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Nominate Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier (DS)

Snake5555555555 posted...

The next film up again has three top ten rankings - and one of those is a top 5er!

Damn, that's our first Top 5. Should be interesting.

Time to pull more odds out of my ass...

Vegas Odds on #22:

+200: Sinister (2012)
+400: You're Next (2011)
+400: Creep (2014)
+400: Us (2019)
+700: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
+700: The Conjuring (2013)
+700: Don't Breathe (2016)
+700: Happy Death Day (2017)
+700: Ready or Not (2019)
+2000: Any other movie

Leaderboard:

1. BetrayedTangy $300

Surprised to see I'm not the only one who didn't love the original Halloween. It's okay, but it never rattled me in the way that a watershed horror film should.

Also surprised that Halloween 2018 dropped out this early. At worst I thought this was a Top 15 movie, but you monsters proved me very wrong.

Snake5555555555 posted...

23. Halloween (289 points)
Suprak: 6
Plasmabeam: 9

@Suprak_the_Stud We're BFF's now!

Frogger
Castlevania

Around 8

I'm in bed by 11, asleep (hopefully) by 11:30, then I wake up around 7:45.

What kills me is I usually wake up somewhere between 4 and 7. Getting back to sleep is a bitch.

MarkS222222222222222 posted...

We still need metal hat

Definitely. It would be a crime to skip it

Snake5555555555 posted...

Oh, I should probably say the next film has THREE top ten rankings.

Damn. We've only had four total up till now.

Sinister might be next to go. That seems like a love/hate movie. Same with The VVitch and The Lighthouse, but I think those two will have more top ten votes.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Im going to say Happy Death Day, it feels like the right place for it to appear.

While that wouldn't shock me, I think HDD will hang around a little longer because of its relatively unique concept.

Suprak the Stud posted...

Plasma/Suprak friendship status: still friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDybg9CNXcM

FFDragon posted...

I am dead center of the outliers right now and I don't know how to feel about that

Yeah, on one hand it makes you sound like a conformist, but the same could be said for Tangy, who has the lowest score.

And then there's Tom Nook. I don't know whether to admire him or revile him for what he's done so far.

Vegas Odds on #23:

+150: Creep (2014)
+400: You're Next (2011)
+400: Sinister (2012)
+600: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
+600: Happy Death Day (2017)
+600: Ready or Not (2019)
+1000: Us (2019)
+2500: Any other movie

Since the last two drops were surprising, Fake Vegas is increasing its payouts.

Leaderboard:

1. BetrayedTangy $300

Though I loved the astral plane parts because of the Silent Hill vibes, Suprak and a couple others made great points about the astral plane not being setup properly. Though I wouldn't call it a deus ex machina, it does come out of nowhere, and the writers couldn't easily fixed this problem with an appropriate prologue that establishes the concept in some way.

I can't believe I ranked this one 18. That feels about two spots too high, especially considering that I enjoyed Chucky (#19) from start to finish, while Insidious didn't win me over till midway through.

Snake5555555555 posted...

I thought it would come out in the middle of the pack personally.

Nah, low 20s is what I expected for Insidious. I couldn't picture anyone sticking it in their Top 10 because there's no WOW-factor to the movie.

Johnbobb posted...

Those Vegas odds are bizarre

FFDragon posted...

I was just about to say, I have issues with these oddsmakers.

Hey, the house can't go broke.

Suprak the Stud posted...

Deal! Until you inevitably break my heart again.

Although...based on what I've read in your write-ups so far, I think one of the ones you think is great I just think is "pretty good". But then I'm not sure which of the other three I think is great though you wouldn't like. Hm.

I am going to guess we have an overlap of two for sure.

This will undoubtedly become one of this topic's most intriguing subplots. Stay tuned.

Suprak the Stud posted...

I also won't specify which ones, but half of those are indeed great but based on what I've seen so far they probably are the opposite four that plasma is talking about haha.

Suprak the Stud posted...

Actually, no, wait. Neither of us have V/H/S as great so we have at least ONE OVERLAP on greatness. Interesting.

Hahaha! We'll just put Terrifier and Girl behind us and be friends from here on.

Corrik7 posted...

Creep, terrifier, tucker, girl, Busan, next, VHS, green room

I won't specify which ones, but half of those are great.

Nominate Sonic Adventure 1

Leonhart4 posted...

Massive success

Only in a commercial sense.

Snake5555555555 posted...

So maybe a little hint - I find the next film dropping to be quite a surprise, at least in my eyes.

Vegas Odds on #24:

+200: The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
+200: Happy Death Day (2017)
+200: Us (2019)
+200: The Lighthouse (2019)
+300: Insidious (2010)
+300: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
+300: Sinister (2012)
+400: You're Next (2011)
+400: Creep (2014)
+400: Ready or Not (2019)
+2500: Any other movie

Nobody guessed Girl last time, so the house won (doesn't it always?)

Hey Snake... Minor clerical error on your part. For my rankings you listed both The Purge and Girl as #23. I actually had The Purge at #22 and Girl at #23.

That would make my outlier score 37 as of now.

Snake5555555555 posted...

BetrayedTangy - What I find really interesting about AGWHAaN is how the true horror doesnt come from the skateboarding vampire, but from the harsh reality of the world we all live in. Characters like Saeed and Hossein all actually exist and are horrors that tons of people have to deal with in their daily lives. Which brings us to The Girl (Sheila Vand does a wonderful job by the way), she is the one bringing these people to their end. Despite being justified in doing so, she still has to carry the weight of her actions and it makes for a really interesting character. I find it especially interesting how even Arash can understand this after finding out she killed his father. He knew it was necessary if they were ever going to be free. Id also be pretty remiss if I didnt mention the technical aspects. The decision to make the movie black and white is just perfect for setting the depressing atmosphere of Bad City and I cant get over how good it looks. Now as for the low ranking Is it wrong that I think it's boring? I like that Im getting to a point where I can start having more respect and appreciation of film as a whole, but I'd be lying if I said I found this movie entertaining. Im glad I got to see and experience it, but I doubt its something Ill ever watch again.

Absolutely not. I always roll my eyes when people criticize popcorn flicks for being "too dumb" but excuse artsy flicks for being slow-paced and self-indulgent. Ideally you want a movie to be entertaining, emotional, and insightful, but if one of those three is missing, I say it's fair to criticize the movie for what it lacks.

Inviso posted...

Thank God for that. I know several of my other bottom tier are gonna get high marks for boring reasons, but taking out a film like this one early is always a positive.

Same. While I loved some of the slower-paced movies on this list, the rest found their way into my 20-30 range. Especially my #30. I hope I managed to keep it out of the top 15 with my low ranking.

Day 10 and we still have 10 options

LeonhartFour posted...

I always liked Attack of the Clones better, mostly because of the Obi-Wan scenes investigating the Clone Army. Might be the most well done scenes in the prequels. Phantom Menace is just insufferably boring for 75% of its runtime, and Duel of the Fates can't save it, no matter how awesome it is.

Nailed it.

The Obi-Wan parts are excellent in AotC. They offset all the ghastly dialogue coming out of Anakin's mouth.

Vegas Odds on #25:

-110: Creep (2014)
+200: Ready or Not (2019)
+200: You're Next (2011)
+200: Sinister (2012)
+200: Insidious (2010)
+500: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
+500: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
+500: Happy Death Day (2017)
+2500: Any other movie

Get your wagers in, folks.

TomNook posted...

This is the best write-up. I enjoyed Suprak's novel about how much he hates Terrifier.

Even though I loved Terrifier, I totally enjoyed his analysis. Really appreaciate how much detail he puts into these write-ups.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Theoretically, horror SHOULD have an attempt to be scary.

I actually disagree with this. IMO "Horror" has more to do with atmosphere/tone/mood than scare-factor. One of my favorite horror novels is I Am Legend, which carries a strong sense of isolation and loneliness but no real scares. Same with the Zero Escape videogames. I consider them sci-fi/horror, and they do an amazing job at creating a sense of suffocating paranoia, but I don't know that I'd consider them scary (then again, like you said, sometimes a concept itself can be scary).

Now, on the other hand, my favorite horror movies (The Thing, Alien, The Wicker Man) all have the ability to scare me in broad daylight. So maybe different mediums have different expectations? Who knows.

The problem is, what scares people varies from individual to individual, as well different generations finding different things scary. Monsters like vampires and werewolves are so ubiquitous now I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone scared of them now, but the late 1800s-1940s would tell a different story. Horror continues to morph like that - you start to notice now a bigger shift towards the psychological and the aesthetics of horror being played around with. You can have colorful, disarming horror in a game like Doki Doki Literature Club. Horror can practically be found in all corners of media now - look at the biggest thing in culture right now, the MCU, exploring horror in its latest phase even if its films and TV shows aren't exactly The Exorcist. I think ultimately the way I see horror now is more a tool than a concrete genre and it's only just going to keep opening itself to more interesting ideas and concepts as the decade rolls on.

Good points here. Ultimately "scary" comes down to what people find repulsive, unsettling, anxiety-inducing, etc.

Still, I still wish we could agree on some kind of objective measuring stick for what horror is.

Can't stress how much I'm enjoying these write-ups. I majored in English Lit, and I miss the seminars when we would sit around and discuss things from all different angles.

Really wish I put more time into my own write-ups, but at least I can add bonus thoughts here.

Speaking of, it's interesting how the subject of genre keeps popping up. The questions of "What makes a Horror movie?" and "Does a Horror movie need to be scary?" are two things that keep creeping into the comments.

Yeah, I think 30 movies is the sweet spot (much as I wish Doctor Sleep and Upgrade were included in this one--both easily slide into my Top 10).

Rule of threes make sense here, especially when you have a Bottom 10, Middle 10, and Top 10.

Snake5555555555 posted...

I don't see the film as misogynistic myself, but I definitely understand the viewpoint here. I think a film can have sexually-charged murders without necessarily hating a specific gender. You know, to me it speaks more to Art's character - he very clearly has maternal issues and so he takes out his extreme violence moreso on females cause that's who he feels has wronged him in the past. It just gives the audience more of a reason to hate and fear Art and root for Tara to come out on top.

Agreed.

Inviso posted...

I will say that, in retrospect, the female characters seem to get more brutal deaths than the males. Sawed in half; left dying with a gunshot to the face, only to get gunshot overkilled; skinned alive (I think she was still breathing when the sister found her); face cannibalized alive; eyes gouged out. Compared to stabbed a bunch; decapitated; decapitated and displayed as a jack o'lantern; bludgeoned.

Totally agree the women suffer more brutality, but they're also in the ones in the movie's spotlight. The most impactful deaths are often reserved for major characters and those they care about.

Suprak the Stud posted...

I definitely got the same vibes Lightning did. It isn't so much that I'm accusing them of having weak female characters. I mean, I am, but the male characters here are also awful too. The female characters are weak not because of misogyny but because the person writing this might've been two eight year olds sitting on each others shoulders inside a trench coat.

But the violence is highly sexualized. The male body count might be higher but at no point does the clown cut off one's dick and walk around as a penis unicorn. You're free to have your own interpretations, of course, but like Lightning I'm glad I watched this one alone.

Fair enough. It's worth noting however that the first on-screen kill involves Vicky gouging out the eyes of a talk show host who insults Vicky's physical appearance. So while there may not be sexualized violence against men, the movie does punish a character who judges a woman based on her looks.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Im not going to bash anybodys opinions or interpretations because its all entirely subjective so I dont think anybodys bad for liking it or thinking that it isnt misogynistic, but just to clear some things up:

I dont think the film is promoting violence against women, I just think its asking the audience to luxuriate in it unironically, which is a contrast with American Psycho which is extremely self-critical.

Also I was going to mention the body count of men as a defence. The difference is the violence against them isnt gendered in the way it is against the female characters. If he were ripping their penises off Lily style that would be very different. Now, you obviously got more out of it than just liking the violence and saw it differently so I wont say youre wrong, that is the beauty of film. Im just explaining why I (and others going off of the writeups) saw it that way. What I will say however, is that there is another film on this list that does what you describe much better. We will get to that!

No worries, Lightning. When you said you couldn't understand why anyone would rank it highly, I felt that I had to defend it. Enjoyed the movie way too much not to.

And I think I know the movie you're referring to, but we'll keep things spoiler-free for now.

Corrik7 posted...

Shouldn't Mimic have been on here before Terrifier?

Snake5555555555 posted...

Like Guillermo del Toro Mimic or the South Korean Mimic?

Please let me know. I already added Laid to Rest to my list after reading through the Terrifier write-ups. Definitely interested in checking out similar movies.

Lightning Strikes posted...

This movie was absolutely dreadful and I cannot believe that anybody ranked it highly here. Film like all artistic mediums is subjective, but this I have to question the value anybody could find in it. Especially since theres a film on this list that does very similar things that is actually good. Also, even if you are able to look past the sheer misogyny and excessive violence for no reason, the acting, writing, and directing are mostly terrible so there isnt even that. I feel that the first act looked like it was veering into camp classic territory but then it just wound up as torture porn but what if it hated women and was boring after that. I was watching some of these with my partner and I am incredibly glad I decided to watch this one alone.

I never saw Terrifier as misogynistic. Depicting excessive violence against women in a movie =/= promoting hatred toward women. The movie clearly establishes Tara (and later Vicky) as the protagonist, and both prove resourceful enough while fighting Art. Sure, neither woman is Ellen Ripley, but they put up decent fight. Hell, Art even has to brandish a gun--in a slasher flick--to finish off Tara. As for Vicky, she herself commits murder in the prologue, and the ending suggests she'll be a force of evil in the sequel. So in other words, the movie ends by essentially saying, "Hey, guess what--women can be gorefest villains, too."

The overall theme of this movie seemed to be something like "evil either destroys its victims or lives on through them." Does Art the Clown do some horrible things to female characters? Absolutely. But true evil is twisted. And now that evil has seemingly spread to Vicky like a virus.

Also, how many men were killed in the movie? Five, I believe (two pizza shop guys, two exterminators, and the doctor performing the autopsy).

You're obviously entitled to your own interpretation, but when you brought up the word "misogynistic," I was reminded of the early reactions to American Psycho (the book). It was dropped by its initial publisher because of backlash that suggested the book was misogynistic due to its graphic depictions of violence against women. However, once people actually read the book, they saw that wasn't the case, and as we all know, the movie version was later directed by a feminist woman who loved the book.

FFDragon posted...

I get why people might not like this one. For me it's so bad it's great again. If it never turns that corner for you, you're going to hate it.

But man, what a ride. Glad it got out of the immediate basement at least.

What's impressive is that Terrifier received six 30's and two 29's, and it STILL outlasted three movies on the list.

Snake5555555555 posted...

me too, and I'm definitely glad I wasn't the only one who loved it either.

Check out a Richard Laymon novel sometime. He was big in the 80s and 90s and has a devout following to this day.

The Woods Are Dark and In the Dark are my favorites of his. The former is a slasher-type story about a family trying to escape a band of cannibals (the content so brutally over the top that it makes Jack Ketchum's Off-Season look tame); the latter is about a librarian who gets wrapped up in a series of twisted games--kinda like Squid Game, but with only one desperate participant.

Inviso posted...

One thing I thought I put in my write-up, but I guess I forgot to do it. I hated the setting of Terrifier. The geography of the warehouse made no sense, so there was never a point where I really understood why the characters were in danger. Sometimes they'd wind up outside, and I'd think "Why are you not just running down the street? Why are you breaking back into another enclosed building where this maniac could be?"

I just addressed this in my previous post, but I loved the low-budget setting for how desolate and illogical it is. It's like a nightmare where your legs stop working or doors don't open. You might also compare it to a videogame where there are potential places of safe haven (like the various houses in Silent Hill) that can't be accessed simply because the game won't let you.

*High fives Snake*

Kudos for putting Terrifier on the list. I never would've watched it otherwise.

One thing nobody mentioned was the movie's surreal feel. The barren settings, the bizarre homeless woman, the low-budget quality, and the broken story logic all contributed to this messy, dream-like atmosphere. It's like watching a nightmare where anything can happen at any time, and that clicked with me on a primal level. As I mentioned, the movie feels unsafe, and that's what I loved most about it.

Not impressed with any of those.

I have a cool one of Squall that I wear to writer conferences and other nerdy events. Here's a picture of it I found on Google:

<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51f-p55iDaL.jpg">

Crescent-Moon posted...

Yep, I get the same feeling from basketball. I kinda never feel like the game actually matters until the end, which takes forever with all the fouls and timeouts.

This perfectly sums up the problem with basketball.

Aliens Infestation (DS)

Short and sweet Metroidvania with a permadeath gimmick that makes you actually care about the dozen or so space marines you can play as.

Gameplay was great, story was solid, and there are plenty of great winks at the Alien franchise.

Only grip is the lack of collectibles and replay value. I 100%-ed the map with ease and there's virtually nothing to do once you beat the game (no Hard Mode, no Boss Rush, no secrets, etc.)

Pac
Metroid

Jakyl25 posted...

Knack! Hes back!

Here comes the muh-naaaaaaay!

Johnbobb posted...

Typically yeah, but Alien was already previously featured on the sci-fi ranking last year

I don't care what happened with previous lists--there's no way you can exclude Alien from a 70s Horror lineup.

Yeah, my 30th was the only movie I outright hated. Bird Box (my #29) was at least watchable at times and V/H/S (my #28) had one story that I enjoyed.

My Mid-20s were movies that underwhelmed me or didn't grab me. Low 20s through Mid-Teens were enjoyable but flawed in some way.

I want to say my Top 12 or so were all movies that I'd consider GREAT.

mnkboy907 posted...

I'll give Trace Memory a 6.5.

Damn, I didn't even realize we rated that one. I just snagged it on DS a couple weeks ago. Need to get around to it.

Obviously some people hated Curse of Chucky, but the overall vibe I got from the write-ups was that we had a lot of fun with it. Crazy seeing #28 being generally liked.

LinkMarioSamus posted...

Wouldn't a 70s horror ranking also include Alien?

Without question. Alien would be my #1.

Snake5555555555 posted...

BTW, as a little hint, this next film is the first film to have TWO top ten rankings!

Oh man, this sounds like the end of the line for Terrifier. Looks like I'm gonna be weeping blood this afternoon.

I hope I'm wrong and that somehow The Purge ended up with two Top 10s, but I can't picture anyone loving The Purge that much.

What other movies might be in striking distance... Creep? Ready or Not? Sinister? Girl Walks Home? Insidious?

thesmark posted...

Any more rankings dropping today?

Snake said one more. Which is great, because two a day gives us time to react and discuss.

Color Out of Space was awesome. Nick Cage fit that movie like a glove.

BetrayedTangy posted...

I think a big part of it was just sheer oversaturation and a vast majority of them were not good movies. I remember being especially angry that the Living Dead franchise started doing them too.

Anytime you have something that's cheap to make, you're bound to have oversaturation.

The only found footage film I loved was Cloverfield, probably because it's the only one I've watched that made me care about the characters.

Lightning Strikes posted...

I feel like at this point were just waiting to get out of the bottom five so we can get to the films that were pretty consensus well-received. I am curious what the fifth one is as four are pretty obvious. I guess its The Purge: Anarchy which I liked.

Bird Box and V/H/S were obvious. Terrifier and Chucky seem likely based on the vibes I've gotten from this topic and the previous one. Purge or Sinister for #26??

Lightning Strikes posted...

I cant believe Terrifier hasnt placed yet.

Blame me. I loved it.

And it's funny because I took one look at the movie poster and thought, "Yep, this is gonna suck." Then I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. Soon as I finished it, I ran to my phone and raved about it to all my horror buff friends (who were in agreement with me, so I guess not everyone thought it was awful).

My favorite takeaway from the V/H/S writeups is that the movie could've been stronger without the frame tale. Watching (unlikable) characters watch a haunted video tape only distances the audience from the terror IMO. I'm sure it could be done well, but here it failed mightily.

Snake5555555555 posted...

And finally, the base scores for all movies (any ties will be broken by removing the highest and lowest rankings):
100
130
140
142
153
161
167
181
186
191
191
200
202
206
208
221
225
254
254
256
266
274
289
301
304
339
348
355
364
367

I highlighted the gaps that are greater than 15 points. Impressive that the gap between #1 and #2 is 30, which is the 2nd-largest gap (#25 and #26 has a gap of 35).

Pretty clear that we're in agreement on the bottom five. Also, there is a strong gap between #17 and #18/19.

The Top 15 is generally tight, with only 55 points separating #5 from #15. That says a lot about the overall quality and variety of the list.

thesmark posted...

I think there's exactly one pretty good segment in V/H/S and all the others are bad

The Skype one, right? Tell me we're on the same page.