Best Horror Film of 1998 (part 29 of a series)

Sorry to be so unimaginative, but The Ring's one of only about three horror films I've seen in the last decade, and it did terrify me.

Bride of Chucky.

No need to apologize, I think The Ring is great.

BTW, in can't remember which one of you guys is friends w/Jason Zinoman, but that Shock Value book is highly entertaining and totally awesome.

Zinoman really does a great job illustrating how outside influences affected major works of the time esp. how people like Friedkin and Polanski were informed by British playwrights like Beckett and how it reinvigorated the genre.

i.e. the frightening things in life aren't guys in masks, but the ambiguity of life in general.

THE FACULTY

Is that the big US Godzilla? I shake my head at you, America.

This is quite easily between Ring and Last Broadcast, but I'm honestly not sure which one to go for.

would love to challop this but it just kinda has to be the ring, although i have a v fond spot in my heart for the faculty.

yeah as we get into the j-horror years those films are gonna dominate, 97=cure, 98=ring, 99=audition

ha well audition wont be a winner if i have anything to say about it.

kinda suspect you will be in the minority there

oh no, i know that, but i will do what i can

start a grassroots campaign for BATS

hahaha ok as i thought about it theres a pretty serious elephant in the room contender for 1999

Bride of Chucky all the way.

wait hahaha is the beloved in this poll the toni morrison beloved?

i mean yeah there is a ghost and stuff but uh

ughhhhhhhh

Bride of Chucky - who doesn't love this zany Ronny Yu-helmed oddity? only people who hate fun, that's who. too lightweight for BHF honors, but the water-bed massacre scene alone earns it a place in horror history.
Bug Buster - only seen this because it was foisted on the Japanese as THE ABERRATION 2. wanted more lizards, got a tame tele-horror about roaches. blah.
Carnival of Souls - shouldn't exist.
Psycho - ... nor should this.
Chinese Torture Chamber Story 2 - exactly what it says. as good (and nasty) as the first, but neither is great.
Phantasm IV: Oblivion - Coscarelli continues to do it His Way. for better or for worse.
The Phantom of the Opera - somewhat confused Leroux version. the slash-happiest Phantom yet - thanks to a ceaselessly mugging Robert Englund. not ... good. but i can't be too critical of any film that stars Jill Schoelen. it's an '80s thing.
Phantoms - ok i guess Koontz adaptation. is there any other kind. some interest in woefully miscast Ben Affleck. and Rose McGowan never looked hotter. aw, hell. i've watched this a dozen times, will no doubt watch it a dozen more. fun flick.
Progeny - horrific sci-fi that dwells on the gorier aspects of "missing time." recall being more bored than repulsed. Yuzna (d) + Gordon (wr) + Screaming Mad George (fx), so i might have to revisit.
The Quiet Family - the S. Korean inspiration for Miike's batshit KATAKURIS. no Claymation, no song-and-dance numbers, but a truly fantastic movie. "horror" is a stretch. only reason my vote might go elsewhere.
Razor Blade Smile - Jake West's first is a camp vamp vs. gangsters romp. it's ok, if you're feeling undemanding. he's gotten better; Eileen Daly still can't act.
Shadow Builder - rather neat adaptation of an obscure Bram Stoker story. modest but entertaining, with some good performances (Rooker) and original ideas. hasn't a chance against RINGU. might still get my vote.
Sun faa sau si - Johnnie To's MAD DETECTIVE. police thriller with supernatural elements, and an excellent film. but very much not horror, so not today.
Tale of the Mummy - Russell Mulcahey's Mummy. only seen the studio edit, which is a mess. have heard the director's preferred cut - TALOS - is 30 min longer and considerably more satisfying. 30 minutes!
Terror Firmer - enough of the shit Kaufmann throws at the walls (oft. literally) sticks. POULTRYGEIST is even better, though, and a lot more ambitious. it's a musical!
Trance - more genre-type subversion from Michael (NADJA) Almereyda. American family threatened by a Mummy, unearthed from an Irish bog, the wife's alcoholism, and Christopher Walken . i like this one
Vampires - is it great? no. but Carpenter turned Steakley's trash-pulp "Vampire$" into something watchable. give him some credit.
Watchers Reborn - 2 was a remake of 1, albeit more faithful to Koontz. this is just a cheap and blatant remake of PREDATOR, inexplicably. don't even remember if the dog is featured.
The X Files - ?! wuzzis? the series?
Yeogo goedam - the first WHISPERING CORRIDORS movie. earnest but boring. 5,000,000 South Koreans CAN be wrong.
Yuk po tuen III goon yan ngoh yiu - third film in the SEX & ZEN series. exotic erotica, with ghosts. not horror.

need to see The Wolves of Kromer...

Zinoman is my bud. I'll be sure to send him your love.

Wow, Sphere, Godzilla and Species II ("don't mate on the first date!") all the same year. Psycho and Halloween reboots. The Faculty and more Kevin WIlliamson. Yuck.

The book really is great!

Everyone gets that this Ring is the Japanese original Ringu, right?--I was confused for a minute. I actually reviewed and enjoyed Bride of Chucky, my vote. The Faculty was decent but I remember it being somewhat anticlimactic.

Wait, I missed Blade!--that was fun. The X-Files and Beloved were duds IMO, whether or not they're horror movies.

Razor Blade Smile slightly edging out Bride of Chucky. Thought Ringu was middling.

RBS? rly?

It's fun. Sometimes that's enough.

Fun, utterly undistinguished, potato, potahto.

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