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Kim Hollis: With regards to our new horror list, what do you like about it? What grievances do you have? What omissions do you consider the most noteworthy?

Josh Spiegel: As I said in the discussion about the annual horror-movie franchise, I'm not a big horror movie fan, so the list we created is more about movies I either haven't seen or don't like simply because they disgust me. The few films on the list that I've seen and enjoy, I'm happy to have helped represent them and seen them be represented by other folks on the site. I'm sure my colleagues will point out noteworthy omissions, but as my list would be demonstrably smaller, I can't answer too honestly.

Brett Beach: I can understand the trepidation of the "old-timers" at BOP about adding an update to their most prized article. You don't want to cheapen the integrity of such a piece with an unnecessary part two. I think eight years is a fair amount of time to wait and this was borne out by the quality and depth of the choices that wound up in the top 25, as well as the fact that the #1 film (and a few others) were from just a few months after the cut-off of the original poll. They have had enough time pass to see the initial positive reception hold up to history.

Some may quibble over the definition of horror (i.e. none) that was used in allowing us to make our choices, but due to that freedom, I am not really bummed about the five on my list that didn't make it. To briefly address both those points: I put Final Destination 2 at #3 in my personal top 10, but also chose it as one of my favorite American comedies of the last 10 years (along with Wet Hot American Summer) in my self-penned list of the best films of the '00s. It's all relative.

If our list leads people to consider films they normally wouldn't or makes them aware of films of which they didn't have prior knowledge, then it's a job well done.





Max Braden: Movies on the list that I thought were great:
1408 - Because for an excruciatingly long time, nothing jumps out when you expect it to. That's great suspense building.
Sweeney Todd - Because the musical performances are superior to the Broadway recordings. (But for horror? It's pretty tame, on par with a regular episode of a prime time crime procedural.)
Zombieland - Because of Bill Murray, because of the character Tallahassee, because of the rules and that clown, but most of all because of Emma Stone.
Shaun of the Dead - Because amid all the absurdly funny horror, there's a moment of genuine sincerity in facing the zombie version of someone you love that most other horror movies try to deliver with sweeping music but are obviously trying to jerk tears.

The one movie on the list I most disagree with:
Dawn of the Dead - Because it's over-the-top gore for the sake of it shock value. Zombie baby? Seriously? That ruined everything positive about the movie.

Some movies that didn't make it on the list but deserve checking out:
I can't remember if I've seen 28 Days Later, but the only Later movie that comes to mind is 28 Weeks Later, and for my money that's the film that deserves to be number one on the list. 28 Weeks Later is absolutely *relentless* and *uncompromising* and those descriptors can't be stressed enough. Also recommended: Carriers, Severance, and two scenes in The Village that genuinely tap into the fear of monsters in the woods.

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