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David Mumpower: When the voting results were tabulated, I felt significant surprise when I realized that I had seen 24 out of the 25 selections. #25, David Lynch's Inland Empire, is the only one I have yet to see and given that it's available to Watch Instantly on Netflix, I'll be correcting that in a few days.

Overall, I thought it was a strong list. I'm hyper-critical as a rule, so I knew going in that I would disagree with some of the selections. In particular, I think that Identity and Sweeney Todd are pretty lousy films. I also wasn't impressed by Let the Right One In or Slither and Cloverfield is a premise I enjoy more in theory than in execution. That's five titles out of 25 (20%) that didn't do much for me.

I thought that the rest of selections were a strong compilation featuring several pleasant surprises such as The Skeleton Key, Night Watch, and 1408 (sorry, Mr. Huntley). Where I feel that the list proves itself, however, is in the top five as all of those entries that should stand the test of time not just as horror films but as great movies. Max's dissatisfaction with the zombie baby notwithstanding, Dawn of the Dead is exactly the sort of film I'd want to make. I re-watched it on Sunday and its overriding quality from start to finish impressed me anew. I also feel that we got #1 right in the original horror list, and we did again here. That's an imperative when we do these master compilations.

With regards to other comments in the thread, I've seen Brett praise Final Destination 2 previously and my thought is the same each time he does. I primarily remember that movie as being one giant Apple ad straight down to the guy unpacking his shiny new MacBook right before dying horribly. I always found that to be a strange product tie-in. "Buy a Mac and die!" I think Steve Jobs is just testing user loyalty in instances such as this. I also considered 28 Weeks Later, which has an opening sequence only marginally behind Dawn of the Dead's introductory scene, the one I consider to be the best of the 2000s to date. My problem with the film is that it loses focus midway through. I could make an argument for it being superior to our other zombie selection, Land of the Dead, but I understand why people chose the genre creator over an inferior but still solid sequel.

More zombies. We love them.

Kim Hollis: There's been significant interest among the staff in the new AMC series The Walking Dead. For those of you that watched, what were your impressions of the debut episode?

Josh Spiegel: As I've mentioned elsewhere in this week's MMBQ, I do not like horror movies. I've always been very squeamish, and I also find that most modern horror films are just lifeless retreads of everything inventive in the genre. So why would I even be interested in The Walking Dead? First, simply, it's on AMC, so I'm giving anything from the network of Mad Men a chance. Second, the showrunner is Frank Darabont, and even if I'm not a huge fan of The Mist, Darabont wrote and directed The Shawshank Redemption, so he has a lifetime pass from me. This is all a preamble to me saying I loved the pilot, because how could you not? While it was certainly quite gory, I never felt it was gratuitous; the lead actor, Andrew Lincoln, was compelling; the filmmaking was excellent. I'm close to saying that the remaining five episodes in this short first season could suck, but I'd be cool with it because the pilot was so great.

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