15 Days until Halloween! October Suggestion #3: An American Werewolf in London (1981), the greatest werewolf movie of all time!
WHAT MAKES THIS A GOOD HALLOWEEN MOVIE? It’s Halloween! And when we think of Halloween we often think of the classic monsters: Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster and, of course, the Wolf Man! Well, if you’re in the market for a great werewolf movie that has a dark sense of humor, a wicked transformation scene and loads of brutal gore, then see An American Werewolf in London (1981)–hands down the best werewolf movie ever made! [A+] IF YOU LIKE WEREWOLF MOVIES THEN WATCH: Second best might be The Howling (1981), which takes itself quite seriously. Another fun one is Cursed (2005), which is loaded with clichés and honors many past horror flicks. Ginger Snaps (2000) is a metaphor for puberty, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004) is a worthy sequel that takes a strange turn, and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) serves as a coming of manhood from college man-childhood–but it’s more of a positive journey. If you want another utterly ridiculous werewolf movie, then move on to Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) and Howling 3: The Marsupials (1987). But skip Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988), Howling V: The Rebirth (1989), Howling VI: The Freaks (1991) and The Howling: Reborn (2011).
Steering clear of formulaic horror movie plot clichés, An American Werewolf in London avoids immature promiscuous summer campers and delinquent drug-using twenty-somethings with loose morals as we are introduced to our protagonists David (David Naughton; Ice Cream Man, Big Bad Wolf) and Jack (Griffin Dunne; 40 Days and 40 Nights). Yes, they’re twenty-somethings. And yes, they have their quippy repartees. But their immaturity is no more than an otherwise responsible pair of men enjoying a night of manhood away from the wife and kids. They’re actually somewhat mature when things aren’t crazy.
Oh, yes! Let’s stop there for a drink. That’s a great idea!
They unintentionally make their way to The Slaughtered Lamb Pub, a northern Englishman’s locals-only sort of place adorned with a pentacle on the wall. They are a backwoodsy, superstitious and secretive lot. More fearful of the locals than anything they could encounter among the full moon, dreary weather and local fauna, they flee into the wilderness to be met with some sort of animal attack. David in injured by this “animal.”
During his recovery David dreams about some in-the-buff jaunts in the forest followed by some very disturbing visions of evil “werewolf soldiers.” As clearly indicated by the movie’s title, this recovery occurs in London, he occasionally turns into a werewolf and people get eaten. David’s lovely nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter; Logan’s Run, Child’s Play 2) takes a shining to him and invites him to stay with her.
While David lives with the curse of lycanthropy, his victims are also cursed. These now undead victims appear before David, flayed and gory, and serve as an “everything you ever wanted to know about werewolves, full moons and lycanthropy” guide. As we see David’s undead victims throughout the film their level of decomposition advances and you can’t help but to smile when they point that out. Great make-up, by the way! Sprinkling more comedic charm on this gory horror are the sharp-tongued jokes and off color behavior of David’s haunters.
The transformation scenes are really something. We see his hands slowly elongate and HEAR his bones and tendons stretching, giving root to the maddening pain he seems to be going through–shit, I almost FELT it myself. So then, when his vertebrae elevate, his shoulder blades protrude and his skull begins to elongate you predict more pain as if you were watching someone brace themselves before resetting your dislocated shoulder. His nudity during this scene properly conveys his vulnerability and you genuinely feel sympathy for all of his suffering. All the while, some ironically pleasant music is playing in the background on Alex’s record player in her kitschy living room.
Fully transformed, he looks like a wolf after an “evil” HGH binge on chest and arms day. But not so much like a wolf-man. This is a nice change of pace even when compared to today’s werewolves in which our shapeshifters become regular-sized normal looking wolves (e.g., Hemlock Grove), giant normal looking wolves (e.g., the Twilight Saga, Red Riding Hood), wolves from a twisted R-rated Alice in Wonderland (e.g., Ginger Snaps), classic wolfmen (e.g., The Wolfman, Wolf, Teen Wolf), the wolfman on steroids (e.g., Van Helsing, Cursed) or the reversed man-wolf (e.g., the Underworld series, Being Human, An American Werewolf in Paris).
Writer/director John Landis is epic in comedy–having brought us Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1979), Trading Places (1983) and Coming to America (1986) to name a few–and he’s even had other successful forays in a least semi-humorous or satirical horror (e.g., The Twilight Zone movie, Innocent Blood), but I find it stunning that he was responsible for the greatest werewolf movie of all time! And this is hardly just my opinion. While some favor The Howling (1981) or Ginger Snaps (2000), online lists tend to include London in the top five or six (if not #1) more than any other.
The Undying Monster (1942)
The story is good, but clearly not without some forgivable issues. What made this movie truly great was Landis’ ability to be brilliantly funny at times, while keeping a straight, serious, even brutal tone during the violent, rending scenes, the wincing transformation and the final scene with nurse Alex and David such that I wouldn’t dare call this a straight up horror-comedy or a satire; simply a great, very serious werewolf movie that also happens to be often funny when things aren’t dire.
It doesn’t matter how old you are. The effects truly hold up and stand the test of time so don’t worry that the lack of CGI will make it uncool. Just see it!!!
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1. Why even call the movie Southpaw (2015)?
Given the title, I expected I was going to see the struggling story of a southpaw (i.e., left-handed) boxer. Instead, I saw a boxer who was already at the top crumble into the shambles of his family life after the death of his wife and separation from his child. Now that’s fine. I’d still go see that film, especially with Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners, Nightcrawler) playing the tortured boxer. But I have to ask this…why call it Southpaw if the boxer is right-handed?
Here the filmmakers/writers thought they were being clever as our boxer’s trainer (Forest Whitaker) teaches him to switch to a right jab left hook combination (opposite of that typically thrown by a righty). This occupies about 90 seconds of a training scene, Whitaker yelling from outside the right “go southpaw” a few times in the final round of the finale fight, and a single punch that we could barely see and would never realize was significant (being thrown lefty) without all the yelling. We talk about this in The MFF Podcast #25: The MFF Random Awards of Summer 2015, for which it won “Most Misleading Title.”
Did I like Southpaw? Yes. Was it as great as I had hoped. Far from it. After the opening fight and VERY POWERFUL emotional scene following the fight, things were really just “good” if that.
2. Did we really need another Human Centipede movie?
No. The answer is a hard no. Was there once a “need” for an ass-to-mouth horror movie? I guess. Did Tom Sixx fill that niche? Absolutely. Was there a need for a second? Nope. But Tom Sixx did it anyway. At this point I feel the need to identify that there should be a limit to the number of ass-to-mouth films that any one person is allowed to make. I have set that limit to TWO! Tom Sixx, you are in violation of this rule. When filmmakers push the envelope, test limits and do that which no one before them has done, we often call it art. But when filmmakers push the envelope and then shove the contents of the envelope down your throat, it often loses its luster and shifts to an altogether different genre. In horror, disturbing art joins the likes of Martyrs (2008), whereas the overkill gets sorted into a pile of shocky-schlocky exploitation movies. In a recent podcast episode (The MFF Podcast #11: Sexually Transmitted Demons and Human Centipedes) we had a discussion about the line between such “art” and crap.
Yeah….I’m somewhat hesitant to call it art. To quote my podcasting comrade, John Lasavath: “There’s a good chance this movie wasn’t made for you.”
3. Why is it that A Most Violent Year (2015) wasn’t very violent at all?
There was some violence, but nothing special and certainly nothing that made me wince. Now Goodfellas (1990) had some violence; more than A Most Violent Year. Perhaps we should name 1990 as a most violent year. What about Eastern Promises (2007) or a History of Violence (2005)? Both more violent. Loads of movies were more violent than the one film with “most violent” in the title! SMH
If we were to pick a single actor, say Arnold Schwarzenegger, we could find a more violent year than a Most Violent Year. In 1984 Arnie did Conan the Destroyer and The Terminator. Definitely a “more violent year.” In 1987 he did The Running Man and Predator. Also a more violent year; and with the violence taking place in the timeframe/setting of either movie clearly exceeding that of A Most Violent Year. In fact, any year with an Arnold movie is indicative of more violence than the violence of A Most Violent Year.
Look, it was a good film. I just strongly feel it should have had a very different title.
4. Is The Martian (2015) Matt Damon’s redemption for Interstellar (2014)?
I remember seeing Interstellar (2014) and thinking “Oh my God, that’s Matt Damon in that sleeping pod!?!” I was wondering why oh why they wouldn’t put a glimmer of him in the trailer and why this was basically kept a secret from the everyday moviegoer. But as I continued to watch and his character’s space madness and isolation-induced desperation was revealed, I was disgusted. Make no mistake, Damon did a GREAT JOB with his Interstellar role. It’s just that we were meant to hate his character, and he played his character well–so I hated him a lot. After so often seeing him as the hero this was very clever from a filmmaking perspective.
But now Damon is getting another shot at being all alone on a planet for an extended period of time. He better not get space madness again! I hope he keeps a good attitude as he “sciences the shit” out of Mars and brings me the feel-good inspiration I felt with Apollo 13 (1995). But, now having seen it, I can comfortably say that everything about the Martian was AMAZING! The acting, script, effects, characters, story….everything.
5. What possessed the doll in Annabelle (2014)?
The story is very simple. A young soon-to-be doctor gets his pregnant wife a gift, an antique style doll for her collection. She adores it. After some random cultists randomly choose their home to invade the police dispatch the murderous satanic cultist assailants, the blood of a dying cultist coming in contact with the Annabelle doll and presumably completing some ritual opening a gateway for some other-worldly demonic spirit to possess the doll and use it as a conduit on its soul-procuring mission. Later in the movie we see the ghost of the dead cultist lady haunting our protagonists. But we also learn that the doll wants only what it “never had” and can only be given of free will: a soul. But if it never had a soul, then Annabelle is possessed by an other-worldly demon and not the ghost of a cultist. So WTF is going on in this movie!?!?!?!?!?!
6. How many times are we going to recreate the exact same scene? The Poltergeist (2015) remake suggests at least 3.
Jenga! The original Poltergeist boasted a startling scene in which the haunters stack things in the kitchen. It sounds overly simple, but it was very effective and was delivered cleverly masked beneath Carol Ann’s playful connection to the spirits early in the story. Rather than reproduce this, the 2015 remake decided to impossibly stack comic books to barricade the young boy from escape. I can offer no more elaborate opinion than to simply say: it was dumb.
2015 tried to get needlessly clever with this scene. I’d say it backfired. This image has no place in this or any movie.
1982…perfect. It made an unscary scene startling while demonstrating Carol Ann’s sensitivity to the spirits.
It was copycatted much better by Dark Skies (2013).
If you want to hear more about the remake, check out The MFF Podcast #16: Mad Max Fury Road and Poltergeist 1982 vs. 2015. We discuss the faults of the remake to no end!
7. When they shoot the It Follows (2015) ghost in the head and temporarily “kill it” why does it come back and why on Earth were they able to “kill it” temporarily in the first place?
Nope. Nope. Nope. There is no good reason. None.
Some questions in this world will never go answered. That little story nugget did nothing for the plot but make us question its legitimacy. That said, the film was overall GREAT and we praise it across the board in The MFF Podcast #11: Sexually Transmitted Demons and Human Centipedes.
8. How is it that Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) was not the sexiest or even BDSM-est movie of the year?
Don’t be curious. The movie isn’t worth it.
I went in expecting something fun and walked out having endured an utter cinematic failure. The romantic comedy (slash sex thriller) Exit to Eden (1994) had better nudity, BDSM attire, toys and even better dirty talk than Grey! Considering that Exit to Eden (1994) starred Rosie O’Donnell and Dan Aykroyd, I’m gonna’ go ahead and say that’s pretty damning for Grey.
But then it occurred to me. The dialogue, as inanely unrealistic as it is, fits perfectly to what I have realized to be the target demographic for this film: young adults. And I’m stressing the word young here because the ins and outs of BDSM are explained as one would to a child…as if Dora the Explorer had stumbled across a “flogger” and a ballgag and then engaged in an educational repartee with stubby infant Grey. It all seemed very UNcomplex, UNintense, UNnaughty, and one-dimensional; more like Three Shades of Grey. The other Forty-Seven Shades, and many more in your 264 count Crayola pack, can be found in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac (2013) films. Now THAT film tested limits. Whereas Grey’s almost saccharinely sensitive sex scenes were about as intense as Leo DiCaprio’s lovemaking in Romeo & Juliet (1996), Nymphomaniac truly tested limits. They claimed that they toned down Grey’s the sex scenes to appease the MPAA rating board. But I’m calling bullshit on that one. In terms of ratings-testing sex, this film was a step above Pixar films. Any drinking, drug-using teen having premarital sex in a horror movie is having raunchier sex than anything you’ll find here. We get deep into this in our MFF Podcast Episode #8.
A line in the theme song “Love Me Like You Do” includes a common line “what are you waiting foooooor….?” I was thinking this every time Grey was talking about his dungeon–or, as they called it in this dumbed down Saturday Cartoon of a bondage story, his “play room.”
Sex in the woods while in the middle of investigating some weird noises in the middle of the night? Yes. Steamier than anything in Fifty Shades of Grey.
Dorian and Anastasia’s romance were no more risqué than any sex scene between Jean-Claude Van Damme or Sly Stallone and their action movie love interest, and it tested fewer awkward sexual limits than an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants.
If you came for “sexy” then you’re in the wrong theater and I’d redirect you to almost any episode of Game of Thrones.
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Hello all. Mark here.
The world is rife with remakes, remakes of remakes and more remakes. We can’t escape the remake so we might as well embrace the good ones. Historically it is a real pain in the ass to remake something successfully. You have zero chance of recreating the personality of the original so you just have to make things shinier or market the heck out of a shirtless Ryan Reynolds.
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Over the last couple weeks I’ve unleashed posts about the statistically best horror franchises and sequels. Basically, I collected a ton of data and my number crunching cousin Jeremy devised the Movies, Films and Flix Metric system. In the MFFM system we break down critic/audience data and box office numbers to figure out what is the best of horror. It has been fun to do because the results aren’t based on opinion or whimsy. The lists are backed by numbers and don’t change everyday like my favorite horror films do (Descent or 28 Days Later…or Drag Me To Hell! Wait, what about Thirst?).
The following numbers were figured out like this: MFFM = Average (IMDb User Score, RT Crtic/Audience Score, Metacrtic Critic/User Scores, Amazon User Weighted Score and ROI Rank Value). If you are interested in the data make sure to read Jeremy’s breakdown.
Here are the top 10 remakes according to the MFFM!
10. The Crazies (54)
9. Fright Night (54.2)
8. Evil Dead (54.6)
7. The Ring (54.9)
6. Dawn of the Dead (60)
5. Let Me In (64.3)
4. Cape Fear (65.455)
3. The Thing (68.685)
2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (70)
- The Fly (70.156)
The top three are self-explanatory because The Fly, Invasion and The Thing are awesome. John Carpenter and David Cronenberg are masters of genre film making and they’ve found ways to scare, excite and make blood flow for decades. What got The Fly to #1 is its higher ROI (2.5 > .3) and the fact that it made money at the domestic box office ($80,456,000). Another positive is The Fly remake had an MFFM score of 70,156 whereas The original Fly had a score of 63.54. There are only five remakes that had higher MFFM scores than their predecessors and The Fly, The Thing, Cape Fear, The Crazies and Let Me In all made the top 10.
I love practical effects.
The Thing is a perfect horror film. The practical effects make it timeless and it achieves a paranoid atmosphere that most movies could never match. It had a higher critic/audience score (84.6) than The Fly (82.6) but its initial box office wasn’t stellar ($19,782,100) so it had to settle with #2. This hat is #1 though.
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What made me happy was seeing the Fright Night and Crazies remakes in the top ten. They are fun recreations that give us something different while allowing the game cast to be awesome. I loved David Tennant in the Fright Night remake and Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots have chemistry for days. It is a breezy little thing that is more fun than it has any right to be. Did I mention that David Tennant is awesome?
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I am a big fan Breck Eisner’s Crazies remake. It was done on the cheap and features very good performances from Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell (you gotta watch Rogue). What made me like the movie even more is the fantastic DVD commentary that Eisner does. He breaks down the film intelligently and proves there was talent behind the camera.
It isn’t a surprise but I’m glad the Dawn of the Dead remake is still going strong. It is the rare film that keeps the original idea and turns everything up to 11. Gone is the social commentary and what we get is a devilishly soundtracked film that moves fast and kills many. I don’t mind style over substance when the style is confidently made. I was also happy to see the Evil Dead and The Ring remakes featured on the lists. They are well made movies and The Ring was voted #11 on our 21 best horror films of the 21st century poll.
Check back in next week when I do a full recap of all the MFFM statistics. You will love it!
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Ever since George Romero revolutionized the zombie film the world has been obsessed with undead mayhem. We’ve been inundated with books, comics, movies, remakes, sequels, toys, comedies, romances and spin-offs. We’ve witnessed every variation of the undead creature and we’ve watched it be killed in thousands of squishy ways.
The one thing I’ve found fascinating about zombie films are the survivors. I’m not sure how they did it (screenwriting I suppose) but I am impressed by their desire to not die violently. Every survivor has had a different journey and if they combined their zombie crunching skills they would be unstoppable. The following list compiles my favorite cinematic survivors. They will have zero problems when they are eventually outnumbered and left in a world without Twinkies.
Tallahassee – Zombieland
He loves Bill Murray, hates zombies and looks great in a hat. He is the loose canon with a heart of gold that every crew needs.
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Kenneth – Dawn of the Dead
If a zombie outbreak happened and I saw Kenneth walking around I would follow him. He commands respect without being a jerk and still has a sense of humor. You have to appreciate a man who loses at chess so he can give the man stranded across the street something to do.
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Selena – 28 Days Later
She survived the initial outbreak of rage infested zombies! What? How? When? Awesome! Then, she hung around and fought them. They don’t get tougher than that. Danny Boyle’s “zombies” are the scariest of all the zombies and they couldn’t get her.
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Shaun – Shaun of the Dead
Every crew needs the comedic relief. Also, he does a great zombie walk and would be a laugh to drink with.
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Gerry – World War Z
He is the ultimate survivor. No other person in the history of the world has survived outbreaks, swarms, plane crashes and weird chomping zombies. Plus, he will test diseases/drugs/cures on himself to save the world.
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Cherry Darling – Planet Terror
Every crew needs an unkillable stripper with a heart of gold. When most people lose a leg in a zombie wasteland they become instant zombie bait or fall into a deep depression (zero proof, but it seems imaginable). Instead of quitting Cherry strapped a gun to her leg and laid waste to the deadly creatures.
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Julie – Warm Bodies
Not only can she survive but she can turn zombies human again. Every crew needs a shotgun toting killer who could potentially cure the world.
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David and Judy – The Crazies
Smart, resourceful and survive anything thrown at them. The Crazies is an underrated remake and David and Judy simply wouldn’t go down in all the craziness.
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Red – Dead Snow/Dead Snow 2
He has a zombie hand that can dismember, decapitate and annihilate Nazi zombies. He can raise rival armies and has no problem sprinting head long into chaos. You need that.
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Lionel – Dead Alive
Lionel kills dozens of zombies with a lawnmower. Need I say more?
What zombie survivors would you pick? Let me know. Comment!
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Bridge of Spies: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks Reunite for One of the Best Films of 2015
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What I love most about Bridge of Spies is that it tells the story of an American hero who didn’t punch his way across Europe or rescue his daughter from terrorists. James Donovan saved lives and did so in ways that left both sides of the world happy. His reluctance to simply let a foreign spy die made him a bad guy in the short term but as history had progressed he has become known as a great man. In the hands of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks Donovan’s story is beautifully done.
Yep. We’re pretty great.
Bridge of Spies forgoes the standard courtroom structure and instead focuses on James Donovan’s (Tom Hanks) journey from family man lawyer to negotiating hostage swaps in Berlin. He was at the Nuremberg trials after Word War II and is tired of being around evil and carnage. He wants to be home in New York and listen to his precocious kids talk about surviving a nuclear war with Russia. What I like most about Donovan is that he has an edge to him. He has no problem drinking day time scotch and if you piss him off you will see his fists clench. He is not a push over and when push comes to shove you better watch out because he would be a terror in a bar fight.
One fateful day he is appointed to be the lawyer for a Soviet spy named Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) He is a calm painter/spy who refuses to give up information and seems destined to be executed. However, being that Donovan is a good man he defends his client admirably and ends up saving his life. This comes in handy when two Americans are captured in Berlin and Donovan is sent to negotiate a trade. The significance of this event opened doors and was a major step forward for war time relations.
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What makes Bridge of Spies exciting is the fantastic acting, directing and script written by Matt Charman, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. It will have you on the edge of your seat then laughing out loud. The emotions are real because Spielberg’s direction makes you care about the characters. The actors disappear into their roles and what we get are real people engaging in very real stakes. You can feel the Coen’s presence as there are some odd character moments strewn throughout the film. My favorite scene involves Donovan negotiating with a DDR secretary (Burghart Klaussner) who turns out to be a high ranking official with the KGB. It is a all a cordial ruse that is very much a chess match between two smart men and a fake family (you will love it).
In any other directors hands I could this see this coming across as stale or melodramatic. Spielberg manages to make you feel and the feels while keeping the material fresh. When watching Bridge of Spies you feel like everyone is at the top of their game. Every frame is immaculate and the amount of detail and throw away jokes are endless. Bridge of Spies respects its audience and in return offers one of the best character studies I’ve seen in years. Spielberg is a master of capturing human emotion and when you look back at his filmography he has found the best in humanity. In a recent meeting with the press Spielberg talked about putting heroes on screen.
To me, a hero is a hero. I like making pictures about people who have a personal mission in life…who start out with certain low expectations and then overachieve our highest expectations for them — that’s the kind of character arc I love dabbling in as a director.
Bridge of Spies is a fantastic film and I 100% recommend you check it out. I really hope it is remembered come award time.
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Hello all. Mark here.
The MFF podcast is back and we are talking about horror movies for people who don’t like horror movies. You can download the pod on Itunes or head over to Blog Talk Radio to stream it. If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The point of this podcast is to answer random questions and discuss really good horror films that everybody will love. We here at MFF understand that the good name of horror has been plagued by way too many sub par offerings and we plan to remedy that.
As always we answer random questions and our discussions lead us to some interesting places. Here is what you can look forward to.
- Guest host Robert says he wants a yeti movie that stars Brendan Fraser.
- We talk about Rosemary’s Baby, The Host, Drag Me To Hell and The Descent.
- We have a really weird discussion about Tom Hardy and a Bronx accent.
Sit back, relax and listen to us wax poetically about Tremors 5, It Follows and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
The Descent is probably the best horror film ever made (Yeah…I said it….and tomorrow it will probably be 28 Days Later then The Shining).
You can listen to the pod on Blog Talk Radio or head over Itunes so you can download, rate, review and share. Thanks!
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The great debate that is “what is the best horror sequel” will never end. Every individual has their opinion and it doesn’t matter if you employ logic, fact or pure emotion because it still won’t sway somebody from thinking Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is better than Aliens. Horror franchises are weird because they connect differently to every individual.
Traditionally, the horror world hasn’t been great at sequels. For the most part they ruin fear via expository dialogue and over explanation of something that should never be explained (don’t give Michael Myers parent issues). However, sometimes a sequel comes out that is better or on par with the original. For some reason they’ve avoided the traps of the sequel (make it bigger!!!!!!) and proven themselves to be great films and not just horror fodder.
Halloween: Resurrection is pure horror junk. What came first? The spin kick or Michael Myers?
In an effort to make more people disagree my cousin and I broke down way too much data in an effort to figure out the best horror franchise. We collected a massive data set for future posts and we decided to figure out the best theatrically released sequels (statistically speaking). Nobody will agree but at the least the numbers will speak for themselves. The biggest disagreement will be whether or not Silence of the Lambs is a sequel. We included it into the data and ran the MFFM with and without it. So, if you don’t think Silence is a sequel just consider Aliens to be the the #1 film.
The following post looks at critical/audience reception and return on investment. Once again we are only looking at domestic box office because tracking direct to DVD and international numbers would be unreliable. We ran the data in the same way we figured out the best franchises. The only difference is the number of films in the rankings (it went from 139 to 158).
Here are the top 15. (I included 16 just in case you don’t consider Silence of the Lambs to be a sequel).
A quick note. We don’t consider these to be the best sequels. We consider them to have the best statistics.
16. Army of Darkness
15. Purge: Anarchy (56.282)
14. Red Dragon (56.32)
13. Devil’s Rejects (56.73)
12. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (56.76)
11. Saw 2 (56.87)
10. Paranormal Activity 2 (57.36)
9. Day of the Dead (58.34)
8. Paranormal Activity 3 (58.985)
7. Scream 2 (59.945)
6. Bride of Frankenstein* (64.06)
5. Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (64.146)
4. Evil Dead 2 (70.38)
3. Dawn of the Dead (74.239)
2. Aliens (74.356)
- Silence of the Lambs (78.834)
The Silence of the Lambs is an Oscar winning behemoth that conquered the box-office and had a huge jump (+19.234 MFFM) from the original Manhunter (59.6). Anytime an R-rated film about a serial killer collects $252,000,000 at the box office you know it had to be good. The dialogue and scares are ingrained in the zeitgeist and the words “lotion” and “basket” have become synonymous with each other.
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If you don’t think Silence of the Lambs is a sequel then Aliens is the best statistical sequel. We’ve talked about the Alien series on the podcast and what I find most impressive is how a movie about aliens with acid blood made a ton of money ($192,586,100) and was critically loved (98% RT Critic Score). Alien had a higher MFFM score (76.1) but Aliens somehow managed to stay fresh (rarely happens) and pretty much everyone loves it (92.5 combined audience scores). An added bonus is that pretentious film students who are self aware about horror sequels consider it to be awesome.
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What can we gather from the MFFM results?
10 of the films came from five franchises (NOES, PA, Evil Dead, Romero Zombies and Hannibal) and only four had higher MFFM Scores than the original. Devil Reject’s, Purge: Anarchy, Evil Dead 2 and Silence of the lambs outperformed their predecessors and have proven themselves to be fan favorites. I love how I could only find five films that had a higher MFFM than their originals. It proves that making a successful sequel to a successful film is not always easy.
Blair Witch 2 suffered from a case of the terrible twos.
The Devil’s Rejects (56.73) had the second largest numerical jump from its predecessor House of 1,000 Corpses (41). The 15 point jump can be accredited to Zombies gritty direction and all in performances from his cast. He had a film under his belt so he was able to fine tune a script that fit his intelligent and dirty brand of horror. It actually placed #21 on our top 21 films of the 21st century post.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Paranormal Activity 3 and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare make the cut because they are solid horror films. New Nightmare was meta before horror films were meta and PA3 brought the scary mojo back to the pesky found footage world. The biggest surprises were Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors at #5 and Purge: Anarchy making the cut. I wasn’t a fan of Anarchy but it had better critical/audience scores and made more money than the original. Thus, it is a very successful sequel.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the best franchise and sequels posts! Come back next week when I unleash the best statistical remakes!
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When I was nine years old something terrible happened to me. I was an unassuming little kid who was taken to a theater to watch the new Ernest movie. I enjoyed Ernest movies and I was excited to see his further shenanigans. Would turtles talk? Would he go back to jail? Would he save Easter? My life changed as the credits rolled and a poor girl was hunted down by an evil snotty creature. The following 90 minutes would keep me from sleeping for the next several months and lead me to a lifelong fascination with this film.
Trantor is evil and snotty. Yuck.
The following five charts and graphs chronicle my life before and after watching Ernest Scared Stupid.
- Number of times I bought milk in order to battle a troll in 1991
Milk was responsible for the downfall of the trolls. Thus, I always had to keep milk close. Don’t judge, I was nine.
2. Number of times I’ve used the line “Does a one legged duck swim in a circle?
In the 24 years since the movie I’ve used the “duck” line around 37 times. It would be more, but I alternate it equally with “does a fat puppy hate fast cars?”
3. Number of times I’ve used the phrase “how about a bumper sandwich booger lips.”
Sidenote: Ernest stole it from me. This cannot be proven.
Here is the scene with the “booger lips” line.
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4. Number of Times I’ve inquired about Pure Bulgarian Miak
I love this dialogue exchange between the troll and Ernest.
Ernest P. Worrell: How about a little Miak!
Trantor the Troll: Miak?
Ernest P. Worrell: Yeah, Miak. I bet you thought I couldn’t find any at this time of the year, well a little resourceful for ya, a little to light on my feet. Eat Miak and die!
Here is the classic Miak moment.
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5. Number of times I’ve wondered if Botswana has trees after hearing this line:
“Nuh uh, ain’t no trees in Botswana, nuh uh, I know, I AM a Botswanian lumberjack, and I ain’t never had a job…”
Ernest and his split personalities came up with some solid gold gems.
What Ernest Scared Stupid moments scared the crap out of you?
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Scream 2: Pound for Pound the Best Pure Horror Sequel
There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to create a successful sequel. Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death scenes are always much more elaborate – more blood, more gore – *carnage candy*. And number three: never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead.
Before you tell me I am crazy and 100% wrong I want you to hear me out. I understand that Dawn of the Dead, Aliens, Silence of the Lambs (if you consider it to be a sequel) and Evil Dead 2 are absolute classics. They avoided cliches, revolutionized the game and are completely original in their own right. However, the films had years of preparation and none were expected to be fully formed films a year after the original. Also, as great as they are they were able to focus on much different subject matter. Evil Dead was able to remake itself and Silence of the Lambs recast Hannibal and beefed up its budget. They all had the luxury of hindsight and time.
Scream 2 is so good it defies all sequel logic. Scream hit the theaters in 1996 and exploded into a cultural phenomenon. A sequel was ordered and it was to be released in 357 days. Thus, in one year a script needed to be written, actors had to be cast, locations had to be scouted, filming had to commence, editing was required and marketing needed to do its thing. In the world of sequels a one year turn around is tantamount to disaster. No other sequel that has been released a year after the original has been as critically beloved and audience appreciated. It was a perfect blend of craftsmanship, talent and synergy.
In case you were wondering here is how the horror films released a year after the original fared with Rotten Tomatoes critics/audiences and IMDb users.
Scream 2 – 81
Hellraiser 2 – 58
Paranormal Activity 2 – 54.8
Saw 2 – 53.8
Friday the 13th Part 2 – 47
Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge – 43
Kevin Williamson did have a head start on the sequel (he had an outline for a trilogy) but his hard work was foiled when the script was leaked online. Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven had to write while filming and occasionally the cast had to add their own lines. That is huge because the film had a one year turn around and two months were lost because of the leak. Here is what Craven had to say about the leak:
We weren’t very far along in the process, but it was the very first pages Kevin sent us, the first 40 pages of the first draft of his script. They were terrific and we were celebrating, and then someone called up later that day and said, “They’re on the Internet.” It totally ruined that version of the script, frankly. We had to go back and change everything, and it set us back about two months. Kind of a pain in the neck, and thereafter, we had scripts with a big purple stripe down the middle that covered the dialogue so you could barely read it and if you Xeroxed it, it would turn out black.
Scream 2 had a lot going against it yet still managed to stick to sequel rules while subverting them. Wes Craven was a master of horror and Kevin Williamson loved the characters so the insanely short turn around actually worked. With their talents combined you actually liked the people getting killed. The cast and crew turned a cash grab into pure gold and notorious horror hater Roger Ebert appreciated its self-awareness.
Like all sequels, this one is a transparent attempt to cash in on the original–but, of course, it knows it is, and contains its own learned discussion of sequels. The verdict is that only a few sequels have been as good as the originals; the characters especially like “Aliens” and “The Godfather, Part II.” As for “Scream 2,” it’s … well, it’s about as good as the original.
It all starts with Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps going to watch the movie within a movie Stab. Jada knowingly calls out horror tropes and the theater is raucous as they watch the masked killer hunt blond bait. Being that this a sequel the initial body count jumps from one to two and things go horribly wrong for the couple. It is weird to watch now with all the theater killings but it is an effective and self aware start that allows the original cast to reunite.
I love the look on Jada’s face.
Watching this movie when I was 15 proved to be very influential. It broke down the rules for sequels and it made me self-aware while watching them. The sequel talk in the classroom opened cinematic doors for me and I immediately went and watched The Godfather films.
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Aside from Aliens, Piranha 3D and Final Destination 2,3,5 it is the only horror sequel to have a higher Rotten Tomatoes critic score than its predecessor (81, 78). Scream 2 was meant as a cash grab but turned out to be a horror work of art (that made a ton of money). It is the fifth highest grossing horror sequel of all time behind Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Jaws 2 and Aliens. Also, It is one of the rare horror sequels to nearly match the original’s box office. In a world of massive box office drops from film to film Scream 2 held on to its predecessors momentum and rode the wave to cash town with a domestic inflated tally of $183,747,00.
Yeah. We’re good.
The reason I love Scream 2 so much is that you care about the characters. The moment when Jamie Kennedy suddenly gets killed shook me up and I couldn’t believe he got wiped out. It was an audacious move to kill off a likable character in such an inglorious manner. It showed that knowing about horror movies doesn’t always mean you will survive a horror film. Also, when Dewey got stabbed my heart sank because he is such a likable character and Arquette has never been better
Wes Craven admitted he had total confidence in his cast and I love how Williamson allowed the characters to grow in the sequel. Every character has room to mature and become three-dimensional which is nice in a movie about sadistic press hungry killers. I appreciate that the acting love was spread around and anytime a character sings “I think I love you” to his love interest in a crowded cafeteria it has to be admired. Also, I love that Gale’s cameraman is fully self-aware and he actually quits the job because he knows what is potentially next. This dialogue exchange is pure gold.
Joel: Look, granted, I should’ve read your book before I took this job, but I’m reading it now and, whoa! I just read what happened to your last camera man. The guy got gutted. Now I’m gonna do what any rational human being would do and that is to get the f**k outta here.
Gale: First of all, he wasn’t gutted; I made that part up… his throat was slashed.
Joel: Gale, gutted, slashed, the guy ain’t in the union no more.
Scream 2 is loaded with memorable moments, thrills and jump scares. It is the rare self-aware film that doesn’t crush itself under its own smugness. Craven was a firm believer of not recycling horror tropes so he and Williamson devised clever ways to scare the crap out of people. Do you remember being in a packed theater during the cop car scene? People went insane as Neve crawled over ghostface. I still don’t know why she didn’t crush his face with something but I’ve never had to crawl over a serial killer so I can’t talk. If you get a chance check out this Scenic Routes article from AV Club that talks about the devilishly devised scene.
Scream 2 shouldn’t have worked. It looked the horror sequel tropes right in the eye and conquered everything we know about bad sequels. It has its faults but with the rushed production and script changes it is understandable. There are better films out there but I don’t think many of them would have held up on the immerse pressure Scream 2 felt. Reactive sequels rarely work and Scream 2 is a beautiful example of a film hitting on all cylinders.
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Listening to Horror Podcasts can be a great joy. Whether I’m on a plane, driving or listening in the background while I’m at work, listening to people talk about horror movies is only second to actually watching horror movies…sometimes, it’s even better. With Halloween creeping up on us we all have Horror Movies on our minds even more than normal. so today I’d like to share my five favorite horror podcasts and five episodes for each of them. I have included each podcast’s website, Twitter handles, and live stream links for each episode so you can listen along.
#1 Movies, Films and Flix @MoviesFilmsFlix @SharkDropper and @MFFHorrorCorner are…US! Yes. That’s right. I do enjoy listening to our own podcast. So here are some of my favorite entirely horror-themed episodes which get a little zany and may remind you of a horror-themed radio morning show. Even when we have an organized agenda, meta-geeky bonkers conversational tangents abound. Silly listener questions are answered (sort of) and we’ll typically relate to numerous films not featured in the episode’s title or topic.
Episode 26 (A Creep In Italy) “The New Wave of Horror.” This week the MFF crew discusses the recent horror releases Creep and Spring, the best punchers of film, and our feelings about the upcoming Christmas horror Krampus.
Episode 22 (The Horror List) “What is the Best Horror Film of the 21st Century?” MFF founder Mark combined data from Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and IMDB for 160 films to answer this question.
Episode 20 (Crossbows and Tentacles) “Developing the Perfect Horror Film”…We combined ten categories (Villain, Method of Killing, Harbinger, Hero, Setting, Skeptic, Victim, Twist, Ending, Sidekicks) and broke them down in order to create something glorious.
Episode 15 (Podcast of the Dead) “The George A. Romero Zombie Special”… This week the MFF crew discusses George A. Romero’s zombie filmography, cultural impacts of progressive casting and social commentary, undead eating habits and a zombie origin involving blueberry pie and space yeast. Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead are discussed in depth, followed by brief assessments of Romero’s subsequent zombie films.
Episode 11 (Sexually Transmitted Demon) “Exploitation or Art?” This week the MFF crew discuss their favorite in-theater movie experiences, dissect the “rules of the ghost” from It Follows and assess the “art vs. exploitation” of The Human Centipede franchise.
#2 Crash Palace Productions @crashpalace is a horror academic who tackles horror in traditional, often themed discussions. The podcast is very tame (in my opinion), but very interesting.
THE LAST KNOCK presents: Horror Getaways
THE LAST KNOCK presents: IT FOLLOWS (2015)
THE LAST KNOCK presents: Hodgepodge Horror VI
THE LAST KNOCK presents: Aqua Horror
THE LAST KNOCK presents: Horror Home Invasion
#3 Faculty of Horror @FacultyofHorror @necromandrea and @ScareAlex are two well-educated women who smartly offer the female perspective to the boys’ club of horror/film podcasting, whether discussing tropes, characters, stories or eating disorders. 😉 Their style comprises discussions of 2-3 films per episode. So listen and enjoy. You’ll probably learn something.
Episode 25. I Thought There’d Be Stars: The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Episode 29. Jesus Wept: Hellraiser (1987) and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Episode 28. Horrorwood: The Haunting (1999) and World War Z (2013)
Episode 20. “It’s Very Hard To Get Lost In America These Days”: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Episode 19. Devoured: Eating Disorders in Black Swan (2010) and Drag Me To Hell (2009)
#4 Dead as Hell @DeadAsHellHP offers a horror podcast show of varied content and a host with an engaging personality who isn’t afraid to share his opinion even when he knows everyone will disagree. Almost every episode features discussions of at least one movie and with a slew of guest speakers (some recurring in many episodes, others in just a few, some being authors themselves), but we also enjoy snippets of current movie news/rumors, horror comic and anime reviews, and book reviews (called “Paper Cuts”) which are often linked to some of the films discussed.
ABCs of Death I & II, Paper Cuts: Pet Sematary
Dead as Hell Scarlet Gospels Hellraiser Special Part I
A Serbian Film (2010) & Martyrs (2008)
#5 How Did That Get Made @HDTGM @Earwolf @PaulScheer and @MsJuneDiane probably require no introduction. These comedians have a well-established platform in which they discuss one movie per episode to ridiculous detail. Few of their episodes deal with horror, but all of their rather explicit episodes deal with hilarity.
#74 Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Movies, Films & Flix 