This is the type of documentary that is very easy to watch for a horror fan. As the title implies, it highlights 50 worthwhile, lesser known horror movies.
I am unsure who picked these movies. I assume it was a combination of the director (Anthony Masi) and the talking heads who provide comments on the films. These speakers are not necessarily the ones I would seek out for this type of documentary (Michael Gingold, Alan Jones, Tim Lucas, Kim Newman, David Skal, to name a few). I have had a minor crush on Michelle Bauer, Linnea Quigley, and Brinke Stevens since I was a young teen, so it was fun to see them. Phillipe Mora would not be my first (or in the first dozen) choice to represent the older guard of horror directors. As for the younger horror directors, I had not seen any of their films, so their comments didn't mean much to me, ditto the genre scholars interviewed. Onto the choices.
First off, any time one uses the term "best," he or she should be prepared for a heated debate. To my embarrassment, I have seen only forty-one of the fifty (I had fully expected to have seen them all). Most of them I liked, although several would better be labeled "guilty pleasure" rather than "best" (Slumber Party Massacre and The Beast Within would be two of those). Plus a few of the films picked are just bad movies (I have yet to meet any horror fan who liked Valentine).
As for, being obscure ("You've Never Seen"), I pride myself on knowing horror movies, but I can say that I had never heard of two of the fifty movies on the list, which is props to the filmmakers. However, I would argue that at least half of these films would be known by almost horror fans except young, new to the genre horror fans (which may be the targeted audience). I am especially thinking of Pumpkinhead and Wrong Turn, both of which have had multiple sequels. Also, some choices may have been based on ones that people have heard of but have so far skipped (Halloween III since it does not feature Michael Myers).
The documentary is an easy watch. One can stop it and start it at will (I watched it over the course of a day). Film analysis is kept at a superficial level, but that is to be expected. Some of the clips are good.
For the curious, here is my alternative list of fifty good horror movies that you might have missed for one reason or the other (I have left out all of the films in the documentary, even the ones that I agreed with):
(1922) Nosferatu (1932) Vampyr (1934) The Black Cat (1943) The Seventh Victim (1948) The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1957) Curse of the Demon (1957) Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space) (1962) Burn, Witch, Burn (Night of the Eagle) (1963) The Three Faces of Fear (Black Sabbath) (1963) Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1964) Onibaba (1965) The Curse of the Fly (1971) A Bay of Blood (1971) The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) The Devils (1971) Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1972) Demons of the Mind (1972) The Stone Tape (1972) Tales from the Crypt (1973) The Messiah of Evil (1973) The Theatre of Blood (1974) Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974) The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1975) Shivers (1977) Alucarda (1977) Rituals (1980) The Changeling (1980) Inferno (1982) Xtro (1982) Tenebrae (1984) Razorback (1982) The Sender (1986) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) The Seventh Curse (1987) Angel Heart (1987) Stage Fright (1988) Brain Damage (1988) Lady in White (1988) The Lair of the White Worm (1989) Santa Sangre (1997) Lost Highway (2000) Shadow of the Vampire (2003) Into the Mirror (2003) Ju-on 2 (2005) The Call of Cthulhu (2006) Severance (2007) Black Water (2008) The Burrowers (2010) The Reef (2012) Here Comes the Devil
I am unsure who picked these movies. I assume it was a combination of the director (Anthony Masi) and the talking heads who provide comments on the films. These speakers are not necessarily the ones I would seek out for this type of documentary (Michael Gingold, Alan Jones, Tim Lucas, Kim Newman, David Skal, to name a few). I have had a minor crush on Michelle Bauer, Linnea Quigley, and Brinke Stevens since I was a young teen, so it was fun to see them. Phillipe Mora would not be my first (or in the first dozen) choice to represent the older guard of horror directors. As for the younger horror directors, I had not seen any of their films, so their comments didn't mean much to me, ditto the genre scholars interviewed. Onto the choices.
First off, any time one uses the term "best," he or she should be prepared for a heated debate. To my embarrassment, I have seen only forty-one of the fifty (I had fully expected to have seen them all). Most of them I liked, although several would better be labeled "guilty pleasure" rather than "best" (Slumber Party Massacre and The Beast Within would be two of those). Plus a few of the films picked are just bad movies (I have yet to meet any horror fan who liked Valentine).
As for, being obscure ("You've Never Seen"), I pride myself on knowing horror movies, but I can say that I had never heard of two of the fifty movies on the list, which is props to the filmmakers. However, I would argue that at least half of these films would be known by almost horror fans except young, new to the genre horror fans (which may be the targeted audience). I am especially thinking of Pumpkinhead and Wrong Turn, both of which have had multiple sequels. Also, some choices may have been based on ones that people have heard of but have so far skipped (Halloween III since it does not feature Michael Myers).
The documentary is an easy watch. One can stop it and start it at will (I watched it over the course of a day). Film analysis is kept at a superficial level, but that is to be expected. Some of the clips are good.
For the curious, here is my alternative list of fifty good horror movies that you might have missed for one reason or the other (I have left out all of the films in the documentary, even the ones that I agreed with):
(1922) Nosferatu (1932) Vampyr (1934) The Black Cat (1943) The Seventh Victim (1948) The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1957) Curse of the Demon (1957) Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space) (1962) Burn, Witch, Burn (Night of the Eagle) (1963) The Three Faces of Fear (Black Sabbath) (1963) Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1964) Onibaba (1965) The Curse of the Fly (1971) A Bay of Blood (1971) The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) The Devils (1971) Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1972) Demons of the Mind (1972) The Stone Tape (1972) Tales from the Crypt (1973) The Messiah of Evil (1973) The Theatre of Blood (1974) Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974) The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1975) Shivers (1977) Alucarda (1977) Rituals (1980) The Changeling (1980) Inferno (1982) Xtro (1982) Tenebrae (1984) Razorback (1982) The Sender (1986) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) The Seventh Curse (1987) Angel Heart (1987) Stage Fright (1988) Brain Damage (1988) Lady in White (1988) The Lair of the White Worm (1989) Santa Sangre (1997) Lost Highway (2000) Shadow of the Vampire (2003) Into the Mirror (2003) Ju-on 2 (2005) The Call of Cthulhu (2006) Severance (2007) Black Water (2008) The Burrowers (2010) The Reef (2012) Here Comes the Devil