I really want to put Herschell Gordon Lewis on this list....
Sep 03 '06
The Bottom Line My final recommendation would be to see all 10 of these films over the couse of a weekend....and then see a therapist.
So I'm going to.
10. "Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat"
Since Mr. Lewis really put the slasher film on the map, some homage must be paid and I'm going with his return to film after a self imposed exile of more than 30 years. This film picks up with Fuad Ramses III picking up right where his grandfather left off. Which is to say allowing an ancient Egyptian spirit compel him to provide a catering service where the special ingredient is...you.
Bwaahahahah!!!!
Seriously...this is campy slasher film making at its best.
9. "Dead Alive"
I tossed this bit of greatness from Peter Jackson back and forth in my mind. Not questioning its greatness mind you, but whether it belongs on a slasher movie list. The ambiguity in my mind caused me to place it lower than I might have on the list. And to anyone who questions its being here at all, I ask you...what is more slasher than attacking a pack of zombies with a lawnmower?
8. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2005 version)
Yes that's right...I said the re-make. Frankly, I find the Tobe Hooper original boring. It moves at a snail's pace and that just won't do in a slasher flick. The re-make never stops with the terror and you get R. Lee Ermey as a villain and Jessica Biel running around in a wet t-shirt with no bra to boot. This has everything a great slasher flick needs. Sex (underplayed but still there), drugs, screams galore and lots of beautiful dying in horrible ways.
7. "Halloween"
John Carpenter gets his mad props here with what is for most people the definitive slasher flick. Incidentally, this just got a fabulous DVD re-release. Even if you've got this one on DVD the extras make a re-purchase totally worth it.
I place it lower only because everyone and their mother puts this one higher.
6. "The Hills Have Eyes" (original)
I like the re-make and Alexandre Aja will get his due later, but for my money Wes Craven was at his best with this one. This has a fabulous 2-disc DVD that is packed with great extras.
5. "Ichi the Killer"
This one is less horror than it is an action and marital arts film, but one has to include Takashi Miike somewhere on this list and why not do it with the film Ain't It Cool News calls "the Citizen Kane of arterial spray" movies.
4. "High Tension"
This film put Alexandre Aja on the map. It's in French, so some of you uber-Americans might want to stay away. If you do though, I have to warn you, you'll miss severed heads being used as self-gratification devices and in general some really sadistic movie violence.
As a kicker, this will all come courtesy of a perpetrator, the likes of which is seldom seen in horror films.
3. "Manhunter"
For those not in the know, Anthony Hopkins may be best known for playing Hannibal Lecter, but he didn't play him first. The most fabulous Brian Cox was the first Hannibal the Cannibal. This was Michael Mann's first feature and it looks like it came straight from the 80's. but you can't argue with a cast that includes William Peterson and Joan Allen you can get over that fairly quickly.
Now the constant playing of Iron Butterfly....well, that's why they call them horror movies.
2. "Audition"
Oh! Miike again! Yes because while Ichi may be Citizen Kane it does not feature piano wire as an instrument of torture. Not only will Audition provide you with such, but you also learn why acupuncture is the worst f-ing idea ever.
1. "Suspiria"
This is really a shout to the master of Italian horror, Mr. Dario Argento, by placing his best known flick at the top as a representative of all his work. What John Woo is to fight scenes, Dario Argento is to young girls getting cut to pieces scenes. Follow that?
Forget all these knock-off American flicks taking place at all-girl schools or in sorority houses. Dario retired that subgenre a long time ago.
Okay...there you go. I've listed my favorite slasher flicks without having to dip too often into the American franchises of the 1980's. So pop you some corn, plop down on the couch and prepare to be nauseated.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Trotterman
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Jeffrey Trotter, esquire
Location: Columbia,MO
Reviews written: 234
Trusted by: 92 members
About Me:
I like cheese.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.