The 70s/80s Horror Franchise Poll: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Chucky vs. Pinhead vs. Leatherface vs. Michael Myers vs. Everybody Else

Freddy vs. Jason is much much more enjoyable than New Nightmare which beyond the meta-pretenses is very dull.

Well, it's like...do I think any of the NOES movies are legitimately good movies? No, but the first four are entertaining and fun to watch. The first is probably the only one that works as a legit horror movie rather than a semi-campy romp with with imaginative death scenes. 5 has a few good scenes but it's aslog of a movie, Freddy's Dead is pretty much a total turd and doesn't even deliver on the death scenes (this is the one with the bizarro Roseanne and Tom Arnold cameo and which features probably the dumbest scene in the series)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeJnuP2_yb8

And then, yeah, New Nightmare, boring. The last third of the movie is a slow chase sequence involving Heather Langenkamp's "son".

Anyway, the bad installments really stand out here because the good ones hold up so well.

Another notable one-off: The Gate

Haven't seen Freddy vs. Jason since it was in theaters. Will rectify if I survive watching the ten previous Friday the 13th movies this fall.

Contenderizer- it would be truly bizarre if Donnie Yen directed those films but it was Ronny Yu.

lol, i have no idea where that came from!

i thought "donnie yen" while writing that post, then instantly doubled back cuz i knew my brain was fritzing. but somehow wound up typing donnie yen anyway? wtf, early onset dementia?

RONNIE YU

is what i meant to say

or RONNY

i fucking give up

LOL as aside I love Bride With White Hair.

nightmare 1 is a legit good movie wtf

How many of these have trademark scores? Just the big three, Friday, Halloween and NOES.

Uh Exorcist.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre soundtrack is legit terrifying but maddeningly unavailable.

Phantasm score also great, assume it was used in sequels too.

Duh the Omen as well.

Scanners and Videodrome also worth mentioning as decent one-offs.

Scanners not quite a one-off due to totally unofficial set of spin-offs (mainly Japanese iirc)

i do not rc but:

Scanners II: The New Order (1991)
Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)

Spin-offs

Scanner Cop (1994)
Scanners: The Showdown (a.k.a. Scanner Cop II) (1995)

Scanners 2 and 3 are 'official' inasmuch as its the same Canadian producer/rights owner, Pierre David, as on the original, though Cron had nothing to do with 2 and 3, and didn't get any kind of cut from them.

lots of these left the original creators behind in franchise development tho

Yeah I don't think that's a criteria for elimination. Certainly Friedkin (and Blatty) were none to pleased with existence of Exorcist II...

NOES 2 has my all time favorite horror movie score, by Christopher Young. Others on this list with amazing scores are exorcist II (morricone in psych punk mode) omen III (goldsmith displaying symphonic mastery) Halloween I and III, and It's Alive (One of Herrmann's last stands)

cosign the enthusiasm for Freddy vs. Jason which is about as good as that kind of stupid cross-branding exercise can be

I thought it was pretty dire. Nu-metal soundtrack too.

Seen Excorcist 2 recently. I did notice the music and some of the scenes in Africa are quite good but I found it a slog. Richard Burton has a hilarious line in it somewhere.

recall being baffled by the tagline on this video as a kid. it isn't all that clear even now come to that

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7j2HiNfxaEY/URQq9zQve3I/AAAAAAAAAoY/DMNySLHwBWY/s1600/AMITYVILLE-2-THE-POSSESSION.jpg

They fled the house without their lives?

Maybe it's a typo and they fled with their wives?

I love NOES 1-3. I find 4 exhaustingly jokey. 5 and 6 are interchangeable in my mind but both had style and good moments. Freddy's Dead is the worst thing ever created. New Nightmare is really good, and I love a lot of the performances, but, yes, it doesn't have an ending and turns into a chase scene. Freddy vs. Jason is good, I guess, for funsies, but I, being one who hates fun, didn't like it.

Damiano Damiani is a great name.

xpost

I'm guessing that you meant to say that 4 and 5 are the interchangeable ones (inasmuch as 5 is the closest the series ever came to a direct continuation of the previous movie) because Freddy's Dead is the sixth movie and, as you indicate, there's basically nothing stylish or good or even redeemable about it.

Damiani also made the excellent radical western A Bullet for the General. I certainly prefer AH2 to the extremely dull first installment; it has some good 'bladder' SFX and a typically unpleasant performance from Burt Young. In the UK, AH2 was screened to London film critics on the same day as The Evil Dead and obviously suffered in the comparison.

A Bullet for the General is a great.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

gonna have to check out these Phantasm movies jeez. no recall of them getting much hype in the Horror Films Poll a couple of years back.

this was a good thread!

I plan to watch the rest of them even though I was pretty seriously underwhelmed by the second. The first has very quickly become one of my all-time faves.

Hahaha what the shit, how short was this poll? I never even read the thread, let alone voted.

Hey i'm gonna be away next week and just wanted to get this outta the way

Still haven't seen any of the Phantasm movies. Nor the Hellraiser ones, which I really want to. Might have to endulge in some Amazon movie renting tomorrow night

http://io9.gizmodo.com/phantasm-restored-and-phantasm-ravager-finally-have-r-1784490749

the Phantasm movies are fun and different and have some neat ideas and images, they're quite loveable

could've voted for Basket Case tho, might even have gone with Maniac Cop if i could remember anything about the sequels. concept always makes me smile.

That's rad about Ravager. I feared that it was already in development hell and ultimately doomed once Scrimm died.

Basket Case and It's Alive are the most worthy franchises of those that received zero votes. Those looking for a gonzo good time would do well jumping into the third entry of each.

Speaking of that Phantasm restoration how's life posted, one of my local arthouse theaters, the beautiful Capitol Theatre in Cleveland, is showing it one-night-only on Sept. 24, followed by a live-streamed Q&A with Don Coscarelli and cast members. Can't wait for that.

The Capitol also does an annual 12-hour Halloween movie marathon. It's an awesome place.

now that i have seen all of the phantasms, imo the answer is: phantasm

I'm afraid to watch Ravager. How is Ravager? Phantasm Ravager.

RaVager. Next one will be ReVIval, presumably, don't know what'll haven with the seventh.

I'm looking forward to seeing the whole shebang when the new box set is released. The first has become an annual staple.

haven=happen, wth autocorrect

I'm afraid to watch Ravager. How is Ravager? Phantasm Ravager.

― Not raving but drooling (contenderizer), Sunday, March 12, 2017 12:50 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it looks like complete garbage (bad cinematography, terrible cgi) but the script is the most phantasm-y script ever and really rescues it. plus reggie is great throughout

anyway if anyone here has hbo go and shudder: you too can marathon the phantasm movies

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest is an absolute blast, after being kind of bored/disappointed by the first one. The corn really gets to play a vital role, and I'm sure it's a must-see for any Chicago natives.