Sunday 5 October 2014

Help identify the best British horror films of the 21st century

As you may know, I have spent the past few years documenting the ‘British Horror Revival’, the unprecedented boom in horror feature production in the UK in the 21st century: in my book Urban Terrors: New British Horror Cinema, in the annual British horror round-up on my Devil’s Porridge blog, and in the reviews of new British horror films on my main website.

In the next few weeks, the number of British horror films released since January 2000 will hit 500 – and that seems a good time for a survey/poll. So I am inviting everyone I know who is involved in the British horror scene – directors, producers, writers, actors, FX/make-up artists, designers, journalists and fans – to send me their list of the ten best British horror films of the past 15 years. I will compile the results and put out a definitive top 20 for Halloween.

It’s an open poll, but to prompt your memory here is a list of 100 notable films. I would expect the final top 20 titles to be on that list but please don’t feel constrained. I had a hard time hacking the list down to 100 and many terrific films have been omitted simply because they are quite obscure. But if you saw ‘em, vote for ‘em!

Criteria for inclusion:
  • British: International co-productions are included if they have significant UK involvement and either ‘feel British’ or were marketed as British.
  • Horror: Borderline sci-fi/fantasy/thriller films are included if they were marketed as horror (eg. coverage in horror mags or screenings at horror festivals).
  • Film: Feature-length generally means at least 70 minutes. The first commercial release (theatrical, DVD or VOD in any territory – not including festivals) was after 1st January 2000.
Points to note:
  • You can vote for your own film, or a film you helped to make.
  • Feel free to disseminate this to others, but please don't solicit votes for your own film(s) as this makes the whole thing a popularity contest.
  • If you want to add brief comments about your choices which I can cite when presenting the results, go ahead.
  • As an aside, I would be interested to know how many of these hundred titles you have seen. Not a list, just the number. (I’ve seen 75.)
Please send your top ten films to mjs2000@ntlworld.com by midnight on Friday 24th October. I look forward to hearing from you. A chronological list of the almost 500 titles on my main checklist is available on request.

Update: Thanks to the fantastic folks at TheHorrorShow.tv, you can now vote by Facebook. What's more, posting your top ten on their Facebook page will enter you into a draw to win ten British horror DVDs!

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