Gleiberman responds to criticism of his list:

That said, a number of you who posted comments about my list raised issues that I’d like to address. That includes some of the movies you felt I’d left out (we’ll get to that in a moment). First, though, I’d like to defend one aspect of the list that seemed to bother a great many people. Namely: Why did I choose a number of films, like The Sixth Sense or From Hell, that struck many of you as thrillers more than bona fide horror movies?

Well, first of all, I did it deliberately, not to be provocative or to “stretch” the definition of horror, but — quite the contrary — to return to an old-school, almost classical Hollywood notion of horror, one that includes films that inspire shock and awe from the inside, nibbling away at our anxieties. There was some debate, for instance, about whether The Sixth Sense is a “horror film” or a “supernatural thriller.” Well, by my lights, it’s about a dead guy who walks around and a kid who’s as creeped out by the otherworldly visions that confront him as the kid from The Shining was. Just because no one ends up swinging an ax doesn’t mean that you don’t get the heebie-jeebies.

He also addresses 28 Days Later vs. 28 Weeks later.

I was not surprised by #1 as it has the single most disturbing image/scene I've watched in a movie, inspiring my lizard brain to scream "No No No! Do not want to see!"

Blair Witch is fascinating to me because I think it's a total dud, but I know a lot of people find it very scary.

Blair Witch did not scare me at all in the theater. Later, after I got home and was left alone with Spooky and the 'Fraidy twins...

I always liked the Self-Made Critic's review of Blair Witch.

[link]

Event Horizon is still a crap movie, though.

I know a lot of people find it very scary.

I did. It's one of my favorite moviegoing experiences. It's nice and creepy for a while, but the last ten minutes or so are really intense. And when the credits rolled, I realized my right hand had gone numb because I'd been clutching my wrist with my other hand the whole time.

I always liked the Self-Made Critic's review of Blair Witch.

Ha ha ha! That's perfect.

Blair Witch scared the bejesus out of me. I loved it.

Blair Witch made me sick to my stomach, so I had to leave the theater during the scary part.

Same thing for Dancer in the Dark. Stupid handheld cameras....

Blair Witch freaked me and my sister out completely when we saw it in the theatre, but I have no desire to see it again, due to the suspicion I will no longer be freaked out but annoyed.

It sounds like The Ring. I was freaked out while watching it, and then the feeling disappeared almost instantly as soon as the credits rolled.

I also couldn't watch Blair Witch due to shaky-cam.

I was freaked out while watching it, and then the feeling disappeared almost instantly as soon as the credits rolled.

I was the reverse. I didn't start being made uncomfortable by The Ring until about 20 minutes after the movie ended, almost entirely about what the mother did to free her son.

I was freaked out while watching it, and then the feeling disappeared almost instantly as soon as the credits rolled.

I was freaked out while watching it, and then I was even more freaked out being in a dark, quiet house.