8 Comments

This is a very good list. I'm always happy to see Ben Wheatley on one. I'd switch out The Conjuring for The Wicker Man. The top five are practically perfect choices.

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Thanks so much Perry! It's funny you say that about The Conjuring because I did wrestled with the idea of choosing it over Wicker Man. "Conjuring" is obviously not as good a film as WM but I thought it was scarier, a criteria I wanted to highlight in the list.

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I've got a lot of time for this list...very well done. I'd shoehorn in Lake Mungo, though. The best found-footage cum ghost story ever.

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Thanks, Sam, I appreciate the compliment. I feel like I need to write a Runner Up essay on numbers 11-20 because it killed me to leave off films like Black Christmas, The Brood, etc. And you're the second person to recommend Lake Mungo to me in the last month. I can't believe it escaped my attention as it came out when I was doing a lot of writing for Rue Morgue. On the plus side: I get to watch it for the first time! This weekend.

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That's great! I'm very curious to read your thoughts. It's funny how it slipped under so many radars. I saw it at SXSW many moons ago and it got a fair bit of love, as far as I can remember, but that was the last I saw of it. I found a copy at a Blockbuster Video when they were going out of business and scarfed it up for a buck!

Incidentally, I'm grateful to Adam Nevill for giving your Substack a shout-out in his newsletter. I'm looking forward to reading all your content...first-class, all of it!

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Yes, a similar fate befell Noroi: The Curse, but I think the director had enough of a name to keep the title at the periphery of the public eye long enough for it to make a comeback.

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I love this list! Anytime I see "Don't Look Now" on a "best horror movies" list, I immediately dismiss it. I would personally switch out Kill List for The Wicker Man, still the supreme example of folk horror, and, in my opinion, a much scarier movie. Love seeing The Witch on here.

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Thanks much. I do think The Wicker Man is a better film than Kill List, but is it a better HORROR film? I'm not so sure

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