Board 8 > Snake Ranks Anything Horror Related VOL. 2 *THE RANKINGS*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Johnbobb posted...

BetrayedTangy posted...

Snake5555555555 posted...

I think Hot Fuzz is fantastic and I'm honestly not too big on The World's End.

---

23. Dolls (22.5 points)
Nominated by: Bane_of_Despair
https://imgur.com/gallery/P0zx9

Importance: 9
Fear: 7.5
Snake: 6

Dolls are capable of scoring easy scares with audiences. As with wax museums, they represent a sort of uncanny valley where we can't really identify too closely with them. Dolls put a childhood spin on this concept. As children, our imaginations run wild with the capacity to make our dolls, stuffed animals, toys, etc., feel as alive as possible. Horror media that deals with dolls takes this imagination and takes it a step-further into the realm of nightmares. This is exemplified best in Child's Play, when a child's simple birthday gift is actually possessed with a real human soul, and not just any soul, the soul of a murderer and criminal. Annabelle from the Conjuring franchise is a more classical doll who becomes a conduit for a dangerous and violent demon whilst it is believed to be the soul of a young girl. The animated puppets in the Puppet Master series are brought to life with an Egyptian spell and made to serve their masters. Basically all doll films by nature are supernatural and it can be easy for these films to turn too hard into camp without trying too hard. Still, there's a reason so many are made. It's easy for the fear of dolls to stem from childhood. Maybe grandma had a few too many dolls with cracked heads or missing eyes, or ones that felt like they were watching your every step. We don't really think of them as dangerous, just off-putting. Doll movies give dolls the power to contain that danger, however. Like the spells and rituals usually found in these films, dolls in horror take something seen as innocent and childlike and gives us pause the next time we see a similar doll that bring memories of films like Child's Play and Annabelle rushing back to us.
---

Raka_Putra posted...

I'm watching it right now. The build up was rather slow but now that things get dark, it gets pretty brutal...ugh.

I don't think I'll be up for acupuncture ever.
"Deeper, deeper..."

The buildup is brilliant. There was no way for me to suggest people watch it without letting them know it was a horror movie. If they didn't know, I bet that would bump the rank a bit higher.
---

fuck dolls in horror
---

I feel like Annabelle is the worst big horror icon.
---

Annabelle does kinda suck...she's kinda meaningless at the end of each movie, just a conduit for demons with vague powers. She could've been better if used better I feel like.

Simoun posted...

Raka_Putra posted...

I'm watching it right now. The build up was rather slow but now that things get dark, it gets pretty brutal...ugh.

I don't think I'll be up for acupuncture ever.
"Deeper, deeper..."

The buildup is brilliant. There was no way for me to suggest people watch it without letting them know it was a horror movie. If they didn't know, I bet that would bump the rank a bit higher.

Yeah, the pay off is amazing and worth every second. Very mind-bending as well.
---

ahhhh yeah i agree. can you imagine not knowing what to expect going into it, thinking it's like a romantic comedy, then suddenly you get that scene with the *thing* in the bag??? hahaha holy shit
---

I just read that it was actually real vomit. The actress volunteered
---

22. The Bong-Chon Dong Ghost (comic) (22.5 points)
Nominated by: Pirateking2000
http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31

Importance: 4.5
Fear: 9
Snake: 9

You should definitely read the comic before you read this! It doesn't take long, just do it!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Fuck this comic.
---

I dunno. Seemed kinda predictable; didn't really scare me.
---

Read that a few years ago

The story's not super original, but the fact that they managed to put jumpscares into a comic is impressive
---

yeah, the first time I read it it scared the shit out of me. these girls had me read it to get my live reaction. sneaky grills.
---

Hah
---

21. Scarecrow Nightmare sequence in Arkham Asylum (22.5 points)
Nominated by: Axl_rose_85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUcITeL5Xs

Importance: 5.5
Fear: 7
Snake: 10

Scarecrow has always been the villain in the Batman franchise capable of bringing the Caped Crusader down to his knees, preying on the hero's deepest fears, dragging him through painful psychological torture. Rocksteady managed to bring this concept to the gaming world, and it still remains to me as some of the most incredible sequences I've ever had the honor of playing through. Though Batman: Arkham Asylum juggles an ensemble cast of villains with aplomb, the Scarecrow sequences are the ones that stick out in most players' minds. The asylum location already invokes a survival horror feeling, with dead guards often littering cramped hallways, as a myriad of locked doors and tight vent travel creates a sense of claustrophobia. When Scarecrow makes his debut in the game, this feeling of fear is intensified. I absolutely love how the game subtly transfers control to the mad Dr. Crane. The first sequence leads you in by having Batman coughing coupled with taunts from the Joker, proceeding to show asylum guards going insane from the toxin, heightening the danger. The second sequence slowly transforms a familiar location into Crime Alley as Batman relives his childhood. By the third sequence, Rocksteady goes full Eternal Darkness on the player, glitching and restarting your game from the beginning (probably every player's worst nightmare), but there are always clues to help you work out what's really going on. It's yet another way Rocksteady immerses you into the role of Batman. The sequences are genuinely frightening and off-putting thanks to their ability to break the normally unflappable Batman, and are narratively strong as both you and Batman will your way through the nightmares. By the end of the third nightmare, you feel like you yourself have overcome your fears thanks to Rocksteady's strong direction and commitment to gameplay through story (i.e.: having Batman in the real world surrounded by real thugs who are represented by skeletons in Scarecrow's world). I really can't praise these sequences enough; they are the pinnacle of the Arkham series and an amazing example of Batman's mythos demonstrated outside of the comic medium.
---

Oh no you didn't you did not just put the bong chong dong ghost in this thread.

I'm noping out of this page
---

20. Spec Ops the Line -- White Phosphorus (23 points)
Nominated by: trdl23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7TaLjdXMc

Importance: 3.5
Fear: 9.5
Snake: 10

Spec Ops: The Line is a game of its time and one whose message is timeless. It tells a story that only works in the medium of gaming, and the White Phosphorous scene is where you feel this brutal magic working over the player the most. Here, war is laid out bear in brutal realism. It's twisted machinations make the player complicit in Martin Walker's actions, as we mindlessly complete our video game objectives without even batting an eyelid, conditioned by the shooters of the time to have it not even occur to us that what we are doing could be utterly and entirely wrong. Spec Ops: The Line itself presents this illusion through its first act before sweeping the rug out from under the player in a sickening sequence where the game shows us the dark consequences of doing whatever we're told. Walker's reflection in the mortar control screen is similar to our reflection in the television. It represents our safe distance from the action, a way to disconnect us from the harrowing carnage happening below. You may even feel a sense of satisfaction from the gameplay.

Ultimately, it comes down to choice. Walker and the player both know what white phosphorous can do. We've seen the effects first hand for ourselves not too long ago at this point in the game. When your squadmate Lugo says that there's always a choice, Walker responds with, "No, there's really not." That's his drilling as a soldier. As video game players, 99% of us would feel the same way. You COULD shut the game off here, and never come back to it. Yet that wouldn't occur to us, for a myriad of reasons. We could be enjoying the satisfying combat, the story, the setting, fulfilling our need to complete the experience presented to us. Quite simply, for us, there isn't a choice either. And when your're finished wreaking havoc on innocent civilians, there is no turning back either. You crossed the line, and you deal with whatever pain comes with it.
---

Wow. Didn't expect Aftermath to top WP!

That scene is one of the few times I've ever had my hands tremble uncontrollably. The voice acting really makes it. That guy screams for help because he can't feel his legs. That fire drowns out someone else's cries of anguish. Then the last soldier wheezes out, "We were helping." Leading to the shot with the mother and child... like a sick, inverted portrait of the Madonna, it's an image that will haunt me forever.

Lugo and Adams' fight in the background is incredible too -- two sides of Walker's psyche screaming for his attention, but like the sound editing shows, he's too numb to even acknowledge them. In the end, he never does, because doing so would open the floodgates.

Damn, Spec Ops was a masterpiece.
---

Spoilers for the future ranking, but Aftermath beats it in importance factor. CoD4 is actually pretty similar to Spec Ops in a few ways, it satirizes war in a way nearly every CoD after fails to do. I think Aftermath and the AC-130 sequence influenced the White Phosphorus scene in a big way.
---

Oh, absolutely. The WP delivery is a direct callback to the AC-130 scene in CoD4.

I miss CoD 4, man. It feels a lot like RE4 in that it was so good that it spoiled the series for a while afterward. But RE eventually found its way again...
---

That scarecrow sequence was very iconic. I wish for a moment that the game was a true horror game so it wouldn't end up heroic. I really loved that OHSHIT moment once u realize you've been gassed.
---

19. Outlook for humanity's future (23.5 points)
Nominated by: KokoroAkechi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_near_future

Importance: 10
Fear: 6
Snake: 7.5

The future is always uncertain. You may believe in the power of mystics or psychics to tell you yours, but ultimately, there's always going to be mist surrounding even minutes ahead of the current time. Reading Wikipedia articles on certain future possibilities may fill your mortal human heart with dread and a sense of feeling small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, especially as the sun dies out and proceeds to engulf the Earth in an instant like it was never there. Of course, no one truly has to worry about that, but it's still a scary thought. More pressing worries, like global warming, constant conflict, or overcrowding are definitely more scary and matter more to us. It can be easy to think humanity has no future to even speak of. For all the bad though, it's important to stay positive, because it's not all frightening. Advancements in technology have made colonization on Mars escape the realm of science fiction as early as 2024, for example. There will always be something beautiful to look forward to and something to be scared of. That's just how it works. All you have to do is keep in mind the fact you never know what may happen
---

bump
---

18. This scene from The Exorcist (23.5 points)
Nominated by: jcgamer107

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvPGkwmhIZ0

Importance: 7
Fear: 8.5
Snake: 8

An iconic moment in horror history, this scene still plays as shocking, horrific, and straight-up terrifying even today. The way the scene unfolds is masterful. When Regan's terrified mother runs upstairs, hearing her daughter's terrified pleas, and opens the door to her daughter's bedroom, we initially only see objects flying violently around the room with screaming in the background. That's a scary sight in itself, until it cuts to Regan stabbing herself in her privates with a crucifix, literally fucking Jesus, such a frightening, blasphemous action that I can see the initial reaction in the theater in my mind as clear as day. Chris proceeds to grapple with her possessed daughter, until Regan makes her own mother lick her before forcefully pushing her away. Ellen Burstyn's crying scream as she hits the wall behind her is legitimate by the way; she received a permanent spinal injury from this scene. Of course, at the end of it all, the infamous head spin by Regan is what tops it all off, one last lingering image of fear for the audience to digest.

Any one of these scenes would be enough for another horror movie. Yet, The Exorcist earns its title of the scariest horror movie ever by being unrelenting and breaking the mold of what can be used to scare audiences: the sacred, the verboten, the off-limits. Of course, the meaning would be empty without the brilliant performances of Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair. It certainly succeeded back in the 70s, and still works today as horror that will make you cover your eyes and look anywhere but the screen.
---

Someone should nominate Exorcist 2 next time. The best thing in that movie is the giant octagons people push through a psychiatry center for no reason.
---

do you know what she DIHD

rather than Exorcist 2, someone should nominate the original, banned Exorcist trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyW5YXDcIGs

look at this shit, can you imagine if they actually ran that in theaters lol
---

I've never really found The Exorcist to be particularly scary

I think it's largely because I saw it first in the 2000s and the outdated effects really broke the immersion for me

Like the slime vomit struck me as something from 90s Nickelodeon, rather than horror
---

17. Takashi Miike's Audition (1999) (23.5 points)
Nominated by: Simoun

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

Importance: 8.5
Fear: 7
Snake: 8

This was the first foreign language horror movie I had seen, opening my mind up to some really messed up movies that come from Japan and other countries. It takes a look at the power struggle between men and women, and works as a devilishly tricky subversion of both masculine dominance and extreme feminism. Shigeharu Aoyama, seven years a widow, is advised by his son to begin dating. Aoyama's friend, Yasuhisa Yoshikawa, creates a mock casting call using his power as film producer to hold "auditions" to be Aoyama's new wife. Here, he meets Asami, and that's when things switch from delightful rom-com to brutal psychological horror. Asami seems sweet, soft-spoken, and Aoyama is enthralled by her completely. Little does he know, Asami is a tortured woman, fueled by rage and jealousy, wishing to be someone's one and only true love. There are a myriad of ways you can read this film. Do you think Aoyoma's wife headhunting plot was misguided and misogynist? Maybe you sympathize with Aoyoma's intense loneliness and self-pity and see Asami as a pure villain who derives pleasure from torturing men. Some people see Asami as a hero, a feminist champion fighting male oppression. The lines of morality are blurred in this film and that makes it a really interesting watch, even as Asami plunges Aoyoma into a world of painful torture that's both painful for him and makes the audience's skin crawl. Not many films can juggle blood with this level of social commentary and make it look easy.
---

I don't know, I still find the effects in The Exorcist very well-done. There's so many pure reactions in the film as well since Friedkin was a mad genius which really improves the effects for me as well.
---

My very first encounter with the Exorcist franchise was in a wax museum when I was a kid. It was one of those dolled up displayed that was also mechanized. When that head turned 360 to the shrieks of surround sound, I fucking freaked.
---

16. Bride of Frankenstein (1935 movie) (23.5 points)
Nominated by: Xeybozn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0aXw-I0xsQ

Importance: 10
Fear: 5.5
Snake: 8

James Whale's undisputed masterpiece of the Universal Monsters era. I believe it is the first horror sequel ever made, which set a horror trend in itself, and manages to surpass the original classic in nearly all aspects. The film gives the Creature a lot more character, as it picks up right from where the original left off: at the burning of the windmill. Though the monster initially acts like how you would expect, the film takes great care in turning the monster into a sympathetic character. He saves a girl from drowning, however, the Creature is caught by a mob of people and tied up to a pole to undergo torture and ridicule from the scared people. The monster escapes and meets an old hermit, and this sequence is definitely one of the highlights of the film. The hermit teaches the monster how to talk and to enjoy earthly pleasures like wine and smoking. It's a charming scene, and one that builds a lot of character for the monster. You start to really feel his pain when the hunters return and take his new found joy from him, as the monster accidentally burns down the hermit's house as the hermit is led away by the hunters.

There are other great moments in this film as well. Doctor Pretorius is a great character, a real evil bastard who forces Dr. Frankenstein to work with him again, in a very devilish sort of way. Pretorius' own creations, a group of homunculi, show off his mad genius and some excellent special effects for the time. His reaction upon meeting the monster for the first time is so funny as well. He's stone cold in the face of the terror everyone else is scared of.

The actual Bride of Frankenstein doesn't actually show up until the end. Her look is iconic in every sense. Everyone knows the Bride's high-rise hair with the white lightning-shaped striped on either side. It's been parodied and replicated nearly everywhere, and the addition of a bride to a horror icon is something that's been done a few times as well. Though she doesn't do a whole lot, her rejection of Frankenstein's Monster speaks volumes to the real emotional depth of this film. The monster becomes truly heartbroken, I think a true mark of the monster finally understanding what it means to be human. The ending is poignant and fits the theme of the film perfectly.

If 1931's Frankenstein re-introduced the world to the horror of the monster, the Bride of Frankenstein cements him as an eternal legend. Whale expands the monster's personality and tragedy, whilst Boris Karloff is able to bring a lot more to the role thanks to having dialogue and more characters to better interact with. Technical aspects like a full music score make the film feel more alive and Jack Pierce's amazing make-up work shows an incredible attention to detail to the monster's look post-burning. I think it's easily a stand-out of the Universal classics and required viewing for even cursory horror fans.
---

Bride of Frankenstein is fantastic

Frankenstein is one of my favorite novels of all time, so when I saw the original film I was pretty disappointed with it. BoF is a lot closer to how they portrayed the monster in the novel, which I really appreciated
---

This is awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMNcx1Z2BPo
---

oh my god, animated junji ito
---

15. Condemned: Criminal Origins (24 points)
Nominated by: Bane_of_Despair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAdMUk-Prt0

Importance: 5
Fear: 9
Snake: 10

There has never really been a game quite like Condemned. A psycho-crime horror thriller, Condemned places the player in the worst derelict areas you've ever seen, pitting you against insane citizens who are being controlled by some extraneous force. Condemned places atmosphere above all else, it's a game that truly lives up to its title. It's just locale after locale of spine-chilling abandoned areas, some of the worst being the department store filled with living mannequins and the abandoned school still inhabited by a deranged lunch lady from your worst grade school nightmares. With a slight tinge of influence from Silent Hill, Condemned successfully mashes-up realistic locations with psychological dread and sanity draining visions without going over-the-top. It's storyline is one that could be found in a film like Se7en or Silence of the Lambs. As Ethan Thomas, you hunt down some of the cities' worst serial killers, the only problem is, there's another serial killer who's killing off said serial killers before you can get to them! Each serial killer gets their own sub-plot and just desserts, but the grisly scenes Serial Killer X leaves behind won't make you exactly cheer at their demise, knowing there's someone worse out there.

The game's focus on up-close melee combat ensures you're always directly facing the horrors the game throws you up against; encounters are quick and lethal, and will often leave you terrified and drained. Firearms are scarce but powerful, capable of eliminating enemies with one well-placed shot. Enemy AI is intelligent, and they will often sneak attack the player, use cover to their advantage, and respond to your attacks based on contextual damage. It's an excellent use of the first-person perspective to heighten the tension and horror. Light crime solving breaks up the action and are another good use of creepy imagery even if they're rather easy and hand-holding.

Condemned truly feels like a game where you have to survive the mad city. Slowly walking through abandoned hallways with nothing but a rusty piece of rebar, where the next psycho could be right around the corner, has never felt this creepy. It will leave you at bated breath throughout its length, and it's an onslaught of horror that's worth a playthrough.
---

Hey Snake, who would you say the most famous slasher is after Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, and Freddy Kreuger? It's got to be Pinhead, Leatherface, or Jigsaw, right?
---

Ghostface imo

And it's hard to justify calling Jigsaw a slasher
---

I think I would say Ghostface, the costume is instantly recognizable.
---

Ah, I forgot about Ghostface, that's fair.
---

Jigsaw is like, a Post-Modern Slasher hahah
---

Anagram posted...

Ah, I forgot about Ghostface, that's fair.

that's ok we're used to you leaving out the best option
---

Anagramed.

Hell yeah Junji Ito. None of my favorite ones, but if it's successful maybe it can become a more regular thing.

Also can I jump straight to Bride of Frankenstein if I know the story of the original Frankenstein novel?
---

I like the model story, caught that one in there
---

Definitely, it can be enjoyed as a standalone film for sure.
---

14. Deep sea (25 points)
Nominated by: Raka_Putra
https://imgur.com/gallery/U0Kx5

Importance: 9
Fear: 7.5
Snake: 8.5

95 percent of the world's oceans remain unexplored, and after taking a look at just a small sampling of the creatures we've discovered in the deep sea, maybe that's for the best. The deep sea is unwelcoming and harsh, with no sunlight reaching the deep depths, extreme pressure on the organisms that live there, and freezing cold temperatures. Unique evolutionary traits like bioluminescence, slow metabolisms, curved teeth, and weak muscles emerge from these conditions, creating some of the scariest, most interesting, & coolest looking animals on the entire planet. Many horror, fantasy, and sci-fi settings often use the ocean and deep sea as inspiration. Cthulhu and many Great Old Ones are said to lurk just below the sea, and both the monsters from the Cthulhu mythos and more traditional monsters like the kraken are inspired directly from many real-life deep sea creatures, the giant squid chief among them. Even just the thought of being trapped undersea, in pure darkness with no oxygen is a visceral fear of many people. It's a literal untapped treasure trove of imagination and a great source of fear from which to draw from.
---

It's a shame we mapped out the surface of the world so thoroughly. All of those old genres where guys went around and discovered an unknown island with weird stuff on it are impossible now, so it's just the deep sea and sometimes Antarctica.
---

Stargazer fish looks like it's lifted straight from a Junji Ito page.
---

Bigfin Squids give me the creeps. Like, what's down there?
---

Unfortunately I have to put this on hold for just a couple of days as monitor has become busted. Help bumping would be appreciated if I can't get to it.
---

bump :)
---

Picked it up today, should be back at it tomorrow.
---