Halloween (1978)

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

John Carpenter's first appearance, and let me tell you, it was extremely hard not to populate this list with like 15 of his movies.  Even the lesser ones are so fun, and endlessly enjoyable, that I'm constantly watching them.  Hell, I bought an entire set of his films on DVD, and then bought the entire set again on blu-ray.

Halloween is obviously one of the two big titles that gets a lot of attention, kickstarting a franchise that's STILL trying to have Laurie fight off Michael, over 30 years later.  And many of those sequels are a lot of fun, especially III and the newest requel (reboot sequel) which came out a few years ago.

But only the original has that signature Carpenter touch.  Don't believe me?  Watch the first sequel and tell me it's anywhere near as engaging.  Or as interesting.  Because it's not.

And don't even get me started on the Rob Zombie films.  Some people might be into them.  I am not one of them.  And I am extremely easy to please, even with reboots.

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Hey, two beloved classics in a row.

What if I told you this one was close to not making the cut?

Don't get me wrong, I really like the movie.  I've bought it 3 times on home video, dammit. Including one import from England.  Those are my credentials.  So don't "at" me if you've done anything less than that, cause I don't want to hear it. 

But I have a bit of a tough time watching the original Romero zombie trilogy without constantly thinking "these fucking morons would be dead within 5 minutes if they had to face any sort of modern fast zombie."

Like, how hard is it to not be constantly snuck up on by a groaning shambling corpse, to not constantly trip over your own legs and get caught in a bunch of rakes or boxes or some shit, or to not constantly forgot to reload your weapon?

And yes, "consumerism."  We get it.  The characters mention it within 7 seconds of seeing the mall.  So clever.

Nonetheless, take a look at every zombie movie from the era, and this is by far one of the most entertaining.  Even Day, which I have some adoration for, couldn't quite beat this one out when I ranked them.  It's just too much fun.  Too many silly, campy, violent moments.  Too many cool little setpieces.  Zombies walking into helicopter rotors.  I dig it.

Just maybe not as much as some other people.

The Brood (1979)

A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.

David Cronenberg's first appearance on the list.  You can be sure it won't be the last.

This is actually my favorite film of his.  That's sacrilege in some corners of the nerd internet.  I don't care though.  It's the film I return to the most.  And remember what I said about killer kids?  It's my biggest weakness.

Plus Oliver Reed automatically makes everything he's in amazing.  It's science.

The poll is showing that almost no one here has seen this movie.  I recommend you all rectify that asap.

Alien (1979)

The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating an unknown transmission.

The other scariest movie of all time.  And everyone agrees with me.  Which is why it can be adapted into a video game in the 21st century that follows this original movie in spirit, and it ends up being one of the scariest video games of all time.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Beyond that, you know the drill.  Everyone has seen this.  They know why it jump-started the careers of Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver, and why it kickstarted a series that's been going strong for over 30 years at this point.