We seem very much of a mind on this topic. Videodrome is one of my list-toppers as well, and Tarkovsky (Solaris), Buñuel (The Exterminating Angel), Pasolini (Arabian Nights), and Hitchcock (Rear Window) are all favourite directors of mine, along with Herzog (Aguirre) and Preminger (Bunny Lake Is Missing). And coincidentally enough, I wavered on whether Scanners belonged in the a or b list. It had more cultural impact than the other b-listers, but isn't quite of the same calibre of the other a-listers either.

i love this thread

someone sticky it

horror films and games are really all I need

Off topic but great list; Bunuel's The Milky Way is my favorite movie. We need more absurdist satire these days.

Demoni 1 & 2 are among the memorable for me with the second one in my all time favourite because it actually has decent plot and build-up. And also the Ju-On series (Japanese), it never fail to scare me.

Yeah, I had hesitated to mention Cronenberg as a whole. It's true that some of his are clearly b-movies.

And I haven't though of putting Cube in that category, but it's indeed a jewel. A very clever and classy little parable.

But you know what ?

I'll tell you what.

You know what ?

Eight legged freaks.

That's what.

Man alive you people have got some great tastes in films. And I'll add to the "Asian horror that is better in the original" the titles One Missed Call and Pulse. Also good, and thankfully un-remade, are Uzumaki, the Tomie films, The Booth and the Tales Of Terror From Tokyo short film collections.

It looks like people have named off a lot of the best ones already - Dead Alive, Army of Darkness, etc...

As far as B movies go..I'd also recommend "Jason X". I laughed my ass off through that whole movie, some of the one liners were awesome :) A really BAD B movie - Rabid Grannies. Watched it while drunk off my ass in college - its a lot more fun that way. :)

There was some French film...my better half loved it but I thought it was kind of silly: High Tension.

"Cabin in the Woods" I thought was pretty good as it recognizes a ton of B movies in it..

Ta mate. And if you haven't seen his The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie, please do, it's scathingly brilliant.

As soon as I read the thread's title, some movies came to mind, but then I read your post and get confused. What do you exactly mean speaking of B-movies?
I am asking this because, in my opinion, only a couple of the movies you listed are real "B" movies and you surely should not put Suspiria and Deep Red in this category.

Anyway here are some suggestions from italy: but beware, these are really BAD, trash ones!

- "Incubo sulla città contaminata" (1980) directed by Umberto Lenzi. English trailer here.
- "Il bosco 1" (1988) directed by Andreas Marfori. English trailer here.
- "Troll 2" (1990) directed by Claudio Fragasso. English trailer here.
- "Rats - Notte di terrore" (1984) directed by Bruno Mattei. English trailer here.
- "Terminator 2" (1990) directed by Bruno Mattei. English trailer here.

Guillermo del Toro did make a few horror movies in his day, before he started directing movie adaptations of underground comic-book (anti-) heroes Blade and Hellboy; El Laberinto del Fauno is a great movie, with a bit of a horror aesthetic, but it's arguably a horror movie...it's more a reflexion on humanity's inherent evil and our inability to dream and believe in fairy tales as soon as we grow up. That, and all the Spanish Civil War subject matter. If you are interested in Del Toro's previous movies, I would highly recommend El Espinazo Del Diablo/The Devil's Backbone.

Regarding J-horror, well, I think that with all the Hollywood remakes and tropes it generated, it's something I'm getting really fed of. Every horror movie, these days, seems to use at least one of J-horror's techniques, such as flickering apparitions, long-haired little girls, close-ups of eyes or nails or hair, possession and/or haunting plots, people walking on the ceiling, etc. I'm an open advocate of the western-made horror of the 70s and 80s, and it's nice that a group of new directors is starting to appear, distancing themselves from the J-horror standards, and making more "classic" horror films, like The Signal, The Innkeepers, (as much as I abhor found-footage horror films, this one is surprisingly good -- oh, and it's also an anthology, something that seldom works, but they somehow make it entertaining) and the British-made [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzoh5XvVVjE]Donkey Punch. As to J-horror, like I said previously, the two movies I can think of that I really liked, off the top of my head, are Audition and Kansen (Infection). I enjoy the J-horror classics (Ju-On, Ringu, Dark Waters, etc), but I can't stand how director's milked them dry and how overexposed to them we've been during the whole of the 21st century, so far, with no end in sight. Even the brilliant (sorry if this offends anyone, it's just my opinion, nothing more, nothing less) Evil Dead remake fails by turning to some J-horror imagery that doesn't quite fit with the spirit of the originals.

[EDIT]

How did I forget One Missed Call and Uzumaki? The One Missed Call series is only worth for the first movie, though. As far as Japanese movies go, I much prefer cyberpunk ones, like the series, [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nHfldl5FzQ]Electric Dragon 80.000V, Rubber's Lover and 964 Pinocchio, though these can hardly be considered horror (they still freaked me the hell out, especially the last two).

First, I suspect Dario Argento is a pretty big name in Italy, right now, and his movies are more "artsy" then other directors', but we have to face it: his early movies did have some cheesy effects and really bad acting, and Suspiria is one of them. They may not be as "b-movie" material as some of the other movies I mentioned, but they're not a-listers, as well. He also comes almost every year to the horror b-movie festival hosted in Lisbon, MoteLX (LX being the official international abbreviation for Lisbon), so I wouldn't think he was upset with his films being considered b-movies.

Now, I really have to thank you, Italians, for Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and, on a whole different note, Sergio Leone, The Master. I'm being very, very serious about it. I highly appreciate your suggestions, getting to know more Italian directors, albeit trashy movies ones', is something I'm looking forward to.

Grazie!

Most of my recommendations have already been mentioned. I would like to give a warning regarding In a Glass Cage.

If you want to be entertained by a movie, this is not the film to watch. If you think movies can be just stories, art or provide a message without being "entertaining", you may be alright with watching this. If you are the type of person who loves children and gets upset when you hear news stories about kids being harmed - DO NOT watch this movie.

In a Glass Cage is the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. It is very well done, good directing, pace, etc. but you will not enjoy the movie or be entertained. Just like you would not be entertained by visiting a museum dedicated to any tragic event in history (ie. Holocaust Museum). I saw it at a film festival with a friend who is also into cinema, another guy and two women. The cinema friend agreed with what I said above. One of the women kept her head between her knees the whole time to avoid watching and asked what the hell was wrong with me after it ended (I was the one who picked the movie).

Has anyone mentioned the Simpsons take on "The Shining". S-C-A-R-Y!!!!

Just a small correction to the above - The Eye is Korean.

Only seen the first One Missed Call, so probably a good thing I bypassed the rest. I did enjoy Ringu 2, as well as The Eye 2, so not all the Asian horror sequels are bad. And I'm there with you on films like Tetsuo and 964 Pinocchio. Those are the kind of disturbing the Japanese excel at producing.

If you like Uzumaki then check out the Tomie films. All are based on the work of the master horror mangaka Junji Ito. I just discovered they made a film last year of another of his best works, , so now I have to find a copy of that. A couple others you might like, both by the excellent Pang Brothers, are [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498311/]Re-cycle and Diary. Each does something a little different than usual.

EDIT: Looks like Gyo is getting a release in the US, so hurrah. Or not, depending on how well it's done. But I'm hopeful.