This was established by SummerIsle for Horrorthon 2004. I say this because I wouldn't give all of his examples the same rating.
***** -- A horror masterpiece. Absolutely essential viewing. (Wickerman, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, The Ring, JU-ON, Dawn of the Dead, Let the Right One In, Martyrs)
****1/2 -- Brilliant (Exorcist, the Shining, Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Suspiria, The Others, Inner Senses, The Eye, Kairo )
**** -- Excellent (The Craft, Phantasm, Poltergeist, Evil Dead II, Race with the Devil, The Orphanage)
***1/2 -- Great, fun, worth watching (Halloween 2, Candyman, Elm St.1, Friday the 13th 4, Return of the Living Dead, Elm St. 3, The Omen, Trick R Treat )
*** -- Good, watchable, no real surprises though (Blair Witch 2, Friday the 13th part VI, Elm St.2 and 4, Slither )
**1/2 -- No big deal if you miss it, barely adequate (I Know What you did Last Summer, Bride of Chucky)
** -- Pretty lame (Scream 3, Leprechaun, Pumpkinhead, Motel Hell, Gothika)
*1/2 -- Really bad (Martin, Last House on the Left(original))
* -- God-awful, virtually unwatchable - save for the absolute bottom (Shocker, Return to Horror High)
ZERO STARS: Not a rating to throw around, but some movies make you envy Helen Keller. (Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Return to Salem's Lot)
5 comments:
Two stars for Pumpkin head! It's a freakin' crime. I think I'd rate Martin higher, too.
Yeah, this rating system was really difficult to establish. We should update it with some newer entries. I'd add Living Hell and add it near the top.
I disagree with a lot of those examples too and I wrote them! I say ditch the examples.
Well geez, you need some examples. How else can we gauge the quality of a film? Perhaps we need different scales for different sub-genres? We could have a scale for zombies, serial killers, devil worship, etc.
Why I didn't give the Shining ***** is beyond me...
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