The SHOCKtober Post-Game Show!

Geez. Life feels a bit meaningless right now, doesn't it? What, with this whole "November" thing being shoved down our throats and all. I know how it is. (Meaningful look) I'm here for you. I thought we could take our minds off the misery of Halloween being 364 days away by taking a look at some "fun" "facts" about your SHOCKtober picks. Man, you guys gave me 732 movies! That's so cool. You guys rule!

• Director with most movies featured: Wes Craven

I was kinda shocked by that, but you guys listed 10 of his films. Dario Argento placed second with nine movies making the cut, followed by a three-way, eight-film tie between David Cronenberg, Mario Bava, and Terence Fisher. John Carpenter, whose films Halloween and The Thing nabbed the #1 and 2 spots, had six films on the list.

• Most popular decade: The 1980s

Okay, so 190 films from the 1980s were listed. The runner-up decade? The fucking aughties! I thought for sure the 70s would place second, but noooo- we're living in the now, y'all, and there are 170 films from 2000-2009 to prove it. Anyone who says modern horror is dying needs to can it!

• Movies directed by women: 9

Nine. Nine movies directed by women made the list. 9 movies out of 732- that's 1.23%. That's sad. The world just needs more women making movies- more movies by women will mean more good movies by women...more bad ones, too, but still. More. Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark was the highest-ranked at #59. It was the only one to crack the top 100, although Mary Harron's American Psycho was close at #104.

• Number of Tracey Gold movies: Zero

What is wrong with you people??

• That settles it, it's horror: Jaws, Alien, and The Silence of the Lambs
  

These three films inevitably make "Top Whatever Number" lists of horror films- classics, favorites, bestests, what have you- and yet there are always dissenters crying "That's not horror!", or people who want to namedrop 'em but don't because they're worried about those pesky genre lines. Well, in the SHOCKtober countdown, Alien ranked #12, Jaws #14, and Silence #52. They're horror movies as much as they're sci-fi, drama, and thriller, so there you go. If you want to cite 'em, cite 'em for fuck's sake. Now let's all move on with our lives!

• Because really, horror is whatever you think it is.

I have to say, I was glad no one got typically snarky and, you know, "Sex and the City is a horror movie, ha ha!"...but some of you did come up with some unusual choices- The Cable Guy (#627), Sunset Boulevard (#284), Cries and Whispers (#467)- which were completely well-reasoned and honest choices. Who am I to tell anyone what's horrifying? Don't be all hemmed-in by categorizations. Live free, die hard, something somethinger.

• That settles it, he's a horror director: David Lynch

Lynch's name is not necessarily one that springs to mind immediately when talking about horror movie directors, but with four films making the list (and honestly, I'm a bit surprised that Mulholland Dr. didn't make it)...I think we can claim him as one of our own. Gooble gobble, baby!

• You guys looooove zombies.

There is one subgenre to rule them all, and it's zombie cinema. If you don't like the current Craze of the Living Dead, then you only have yourselves to blame! No one is shooting this subgenre in the head, so it just keeps going and going (walking, not running, mind you). Two of the Top 10 were zombie flicks, and a gander at the list as a whole will prove how much y'all dig the rotties. From Night of the Living Dead (#6) to [REC]2 (#693) and everything in between- they're coming to get us, Barbara horror fans!

• You've given me so much homework...

...and I thank you for it! Never mind the number of films on the list that I've never seen- there are tons of 'em I'd never even heard of before your choices started pouring in. Espectro? What in the what? I'm so excited to get out there and watch, watch, watch I could just barf!

And so, SHOCKtober 2010 comes to an end. It all went by so quickly and none of it was what I'd originally intended to do this month, but who cares about that? It was awesome. Big thanks to the special guests who contributed, to everyone who submitted a list...umm, thank you. Couldn't have done it without you! Well, I could have, but without your lists SHOCKtober probably would have consisted of reviews of Tracey Gold movies, and that-- wait, that would have been WICKED! SHOCKtober 2011, here I come!

Yeah!