The blood and guts have settled after Round 1 of the Macabre Madness tournament. Did Nazi zombies dominate the Deadites? What happened with Tim Curry’s Pennywise? And the rubbery aliens from Killer Klowns? We’ve got the recap below!
Download the Macabre Madness 2019 bracket (click on sheet 2)
Round 1 results: Rotten Tomatoes
Serious shit went down in Round 1 of the debut Macabre Madness horror film tournament, determined by highest Rotten Tomatoes critic score. The highlights:
– Let’s start with the heavyweights… 6 films got at least two votes from the Bros and Brahs, earning them a first-round bi-week. Not many surprises here: The Descent, Jaws, 28 Days Later, The Thing (1980), It (2017) and Silence of the Lambs. If the tourney ended there, Jaws would walk away with the win at 97% fresh. The only film higher: The Babadook, at 98%.
– It pays to be the original campground slasher: Friday the 13th crushed Friday: Part 2 by 35 points.
– Also from the slasher division: two Halloweens (1978 and 2018) made it to the next round. Scream and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) did not. Mike Myers vs. Leatherface must have gotten NASTY.
– In the monster division, a bunch of suburban pansies somehow beat Gary freakin Busey when Fright Night topped Silver Bullet by 44 points. How in the hell is Fright Night 91% fresh?!!
– Deadites would totally crush Nazi zombies, but you already knew that: The Evil Dead (1981) toppled Dead Snow by 27 points. Sam Riami’s horror farce has aged like fine wine.
– In heartbreak news… let’s all mourn the outcome of the Rec vs. Land of the Dead result. Spanish zombies are cool and all, but the last film in George A. Romero’s trilogy is a goddamn genre gem. Congrats on a sneaky first-round selection, Jessica!
– So apparently Stephen King should get his own bracket… 6 tourney films are King adaptations, including 5 of 8 in the lit division. We’re all praying for a Carrie meets Pennywise crossover in 2020. Fan fic time!
– That Child’s Play (1988) defeat probably fucked up a ton of Chucky groupie brackets.
– Speaking of bracket busters… how about It Follows annihilating the original The Amityville Horror? The biggest defeat of the first round (67 points!) with a newcomer over a classic. Amityville is no Overlook Hotel, but come on… 29% fresh? That’s 5 points better than the 2005 remake with Ryan “Deadpool” Reynolds.
– Who else is stoked the scrappy underdog of the paranormal division, The House of the Devil, took down lame-ass Poltergeist??
– Plain, bad luck for District 9 drawing the original Alien. Ain’t no apartheid metaphor in the world that can stand up to Ellen “The Queen” Ripley.
– Killer Klowns from Outer Space, enjoy the fluke victory while you can. Event Horizon deserves more respect. So does Alien 3.
The hell is Macabre Madness…?
What, never heard of a bracket tournament for horror films? It beats the hell out of the NCAA circus, where hundreds of slave laborers… er, stoo-dent ath-o-leets make millions of dollars for athletic departments “generous” enough to “gift” them free tuition. At least everyone involved with The Descent made a couple grand, cash. And those chicks had to fight blind cave demons.
But anyway, check in all month for the latest results and send your brackets to macabrebros@gmail.com!
The Rules
1. Get a drink
2. Place yer bets on divisional and overall champs, winner takes all!
3. First round: highest Rotten Tomatoes score
4. Second round: highest Metacritic score
5. Third round: The Sweet 15 “Best of web” average (Rotten Tomatoes + Metacritic)
6. Semifinal round: MacabreCast Lightning Round and Elite 8
7. Finals: MacabreCast Final 4
Macabre Bros & Brahs 