Ha ha, come on guys you need to get in a bit more detail on why these are your favorite horror films. What is it about the film that is such a stand out in your eyes? The memorable lines? Extremely tense scenes? Or maybe the entire psychological side of the film, the mindset of the people that are caught in that dreadful ordeal? Give some reasons please.
Besides, I think I clearly revealed what my top horror/thriller movie is. John Carpenter's "The Thing". A master director's own interpretation of John W Campbell's short story "Who Goes There?", and surprisingly staying mostly true to the original story, unlike Howard Hawks' '51 interpretation, "The Thing From Another World".
Sadly, this work of art was severely bashed by critics in the early 80's. Spielberg's "E.T." released shortly after Carpenter's spelled out doom for a potentially stellar box office accomplishment. I think people were more open to the idea of a friendly and well-natured extra terrestial rather than a horrifying, ferocious, and grotesque alien intent on imitating other lifeforms ... that it engulfs.
Critics bashed the gore and cut the movie to the bone as did the general public. I'll admit that the gore is highly intense and some of the most gruesome you'll see, unless you like watching those cheap low-budget gorefests that are rare to come by (thankfully, because they're horrid and pointless).
The gore was great and very creative, however, with special-effects guru, Rob Bottin at the helm doing what he does best. The alien itself could likely be the most grossly, stomach wrenching, and gruesome craft in cinema history. It's Bottin at his best, like the rest of the crew in my humble opinion. A man's head tears in two, forming jaws as a tongue slithers from his neck and whips around it's prey's throat, a dog's snout peels open and blossoms into a gurgling flower of flesh spitting fluid and a lengthy tongue, etc. It was before CGI corrupted television or the silverscreen (Lord of the Rings being an exception, CGI on that level can compete with any).
Getting past the gore for the sensitive is quite a task, but if accomplished one can truly appreciate a simple but outstanding story. From the opening scene, a quick glimpse of the universe-Earth clearly the planet presented-all while a flying craft plummets toward the world. Then to be displayed the bleak, harsh, and dreadful landscapes of Antartica (the most brutal atmosphere in the world, and the loneliest) which is one of the more menacing opening scenes you'll see.
Which is another standout, each frame Carpenter focused on in every scene of the movie (especially the landscape) was filled with dread and infuriating claustrophobia. That's what I love about this work, it draws any viewer (with an open mind) into the narrow corridors of the outpost and the bleak white desert of Antartica-a world of desolation and a brooding terror-and you're just as paranoid as the twelve men inhabiting the solitary no man's land.
Paranoia is a strong element of psychology brought effortlessly into this film, seeing that any one of the men could actually be the thing. In addition to that, Ennio Morriocone's score is brilliant, the throbbing bassline accompanied by an eerie synthesizer masterfully defines and layers the film with the depressing mood and oncoming terror.
The paranoia steadily grows throughout the film after the characters realize what they're dealing with-that anyone of them may not be who they appear to be-the comfort and the humble confidence once possessed, we all see slowly decline to looks of hope gone amiss.
That's what is missing from horror films today ... nothing to draw the viewers in and experience, naturally and instinctively, the human senses. If you want to give us gore then do so, however, with subtlety and as it should remain secondary to the primary focus of fear, dread, and helplessness. Horror films these days suck ... that's all I can say.
While "Halloween" was another work of art crafted by the hands and vision of Carpenter, I will clearly mark "The Thing" as his crowning achievement; the highest ranking horror/thriller film created as well.
While every scene is great in its own right ... I'll name three that further enhanced the "brooding terror" and truly grasped my attention:
After the men had discovered a contorted corpse at another outpost-having Blair examine it-the solitary husky they had taken in the day before standing at the doorway, fixed in a peculiar stance ... staring oddly with a distant menace at the recent discovery. (You'd have to see it.)
The kennel scene. Special effects ahead of it's time. 1982.
And the blood test scene. You won't find many scenes dripping with as much suspense and fear of what may occur soon, as this showed.
And as far as memorable lines go? There are plenty ... I'll narrow it down to only two.
"I don't know what's in there, but it's weird and pissed off whatever it is." - Clark, prelude to the intense kennel scene.
"You gotta be fuckin' kiddin'." - Palmer, in response to seeing a severed head that had sprouted spider-legs and eye-stalks.
Evil Dead is an impressive horror/thriller movie as well. They don't make them like they used to.
P.S. Sorry for the length when you just asked for what our favorite horror films are. I like to go into detail "why?". I'd also like to see some of the reasons to why a horror movie may be everyone's favorite out of the genre ... yeah, you don't have to get in as much detail as me though.
