I've decided not to do anymore plot rundowns, seems pointless among us horror fanatics. I'm going to have to work hard to achieve my goal of 31 films.

22. The House With Laughing Windows

One does not have to search very hard to see my championing of this film. Just take a look at my Top 25 favorite horror films list. While that list may be interchangeable depending on the day one thing is for sure, The House With Laughing Windows is likely to stay there.

I feel like this is the essential giallo film. It manages to capture the best of the genre despite being a later entry. With a mixture of mystery, thriller and horror against the rural Italian landscape, Pupi Avati has crafted an elegant horror film that defines why giallo fans are so rabid. When they're good, they're masterpieces. Avati quietly plays on human emotions rather than sheer terror or gore which is all the more resonating, at least for me. For example, when Stefano, the painter who is hired to restore a haunting fresco version of St. Sebastian, listens to an ambiguous voice on a recorder the mood becomes so heavy it can feel as if you're choking. With such a lurid title you would almost expect the film to be non stop terror or chills but Avati does exactly the opposite, expecting the viewer to absorb the subtle hints of malevolence that surround Stefano. The importance of St. Sebastian remains extremely prevalent throughout the entire run time of the film but especially so during the chaotic and bizarre finale.

The cinematography creates a dreamlike atmosphere with sinister nuances that are complimented well by the minimalistic but compelling score. Do yourself a favor and make this a double feature with Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture A Duckling.

I must have been hammered when i watched this. It bored the pants off me.

I agree about the dreamlike atmosphere because it sent me to sleep.

I can see why it might not interest some but for me the slow burn nature of the film suits it beautifully. Now with that being said I've had to banish you to my ignore list along with the others. It seems as if I'm not going to have any posts to read at this rate.:tongue1:

(This is a joke, sarcasm doesn't read very well on the internet.)

23. The Being

Martin Landau and José Ferrer ham it up in this slimy drive-in fare. Enjoyable

24. Alien

The absolute pinnacle of sci-fi horror. Brilliant in every way imaginable.

It doesn't indeed, which is why I tend to resort to an array of smilies to infer my tone... not that they are often a good substitute! ;)

Really? I don't recall there being a gloved killer going around in a Fedora, which to me is representative of a giallo. It's been a long time since I saw it though so I may be wrong!

24th - Rubber
25th - From a Whisper to a Scream
26th - The Night Child
27th - City of the Dead / Dead Scared

What did you make of Rubber, Dem?

Original, interesting, certainly quirky, full of great ideas, and superb photography, but half an hour too long.

It didn't sustain itself for me. As an episode of say, Masters of Horror, at 60 mins,i would have given it 9/10.

It did drag a little in places for me too, but I overall really enjoyed it. I still need to check out some of Dupieux's other work.