Quote from the
Best Horror Movie Ever:
"Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off. ... Come on, cat." -
Ripley, AlienYes,
Alien takes top prize! Woot! Funny thing is I didn't even vote this round. When it came down to it, I was really conflicted about which one I considered the best. From the beginning, I have been waving a banner for
The Shining, which I really do love, and consider a must-see horror movie. The acting was great (even Shelley Duvall IMO); the mood created was intense and creepy; the over-all scope is grand, and the impressions left in the mind are indelible. So why didn't I vote for it?
There is something to be said about the close quarters and isolation of space that makes the the terror of
Alien quite striking. From the facehugger and its resultant brood to the showdown with the Xenomorph, the elements come together for quite good horror. But it's more than just a creature feature. The mental distress is palpable; and the charachter interaction puts an extra edge on everything. Honestly, seeing Ash spew milk blood everywhere and speak from a detached head was just as disturbing to me as the chest-busting scene. (sorry for any spoilers, but you really should have watched these movies already

) Oh, yeah, the acting too, was excellent, even by minor characters.
So, yeah, I was undecided. In my book, these would be a tie. It turns out my vote would not have made a difference in the result anyway. If I had voted for
The Shining, I would have had to withdraw my vote to break the tie. If I had voted for
Alien, it would have won by two votes instead of one.
Overall, a great prize fight and a fantastic journey through the motion picture genre of horror. Thanks everyone for sharing your opinion and knowlegde along the way. I learned a lot and discovered some movies that I had not seen before.