Quentin Tarantino is a name you’d probably see at least once on literally anyone’s list of the 20 best films of the 21st century, but which non-Tarantino films does Tarantino think are the best to come along in the past 25 years? The Kill Bill filmmaker has been running down his top 20 picks over […]
‘Shaun of the Dead’
And here’s what Tarantino had to say about his horror picks…
Cabin Fever: “Eli’s sense of humor, sense of gore — it just really, really works. People kind of forget how tense it is in the first half because it gets so genuinely funny in the last 20 minutes. Hostel might be his best movie, but this is my favorite.”
The Devil’s Rejects: “This rough Peckinpah–cowboy–Manson thing— that voice didn’t really exist before, and he refined that voice with this movie. Peckinpah wasn’t part of horror before this. He melded it with sick hillbillies, and it’s become a thing now. You can recognize it across the street, but that didn’t exist before.”
Battle Royale: “I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue Suzanne Collins for every fucking thing she owns.”
Shaun of the Dead: “My favorite directorial debut even though he did a cheapie debut movie he doesn’t like to talk about. I loved how much he loved the Romero universe he recreated. The script is really terrific, it’s one of the most quotable films on this list, I still quote the line ‘the dogs don’t look up.’ It’s not a spoof of zombie movies, it’s a real zombie movie, and I appreciate the distinction.”
Zodiac: “When I first watched Zodiac, I wasn’t that into it, and then it started playing the movie channels, and first thing I knew, watching 20 minutes of it, 40 minutes of it, and I realized this is a lot more engaging than I remember it being, and it kept grabbing me in different sections. So I decided to watch this goddamn thing again, and it was a whole different experience from that point on. I found myself, every six or seven years, watching it again, and it’s a luxurious experience that I give myself over to […] mesmerizing masterwork.”
Listen to Tarantino on the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast for more on each of his picks.
‘Cabin Fever’