FMWL's March Midnight Madness Tournament - The Sinister Sixteen!

After two rounds of vicious action, the field of 64 Midnight Movie of the Week picks has been narrowed down to sixteen diabolical survivors, who will now, naturally, battle each other for supremacy.  It's the Sinister Sixteen, and it promises to whittle each region's four remaining flicks down to a Regional Final.

If you missed Round Two, go HERE to check out how we got here!
If you missed Round One, go HERE to check out all the tourney action!
If you want to know who the selection committee for the Sinister Sixteen is, here they are:

• R.D. Penning of Dead End Drive-In
• Liam Underwood of Paracinematic Cinephile
• Andreas of Pussy Goes Grrr
• T.L. Bugg of The Lightning Bug's Lair
• Emily of The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense
• Joe Monster of From Beyond Depraved
• Matt House of Chuck Norris Ate My Baby
• Mike Snoonian of All Things Horror
• B.Stank of Brutally Violent & Wonderful
• Fred [The Wolf] of Full Moon Reviews
• B-Sol of The Vault of Horror
• Emily C of The Quest to Watch Every Movie Ever
• Geof of The Man-Cave 
• Christine of Paracinema Magazine & Paracinema.net

Let's do this.

The Frankenstein Regional

#1 Seed - MMOTW #49: Predator vs. #5 Seed - MMOTW #58: Carnival of Souls

What The Mike says: I'm more torn than I thought I'd be regarding this matchup.  I think the part of me that wants to be smart and stuff is all "Oh The Mike, Carinval of Souls makes you think so much and is all independently artistic and stuff".  But then he says "and stuff", and reminds me that I'm just a dude who loves awesomeness....and Predator is dripping with awesomeness.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "Was Jesse “The Body” Ventura in Carnival of Souls? No? Oh… DUH Predator is unmatched in hot, sweaty jungle alien action." - Christine
• "As much as I love testosterone-fueled battles against alien bounty hunters, the eerie beauty and shadowy charm of Carnival of Souls lurks into my heart." - Joe Monster
• "By my voting in this tournament, it must seem like I dislike Predator... something that is definitely not the case, but sadly once again I'm going against it and voting for Carnival of Souls.  I do very much enjoy action packed movies, but I love ones that leave me feeling haunted even more." - Emily C
• "This is the hardest battle yet for Arnie and the gang, but after a few one-liners and a couple of rounds from Blain's minigun, and it's lights out for Mary in the end. Sorry, babe." - Matt

The Vote: Predator 8, Carnival of Souls 5 - PREDATOR moves on to the Regional Final!

#3 Seed - MMOTW #32: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre vs. #7 Seed - MMOTW #26: Ginger Snaps

What The Mike says: Those Canadian werewolf lasses had a good mini-Cinderella run, but I just can't come up with a situation where I vote for them over TCM right now.  Leatherface continues to bully opponents.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "They should combine the two to make Werewolves With Chainsaws! That is a side note though, as TCM will definitely take the win!" - R.D. Penning
• "TCM. Rewatched it last week, just 'cause, and just cause, it is still terrifying." - Emily
• "I love my werewolves, but they're no match for Leatherface and his chainsaw [which is obviously compensating for something]." - Fred [The Wolf]
• "Some say you’d need a silver bullet to stop a werewolf, I think a chainsaw would do the job." - TL Bugg

The Vote: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 13, Ginger Snaps 0 - THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE moves on to the Regional Final!

The Myers Regional

#1 Seed - MMOTW #25: The Thing vs. #4 Seed - MMOTW #61: Big Trouble in Little China

What The Mike says: It hurts to pick against Carpenter and Russell...even when you're picking Carpenter and Russell.  But I guess I have to, and I'm gonna go with the one that has more snow and more tension.  The Thing it is.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "Ahh, the match we all feared would come to pass! Carpenter and Russell versus… Carpenter and Russell! Most would give up and call it a tie. But there’s one factor that determines the winner of this match. And that’s Kurt’s Eskimo-sized beard. And believe me, my friends, the Beard is everything." - Joe Monster
• "Oh man, Carpenter and Russell vs. Carpenter and Russell.  While I could give my vote to the underdog here and vote Big Trouble in Little China, my conscious just won't let me, because while that movie is awesomely awesome, The Thing is one of the greatest horror movies known to mankind, with one of the most gruesomely designed creatures, and also, Kurt's beard screams out for my vote.  Beard > No Beard." - Emily C
• "Bearded Kurt Russell > Clean-Cut Kurt Russell. The Thing wins." - Fred [The Wolf]

The Vote: The Thing 13, Big Trouble in Little China 0 - THE THING moves on to the Regional Final!

#6 Seed - MMOTW #59: Sisters vs. #10 Seed - MMOTW #11: Friday the 13th

What The Mike says: The Friday the 13th factor in this tournament fascinates me.  Some have said a 10 seed is way too low, but I honestly think it's too high.  This is one of those classic "teams that get in on name recognition" picks like we sometimes see in the NCAA March Madness tourney.  But really, one of these movies is a good movie, and the other one isn't.  And Sisters is a good movie.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "I personally think Sisters is the better film, by far, but Friday has made the greater impact on horror and pop culture, therefore my very apprehensive support goes to Jason's mad mother and her hairy knuckles." - Matt
• "Sisters.  Psst. I actually haven't seen Sisters. I just think Friday the 13th is overrated." - Emily
• "De Palma owns my heart and this match-up." -  Christine
• "In the end Mom, always knows better than the Sisters." - TL Bugg
• "This is a tough one. i'm not a DePalma guy, and I love the cheesy appeal of the early Fridays, but man oh man do i have a crush on Margot Kidder." - Mike S.
• "The story of Jason Voorhees and his mother is just way to influential on modern day horror to be denied the win." - B.Stank

The Vote: Sisters 4, Friday the 13th 9 - FRIDAY THE 13TH moves on to the Regional Final!

The Hammer Regional

#1 Seed - MMOTW #2: Moon vs. #13 Seed - MMOTW #33: Piranha

What The Mike says: Man, Piranha is a bit of a surprise cinderella here.  I gave it the tiebreaking win in round one against Kill, Baby...Kill! - and then it went on to demolish one of my favorite movies in the tourney (The Devil Rides Out) in the second round.  Conventional wisdom says I should be vengeful, but I love a good underdog.  Piranha gets a vote for being old-school cheese.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "Can astronauts swim? Sure they can. But can piranhas live on the moon? I THINK NOT!" - Joe Monster
• "While the intellectual portion of my brain says that Moon should be the choice here, my gut says to go with Piranha here for the fun factor, and the man-eating piranha action." - Emily C
• "If anyone's earned the right to make it to the Final Four, isn't it Roger Corman?" - Mike S
• "Whoa, just when you thought no one could overtake the tucked flannel and beard of Mr. Grogan, the Moon illuminates, and it becomes clear that his combo is only as deadly as his touch. I don't even know what that means." - Matt

The Vote: Moon 7, Piranha 5 - MOON moves on to the Regional Final!

#6 Seed - MMOTW #27: The Abominable Dr. Phibes vs. #7 Seed - MMOTW #14: Spider Baby

What The Mike says: Can I just watch 'em both?  A bunch?  On repeat?  Man, this is probably the most difficult matchup this round in my head.  Ummm...Vincent Price.  Plus an uncredited Caroline Munro.  Yeah. I'll go with Phibes.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "I'm sure Dr. Phibes has earned its reputation and one day, when I open the bargain bin DVD, I can confirm that, but until that day, Spider Baby warms my heart and only gets better upon repeat viewings." - Emily
• "Spider Baby is a film that needs to be seen by everyone. It is AMAZING, so it should win." - R.D. Penning
• "Let’s face it: even Rob Zombie would pick Vincent Price over Sid Haig." - Joe Monster
• "Phibes! Phibes! He’s our man! If he can’t do it, no one can! And by “it” I obviously mean  crafting creative murders." - Christine

The Vote: The Abominable Dr. Phibes 5, Spider Baby 8 - SPIDER BABY moves on to the Regional Final!

The Blob Regional

#1 Seed - MMOTW: #64 Evil Dead II vs. #4 Seed - MMOTW: #35: Death Proof

What The Mike says: Do I dare vote against Bruce and Ash?  It is Kurt Russell, after all.  Ehhhh....I kinda want to, and I know I wouldn't be considering this if we were talking Evil Dead or Army of Darkness.  Alas, groovier heads prevail - and I'm siding with Evil Dead II.

What the Selection Committee says:

• "While Evil Dead II is awesome, Death Proof is a movie that I fall more in love with every time I watch it. Plus- Kurt > Bruce." - Emily C.
• "It's S-Mart vs The Texas Chili Parlor, and as much as I like my movies to be a little spicy, I cannot resist a good deal. You're in, Ash." - Matt
• "Stuntman Mike never had a chainsaw hand. In fact, Stuntman Mike was kind of a little bitch. Ash, however, is the man." - TL Bugg
• "Shotgun arm and The Chin edge out a cadre of sexy kickass females with nerd cache?  I must be getting old." - Mike S.
• "Apparently I’m in the minority when it comes to giving love to Death Proof, but I love it and will stand by it ‘til the end…well,  at least until it goes up against EVIL DEAD II!" - B.Stank

The Vote: Evil Dead II 11, Death Proof 2 - EVIL DEAD II moves on to the Regional Final!

#14 Seed - MMOTW #9: Killer Klowns from Outer Space vs. #10 Seed - MMOTW #48: The Entity

What The Mike says: Two overachieving '80s flicks meet in the unlikeliest of Sinister Sixteen matchups.  Though I'm sure I'd have picked something else in this regional myself, I'm kinda tickled to see the support for these movies that's been shown.  That all said - I love Barbara Hershey lots.  I love KKfOS too, but not like I love Babs Hershey. 

What the Selection Committee says:

• "I'm really digging Barbara Hershey's career resurgence as the go-to hot older mom in horror movies nowadays." - Mike S.
• "Ghosts who rape women or Killer Klowns from Outer Space? Let's judge this by size. Since klowns wear big shoes, they win." - Fred [The Wolf]
• "I would rather have a ghost rape me than watch Killer Klowns from Outer Space. How is this movie still in the running. This is the worlds worst Cinderella story, and Jerry Lewis made Cinderfella!" - TL Bugg
• "When a clown, let alone, a Killer Klown, shoves his hand up John Vernon's ass for the sole purpose of using him as a ventriloquist dummy, you shall have my vote. And my axe - body spray. I don't really use that." - Matt
• "Easiest choice ever. The Entity has a great premise until it derails into a silly game of lasers. Killer Klowns is perfection." - Emily
• "Because I don't think that Killer Klowns would be intimidated by an invisible entity who they probably just capture in some cotton candy, they are my choice in this match up.  Plus, I'd rather hang out with the Killer Klowns any day- they seem like much more fun despite their propensity for killing human beings." - Emily C.
• "Put the titular Entity in any movie of your choosing and you have standard, yet sexy, supernatural hijinks. But if you put the Killer Klowns in a movie, ANY movie, you feel as giddy as Pee Wee Herman. On Prozac. At Disney World. During Christmas." - Joe Monster
• "I grew up with Killer Klowns. It wasn’t till much later in life that I realized not everyone spent their formative years watching giant clowns capture people in cotton candy cocoons." - Christine
• "Killer Klowns From Outer Space is my sleeper pick, much like VCU. (Yes I'm a nerd who also likes sports.)" - R.D. Penning
• "The Entity is, for reasons I cannot understand, a neglected  horror classic.  It’s one of the few genuinely scary movies that I have ever seen.   The fact that Killer Klowns made it past Maniac  in the last round,  just flat-out disgusts me." - B.Stank

The Vote: Killer Klowns from Outer Space 10, The Entity 3 - KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE moves on to the Regional Final!

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And, like that, we're down to EIGHT.  It's safe to say that I wouldn't have drawn the bracket up this way, but that's why they call it MADNESS!  Can the #1 Seeds continue to dominate?  Will a double digit seed break through and become Midnight Movie of the Year?  Come back soon and see for yourself as these eight films battle for regional supremacy and a trip to the FATAL FOUR!

REGIONAL FINAL MATCHUPS

The Frankenstein Regional - #1 Seed: Predator vs. #3 Seed: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Myers Regional - #1 Seed: The Thing vs. #10 Seed: Friday the 13th

The Hammer Regional - #1 Seed: Moon vs. #7 Seed: Spider Baby

The Blob Regional - #1 Seed: Evil Dead II vs. #14 Seed: Killer Klowns from Outer Space