Season 3, Episode 14—Troy and David’s Top Ten Horror Films
Troy and David come up with an agreed upon list, what they think, collectively, are the top ten horror films of all time. They will also go into what did not make the list. On their previous lists, for top SF films and top fantasy films, they had their own top ten lists, and compared them. This time, this is one list.
There have been a lot of great horror films over the years, so it is difficult to come up with a list – this is very subjective.
Early horror classics are notably missing.
Movies from the last 10-20 years did not make the list.
Movies from outside the US, Canada, and the UK did not make the list.
Troy is a fan of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and that did not make it.
David is a fan of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and that did not make it.
South Korea and Japan are notable for having had a number of great horror films. There are two Japanese films that have become classics of the genre, and were remade. The remakes were very good on their own, but do not, in our humble opinion, reach the greatness of the originals..
Ringu (Japan 1998) = 7.2 IMDB rating
The Ring (US – 2002) = 7.1 IMDB rating
Ju-On: The Grudge (Japan 2002) = 6.7 IMDB rating
The Grudge (US – 2004) = 5.9 IMDB rating
When it comes to South Korea, the top five South Korean horror movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes, are:
[https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-korean-horror-movies/]
#5 = GONJIAM: HAUNTED ASYLUM (2018) 91%
#4 = THE HOST (2006) 93%
#3 = TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016) 94%
#2 = THE WAILING (2016) 99%
#1 = SEOUL STATION (2016) 100%
Troy and David will do a deep dive on international horror films in a future podcast episode. There are horror films that have been produced in almost every continent, in many countries throughout the world, and these should be looked at in more detail, on another show.
The LA Film School has a list of the ten subgenres within horror:
10 SUBGENRES OF HORROR FILMS EXPLAINED
https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/subgenres-of-horror-films-explained/
Demonic Possession (The Exorcist)
Paranormal (Paranormal Activity)
Monster (Frankenstein)
Slasher (Halloween)
Zombie (Night of the Living Dead)
Gore / Splatter (The Evil Dead)
Witchcraft (The Witch)
Vampire (Interview with a Vampire)
Psychological (The Shining)
Comedic (Shaun of the Dead)
With just 10 films in Troy and David’s top ten, some of these categories may have more than one entry in the final list, and some will be missing entirely.
This is the last episode of season 3, and we quickly review the season, at the end of the episode.
We look forward to season 4, after a short break, and the first episode should be available on Saturday, December 24, 2022.