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Stacie Ponder, at the excellent Final Girl blog, asked her readers for their 20 Favorite Horror Films -- apparently thinking she'd wind up with a list of around 50 films, and she'd write a bit about the top 31 this month.

Of course, Ms. Ponder's fine fine superfine readership responded with a total of 732 movies, which she's been listing off and discussing in brief as Halloween approaches.

I sent in my own Top 20. I was actually a bit surprised by what wound up on mine, or more exactly, what didn't wind up there (no Universal classics, for example). Oddly, to look at a list of my favorite films, there seems to be a few "horror" films on there that didn't wind up on my Top 20 Horror Film list . . . there's just some kind of difference when thinking about them as actual horror movies as opposed to as all-around movies.

I wish I had the full list I made up at first, as there were only about 27 movies I would count as "Favorite Horror Films" (I know Bride of Frankenstein and The Tenant were on the list) and I could list them all here, and seeing many of the names that have shown up on Stacie's master list have shown me how many I didn't even think of that could be here, but I'll stick to the list I sent her -- which is indeed pretty much a list of unsurprising classics, but so it goes.

Here's my 20 Favorites, with YouTube videos of their trailers (or in the case of #s 1, 5, and 9, the entire movie) - which you won't see if you're reading this on Facebook, so if you're interested in them - and there's some great trailers here - read it over on LiveJournal:

1. Nosferatu (1922)

2. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

3. Isle of the Dead (1945)

4. Night of the Demon (1957)

5. Carnival of Souls (1962)

6. The Haunting (1963)

7. Black Sabbath (1963)

8. Hour of the Wolf (1968)

9. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

10. Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)

11. The Wicker Man (1973)

12. The Exorcist (1973)

13. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

14. Black Christmas (1974)

15. Halloween (1978)

16. Alien (1979)

17. Dawn of the Dead (1979)

18. The Brood (1979)

19. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

20. Candyman (1992)

Pretty scary, huh kids? How about that Bergman, huh? Real classic horror director there . . . as Count Floyd would agree . . .

Happy Halloween!

Ed Hardy Jr., over at Shoot the Projectionist, will, at some point today, in honor of the holiday, be posting a list of the top "31 Flicks That Give You the Willies," as voted on by readers of his blog (and other interested parties).

He started by asking for nominations, and made up a list of 183 nominees from 67 ballots that got more than just 1 vote. Then the floor was opened for votes for the top 31 - to be listed in order of preference (top film gets 31 points, down the list to the final one getting 1 point). It was a fun, if difficult, exercise (way too many good ones).

Here's my top 31 out of the 183 films on the nomination list:


1. Eraserhead (1977; David Lynch)
2. Peeping Tom (1960; Michael Powell)
3. The Devils (1971; Ken Russell)
4. Hour of the Wolf (1968; Ingmar Bergman)
5. Lost Highway (1997; David Lynch)
6. Night of the Living Dead (1968; George Romero)
7. The Brood (1979; David Cronenberg)
8. The Birds (1963; Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Dawn of the Dead (1978; George Romero)
10. Targets (1968; Peter Bogdanovich)
11. Videodrome (1983; David Cronenberg)
12. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974; Tobe Hooper)
13. Don’t Look Now (1973; Nicolas Roeg)
14. The Wicker Man (1973; Robin Hardy)
15. The Exorcist (1973; William Friedkin)
16. The Exorcist III (1990; William Peter Blatty)
17. Black Christmas (1974: Bob Clark)
18. Halloween (1978; John Carpenter)
19. The Thing (1982; John Carpenter)
20. I Walked with a Zombie (1943; Jacques Tourneur)
21. Candyman (1992; Bernard Rose)
22. Black Sabbath (1963; Mario Bava)
23. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992; David Lynch)
24. Creepshow (1982; George Romero)
25. The Haunting (1963; Robert Wise)
26. Carnival of Souls (1962; Herk Harvey)
27. Kill, Baby…Kill! (1966; Mario Bava)
28. Martin (1977; George Romero)
29. Shivers (1975; David Cronenberg)
30. Scream (1996; Wes Craven)
31. The Evil Dead (1981; Sam Raimi)

There's a bit of strange algebra going on in picking the 31 top ones that "give me the willies," as it winds up being a big balance between "favorites" and "ones that creep me out." Eraserhead doesn't really give me the willies so much anymore, but it's my favorite film, so it goes to the top of the list anyway. Looking at Cronenberg, Videodrome is one of my favorite films, but The Brood has more "willy-giving" going on, so it comes in above the former. So it's a balance between what I love and what scares the bejeezus out of me.

Ah, Ed's just posted the list since I wrote the above. Hmmmn. Yeah, as always, things pretty much even out and the more obscure titles drop between the cracks. But 14 ones I listed are on there - obvious ones, classics - as well as the six I had the hardest time eliminating from my list and would have been #32-37.

Well, I've got 15 of my own list above on DVD, and another 10 on tape, so I'll find a selection to spend a few hours with today before going off to The Crow: Final at The Brick tonight (right now, I'm suspecting I'll put on Candyman, Scream, Black Christmas, and maybe The Haunting and/or The Brood).

Stay sick and turn blue!