We weigh in on your top ten
“Lock the doors and board the windows!”
“Here they come!”
We’ve heard such caveats barked before by people holed up in tight quarters. Low on supplies. Survival instincts heightened. Surrounded by something. They’re an integral part of the cinematic “siege” formula which has crossed genres and endured decades. And why not? The elements of this familiar narrative device are often cost effective for filmmakers and yields high suspense. One need only take a single setting (house, hospital, bar, etc.) into which they drop a handful of characters who are up against an external menace. The risks are amplified when you give those trying to fight back little to defend themselves with. And the more disparate the personalities indoors are, the greater the conflict. For ShockTillYouDrop.com’s first featured readers poll, we asked you to vote for your favorite horror film that makes the most of its siege scenario. Here, finally, are the results:
1.) Aliens (dir. James Cameron, 1986): Marines, with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in tow, arrive on planet LV-426 and take on space’s most bad-ass bugs. What’s there to say that hasn’t been said? There’s a reason this tops the list. It’s go intense, strikingly-choreographed action, claustrophobia and a hive of xenomorphs brilliantly executed by Stan Winston and his team. Cameron moves his siege-like set pieces all over the map for maximum freshness.
Votes: 884
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: M41-A Pulse Rifle.
2. ) Night of the Living Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 1968): A random group of Pennsylvania residents find shelter in a farmhouse surrounded by the undead. This is definitely a granddaddy of siege cinema. Screw the zombies, Romero ratchets the friction between Ben and Harry Cooper into overdrive making this a perfect example of that aforementioned internal/external conflict.
Votes: 726
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: A gun.
3.) From Dusk Till Dawn (dir. Robert Rodriguez, 1996): Criminals Seth and Ritchie Gecko (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, respectively) have held a family hostage and their backs against the wall when vampires attack a Mexican biker/trucker bar. The “siege” in this genre mash-up doesn’t truly begin until about halfway through, but when it kicks in KNB monsters run rampant and the bodily fluids fly.
Votes: 550
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: Balloon or super-soaker filled with holy water.
4.) The Mist (dir. Frank Darabont, 2007): Following a violent storm, a mysterious mist blows through a Maine town bringing with it Lovecraftian beasties that trap a supermarket full of terrified, some religious, locals. And, once again, it’s the threat within that is so deftly executed here. You betcha, the monsters are cool and all – look out for those f**kin’ spiders – but Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) is pure venom. The ending did nothing to deter you, dear reader, from putting this in the top five. You sick screws must like dead kids.
Votes: 399
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: Hairspray/lighter combo.
5.) Dog Soldiers (dir. Neil Marshall, 2002): British soldiers. A farmhouse. Lycanthropes. Through the eyes of Neil Marshall – making his feature debut – it’s a testosterone-laced motley brew of guts, grunts, brawn, quips and scowling. Add to that practical, man-in-suit werewolves (yes!) and you’ve got an entertaining action-horror hybrid that makes you wonder why the hell this wasn’t done sooner.
Votes: 198
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: Anything in the kitchen, including a frying pan.
6.) Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (dir. Ernest Dickerson, 1995): A drifter (William Sadler) with stars tattooed on his hand and the blood of Jesus Christ in a trinket intrudes on the lives of a bunch of people staying in a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, this dude has a minion from hell (Billy Zane) and a clan of demons born from green blood after him. As the first feature film sprung from HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, it’s much better than it has any right to be. Yet it’s bolstered by a good ensemble cast (with Dick Miller!), a hyper-stylized look (Dickerson has a background in cinematography) and a killer performance by Billy Zane.
Votes: 172
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: A machete.
7.) Feast (dir. John Gulager, 2005): In a bar out in the middle of nowhere a colorful group of patrons spend the night fighting off monsters that want to do nothing but eat and f**k. This wild and wooly contribution to the “siege” sub-genre wears its low budget roots on its bloody sleeve. What makes it stand out is its complete disregard for who it might offend. That, and the madcap antics Gulager and screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton concoct. Goofy fun.
Votes: 163
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: “Fisting” a beast’s throat seems to do the trick.
8.) Demons (dir. Lamberto Bava, 1985): Moviegoers barricade themselves from other demon-possessed moviegoers in a theater. This slice of Italian cinema is a bit of a switch up from the normal “siege” structure. Here, the threat is already in the building and it’s set to the tunes of Motley Crue, Accept, Billy Idol and Claudio Simonetti. Rock.
Votes: 112
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: A pimp’s knife. But only a pimp’s.
9.) Critters (dir. Stephen Herek, 1986): Billy Zane racks up another film on the list. He doesn’t fare too well in this film, however, and suffers at the teeth of voracious outlaw furballs who land on earth and target a nice family. A Gremlins rip-off that holds it own and elicits a few decent laughs.
Votes: 98
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: A slingshot.
10.) Prince of Darkness (dir. John Carpenter, 1987): I’m not even going to begin to explain Carpenter’s dense plot, but you’ve got a church, a cylinder with swirling green funk (Satan?!) and physics students working out a mystery in a church while being surrounded by homeless people led by Alice f**kin’ Cooper. It’s convoluted and downright eerie. The gal who gets preggers is disgusting. The “radiologist with the glasses” looks sorta like Andrea from Beverly Hills 90210 on PCP. And it packs a wallop of an ending.
Votes: 84
Weapon of choice in a tight spot: A fire axe. But it has to be thrown by a fragile Donald Pleasance.
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
