Previously, I talked about one of the most shocking horror movies of all time, a disasterpiece of epic proportions, Paul Newman in a chain gang, a classic surveillance thriller, and a deeply emotional revenge drama. Now for the next five.
dir. Terence Fisher
Horror/Sci-Fi
The movie that got me into Hammer horror, Terence Fisher, and ultimately led to my love of Peter Cushing. Though I saw Horror Of Dracula first, it was this departure from the Frankenstein story and ingenious reworking of the mad scientist himself that grabbed ahold of me and has left the strongest impression of any of these movies. Not only is it the movie that left the strongest initial impression on me, but is the most significant Hammer horror from a historical perspective, as it was the first color horror film from the studio. The makeup, sets, costumes, lighting, etc. are all terrific and aid in making this a truly fantastic and visually interesting gothic horror. This movie set the bar, and by my estimation was never able to be topped. Not even by Dracula -- which honestly could have made it into this countdown as well.
dir. Clive Barker
Horror/Fantasy
If there's a single horror subgenre I love even more than gothic horror, it would have to be of the body variety. And Hellraiser is my favorite body horror ever made. It's grisly, imaginative, intense, and managed to accomplish more with its budget (roughly $2 million) than virtually any movie with this large of a scope. Andrew Robinson is amazing and Clare Higgins is devilish, but the strongest impression is generally left by the introduction of the lead cenobite (later named Pinhead in the sequels) played by Doug Bradley. The music is incredible, a perfect blend of the creepiness of horror and the mystery of fantasy. I love how uncomfortable this movie makes me, and how well it manages to blend genres and utilize practical effects in imaginative and gruesome ways. I didn't like it when I watch it years back, but I've only come to appreciate it more and more over the years.
dir. John Patrick Shanley
Drama/Mystery
I love a good dialogue-based drama, and when you blend that with the unanswered mystery and dark implications of a priest suspected of molesting a child, you've got a lot of potential. Then throw in Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis and you've got one of the best central casts of the past 40 years. The dialogue is incredible, and you can thank the director for perfectly adapting the original material, since he was the actual playwright. Heavy uses of Dutch angles amp up the uncomfortable nature of the confrontational scenes, character interactions are complex and layered, and the story itself carriess enough emotional weight to never have you question the importance of the events taking place. Only very minor problems with it here and there, otherwise it's virtually perfect.
dir. Jim Jarmusch
Western/Drama
I've never been a big fan of westerns, but this fantastical and surreal take on the genre was right up my alley. It's relatively unfocused, with the story sort of wandering around in parts, but the wide variety of strange and memorable characters it introduces throughout work well alongside Johnny Depp's lead. Lance Henriksen in particular stands out as a cannibalistic bounty hunter. But it's the audio visual aspects of this movie that stick with me the most. Shot in black and white the movie looks amazing, and with a distorted guitar playing in the background (played by Neil Young, in case you were wondering), it has one of the most unconventional soundtracks around -- and I love it. Not a western I could recommend to fans of John Wayne, Ford, or Clint Eastwood, but the kind I'll pick over those every single time.
dir. John De Bello
Comedy/Horror
One of the first truly great purposefully bad movies that I can think of, this movie is so chock full of jokes of all varieties, it's almost impossible to catch them all the first time through. Goofy slapstick, wordplay, puns, pop culture references, bizarre dubbing, out-of-nowhere musical numbers, and generally absurdist comedy all over, the fact this isn't considered by more people as a landmark genre comedy honestly surprises me. It tries so many things and succeeds at virtually all of them, and the result is a comedy that's funnier, more varied, and more wildly original than it has any right to be. It's one of my favorite comedies, and is bound to be one I'd throw out in any discussion that involves "so-bad-it's-good" movies, even if there's nothing funny about it that isn't intentional. It's a hard thing to accomplish, but somehow John De Bello did it.
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