Ten Years of Saw: Less is More, More is Less?

By Thad Komorowski

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With the limited theatrical engagement of the initial entry in the Saw franchise placing horror once again in the public eye, one wonders: is it necessarily a good thing filmmakers can show anything now? Or was it better and more creative when they couldn’t under the Motion Picture Code? This AudioFiles feature touches on the issue with several filmmakers, historians and critics:

Below is what RottenTomatoes ranks as the 20 best horror movies. As with any list, it’s subjective, but the majority of voters do think the older horror movies as the best ones, with eight of the top 10 made before 1960.

The concept of what is pre and post Motion Picture Code can also be muddled. Many of the films were made before the Code was actively enforced in 1934, and the code was more or less neutered well before its complete collapse in 1968. Some of these movies are not American either, and thus didn’t have to adhere to the Code. But interestingly, eight out of nine non-American films on this list were still made before 1968.

But for the sake of simplicity, we’re going to just label films pre-collapse and post-collapse based on that 1968 date. See what you think.

01-TheCabinetofDrCaligari