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The 5 ‘Psycho’ Films From Worst To Best!!!

The season finale of A&E’s “Bates Motel” airs tonight, so I figured I’d take a look back at the film that spawned it, Psycho, and the modest film franchise that followed.

Most of these movies were holding up fairly well in my memory except for Psycho 2 and Psycho 3, so I re-watched those over the weekend and was actually fairly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. When you think about it, the Psycho universe certainly has more solid installments than something like the Howling franchise, which is kind of neat. It’s just a bummer that the mythology of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel doesn’t really lend itself to much scrutiny (the minimal use of this stuff is part of what makes the original film so brilliant).

Head below for my ranking of The 5 ‘Psycho’ Films From Worst To Best!!! READ MORE

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The ‘Evil Dead’ Films Ranked From Best To Worst!!!

I wanted to start Evil Dead Month off with a bang and I figured there’d be no better way to do that than to lay my cards out on the table and rank the films in my order of preference. And I’ll say it – I fully expect some of you to hate me after this, because I make one choice that I’m sure 99% of you won’t be down with.

But it all comes from a place of love. You see, I legitimately love this series and this includes the “weaker” installments as well. When I first saw Army Of Darkness in theaters, I had no idea that it was part of a franchise (let alone the one whose Evil Dead 2 print ad scared the hell out of me whenever I opened the paper in grade school). I just went because the TV ads looked cool, and I suppose I should thank the guy at the box office now – because there’s no way my friends and I looked old enough to get in.

Needless to say we loved Army, put two and two together that it was a sequel, and rented Evil Dead 2. That was a revelation. It was like the movies we were trying to make in our backyards, full of energy, weird camera shots and an idiosyncratic tone all its own. The only difference? Evil Dead 2 was amazing and our movies were terrible! Still, I remember the high that I got from watching it. That film connected with me on a level that few films had up until that pint.

So, with that bit of history and context, head inside for my Evil Dead Rankings!!! READ MORE

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Take The Expanded Ultimate Horror Challenge!!! How Do You Rank Now?

We have heard your cries! MANY of you felt that the The Ultimate Horror Challenge wasn’t comprehensive enough! So we included an additional 20 films that round it out a bit more. Many of these are from your suggestions! But this still isn’t a list of every horror movie ever made. And it still doesn’t contain every major work of every horror auteur (there’s still no John Carpenter’s They Live or Wes Craven’s The Last House On The Left).

The next update will be the Ultimate Horror Challenge: Final Edition – where we take your best new suggestions and use them to get up to 101 films that every horror fan should see! So in addition to your ranking, let us know which films should make the cut! Should newer fan favorites like Frozen or The Devil’s Rejects be included? Should we go back and pick up a few more old-school slashers? You’re shaping the Final 20! Discuss and vote and I’ll tally it up!

There are now 81 Films listed below the jump. Each film you’ve seen earns you 1 Point. Count out how many you’ve seen and let us know which category you fall into!

1-10 Points: Soccer Mom

11-20 Points: Mildly Adventurous

21-30 Points: Casual Fan

31-40 Points: Enthusiast

41-50 Points: Hardcore

51-60 Points: Unstable

61-70 Points: Need Meds

71-80 Points: Psychopath

81 Points: Special Circle Of Hell

Head inside to take the challenge! The films are listed in no particular order. This is NOT a ranking! READ MORE

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Ranking All 12 ‘Friday The 13th’ Movies!! What’s Your Order?

I actually had the urge to put up this list immediately after my rankings of the Nightmare On Elm Street series a few weeks ago but then decided to hold off until today. After all, it’s an actual Friday The 13th and thus a far more appropriate date to commemorate the series.

What’s interesting about the Friday The 13th franchise – as opposed to A Nightmare On Elm Street – is that my personal rankings of it usually vary depending on what day you catch me. The overall shape of it remains fairly constant, but here and there certain entries have the ability to slide up or down a notch or two depending on my mood. I also don’t feel that there’s one perfect entry in the franchise. As much as I love most of these films, many of them are incredibly flawed – which is part of the charm for me and is also why I would completely understand the reasoning behind a list that was the exact opposite of mine.

With one huge exception, I tend to favor the days of pre-zombie Jason even though I have no particular stake in him being alive or undead. Maybe it’s the nostalgia factor but I find that there’s something innocent and comforting about those early days at Camp Crystal Lake. I could almost watch those movies without the kills. It also may have something to do with the fact that the characters in those latter films are coarse and even more thinly drawn than the earlier installments, which is saying something.

Anyway, head inside to see where I stand on the series! And – as always – let me know your own rankings in the comments! READ MORE