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Fifty lesser-known horror flicks hailed by critics and genre fans as "absolute must-sees" are given the spotlight with fun, engaging commentary from journalists, directors, actors and critic... Read allFifty lesser-known horror flicks hailed by critics and genre fans as "absolute must-sees" are given the spotlight with fun, engaging commentary from journalists, directors, actors and critics in a countdown like no other.Fifty lesser-known horror flicks hailed by critics and genre fans as "absolute must-sees" are given the spotlight with fun, engaging commentary from journalists, directors, actors and critics in a countdown like no other.
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Heidi Honeycutt
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Featured reviews
The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014)
*** (out of 4)
P.J. Soles hosts this two-hour and twenty-minute documentary taking a look, as the title tells you, the fifty best horror moves you've never seen. Countless critics, actors, writers and directors show up to talk about the movies in question and why they love them so much.
Look, whenever a list like this is put together it's mainly for debate. People will take a look at the list and argue about the ranking or argue about what film was left off. These lists are just made to stir up a conversation and more times than not there's not too much thought put into them. As far as this list goes, I'm curious as to who this documentary was aimed at because the majority of the films on here are extremely well-known titles that even your marginal horror fan is going to know about. The film might be beneficial to those who really are unaware of anything outside of HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13TH or THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE but everyone else is probably going to know of the films.
With that said, the list of films is a little.....over the map I guess you'd say. At first it seems like the list is going for titles from the past thirty years then they quickly do an old Hammer but then there's really nothing else "old" until we get THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and REPULSION. Some might argue these aren't even horror movies but I think the bigger argument is who hasn't heard of these movies? Then you've got stuff like BASKET CASE, BLACK Christmas, THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, THE HUNGER, HALLOWEEN III, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, RE-ANIMATOR, PUMPKINHEAD and AUDITION. Again, most of these titles are very well known.
With that said, seeing something like THE FOOD OF THE GODS making the list is a bit of a head-scratcher. Either way, THE 50 BEST HORROR MOVIES YOU'VE NEVER SEEN is a mildly entertaining documentary that horror fans should enjoy even though they're not going to stumble across anything they probably haven't already seen or at least heard of.
*** (out of 4)
P.J. Soles hosts this two-hour and twenty-minute documentary taking a look, as the title tells you, the fifty best horror moves you've never seen. Countless critics, actors, writers and directors show up to talk about the movies in question and why they love them so much.
Look, whenever a list like this is put together it's mainly for debate. People will take a look at the list and argue about the ranking or argue about what film was left off. These lists are just made to stir up a conversation and more times than not there's not too much thought put into them. As far as this list goes, I'm curious as to who this documentary was aimed at because the majority of the films on here are extremely well-known titles that even your marginal horror fan is going to know about. The film might be beneficial to those who really are unaware of anything outside of HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13TH or THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE but everyone else is probably going to know of the films.
With that said, the list of films is a little.....over the map I guess you'd say. At first it seems like the list is going for titles from the past thirty years then they quickly do an old Hammer but then there's really nothing else "old" until we get THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and REPULSION. Some might argue these aren't even horror movies but I think the bigger argument is who hasn't heard of these movies? Then you've got stuff like BASKET CASE, BLACK Christmas, THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, THE HUNGER, HALLOWEEN III, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, RE-ANIMATOR, PUMPKINHEAD and AUDITION. Again, most of these titles are very well known.
With that said, seeing something like THE FOOD OF THE GODS making the list is a bit of a head-scratcher. Either way, THE 50 BEST HORROR MOVIES YOU'VE NEVER SEEN is a mildly entertaining documentary that horror fans should enjoy even though they're not going to stumble across anything they probably haven't already seen or at least heard of.
1) The title needs to be taken at face value. It's not a list of the 50 best horrors you've never heard of, or the 50 best horrors period. It's the 50 best horrors you haven't seen.
2) Clearly some people are going to have seen many or even most of these movies. In the Internet Age, it's pretty much impossible to find gems that nobody has seen. The title is a bit of puffery, but a reasonable viewer should accept that it's meant to convey a certain set of parameters, not )a literal description.
3) It's clearly aimed at people who aren't voracious horror fans. Voracious horror fans can certainly enjoy it for the discussion possibilities (rankings. what got left out, what were you pleasantly surprised to see, etc) but the basic aim of the show is to discuss horror that isn't Halloween/TCM/Saw/Poltergeist/etc. So they're offering alternatives to the ones most everyone can name even if they haven't seen any of them. This is a valid and useful service being offered.
Horror (or any genre, for that matter) fans have to remember that there's a big old world out there, and most of it doesn't share your drive to learn all you can about your genre. It's perfectly okay to reach out to the casual fans too, and teach them a little more about horror films.
2) Clearly some people are going to have seen many or even most of these movies. In the Internet Age, it's pretty much impossible to find gems that nobody has seen. The title is a bit of puffery, but a reasonable viewer should accept that it's meant to convey a certain set of parameters, not )a literal description.
3) It's clearly aimed at people who aren't voracious horror fans. Voracious horror fans can certainly enjoy it for the discussion possibilities (rankings. what got left out, what were you pleasantly surprised to see, etc) but the basic aim of the show is to discuss horror that isn't Halloween/TCM/Saw/Poltergeist/etc. So they're offering alternatives to the ones most everyone can name even if they haven't seen any of them. This is a valid and useful service being offered.
Horror (or any genre, for that matter) fans have to remember that there's a big old world out there, and most of it doesn't share your drive to learn all you can about your genre. It's perfectly okay to reach out to the casual fans too, and teach them a little more about horror films.
The main issue regarding this documentary is the title "The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen". Most of the movies are well known and if you are a horror buff you've probably watched most of them.
The doc should be called "The 50 Best Horror Movies You Have to See" or just "50 Horror Movies You Have to See". Though I don't agree with every movie in the list, it's a good list.
The doc should be called "The 50 Best Horror Movies You Have to See" or just "50 Horror Movies You Have to See". Though I don't agree with every movie in the list, it's a good list.
An actual worth while list of horror movies
I know this looks like someone just trying to post their favorite horror movies, but I would really encourage anyone that loves horror to check out my list. I won't say anything more.
I know this looks like someone just trying to post their favorite horror movies, but I would really encourage anyone that loves horror to check out my list. I won't say anything more.
Another weak horror documentary that mainly focuses on relatively well known horror, even hugely popular horror films. No Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucia Fulci, Norman J. Warren or Pete Walker films get a mention, hidden cult classics. I could imagine as these are popular directors for horror fans why these wouldn't be mentioned but considering the largely well known movies listed it seems like this was just a poorly produced list, even though P.J. Soles is always wonderful. The real kick in the teeth was hearing someone describe Trilogy of Terror (1975) as one of the earliest anthology horror films when Dead of Night (1945) was the true kick off when it comes to horror anthologies/portmanteaus which then led to many Amicus produced anthology films - Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965), Torture Garden (1967), The House that Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974) all prior to the weak Trilogy of Terror. A really sloppy documentary with questionable choices, if you are already a fan of horror you won't find anything new here and if you're new to horror this is a terrible place to start.
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