualify as horror flicks in their own way. Both involve themes of the supernatural, both include moments of death, and both are funny as hell. I'm not sure how the two are meant to be mutually exclusive. 

This past year saw the release of Otis which did arguably the best job of anything I've seen of skewering the torture porn gristmill that horror has devolved into and Fido which looked at zombies in a whole new light. Both of these films almost made the cut to get on my list, and both had enough horror overtones for me to consider them in the genre. There are of course some movies that wouldn't make the cut. The Scary Movie franchise comes instantly to mind as a good example of a comedy with horror themes. See nothing in Scary Movie  is ever played for anything but laughs, but I defy anyone to tell me that when Shawn has to shoot his mom in Shawn of the Dead that is looking into one man's very real dealings with horror.

Comedy has been used to varying degrees of success in film reaching as far back as the genre goes. Sure many of those attempts at light heartedness in old films such as the Universal Monsters series may seem wedged in and cliched, but these are the films that the genre built on. To me there are no films more deserving of the horror mantle, and those early films are surely not horrific to a modern audience.

I'm really interested in how this list comes out, and hopefully in a week or two, I'll have the final version up here to discuss. The thing I like about these lists, and with the horror community on-line is that there are no wrong answers. These kind of lists and sites that people are running are what makes genre films even more fascinating. The films get a second life in a community that revels in them, and from reading what people have to say about these flicks, you get to see different reflections of what they are to them. That enriches the experience for everyone. 

So what do you folks think of my list? What did I miss and where did it hit? Hit that little comment button down there and let me know what you folks think, and come on back here for a fresh review from the Ladies of the Lair when Ladies Night strikes again on Thursday. Then starting Friday with Christmas coming I've got a whole week of X-mas goods for all you Moonies out there.