Posts

Screen Drafts (Home Version) 17: The Science of Scares

Image
It was my wife's turn to pick the next screen draft home version topic.  Screen Drafts is a competitive game where players (in this case Dennis, me, Vanessa and two of our friends Scott and Nick) work to make a top 18 list on a given topic where vetoes and veto overrides can be deployed (and incidentally carried over: My wife starts the next game with one of each, Nick and I start with an override and Scott starts with a veto). My wife became very taken with this study called The Science of Scare. It is a 250 participant study where horror movies are watched with concern towards heart rate. The film that most elevates the heart rate is scariest to them, for details on how they pick what films to watch, the order of the films and how the study is conducted seek out their website. It is hard to navigate but interesting. I submit below the 2025 top 50 list that we had to pick from in alphabetical order. 28 Days Later,  The Autopsy of Jane Doe,  A Nightmare on Elm S...
Post a Comment
Read more

Screen Drafts (Home Version) Random Stats

Image
  A Hall of Fame Film is one that has been picked more than once. No film has been picked 3 times, yet. The first Hall of Fame entry was John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (1987). It was selected in game 4 (the Satan draft) and game 5 (the John Carpenter draft).  The biggest leap for a Hall of Fame Film is from game 2 (the found footage draft) to game 17 (the science of scares draft) and that happened with The Blair Witch Project (1999). The film to rank best when played in both games was Wes Craven's My Soul to Take (2010) which ranked 5th in the Wes Craven draft and first in the school horror draft. Below are the hall of fame films. Random facts from these games: The most represented decade is the 1990's (at lot of that is because we played Raimi, Craven and Carpenter filmography drafts along with film series like Friday the 13th, The Crow and Hellraiser). However, the most impressive decade is the 1930's because only 3 drafts feature 30's films but a 1930's ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Screen Drafts (Home Version) XVI: Hellraiser and Exorcist Films

Image
Screen Drafts (based on the popular podcast) is a draft between players (I, my wife Vanessa and our friends Nick and Scott) to rank a list of films. Scott chose this topic. There were 17 total options: 6 Exorcist films and 11 Hellraiser films. We each had four numbered picks, determined by trivia provided by our friend Mario and the person who had two also picked number one. Everyone had the same amount of arsenal: 2 vetoes and one override of a veto. The next game will be a top 18 and will have a pool of fifty films based on the scariest movies, as decided by the folks at The Science of Scream. Nick brought his big puppy Sheba. She was awesome.    17. The Exorcist Believer (2023) I came in second during trivia and wanted the very bottom pick. My picks were (17, 13,9 and 5). I wanted it because my favorite Hellraiser film was Judgement and I knew some cruel person would play that low, and I could not live with Hellraiser (2022) being above Judgement. I found the Hulu productio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Screen Drafts (Home Version) XV: Top 18 Camp Horror Films

Image
Four of us, Nick, Scott, I (Dennis) and my wife Vanessa played at game of the popular collaborative podcast Screen Drafts to determine the top 18 camp horror films. We are a bit different than Screen Drafts only in that we have more vetoes and overrides and generally watch thirty or so films before each game to prep. Our friend Mario provided trivia to determine placements, and we all had a nice dinner and a few hours of solid film discussion.   18. Thirteen Ghosts (2001) Nick won position A (picks 18, 14, 9, 6 and 1: it comes with one veto and he had an override that carried over from the last time we all played.).  Mostly, he felt he liked the film and the designs of the ghost and the house very much. He thought the deaths were creative and did not like any of the characters. He came in hot with stuff he didn't like about the film, and we called him out on often not loving the first picks he puts on a list. We did not veto it, but no one loved it. 17. The Gruesome Twoso...
Post a Comment
Read more