Board 8 > Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - Pt. 2: 80s Revenge

(+) Yeah! (+)

Snake5555555555 posted...

Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 203
Inviso - 192
Jcgamer107 - 191
Evilordexdeath - 176
Karo - 151
Johnbobb - 146
Snake - 138
Mythiot - 137
Seginustemple - 134
Bitto - 123
Lightning - 118
Plasmabeam - 115
Rockus - 113

Long live the new outlier

It's coming. It'sa coming.

Ye know what, I need the points

I'll go Nightmare too

I'm sticking with Nightmare as well

PAYOUTS! Lightning and Bitto add $650 as Lightning sneaks into 3rd.

VEGAS ODDSBOARD:
+500 Possession (1981)
+650 Beetlejuice (1988)
+750 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
+850 The Fly (1986)
+2000 The Shining (1980)
+2000 The Thing (1982)

Current Leaderboard:
1) Bitto $5650 (Videodrome 650, Hellraiser 900, Poltergeist 2000,Creepshow 650, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
2) Johnbobb $4650 (Hellraiser 900, Re-Animator 600, The Changeling 2000, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650)
3) Lightning $3950 (Videodrome 650, Christine 800, The Changeling 200, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
4) Exdeath $3900 (Evil Dead II 900, Re-Animator 600, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
5) Inviso $3850 (Re-Animator 600, Gremlins 850, Creepshow 650, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
6) Seginus $2550 (Fright Night 700, Phenomena 1000, An American Werewolf in London 200, Sleepaway Camp 650)
7) rockus $1350 (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 700, Creepshow 650)
8) jcgamer $1200 (An American Werewolf in London 200, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600)
9) fortybelow $1050 (Gremlins 850, Poltergeist 200)
10) Karo $650 (Sleepaway Camp 650)

The House Won On:

• +1000 Pet Sematary (1989)
• +1000 Prince of Darkness (1987)
• +2000 Childs Play (1988)
• +2000 The Lost Boys (1987)
• +1250 The Dead Zone (1983)
• +1100 Predator (1987)

Johnbobb posted...

Six top 3 rankings is awesome though, hell yeah just under half of you

The split here is absolutely nuts. It's understandable, given the movie's concept and style, but still wild to see our #7 not get a single ranking between 4-13.

fortybelowsummer posted...

Seginustemple posted...
Banality is the lamest Mortal Kombat finisher

When you don't want to look up how to do the fatality so you just punch them in the face.

Haha............they should have added that

Preemptive but I've gotta take this opportunity to say: Death to me. Long live the new outlier.

I'll jump on the Nightmare on Elm St. train

Going to guess Nightmare on Elm Street next.

Might as well stay on Beetlejuice until it drops

I was going to rant about Siskel and Ebert's weird take on Beetlejuice, but I'll save that for when the movie drops. For now I'll mention more relevantly that Gene repeatedly brought up Silence of the Lambs in interviews as an instance where he knew he was in the minority in panning, and when it came out he compared it unfavorably to Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer because he insisted serial killers should be dull. Not open, much? I feel like both of them were caught off-guard by the movie to an extent since even Ebert initially "only" rated the movie 3.5/4 stars before re-rating it 4 stars when inducting it into his Great Movies list, so maybe Gene would have similarly upped his rating from 2 stars to 2.5...not that it would have mattered mind. Makes me curious what he would have thought of Hannibal or Red Dragon, yeesh. Gene did rave about Manhunter when it came out fwiw.

Also I did see James A. Janisse's Kill Counts for Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal recently, Seen the former movie once myself, almost a decade ago. I remember liking it a lot but don't feel particularly compelled to revisit it.

Going to guess Beetlejuice. From the sounds of it Inviso ranked Possession low, and at this stage I think both it and Beetlejuice will have similar high placements at the top, which would favour Possession in a tiebreaker as I cant imagine Beetlejuice getting much hate. Then again after some of the Gremlins rankings maybe I will be surprised! Speaking of which I moved Possession down one at the last minute and in retrospect am not sure about that so if it loses the tiebreaker its my fault.

On Videodrome, wow that was divisive, half of rankers have it in the top 3 then a big gap. It was an interesting watch but not my favourite. The Fly is Cronenberg doing the melding of humanity and technology better in my view.

My personal rankings for the ones I've seen: The Shining > The Thing > Gremlins > Predator > The Fly > Poltergeist > An American Werewolf in London > Beetlejuice. However, I like all of them, but on a scale of 1-10 I'd give Beetlejuice a 7, The Shining a 9, and the rest an 8. Though all of those other than Werewolf and Poltergeist border on a 9.

Also I needed two watches to get into The Shining and The Fly (and Alien, for that matter) and three to get into The Thing.

Thinking back on it, between this list and road comedies...a surefire way to be popular with Board 8?

Put Geena Davis in your movie.

Shes a treasure!

6. Beetlejuice (1988 / 142 points)
Directed by: Tim Burton / Screenplay by: Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a18c0c43.jpg
Why Its Significant - While not a straight-up horror film in the traditional sense, it took the familiar tropes of ghosts haunting a house, then injected them with slapstick humor and dark absurdity. Tim Burton's signature gothic style found full expression in Beetlejuice. The Maitland house, with its peculiar architecture and dusty interiors, was one part of the equation; Lydia Deetzs signature stark black wardrobe and snarky deadpan personality with a penchant for the macabre and fascination with the afterlife was the other. The film's mainstream success arguably helped bring Goth elements, like dark makeup and dramatic clothing, into the pop culture eye, normalizing the subculture for a wider audience. The film also has a visually unique atmosphere that was both whimsical and unsettling at the same time, which made the film a gateway horror film for a younger audience that were able to approach scares on a digestible level. This influence, along with further Goth culture, can be seen in later films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and The Addams Family, which all embrace a darkly whimsical aesthetic. I know it's important to acknowledge that Beetlejuice's influence isn't solely on horror. It's a landmark film in fantasy and comedy as well. However, its impact on horror is undeniable. Along with other films from the 80s, it paved the way for a lighter, more humorous take on the genre, making horror more accessible to a wider audience. Beetlejuice received a TV series, video games, musical, and is FINALLY receiving a sequel this year!

The Rankers
Inviso - 4
Rockus - 4
Fortybelowsummer - 5
Mythiot - 9
Seginustemple - 10
Plasmabeam - 11
Bitto - 12
Karo - 12
Lightning - 12
Snake - 14
Johnbobb - 15
Evilordexdeath - 17
Jcgamer107 - 17

Inviso - This is a solid horror comedy, and I love the world-building they do here by creating a scenario where our main characters have to slowly gain an understanding of the rules of how to be ghosts. I know Tim Burton has lost a step in recent years, but this movie is right up his alley with a creepy, macabre aesthetic, and it plays into all of his grimmest thoughts about life and death. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play beleaguered everyman (or everywoman) characters perfectly, because theyre not SPECIAL in any way. Theyre cute and charming, but theyre just as in the dark about a lot of the plot as the audience, so they make perfect audience surrogates in that regard. But additionally, theyre also kind of clueless, so we get to watch them trying to make all of these rookie mistakes about what ghosts SHOULD do and how ghosts SHOULD act, which is endearing in and of itself.

On the other side of the equation, the Deetz family is wonderfully cast. Catherine OHara is uptight, while simultaneously a free spirit who hates being confined to such a low-key lifestyle (after growing accustomed to life in the big city), while Jeffrey Jones just wants to relax in quiet and comfort. So already, you have a haunted house beset by these two polar opposites (and youd think thered be more talk about how the Maitland ghosts approve of Charles, rather than solely focusing on how much they hate Delia), but then you throw in Lydia, the goth girl who its implied lost her mom and is stuck with Delia as a stepmom, and shes the perfect conduit to guide the Maitlands, since even reading their Recently Deceased manual overwhelms them at first.

So yeah, you have this plot about a loving couple who die and get stuck haunting their house, and a city family that comes in and tries to change everything, and the Maitlands are in WAY over their headsso they call for back-up. Theyre suckered in by a ghost conman, and Michael Keaton gets to ham it up in the best possible way. The titular Beetlejuice (Betelgeuse) is crass and vulgar, but he promises to scare off the humans in exchange for assistance getting back to the realm of the living. He even manages to coerce Lydia in on this plan, holding the Maitlands hostage to do so. Hes a big and brash character, but I think it speaks volumes that, though he serves as a ghostly antagonist, this film could still stand up without him, as a story about untrained ghosts trying to get by in a world where everything they knew it upended by these New York yuppies.

On top of the plot, the aesthetic is great, Tim Burtons gothic style is on display in full force (particularly with Delias shitty, horrifying sculptures), and I LOVE the music in this movie. Its the perfect soundtrack for any sort of ghostly encounters. The Ghostbusters theme might be more iconic, but thats a song dedicated to the Ghostbusters themselves. THIS movies soundtrack is dedicated to the bizarre world of the afterlife, from the perspective of its ghoulish inhabitants. Oh! And I love the fact that the afterlife, when not haunting a house, is portrayed as a boring waiting room where the dead from all over has to take a number to talk to a bureaucrat about their situation. Its a fun twist on what could easily have been painted as a boring heaven or hell setting, and I think thats the sort of create choice that really helps sell the vision of this movie.

Rockus - Tim Burton was at his peak in the 80s and 90s and Beetlejuice is a clear example. Its choice to flip the script on the haunted house movie as we follow the ghosts trying to repel their homes new owners and its depiction of the afterlife as a bureaucratic office barely keeping things together are both brilliant choices. Keaton and Ryder are perfectly cast in some of their most iconic roles, and the film in constantly visually inventive. Tim Burton combines his admiration for German expressionism with his own candy cane gothic aesthetic to make something unique and refreshing. With its great stop motion animation, visual effects and makeup, and morbid sense of humor the film has graduated from being just a modern classic to a timeless one.

Fortybelowsummer - Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. (Had to do it). I dont watch a lot of movies multiple times because I usually prefer to take in new stories, but Ive seen Beetlejuice numerous times. Its probably fair to say its one of my favorite movies, and although I never became goth I think it made me appreciate and admire goth sensibilities. I feel like Tim Burton kind of gets crapped on by the horror community, but I love his style. The visuals are so much fun to look at and theres always something to catch your eye, whether its the crazy Dietz interior design, or the wild Maitland transformations, or the wacky ensemble of characters, living and dead. The makeup, of course, is amazing (Academy Award winning), as are the set pieces, especially Beetlejuices model town. Michael Keaton is the best and its hard to imagine anyone else as the crude, morbid bio-exorcist. Hes the ghost with the most, babe, and totally nails it. Originally, the movie was supposed to be a lot darker and less comedic but Im glad it ended up as is because its really something special. From the trailer, the new movie looks like it will take this darker route, but fingers crossed that it doesnt disappoint.

Seginustemple - Loved it as a kid, several scenes have stuck with me for decades: the waiting room w/ smoking guy and shrunken head, Baldwin and Davis stretching their faces like putty (this really freaked me out when I was young), any scene with Michael Keaton, and of course the calypso songs. Setting the 'danse macabre' to Harry Belafonte is a stroke of genius, and Catherine O'Hara practically steals the show with the all-in lip-sync performance. But Keaton's character is an all-timer, he's on a Jim Carrey/Robin Williams level of having fun here. There's great Danny Elfman score throughout as well. Like Poltergeist, watching it nowadays I can't help but notice the theme of real estate in the background, this time the newly-dead couple is trying to scare the new occupants of their home away because, wait for it - they're not ready to sell the house! Yeesh. One other element I was keen on this time was the confusion of inner/outer space, there's windows to Saturn outside the house, a model town in the attic where the movie plays tricks with scale, and the house itself has this weird outdoor wall thing going on https://hookedonhouses.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Beetlejuice-House-set-photos-Tim-Burton-44-611x343.jpg, what's up with that?

Plasmabeam - Gushing with creativity and fun. Reminded me of Wristcutters from our Road Trip list.

Bitto - Rating: C+

There are so many things done right here. The overall plot is solid. The characters are all well-defined and likable. The humor is great. It's family-friendly while also capturing the spirit of horror. I could see this being a timeless Halloween classic that you could put on every year. I just have one major problem: Betelgeuse. He really messes up the flow of this movie. That's probably the joke, but...it's not a good one. The comedy just changes completely when he's on-screen and for the worse. I also don't really like his role in the plot. He seems both too important and not important enough. I think the director was going for an independent "friend or foe" character like Jack Sparrow, but I don't think Betelgeuse does enough to gain that reputation until he suddenly becomes the antagonist at the end.

Karo - When a newly minted ghost couple's home is invaded by an infestation of fleshy meat bags, they turn to the services of 'bio-exorcist' ghoul Betelgeuse to drive the poor fools out.

Betelgeuse himself is this vile and unpleasant creature who is not as funny as Tim Burton thinks he is, and comes across less a comedic trickster and more like just the Joker's drunken deadbeat dad. Here I would complain that the titular character is like barely relevant in his own movie, but I came to the realization that I don't really want to see any more of this fucker than is already forced upon us.

Unfortunately, the movie's actual protagonists are not much better, as this lame newlydead couple are about as exciting as a mormon bachelor party. I kept not wanting them to scare away the new tenants because unlike this pair of stuffy phantoms the family was actually interesting and funny.

Tim Burton indeed has a unique artistic vision, but man does he suck ass at telling a story. This is nothing more than Burton being weird and marginally entertaining and that just isnt going to do it for me.

Lightning - Ive seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty seven times and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it!

This is a film I was always aware of but never actually watched, so it was a bit unusual finally watching it and seeing things that I knew were in the movie but simply had not seen with my own eyes. Also, I loved the cartoon and in retrospect its pretty odd that that cartoon exists given some of the content here! Overall this is a fun horror comedy with some great practical effects and costumes and a terrific performance from Michael Keaton.

I was a bit surprised by how little Beetlejuice (or Betelgeuse) is actually in the movie, even after he finally appears, but he steals every scene hes in. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin also do a great job of playing the sweetest ghosts imaginable. There is also a young Winona Ryder doing a good job and Catherine OHara basically playing her Schitts Creek character almost thirty years prior. Really the whole cast is great, and even though this is a film with a lot of dark ideas, they give it a real lightness.

Also, the weird similarities to Dune have to be mentioned. It is very odd that there is a desert planet ith giant sandworms on it in this film. Weirder still is that it is apparently Saturn. Lastly perhaps weirdest of all it has a pivotal role in the plot at the end. It just goes to show that this film is kind of a giant collage of lots of different often tonally conflicting ideas. Fortunately most of these ideas work.

4/5

Snake - A film bursting with creativity and character, the film never really takes itself too seriously and thats a good thing. Basically from the first minute on, this film is manic and crazy, especially once Beetlejuice himself shows up, played to utter perfection by Michael Keaton. Beetlejuice is a film that's not afraid to be weird, but its strangeness is precisely what makes it so endearing. It's a laugh-out-loud comedy with clever sight gags and witty dialogue and still beneath the surface lies a touching story about loss, acceptance, and the importance of finding your own strange family. My favorite parts will always be the stop-motion effects here!

Johnbobb - I've always liked Beetlejuice, but I actually rewatched this one just a little before this contest and it didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped. I'll be 100% honest, and possibly an unpopular (?) opinion here - the musical is better. Significantly better. Still an overall fun time though.

Evilordexdeath - Tim Burton is definitely one of those names whose stock has gone way down since the 80s, but I like Edward Scissorhands and I... acknowledge Beetlejuice as a good enough movie. The aesthetic is very consciously built and on point, it does a good job keeping a more horror-comedy tone, Beetlejuice himself is like a little bit charismatic but not that amazing at the best of times and kinda cringe at the worst and the heroes and the narrative are pretty forgettable. It's one of those movies I have a hard time feeling anything about.

Jcgamer107 - 6/10

Yeah, this really has been the worst one of these lists I've done. I have one movie left in my top THIRTEEN, going into the top five.

I was going to complain about Gene Siskel panning the movie because he found the title character annoying...but it looks like some here thought similarly! Me personally, I figured he's the bad guy and he's supposed to be annoying, but I've heard dumber criticisms. Honestly the main reason the movie worked for me is because I enjoyed the constant contrast between the Maitlands' tranquil, idyllic life and the whackiness of the afterlife. Roger Ebert on air characterized the movie as a Ghostbusters clone (when if anything the plot is the opposite) and said he would have preferred if the movie was about the Maitlands just cleaning up the house. Yeah, I'm sure people would be talking about it decades later if that was the case.

I also personally think it's better than both of Burton's Batman movies. For the first one Burton felt like a hired gun to me and I got the vibe of seeing a great Batman and a great Joker thrown into Lethal Weapon's hand-me-downs. I remembered not liking Returns, saw it again with my family recently hoping it would be the Tim Burton Batman movie I hoped the first one was, heck when I caught the movie while channel-surfing and saw clips on YT I got hyped...and my opinion on the movie didn't change at all. I liked the visuals and found Catwoman and The Penguin to be compelling characters, but otherwise the plot felt like a jumbled mess I had a hard time getting invested in. In hindsight I should have been alarmed by a more character-focused Burton movie. In fact, when I first saw The Last Jedi it actually reminded me of how disjoined I found Returns - and frankly Batman was worse in that department!

Put it simply: Annette Bening was originally cast as Catwoman before dropping out due to her pregnancy. She had to wait 27 years to appear in a comic book movie in Captain Marvel, and I personally think she got the better movie. Not by much though.

This is your reminder to see Beetlejuice the Musical

LightningStrikes posted...

Shes a treasure!

Hear hear!

Johnbobb posted...

This is your reminder to see Beetlejuice the Musical

I forgot about that after the whole Boebert thing. That Denver show is the one I would have gone to, so maybe missed out, but it seems like it would be sweet.

It wasn't until re-reading my write-up that I realized this: Beetlejuice takes a very similar baseline plot to Hellraiser and just does it so much better. Admittedly, Beetlejuice's opening is much longer than the quick scene of crazy shit happening in Hellraiser, but still. Supernatural shit starts happening in a house following the introductory character/s being killed, and then the next thing you know, you have a meek father, his daughter, and her redheaded stepmother moving in. The stepmother is unhappy with the situation she finds herself in, the stepfather just wants to have everything be normal, and the key difference is that the lead female is far more proactive in her involvement with the story...even before she winds up summoning unspeakable malevolence into the world.

It's just funny how similar they are, but the tone is so varying that one is my fourth favorite and the other is my fourth least-favorite on the list.

Bit of trivia I found out while writing about this one - Michael Keaton is not related to Diane Keaton, and neither are related to Buster Keaton. Three independently famous Keatons

I'll go with A Nightmare on Elm Street now

One, two, Gauntlet's coming for you, Nightmare.

Inviso posted...

It wasn't until re-reading my write-up that I realized this: Beetlejuice takes a very similar baseline plot to Hellraiser and just does it so much better. Admittedly, Beetlejuice's opening is much longer than the quick scene of crazy shit happening in Hellraiser, but still. Supernatural shit starts happening in a house following the introductory character/s being killed, and then the next thing you know, you have a meek father, his daughter, and her redheaded stepmother moving in. The stepmother is unhappy with the situation she finds herself in, the stepfather just wants to have everything be normal, and the key difference is that the lead female is far more proactive in her involvement with the story...even before she winds up summoning unspeakable malevolence into the world.

It's just funny how similar they are, but the tone is so varying that one is my fourth favorite and the other is my fourth least-favorite on the list.

I have never realized this before XD

Also, NOW Im guessing Possession.

I'll guess Possession too.

PAYOUTS!! Bitto and Seginus each cash in as we enter the Top 5.

VEGAS ODDSBOARD:
+500 Possession (1981)
+600 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
+800 The Fly (1986)
+2000 The Shining (1980)
+2000 The Thing (1982)

Current Leaderboard:
1) Bitto $6300 (Beetlejuice 650, Videodrome 650, Hellraiser 900, Poltergeist 2000,Creepshow 650, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
2) Johnbobb $4650 (Hellraiser 900, Re-Animator 600, The Changeling 2000, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650)
3) Lightning $3950 (Videodrome 650, Christine 800, The Changeling 200, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
4) Exdeath $3900 (Evil Dead II 900, Re-Animator 600, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
5) Inviso $3850 (Re-Animator 600, Gremlins 850, Creepshow 650, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
6) Seginus $3200 (Beetlejuice 650, Fright Night 700, Phenomena 1000, An American Werewolf in London 200, Sleepaway Camp 650)
7) rockus $1350 (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 700, Creepshow 650)
8) jcgamer $1200 (An American Werewolf in London 200, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600)
9) fortybelow $1050 (Gremlins 850, Poltergeist 200)
10) Karo $650 (Sleepaway Camp 650)

The House Won On:

• +1000 Pet Sematary (1989)
• +1000 Prince of Darkness (1987)
• +2000 Childs Play (1988)
• +2000 The Lost Boys (1987)
• +1250 The Dead Zone (1983)
• +1100 Predator (1987)

I think its Possession now. A top four of The Thing, The Shining, The Fly and Nightmare on Elm Street just sounds right.

Pretty confident about the top 3 even though I haven't been able to predict jack. Guessing Possession for next

Possession is next or I eat my hat and film it

My problem with it is that the main characters start at a 10/10 emotionally and just stay there, they're hysterical from the start. Plus you have these over-the-top camera movements that almost make you nauseous. Your story's clearly not very strong if you think you need these ridiculous camera movements to make us "feel" it.

And I'm also going to unfairly compare any 'break-up horror' movie to Midsommar for all time.

LightningStrikes posted...

I think its Possession now. A top four of The Thing, The Shining, The Fly and Nightmare on Elm Street just sounds right.

very much agree

Don't think it's possible for me to catch bitto anymore so I'll say the thing just in case

None of those sound like flaws to me!

5. Possession (1981 / 142 points)
Directed by / Screenplay by: Andrzej uawski
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/81d8cc3a.jpg
Why Its Significant - Possession is a harrowing exploration of marital breakdown, psychological collapse, and the terrifying ambiguity of possession. Drawing on slow, realistic drama, with cosmic horror & body horror influences, its horror lies in the realism of a fracturing marriage and doesn't shy away from the emotional brutality, the petty arguments, the desperate attempts to salvage a dying relationship. Possession presents a grotesque creature as metaphor, common in horror, but Possession took it to more disgusting & nightmarish heights and continues to be a point of reference for many modern day filmmakers. From the psychological transformative horror of Black Swan to the surreal family breakdown of Hereditary, from the break-up of Midsommar to the surprising creature romance featured in Spring, even extended to the intense symbolism of the Silent Hill series.

The Rankers
Karo - 1
Evilordexdeath - 2
Mythiot - 2
Lightning - 4
Seginustemple - 6
Snake - 7
Plasmabeam - 8
Rockus - 9
Fortybelowsummer - 10
Johnbobb - 19
Bitto - 20
Jcgamer107 - 26
Inviso - 28

Karo - A couple begins to have marital issues that soon spiral out of control into some truly frightening and psychotic behavior.

The film is riveting to follow and there is this foreboding sense of malice emanating from our two leads, and I am constantly left wondering who is really the crazy one (or under some sort of demonic influence, given the movie's title).

Eventually it is revealed that there are these creatures who apparently transform into an idealized version of a person's loved ones... or perhaps they are a personification of mental illness. Honestly, the story works out either way and that is part of what makes it brilliant.

It is a unique and strange ride that takes us on a harrowing journey of twisted obsession, and I am still not exactly sure of what I watched but I think it may have been profound.

Evilordexdeath - I'm pretty sure this is art, so you already know it's getting some VERY low placements on at least a few lists. It's not exactly a fun movie to watch, particularly with how the first 40 minutes or so basically consist of back-to-back domestic violence scenes that are a little too real if you grew up around that sort of thing - or probably even if you didn't. It transitions from a breakup film to an odd horror story about doppelgngers and demonic possession which are probably a metaphor for either divorce and familial alienation, the alienation of European nations by the Iron Curtain as symbolized by the setting in West Berlin and the visual presence of the Berlin Wall, or a little bit of both. It's certainly engaging to watch, with both leads being absolutely unhinged and a lot of tension coming from the expectation that they'll do something batshit insane at any given moment, (that scene under the subway in particular is incredible) and I can definitely see myself thinking about it for a long time to come, but I'd be hesitant to recommend it to someone else, put in on for company, or even watch it again on my own.

Lightning - Hes very tired. He made love to me all night.

Possession is a film I was only recently made aware of before beginning this project but am delighted to have had the chance to watch because it has become a new favourite of mine. The film is very abstract but provides a look into a mind reeling from divorce, which director Andrzej Zulawski was going through at the time. This is a filmmaker putting the interior of their mind on display with all the beauty and the ugliness that this entails. Here we see divorce rendered as apocalyptic, the cold war escalating to a nuclear exchange used to sell the point.

At the centre of the film there is Isabelle Adjanis tremendous performance. What she does here is truly magnetic, making every little moment or small line seem anguished. In particular the famous underground miscarriage scene is like nothing Id seen before. In this scene she appears to become a puppet as her body is taken over, seemingly the possession of the title. At the end of the day this is a film about how our lives get taken over by others and put out of our control. Accordingly the film starts with a normal situation and escalated to world ending chaos. This is helped by a strong lead performance by Sam Neill, who starts as a cool, collected spy and descends into madness.

It would of course be remiss to not mention the Lovecraftian monster Anna has sex with. Its a truly disturbing sight, brilliantly realised by the effects team, and it works to show the sheer disgust one may have at the idea of their partner with another. After a while it slowly morphs into Sam Neill, implying that at the end all of our relationships morph into the same thing and fulfil the same parts in our lives. This just highlights the fear of replacement at the heart of the film, it is a movie about losing yourself and being replaced by another. This film is impeccably crafted with imagery and moments not soon to be forgotten.

5/5

Seginustemple - Love it, my favorite from the list that I hadn't seen yet. On one level a breakup story charged with anxiety about the sexual revolution, the iron curtain, secularization, more simply a batshit gross-out monster flick about the principal actors competing to see who can deliver the most histrionic, spasmodic performance. Isabelle Adjani is the clear winner, she is genuinely disturbing. I know hindsight is 20/20, but when she takes a dump in that subway tunnel...you can just tell the Berlin Wall isn't gonna last. I dig the sterile visual style of it all, stark whites and baby blues that springload its darkest moments, dutifully hypnotic steadicam beset by turbulent episodes. This movie is emotionally abusive, hard to watch, undeniably powerful

Snake - Possession is a cinematic fever dream, a plunge into the abyss of a disintegrating marriage, a wild ride fueled by phenomenal performances, mind-bending visuals, and a narrative that defies easy explanation. Isabelle Adjani's portrayal of Anna is a riveting descent into madness, a harrowing spectacle as she contorts her body, screams with primal fury, and embodies a level of emotional vulnerability that lays you bare and destroyed by the films end.

uawski on his part crafts a nightmarish world that mirrors the emotional turmoil of the characters. Bleak, industrial landscapes of West Berlin become a physical manifestation of their crumbling relationship. Fever dream sequences blur the lines between reality and delusion. All the meanwhile, the pulsating score by Andrzej Korzyski adds another layer of unease, a constant undercurrent of dread that burrows into your bones.

Possession throws out cryptic clues and refuses to spoon-feed explanations. It wants to provoke, to disturb, to leave you wrestling with your own interpretations. I see it as a reflection of my very deepest anxieties and vulnerabilities. Possessions strange and alluring creation is part of this dark magic. Is it a literal manifestation of Anna's inner turmoil, a grotesque embodiment of their shattered love? Or perhaps a more primal force, feeding off the negativity and despair that permeates their relationship? The creature starts as a pulsating mass of flesh and tentacles but it evolves, morphing into a disturbing doppelganger of Mark. It's a brilliant visual metaphor unlike any other.

From its frenetic pacing to its visceral performances, every element works in harmony to create a cinematic masterpiece that defies categorization. And that is why I love it.

Rockus - I cant think of another film thats quite like this one. So much of it is unsettling because of how things just feel slightly off, from curious performance choices to the way the camera will often float around a space like some omniscient entity observing the lives of these people, detached but perhaps with some kind of power over them. Its also the kind of film I feel will have more to offer on repeated viewings because the themes here have a lot of layers to them. Like its themes on possession, and not just a kind of demonic possession that the title may allude to but the way the men in the film attempt to exert themselves as the dominant possessor in the tangle affairs taking place in the film. Its location and setting in a fractured Berlin adds yet another layer as well. A fascinating and bold film that I think will only improve on more viewings.

Fortybelowsummer - Well, going into this I never anticipated that Id watch a demonic possession scene that makes the Exorcist look like a Key and Peele sketch. Its hard to put into words how agonizingly uncomfortable that scene in the tunnel is and its one of those moments that leaves a permanent imprint. Isabelle Adjani (who Id never heard of before) gives an absolutely insane performance, not just as the wife descending into madness but as her much less demonically inclined doppelganger. The other performers are right there with her (I never knew Sam Niell had that in him), shouting and gesticulating and expressing in a manic way that feels at first like overacting but ends up being totally mesmerizing. The real horror here isnt the evolving tentacled being (although yes, that thing is fucked up (NOTE: EDITED FOR GFAQS CENSOR)) but the collapse of relationships and the psychic violence that people are capable of inflicting on each other. I loved this movie, and it was the biggest pleasant surprise of the new-to-me films.

Johnbobb - How the hell am I supposed to rank this when I have no idea what the hell just happened. Nobody in this movie knows how to act and very little of it made sense but I do like weird shit in my movies so

Bitto - Rating: C-

This movie feels artsy. Like...comically artsy. There are scenes where it feels like the director goes "OK, Anna...you're going to argue with Mark in this scene, but also do really weird, jerky handgestures. And Mark, don't react to this at all." Or the director says "OK, Mark, you're going to call on the phone and then spin around in a circle." Sometimes, it works. The 4 minute scene of Anna screaming in a subway is...compelling, even when I did not care at all for all the screaming that happened before this. But for the most part, it doesn't. It was really hard for me to understand or relate or care about Mark or Anna. Like I just don't get them as characters. Anna just seems to...care about sex and that's it. Mark seems to go from acting kinda mature to scremaing to flirting with women he hates to buddying up with Heimrich to laughing at inappropriate things. I actually do like Heimrich, he's an interesting character to watch and I like his arc. I'll give it this: this is probably the movie in this gauntlet that I thought about the most after it ended. I probably would have rated this at 27, but it rose up nearly 10 ranks just because I think it's the most thought-provoking film here.

Jcgamer107 - 2/10

Inviso - What the fuck is this movie? This is SO fucking European I cant stand it. The first forty minutes of the movie are some extremely uncomfortable scenes of a broken marriage that devolves into screaming and physical abuse, with almost nothing supernatural or entertaining to offset how fucking terrible that is. And just to further that thoughtbut the level of high-pitched shrieking that occurs in this film is fucking INSANE. Even at 50% volume, I still felt like my eardrums were getting blown out, like in the tunnel scene where Anna just has a full-blown freak out.

Beyond that though, NO ONE in this movie acts like a sane or rational person. Everyone is JUST off-putting enough that I couldnt find myself connecting with or enjoying ANYONE in the movie. You have Mark, who comes across as bipolar and violent; Anna is insane; Heinrich is douchey and smug, and these are the major characters we deal with throughout the film. And I could buy into all of that because the movies title is fucking POSSESSION. It makes SENSE that people would act unnaturally. But then the plot is just so convoluted and nonsensical, even for a supernatural movieand I cant tell who is supposed to be possessed at any given time, and who is just naturally an asshole.

So Mark hires a PI to track his wife because he thinks shes having a SECOND affair beyond the first one with Heinrich. The PI tracks her down and discovers that she has a second apartment where shes raising a weird, bloody mutant creature. Which I THINK is supposed to be the surviving remnants of her tunnel freakout miscarriage? Anyway, the PI gets murdered by the wife, and then a second detective is also murdered when he finds the creature. Then Heinrich finds the creature, freaks out and gets stabbed, and for SOME REASON he calls the man he cucked to try and help him. Needless to say, Heinrich gets murderedand then so is Annas best friend for unexplained reasonsand this all leads to a weird Mark clone showing up as the fully-formed end result of the miscarriage monster. Everyone dies, and Anna/Marks son comically throws himself into a full bathroom to drown, and I have no idea what the fuck any of it was supposed to be. Its baffling, and its TWO HOURS LONG. For FUCKS sake.

Outlier
Jcgamer107 - 223
Inviso - 217
Fortybelowsummer - 209
Evilordexdeath - 190
Johnbobb - 169
Karo - 161
Snake - 148
Bitto - 144
Mythiot - 143
Seginustemple - 135
Lightning - 125
Plasmabeam - 123
Rockus - 119

And even after Vis loses their lowest film remaining, it's still not enough to take outlier but Forty still drops a whole two spots!

Yeah, next up is Nightmare on Elm Street. Given the thirty point gap between 4th and 3rd, I would be stunned if the relatively-traditional franchise slasher film remaining makes top three among a voter base that put Possession in 5th place.

5th is an insanely good placement for Possession on B8, thrilled it managed to get so high.

I'll also take Nightmare on Elm Street for 4th

Incredible run to the top 5 and glad to see that others thought it was brilliant too.

Elm St. definitely next

Excellent
1) ?
2) Evil Dead II (1987)
3) Predator (1987)

Great
4) ?
5) Hellraiser (1987)

Good
6) ?
7) Phenomena (1985)
8) Pet Sematary (1989)

Didn't Like
9) Beetlejuice (1988)
10) Videodrome (1983)
11) Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Watched as a teenager, had planned to rewatch before ranking them
Friday the 13th (1980)
Poltergeist (1982)
?

While I do think that Isabelle Adjani does an incredibly good performance, it does bother me how...nothing her character is. She's upset about her marriage and she apparently really likes sex. Meanwhile,Sam Neill's character is angry...and then he just starts finding everything ridiculous and laughs at it. I don't think this is a character-driven movie, but we do spend a lot of time with them and, yet, I barely know them. Heinz Bennent's character, Heinrich, is the only character I feel like actually feels like a person, most notably when he starts being really concerned about Adjani's tentacle monster.

I mean, sure, we can boil down other characters from other movies down to just a few traits. Henry's cold and wants to be left alone. Betelgeuse is wild and selfish. James Woods is obsessed with lowbrow entertainment. But, to me, "liking sex" is such a nothing trait, especially for women characters. It feels....salacious, like the director wanted a reason for them to undress. Also a big reason why Clare Higgins' character in Hellraiser didn't resonate with me.

Oh, and yeah, Nightmare should be next.

Sam Neill is in Possession? Guess the movie's on my radar now.

BTW Michael Keaton's real name is Michael John Douglas. Everyone couldn't resist making the obligatory jokes when Keaton joined the MCU shortly after the other Michael Douglas did, ESPECIALLY when Michelle Pfeiffer was cast as Douglas's onscreen wife in the second Ant-Man so she managed to have both of them as onscreen romantic partners in comic book movies!

Possession is tremendous and Isabelle Adjani gives the single best performance on the list. Super happy to see it place so high. While I was watching it I was worried it would be very divisive but it wasnt really.

Guessing A Nightmare on Elm Street next.

Im sorry, but Isabelle Adjani doesnt even give the best performance of a black-haired woman in an abusive relationship with a volatile and bipolar husband on this list.

Disagree but also in Possession (hot take alert) the husband performance isnt bad.

Great movie, the best surprise on the list. I watched all of the movies in chronological order and then went back to Possession for seconds because nothing else went that hard (that I hadn't seen before)

It's bound to be Nightmare on Elm Street next

In terms of the best acting performances on this list:

• Andy Barclay (Child's Play) - This one stands out to me, because it would have been SO easy to just cast a kid to do the bare minimum and just fill this role. I mean, the main selling point of the movie is Brad Douriff as Chucky, so who cares about the kid? Yet Alex Vincent does a damn good job for a YOUNG child actor having to effectively serve as the main protagonist of the movie. He sells Child's Play as the (far and away, in my opinion) best intro film to a long-running franchise on this list.
• Barbara Maitland & Delia Deitz (Beetlejuice) - Geena Davis is the heart and soul of this film, and sells the everyman status of the couple far better than Alec Baldwin does, and meanwhile, Catherine O'Hara manages to be over-the-top obnoxious to sell why she's one of the "villains", while still having a charm to her character that lights up the screen whenever she's around.
• John Smith (The Dead Zone) - Before he became a walking punchline, Christopher Walken was considered a really good actor. And him playing this character as completely detached and shellshocked, and stuck in a horrible situation...he does a great job.

I'm amused there was once a time when Geena David was a bigger name than Alec Baldwin. Later that December Davis put on an Oscar-winning performance in Lawrence Kasdan's The Accidental Tourist, opposite the late William Hurt.

Possession finally pays out. Vis, Exdeath, forty, Lightning, and jc all cash in.

VEGAS ODDSBOARD:
+500 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
+750 The Fly (1986)
+1500 The Shining (1980)
+1500 The Thing (1982)

Current Leaderboard:
1) Bitto $6300 (Beetlejuice 650, Videodrome 650, Hellraiser 900, Poltergeist 2000,Creepshow 650, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
2) Johnbobb $4650 (Hellraiser 900, Re-Animator 600, The Changeling 2000, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650)
3) Lightning $4450 (Possession 500, Videodrome 650, Christine 800, The Changeling 200, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
4) Exdeath $4400 (Possession 500, Evil Dead II 900, Re-Animator 600, Creepshow 650, Friday the 13th 500, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650)
5) Inviso $4350 (Possession 500, Re-Animator 600, Gremlins 850, Creepshow 650, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600, Sleepaway Camp 650, Basket Case 500)
6) Seginus $3200 (Beetlejuice 650, Fright Night 700, Phenomena 1000, An American Werewolf in London 200, Sleepaway Camp 650)
7) jcgamer $1700 (Possession 500, An American Werewolf in London 200, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 600, Killer Klowns From Outer Space 600)
8) fortybelow $1550 (Possession 500, Gremlins 850, Poltergeist 200)
9) rockus $1350 (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 700, Creepshow 650)
10) Karo $650 (Sleepaway Camp 650)

The House Won On:

• +1000 Pet Sematary (1989)
• +1000 Prince of Darkness (1987)
• +2000 Childs Play (1988)
• +2000 The Lost Boys (1987)
• +1250 The Dead Zone (1983)
• +1100 Predator (1987)

Also, Snake, it appears you forgot to include my write-up for Possession.