10. The Amityville Horror (Original and Remake)

9. Pulse (Kairo)

8. Beetlejuice

7. The Entity 

6. Ringu

5. Shutter

4. Thir13een Ghosts

3. Candyman

2. Sixth Sense

1. Poltergeist 

10. (TIE) The Amityville Horror (Remake)

Released

2005

Credits

Director: Andrew Douglas 

Screenplay: Scott Kosar 

Novel: Jay Anson 

Cast

Ryan Reynolds (George Lutz)

Melissa George (Kathy Lutz)

Jesse James (Billy Lutz)

Jimmy Benett (Michael Lutz)

Chloe Grace Moretz (Chelsea Lutz)

Box Office 

Budget: $19,000,000

Gross: $65,000,000

Critical

6.0/10 (IMDB)

24% (RT Critics)

52% (RT Audience)

tied with

The Amityville Horror (Original)

Released 

1979

Credits

Director: Stuart Rosenburg

Screenplay: Sandor Stern

Novel: Jay Anson

Cast

James Brolin (George Lutz)

Margot Kidder (Kathy Lutz)

Rod Steigher (Father Delaney)

Don Stroud (Father Bolen)

Murray Hamilton (Father Ryan)

John Larch (Father Nunzio)

Box Office

Budget: $4,700,000

Gross: $86,000,000

Critical

6.2/10 (IMDB)

30% (RT Critics)

52% (RT Audience)

Normally we don't do ties on The Top Ten , but I made an exception since me and SM voted for the original and the remake and they happened to end up with the same amount of points. I couldn't think of a fair way to decide and it made sense for it to just be a tie.

Anyways my vote was for the remake because I'm a Ryan Reynolds fanboy and think he was awesome in this role , cheesy and Reynolds-y but still a lot of fun to watch him chew up the scenery while still bringing his charisma to what should be a really dark role. He has some GREAT lines in this movie akin to Jack Nicholson in The Shining. I also love Melissa George and a young Chloe Grace Moretz is in this movie - a really good cast.

It's uncanny how similarly these movies did both box office wise and critically. Both made money , though I was fucking astonished at how incredible the original did. Those kind of margins in the late 70's is incredible and really a feat for any movie. Critics clearly hated both these movies but people clearly wanted to see them. Yeah though it's not often that originals and remakes are so alike in everything.

If you haven't seen either of these and like ghostly movies , I'd suggest checking them out.

I like the remake well enough, but just prefer the original.

The Amityville Horror is the one haunted house film I don't enjoy that much. I'm not sure why. It just never clicked with me. That said, I've only seen the original.

Oct 26, 2017 19:57:25 GMT Emperor said:

The Amityville Horror is the one haunted house film I don't enjoy that much. I'm not sure why. It just never clicked with me. That said, I've only seen the original.

If you like Ryan Reynolds at all I would try the remake. The original never clicked with me either but there is something in Reynolds performance and just how odd it was that really made me enjoy the movie more. 

9. Pulse (Kairo)

Released

2001 

Credits

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Cast

Haruhiko Katô (Ryosuke Kawashima)

Kumiko Aso (Michi Kudo)

Koyuki (Harue Karasawa)

Kurume Arisaka (Junko Sasano)

Box Office

6.6/10 (IMDB)

74% (RT Critics)

60% (RT Audience)

8. Beetlejuice

Released 

1988

Credits

Director: Tim Burton

Story Writer: Michael McDowell

Story Writer: Larry Wilson

Cast 

Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice)

Alec Baldwin (Adam Maitland)

Geena Davis (Barbara Maitland)

Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz)

Catherine O'Hara (Delia Deetz)

Jeffrey Jones (Charlies Deetz)

Box Office

Budget: $15,000,000

Gross: $74,000,000

Critical

7.5/10 (IMDB)

82% (RT Critics)

82% (RT Audience)

Firstly , damn you Emperor. It took me forever on IMDB to find Kairo because it kept bringing me to Pulse and I was like NO STOP IT - until I realized it was a different working title. I should have known but I haven't had much caffeine today and my mind clearly wasn't working. I look forward to hear you talk about it though , I seen there was a 2006 remake with Kristen Bell but it got awful reviews - which I never know how to take when it comes to movies like this.

Beetlejuice though didn't even cross my mind until I was doing some research to make sure I didn't forget anything , not because I didn't like it but because it didn't jump to my mind as a ghost movie which it clearly 100% is so it ended up making it around #7 on my list.

You have Keaton chewing up scenery in what is his best role in my opinion , the rest of the cast is stellar as well but Keaton hamming it up as an over the top , crude weird ghost zombie is what really makes the movie stand out. I don't know that anyone else at that time could of pulled off the same things Keaton did to elevate that movie from solid to all time classic.

The rest of the cast deserves props too , Jeffrey Jones is a guy who was seemingly in everything during that era and it good in this movie. Katherine O'Hara is the perfect neurotic in this movie just as she is in Home Alone and this is a role seemingly made for 1988 Winona Ryder. I also love the old chain smoking lady who is like the leader of the dead world.

And Otho is a great character scene. That Day-Oh scene is great on every rewatch.

The original Kairo is referred to in English as both Circuit and Pulse. The latter being title of the American remake. There are many bad horror remakes out there, particularly Western remakes of Asian films, but Pulse is by far the worst. Not only is it just a plain bad film, but it completely fails to capture the tone of the original. Somehow it spawned two sequels.

Kairo was my favourite horror film for a long time, but a recent viewing with a friend has opened my eyes to some of its flaws (although it's still in my top 5). It's hard to put into words why I like Kairo so much. Part of it is its original presentation. Kiyoshi Kurosawa has a very unique way of telling stories. I don't particularly like his prior films Cure and Charisma, they were a bit too...unconventional for lack of a better term, but Kairo hit the sweet spot even though it's just as unconventional. When I watch the film there's an almost constant feeling of foreboding, dread, creepiness. The scenes are deliberately grey, grainy and lifeless, which coordinates well with the main themes of the film: depression and loneliness. It means you share the helpless and isolated feeling of the main characters, that bad, scary things are happening and there's nothing they (you) can do about it.

The plot is deliberately vague, a lot vaguer than most of the deliberately opaque films I've seen. Nobody knows the cause of what's going on, and while the characters offer some guesses, they are just that: guesses. I suppose it's time I explain what exactly is going on in Kairo. Many of its citizens are inexplicably entering a state of intense depression, then killing themselves after a few days. Some kill themselves violently. Others seem to fade into a black substance. There's an internet virus that cycles through feeds of people in this state, but there are no obvious cameras that could be filming these people. There are also people who tape around doors with red tape. Characters who enter such doors experience terrible things. These things ought to be connected, but it's not clear how and why. The main theory presented is that the spirit world is too full because of the millions of human beings that have died over the years, and now the spirits are leaking into the real world and causing this mayhem. There is no grand finale. The two main characters flee the eerily empty Tokyo on a boat containing a few survivors, and that's that. No questions are answered. It just ends.

I can see that ending being off-putting to a lot of people, but yet others might not reach the ending. The film is two hours long, very long by horror standards, and admittedly it's not very interesting. The plot moves very slowly, there's a lot of dialogue and scenes that don't have much relevance, so it can be a drag. Not a lot to keep the viewer motivated to see it through to the end, especially since it's a pretty depressing film. Furthermore, there are very few intense scenes. There's maybe three or four scary/blood-pumping scenes in the whole film. Two of them are among the scariest scenes I've ever seen, but you need to be absorbed in the atmosphere of the film for them to have any effect. But these scenes are spread apart so much that people may tune out long before reaching them.

To summarise: awesome film, but not the most accessible.

EDIT: I ought to mention that the film does contain ghosts. Not too many, but enough to classify it as a ghost movie. It doesn't really fit under any other category.

7. The Entity 

Released

1982

Credits

Director: Sidney J. Furie

Writer: Frank De Felitta 

Cast

Barbara Hershey (Carla Moran)

Ron Silver (Phil Sneidermann)

David Labiosa (Billy)

George Coe (Dr. Weber)

Margaret Blye (Cindy Nash)

Box Office 

Budget: $9,000,000

Gross: $13,000,000

Critical

6.6/10 (IMDB)

86% (RT Critics)

60% (RT Audience)

6. Ringu

Released 

1998

Credits

Director: Hideo Nakata

Screenplay: Hiroshi Takahashi

Novel: Koji Suzuki

Cast

Nanako Matsushima (Reiko Asakawa)

Miki Nakatani (Mai Takano)

Yûko Takeuchi (Tomoko Ôishi)

Hitomi Sato (Masami)

Critical

7.3/10 (IMDB)

97% (RT Critics)

80% (RT Audience)

I've never seen either of these movies , never even heard of The Entity which is weird. The synopsis sounds like it would be a twisted movie so I'll let Emperor expand if he wants.

I have seen the American remake of Ringu in The Ring and don't really love it. Aside from the iconic scene of Samara crawling out from the television I don't even think the movie gave me that many chills - it was fine but I don't ever need to see it again.

Both these movies seem more artsy too , with the critics being much higher on them than the general audience.

I imagine The Entity caused quite a stir in the early 80s. A woman is repeatedly attacked and raped by an "entity". A completely invisible creature with physical form. The fact that the assailant was invisible likely gave the director a bit more freedom of expression. There are many disturbing and graphic scenes of the woman being attacked, with emphasis on the sexual nature, the invisible fingers touching her in various ways. Not much is left to the imagination. One rape scene takes place in front of her three children, something probably unheard of at the time. The premise is not only horrifying from a physical standpoint, but from a psychological one. How can you stop an invisible assailant who can attack you in seemingly any place, or even explain it to someone who hasn't witnessed it for himself? These concepts are thoroughly explored in the film, which puts it a step above the average ghost/haunting film. It all builds up to a shocking conclusion, which is somewhat dampened by the poor special effects of the time. One of the most original ghost stories I've ever seen, and a very successful realisation.

Ringu is the film that kicked off the boom in Japanese ghost films. Sadako (Samara in the US version) has been ripped off countless times in Asian horror movies. It's an iconic film, and one of the best horror films I've seen. UT, you do yourself a disservice by only watching American versions of films. While The Ring is a good film and a good remake, it's still fairly tame compared to the original. Not that the Japanese version is particularly terrifying, but I think it tells the story in a creepier and more organic way.

Oct 28, 2017 21:46:59 GMT Emperor said:

I imagine The Entity caused quite a stir in the early 80s. A woman is repeatedly attacked and raped by an "entity". A completely invisible creature with physical form. The fact that the assailant was invisible likely gave the director a bit more freedom of expression. There are many disturbing and graphic scenes of the woman being attacked, with emphasis on the sexual nature, the invisible fingers touching her in various ways. Not much is left to the imagination. One rape scene takes place in front of her three children, something probably unheard of at the time. The premise is not only horrifying from a physical standpoint, but from a psychological one. How can you stop an invisible assailant who can attack you in seemingly any place, or even explain it to someone who hasn't witnessed it for himself? These concepts are thoroughly explored in the film, which puts it a step above the average ghost/haunting film. It all builds up to a shocking conclusion, which is somewhat dampened by the poor special effects of the time. One of the most original ghost stories I've ever seen, and a very successful realisation.

Ringu is the film that kicked off the boom in Japanese ghost films. Sadako (Samara in the US version) has been ripped off countless times in Asian horror movies. It's an iconic film, and one of the best horror films I've seen. UT, you do yourself a disservice by only watching American versions of films. While The Ring is a good film and a good remake, it's still fairly tame compared to the original. Not that the Japanese version is particularly terrifying, but I think it tells the story in a creepier and more organic way.

I think I'm going to have to check The Entity out , sounds pretty good. I don't know how crazy it was for 1982 because I wasn't alive then and I haven't seen it but Carpenter pushed some boundaries as did Sleepaway Camp the very next year. Also did the original Hills Have Eyes have the rape scene , I can't remember. 

As for the disservice , I just can't. I've tried to broaden my horizons in the past and give some of the highest rated foreign films a chance but I just can't get into them in the same way I can American films. It's as simple as the fact that I hate subtitles , also I have a harder time connecting with the characters. I've decided it's just not for me and while I respect the films they inspire I will never enjoy them the same as anyone else. 

Was thinking about putting a list together for this one but I couldn't think of many Ghost themed movies that I liked. Now that the results are coming in I'm reminded of some good ones, Amityville Horror movies were fun classics, I didn't mind the remake I thought it was decent. Beetlejuice is also a damn good time.

5. Shutter

Released 

2004

Credits

Director:  Banjong Pisanthanakun

Director: Parkpoom Wongpoom

Writer:  Banjong Pisanthanakun

Writer:  Sophon Sakdaphisit

Cast

Ananda Everingham (Tun)

Natthaweeranuch Thongmee (Jane)

Achita Sikamana (Natre)

Unnop Chanpaibool (Tonn)

Critical

7.1/10 (IMDB)

56% (RT Critics)

78% (RT Audience)

4. Thir13een Ghosts

Released 

2001 

Credits

Director: Steve Beck 

Story: Robb White

Screenplay: Neal Marshall Stevens 

Cast

Tony Shalhoub (Arthur Kriticos)

Embeth Davidtz (Kalina Oretzia)

Matthew Lillard (Dennis Rafkin)

Shannon Elizabeth (Kathy Kriticos)

F. Murray Abraham (Cyrus Kriticos)

Box Office

Budget: $42,000,000

Gross: $41,000,000

Critical

5.6/10 (IMDB)

14% (RT Critics)

48% (RT Audience)

I love Thirteen Ghosts so much , it's not masterpiece by any means but to me it's just a perfectly awesome ghost movie and a fun premise that allowed for some cool as hell looking ghosts and effects.

Matthew Lillard chewing up scenery in a horror movie is something I will watch all day , every day , the guy was incredible during that era. Shannon Elizabeth being hot , Tony Shaloub in the only role I actually have enjoyed him in.

I just love that it's almost like a video game and they did it right. I know I'm totally in the minority with this movie though.

Never heard of Thirteen Ghosts. I see it ripped off the (bad) gimmick from Se7en of having numbers replace letters in the title. Not heard of any of those actors either.

Shutter is a Thai horror film I've known about for many years. I loved it when I first watched it, but on a recent rewatch I loved it even more, to the point where it topped my list and is now probably my favourite horror movie. On the surface it's a fairly standard ghost story that doesn't stand out from the pack. Man experiences weird things, such as spectral apparitions in his photographs, they slowly try to unravel an explanation, scary things happen. However there's a second layer to the story that doesn't reveal itself until quite late in the film relating to the origin of the weird ghostly occurrences. This origin is something very horrific that happened in the real world. Of course this isn't the first film to have a vengeful ghost arise from a tragic incident, but the way Shutter tells the story is very powerful and horrifying. Then there's the final twist at the very end of the film, one of my favourite twists of all time.

I realise that most of the films on my list are Asian films. I don't think this is just because I have a bias towards Asian cinema. I honestly think that Asian ghost movies are just better than Western ones. Might be something to do with the culture, or the fact that the ghost stories of Japanese folklore are very different from Western ghost stories. In the West ghosts are vague apparations of dead people that don't do much other than appear for a brief moment to some unsuspecting person. In Asia (or at least Japan) they are far more malevolent. They have physical form and look just like humans, but with the ability to teleport and shapeshift. They also generally exist for a specific purpose, seeking vengeance for some terrible crime.

Oct 29, 2017 21:43:59 GMT Emperor said:

Never heard of Thirteen Ghosts. I see it ripped off the (bad) gimmick from Se7en of having numbers replace letters in the title. Not heard of any of those actors either.

Aside from the number gimmick , Thirteen Ghosts and Seven couldn't be more opposite. Thirteen Ghosts don't take itself nearly as serious and is more of a popcorn flick that I would definitely at least check out. It's only 90 minutes as movies of it's ilk should be , and it's 90 minutes of a good time. I'd actually be curious to see what you thought of it. 

The cast is a notable enough one. 

Matthew Lillard - You'd know him as Stu from Scream , one of my favorite horror characters/killers ever. He's also Shaggy from the Scooby Doo movies and as I understand it he's had a resurgence in the recent reboot of Twin Peaks. 

Shannon Elizabeth - Not a great actress by any means , most notable being her performances as Nadia from the American Pie movies. 

Tony Shaloub - TV's Monk is far and away his most notable role. I disliked that show though. He's fine in this though. 

Really meant to get a list in for this, but was in the middle of a move, now things are good and settled (just some finishing touches for some random riff raff), I'll get on the next one.

3. Candyman 

Released 

1992

Credits

Director: Bernard Rose 

Writer: Clive Barker 

Novel: Bernard Rose 

Cast

Virginia Madsen (Helen Lyle)

Tony Todd (The Candyman)

Xander Berkley (Trevor Lyle)

Kasi Lemmons (Bernie Walsh)

Vanessa Williams (Anne-Marie McCoy)

Box Office

Budget: $6,000,000

Gross: $25,000,000

Critical

6.6/10 (IMDB)

70% (RT Critics)

61% (RT Audience)

Candyman is another one that didn't immediately cross my mind as a ghost movie but it definitely qualifies and made it towards the end of my list based on the fact that it was one of the scariest movies I can remember as a kid. I think it took me three times to even watch it to the end as a youngster and it doesn't get any easier.

It's a legitimately scary movie and that rides a lot on the fact that Tony Todd was absolutely born to play the role of Candyman and to this day remains one of the most omninous figures in horror.

I might of been 15 years old before I had the guts to say his name into a mirror , and I was still a little nervous about what might happen. Lol.

Candyman made my list. One of the scarier movies as a kid watching it. Haven’t seen it in years though.

I only watched Candyman once. With a friend. I was probably around 20 years old. We were both drunk, and we both thought it was kinda stupid. A good example of why horror films should be watched alone.

Oct 30, 2017 23:13:32 GMT Emperor said:

I only watched Candyman once. With a friend. I was probably around 20 years old. We were both drunk, and we both thought it was kinda stupid. A good example of why horror films should be watched alone.

Also probably not drunk , alcohol relaxes the nerves and makes it a lot harder to be scared. I don't know if watching it again would help , I'm sure the fact I watched it at a young age was part of the reason I got scared. Although I know a lot of adults today who think the movie is one of the scariest they've seen. 

HEEEEEEELEEEEEEEEEEEN. 

2. Sixth Sense 

Released

1999

Credits

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan 

Cast 

Bruce Willis (Dr. Malcolm Crowe)

Haley Joel Osment (Cole Sear)

Toni Collette (Lynn Sear)

Olivia Williams (Anna Crowe)

Donnie Wahlberg (Vincent Gray)

Box Office

Budget: $40,000,000

Gross: $293,000,000

Critical

8.1/10 (IMDB)

85% (RT Critics)

90% (RT Audience)

I've only seen Sixth Sense like twice , but it was still enough for it to make the bottom half of my list. It's really a beautiful movie , M. Night's best work by far IMO and got great performances out of Bruce Willis and Haley Joel.

I seen it in the theatre for the first time at 13 (I think) and remember my mind being blown by the twist. I wasn't expecting anything and hadn't been told ahead of time of some great twist so I vividly remember the "ohhh shit DUH" moment when it was revealed. Watching it a second time is almost like watching a different movie because you know going in , I don't know if it's better or worse , it's just different which is really cool when a movie can change so much based on the fact you seen it once.

Other than that - "I see dead people" is one of the most iconic quotes of all time , especially apart from a franchise. And this is the first time I remember "spoiler alerts" being a thing.

I didn't even consider The Sixth Sense. All I had in mind was horror movies and I don't consider it to be a horror movie. It's clearly a ghost film though. That said, I never watched it before knowing about the twist so my experience of the film will always be tainted. Still, very good film. It would have made the lower half of my list had I thought of it.

It's pretty clear to me what #1 is going to be. Probably the only film on my list that is also on UT's and/or SM's list :lol: