They Shoot Zombies, Don't They?

#701-#800

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films: #701-#800

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films: Introduction | #1-#100 | #101-#200 | #201-#300 | #301-#400 | #401-#500 | #501-#600 | #601-#700 | #701-#800 | #801-#900 | #901-#1000 | Full List | Sources | The 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Horror Films | Top 50 Directors

Strait-Jacket

701. (+67) Strait-Jacket

William Castle

1964 / USA / 93m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Howard St. John, John Anthony Hayes, Rochelle Hudson, George Kennedy, Edith Atwater, Mitchell Cox

“It’s tempting to enjoy Straight-Jacket for all the external reasons; there’s a compelling perversity in watching the movie and knowing that Joan Crawford’s real daughter wrote a book accusing her mother of being a monster that tried to ruin her life. It’s also enjoyable to know that William Castle was over the moon working with names like Robert Bloch and Joan Crawford, thinking that he was finally creating that elusive A-picture. But I love Straight-Jacket for just being what it is: a cooky 1960s shocker that makes absolutely no sense and is full of great moments. That alone would guarantee at least a few fingers. But having Joan Crawford, wig askew and gams on full display, in the center of it all easily elevates this one to FIVE FINGER-ed classic status.” – Tower Farm Reviews

Plan 9 from Outer Space

702. (-365) Plan 9 from Outer Space

Edward D. Wood Jr.

1957 / USA / 79m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore, Tom Keene, Carl Anthony, Paul Marco, Tor Johnson, Dudley Manlove, Joanna Lee, John Breckinridge

“When it comes to naming the worst film ever made, there is an almost unanimous candidate that gets pegged for that sorry title: Edward D. Wood Jr.’s “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” But to be perfectly frank, I could never understand why this weird little movie has generated so much enthusiasm for allegedly being the single worst endeavor in screen history. Even in the realm of legendary bad movies, “Plan 9 from Outer Space” is far removed from the excesses of awfulness… First, “Plan 9 From Outer Space” falls in the category of “so bad it’s good” – a film whose cluelessness is so overwhelming that you cannot help but laugh at its many mistakes. It is clearly a very entertaining movie, if only for the wrong reasons, and one can easily come away from the film with a hearty (if slightly guilty) smile. Can a film that makes you feel good really be the worst of cinema?” – Phil Hall, Film Threat

Upgrade

703. (new) Upgrade

Leigh Whannell

2018 / Australia / 100m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie, Richard Cawthorne, Christopher Kirby, Richard Anastasios, Kenny Low

“The latest sneak attack from genre kings Blumhouse is an unusually patient, detailed and visceral cyber-thriller that plays like a Black Mirror rethink of The Six Billion Dollar Man, and may be the closest any mainstream production is likely to get to Japan’s cult Tetsuo movies… at its best – in a boundless chase round a hackers’ hangout, and a high-speed freeway pursuit – Upgrade is as fluid and exhilarating as anything the Wachowskis signed their names to in the days when they were brothers: the kind of nifty, sometimes nasty surprise our multiplexes sorely need.” – Mike McCahill, Guardian

A Dark Song

704. (new) A Dark Song

Liam Gavin

2016 / Ireland / 100m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Steve Oram, Catherine Walker, Susan Loughnane, Mark Huberman, Nathan Vos, Martina Nunvarova, Breffni O’Connor, Sheila Moloney

“Fans of Ben Wheatley’s oeuvre will recognize a certain amount of that director’s offbeat influence… but ultimately Gavin’s debut is its own brand of nightmare. Walker and Oram are perfectly cast here. It’s impossible to figure out who’s the madder one, so driven by their collective need to break the bounds of reason. The harsh, atonal score by composer Ray Harman is a masterpiece of hair-raising instrumentality that’s every bit as grand and discomfiting as the images onscreen, and cinematographer Cathal Watters’ use of natural light – or the lack thereof – is profoundly distressing, in the best possible way.” – Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

ParaNorman

705. (-115) ParaNorman

Chris Butler & Sam Fell

2012 / USA / 92m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland

“”ParaNorman” creeps and crawls out of the mind of writer/co-director Chris Butler, a storyboard artist who honed his skills on Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” and Henry Selick’s “Coraline.” It’s no wonder, then, that when Butler receives free rein to tell his own story, he comes up with a spooky, creature-infested campfire story laced with valuable lessons about teamwork, responsibility, courage and the celebration of our inner outcast… After a creaky start, “ParaNorman” comes to life once the dead rise. Zombies stomp, trees throw dagger branches, purple-faced clouds loom, and this roller-coaster ride through an expertly crafted house of terrors culminates with an unfortunately busy finale” – Sean O’Connell, Washington Post

The Nanny

706. (-216) The Nanny

Seth Holt

1965 / UK / 91m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett, James Villiers, William Dix, Pamela Franklin, Jack Watling, Maurice Denham, Alfred Burke, Harry Fowler

“THE NANNY is a bit of an oddity, even amongst the rest of the studio’s Hitchcock/Clouzot output: most of the horror is implied rather than supplied (not that that’s a bad thing- it did Jacques Tourneur proud until the producers got their hands on him) and most of the suspense, save for one or two visual sections, is actually executed through conversation rather than action. Furthermore, whilst it may have a central (juvenile) male protagonist, who in turn has a close female ally, it has absolutely no hero or heroine. Rather, it relies on the simultaneous subtlety and immenseness of Bette Davis’ performance (OK, and Pamela Franklin’s legs) to carry the viewer through.” – Drewe Shimon, Brit Movie

Climax

707. (new) Climax

Gaspar Noé

2018 / France / 95m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Claude-Emmanuelle Gajan-Maull, Giselle Palmer, Taylor Kastle, Thea Carla Schott, Sharleen Temple, Lea Vlamos

“Noe’s superb direction makes all the difference. While this kind of story could easily wind up as a suffocating, sensory overload, Noe’s camera follows each subject in Climax with a steady and curious, if emotionally distanced, eye. He’s not afraid to ditch one agonised torture subject to follow another more interesting (read: dirtier and more gruesome) one. The sheer artistry and skill of that is something to behold. It’s comparable to a poet composing a sonnet with broken glass and rusty nails. But the intent behind this artistry is so god damn devious and borderline juvenile. Because the mere act of watching this fictional movie nearly emotionally aligns you with the real-life perverts and voyeurs.” – Rhys Tarling, Isolated Nation

Jungfrukällan

708. (new) Jungfrukällan

Ingmar Bergman

AKA: The Virgin Spring

1960 / Sweden / 89m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Düberg, Tor Isedal, Allan Edwall, Ove Porath, Axel Slangus, Gudrun Brost

“The collision between the kindly spirit of the New Testament and the pent-up savagery of paganism runs as a leitmotif through the entire film. The heathen world and its superstitions are symbolized by the sinister old man at the ford, who cherishes his box of relics and terrifies Ingeri, and by the rapist’s furious trampling on the gleaming white candles that tumble from Karin’s bag. The pagan significance of fire, earth, and water emerges in several scenes: from the opening shots of Ingeri blowing alight the morning fire at the farm to the close-ups of a sparkling stream in the forest and, finally, of the water that flows from beneath Karin’s corpse as Töre lifts her head in sorrow.” – Peter Cowie, The Criterion Collection

The Beast Within

709. (-298) The Beast Within

Philippe Mora

1982 / USA / 98m / Col / Werewolf | IMDb
Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, Don Gordon, R.G. Armstrong, Katherine Moffat, L.Q. Jones, Logan Ramsey, John Dennis Johnston, Ron Soble

“While at times excessively slow-moving and ultimately over-thinking the building of its mystery a little too hard, overall THE BEAST WITHIN is a smart, effective film about all-too-human evil, especially the sort one finds in extremely small, close-knit communities where blood ties are stronger then the rule of law, manifesting itself as a superhuman evil, while at the same time providing an excellent twist on the werewolf theme that was popular in horror in the early 1980s and a deliciously visceral take on the old canard about “the sins of the father.”” – Bill Adcock, Radiation-Scarred Reviews

The Dark Half

710. (new) The Dark Half

George A. Romero

1993 / USA / 122m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, Robert Joy, Kent Broadhurst, Beth Grant, Rutanya Alda, Tom Mardirosian, Larry John Meyers

“The idea that something real – an absorbed twin, a tumor in the brain – and something fictitious, like a nom de plume, could both be somehow intertwined is a very rare plot-point in cinema, and perhaps the greatest compliment one could give Romero is that, rather than trying to explain it all away or invent a justification through science or medicine, the situation is allowed to be as nuanced and unclear as cinema can be without becoming lazy. If you take away the psychopomps and all other literary flourishes, there is still the story of a man being hunted by something he invented but doesn’t understand; if you take away the blood-lust of the revenge-film hierarchy, there’s still a man at war with himself, or a physical representation of himself. The Dark Half, for all its flaws, is a movie happy to exist in a limbo where reality and fantasy are conjoined and almost inseparable, and that at least is worthy of admiration.” – Adam Balz, Not Coming To a Theater Near You

The Crazies

711. (-94) The Crazies

Breck Eisner

2010 / USA / 101m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, Christie Lynn Smith, Brett Rickaby, Preston Bailey, John Aylward, Joe Reegan, Glenn Morshower

“Don’t be afraid of the horror remake stigma here; be afraid of The Crazies’ constant, electric hum of dread. Be afraid of the unpredictable bursts of violence and well-earned jump scares. Be afraid of director Eisner’s unexpected mastery of the material — he seems to have been a standout horror filmmaker-in-waiting all this time, and The Crazies shows that off in a huge way. He understands timing and mood and how important a good score is to a horror film (Mark Isham’s synth score is noticeably great, like a quiet callback to John Carpenter’s way of scoring horror). He gets the actors to take the material seriously, he’s not afraid to go bleak and nasty, and he knows how to build suspense (a talent too rare in studio horror).” – John Gholson, MovieFone

Dr. Phibes Rises Again

712. (+62) Dr. Phibes Rises Again

Robert Fuest

1972 / UK / 89m / Col / Black Comedy | IMDb
Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Valli Kemp, Peter Jeffrey, Fiona Lewis, Hugh Griffith, Peter Cushing, Beryl Reid, Terry-Thomas, John Cater

“Like any good sequel, ‘Dr. Phibes Rises Again’ builds on the first film, recycling what worked while adding some new elements…. If there is a weakness, it is that the sequel tends to emphasize the campy humor at the expense of the horror. With Phibes now nominally the hero, the audience is not really expected to be frightened by him; instead, we are invited to identify and laugh along with him as he polishes off everyone in his way. Still, this is a small price to pay for the faster-paced plot and many imaginative and amusing touches that make this an extremely entertaining fantasy adventure, if not a very scary horror film.” – Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique

I Drink Your Blood

713. (-228) I Drink Your Blood

David E. Durston

1970 / USA / 83m / Col / Exploitation | IMDb
Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadin Wong, Rhonda Fultz, George Patterson, Riley Mills, John Damon, Elizabeth Marner-Brooks, Richard Bowler, Tyde Kierney, Iris Brooks

“Energetic, sloppy and entirely watchable (especially if you’re sitting down with bong and/or beer), David Durston’s I Drink Your Blood is true-blue camp all the way. Plus it’s vicious, violent, and frequently fall-down funny. Clearly created with a grindhouse-style audience in mind, IDYB doesn’t worry too much about the quality of what’s onscreen, but the quantity of outrageous shit it can pull off before the end credits hit the scene. Frankly you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a gang of Satanist hippies massacre a house full of rats before chowing down on rabid dogmeat and flying into a mega-murderous rage. Before it’s all over, I Drink Your Blood has turned into a decidedly stupider version of Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead, but the thing whizzes along like a really bad hit of acid. And while it’s highly unlikely to ever be considered a “good film” (by any definition of the phrase), there’s little denying that I Drink Your Blood delivers on its promise of wild, weird and frequently wacky material.” – Scott Weinberg, DVD Talk

The Beast with Five Fingers

714. (new) The Beast with Five Fingers

Robert Florey

1946 / USA / 88m / BW / Mystery | IMDb
Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin, David Hoffman, Barbara Brown, Patricia Barry

“Curt Siodmak’s screenplay, from a story by William Fryer Harvey, uses a standard but sturdy setup for a supernatural whodunnit. Everybody is a suspect, even the ostensibly innocent Julie. Events go pretty much as expected until Hilary Cummins’ nightmarish scenes kick in, at which time the combined talents of director Florey, the special effects department and Max Steiner’s dynamic music raise the chill factor to the ceiling. Peter Lorre takes the effect the rest of the way, finding a dozen ways of appearing haunted, shaken and finally terrorized by a horrifying hand crawling under its own power. A shocking sight for the 1940s, the hand has been raggedly sawed or chopped off – the stump of a bone is even visible in the wound.” – Glenn Erickson, DVDTalk

Signs

715. (-366) Signs

M. Night Shyamalan

2002 / USA / 106m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Merritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty

“What makes Signs such an odd but enthralling film is the way its story is open to interpretation. Taken literally, it’s War of the Worlds populated with characters carrying a lot of baggage. At the same time, it’s a metaphor for faith and an examination of how beliefs shape reality. In fact, the surreal and detached atmosphere offers debate for what exactly is “real” in this movie. Enough peculiarities pop up here and there to make you wonder… If you’re not interested in symbolism with your cinema, rest assured that Signs also boasts a good deal of thrills at face value. Tension and unease abound, and the movie has its fair share of sudden jolts and monsters in unseen places.” – Andrew Manning, Radio Free

Mama

716. (-118) Mama

Andrés Muschietti

2013 / Spain / 100m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet, Jane Moffat, Morgan McGarry, David Fox, Dominic Cuzzocrea

“Mama proves to be a great horror film for about half of its running time — the half in which we can’t see who or what this Mama character is… unfortunately, the more we learn about Mama, the more it seems as though she’s just malnourished and misunderstood… To make up for the dearth of suspense, there is at least great acting. Chastain toughens up to portray one of those rare heroines in a horror film who isn’t about to walk down to the basement on her own when the power is out… Devotees of this genre should make a point of seeing the film, if only because it’s a great example of how to be creepy without resorting to cliché. But don’t expect any true horror to emerge” – Vanessa Farquharson, National Post

Gau ji

717. (-187) Gau ji

Fruit Chan

AKA: Dumplings

2004 / Hong Kong / 91m / Col / Black Comedy | IMDb
Pauline Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bai Ling, Meme Tian, So-Fun Wong, Miriam Yeung Chin Wah, Miki Yeung

“A refreshing change from the usual lank-haired ghost stories of extreme Asian cinema, this Hong Kong horror trades on nausea rather than nerve-jangling. Cooked up by mysterious medicine woman Bai Ling, the titular delicacy takes years off desperate housewife Miriam Yeung thanks to a sinister special ingredient. It’s a blackly comic comment on society’s obsession with appearance… Fruit Chan’s movie is an expansion of his 37-minute contribution to 2002 omnibus Three Extremes. At times there’s a sense that it should’ve stayed in its shorter form; the plot treads water in places, especially in the lead-up to the final sick-trigger surprise. On the other hand, you can never have too much of ace cinematographer Chris Doyle’s (Hero, In The Mood For Love) lip-smacking work.” – Matthew Leyland, BBCi – Films

The Neon Demon

718. (+227) The Neon Demon

Nicolas Winding Refn

2016 / USA / 118m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Charles Baker, Jamie Clayton

“For all its shimmery surface modernity, this story about the commodified consumption of youth is as old as the hills, a carefully choreographed carnival of voyeurism in which corruptible beauty is “the only thing” and every look comes with daggers. Motel rooms are stalked by beasts both real and metaphorical (Keanu Reeves giving good creep) and photographers are indistinguishable from serial killers (shades of Eyes of Laura Mars). But while Jesse may faint like Sleeping Beauty, with rose petals falling around her goldie locks, it’s her own image that grabs her by the throat. Mirrors are everywhere, to be stared into, scrawled upon, kissed and smashed. And the more Jesse looks, the more she sees nothing but herself…” – Mark Kermode, Guardian

Bad Moon

719. (new) Bad Moon

Eric Red

1996 / USA / 80m / Col / Werewolf | IMDb
Mariel Hemingway, Michael Paré, Mason Gamble, Ken Pogue, Hrothgar Mathews, Johanna Marlowe, Gavin Buhr, Julia Montgomery Brown, Primo

“Would you believe that the hero and central character of BAD MOON is the family dog? Yup, BAD MOON was actually adapted from a novel entitled Thor, which tells its story from the point of view of its German Shepard protagonist, who does everything in his power to protect the humans he considers to be part of his pack. While I have not read the novel, it is obvious a film could not be made entirely from a dog’s point of view. So, BAD MOON has altered the structure of the original story to suit cinematic conventions. Despite whatever changes were required to translate the story from the printed page to the screen; a German Shepard named Thor remains the heroic center… a fun little werewolf movie that is worth checking out for Halloween or any other night you are in the mood for some horror flicks.” – Derek M. Germano, The Cinema Laser

Rare Exports

720. (+275) Rare Exports

Jalmari Helander

2010 / Finland / 84m / Col / Black Comedy | IMDb
Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Per Christian Ellefsen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi, Jonathan Hutchings, Risto Salmi

“This is a story about the true meaning of Christmas, old-style. Its 15 certificate is no accident, though unfortunate, as there’s little here that’s really inappropriate for younger viewers – it’s just that it’s so damn scary. There’s a creepiness here from the outset and no amount of dark humour can alleviate it; as the tension escalates grown adults will also find themselves hiding behind the seats. It successfully captures the sense of something otherworldly, mixing snowflakes and fairy lights with something that might have been written by Dennis Wheatley or HP Lovecraft. Yet despite this, it is at its core a classic children’s adventure.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

I vampiri

721. (-297) I vampiri

Riccardo Freda & Mario Bava

AKA: Lust of the Vampire

1957 / Italy / 66m / BW / Vampire | IMDb
Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D’Angelo, Dario Michaelis, Wandisa Guida, Angelo Galassi, Renato Tontini, Charles Fawcett, Gisella Mancinotti, Miranda Campa, Antoine Balpêtré

“But the most important link between I vampiri and the films to follow isn’t narrative at all, but the fact that it’s breathtakingly beautiful. Bava’s later career as a greatly influential and important director has tended to obscure the reality that he was one of his country’s all-time greatest cinematographers, and the uses he and Freda find for the CinemaScope frame is positively miraculous. There’s hardly a single composition that isn’t packed within an inch of its life with evocative imagery, and even such banal things as a conversation taking place in a two-shot are framed to have depth and layers far beyond the basic need to have two people chatting. The lighting in the film is equally inspired: growing ever darker from the start of the film to the end, but so gradually you can hardly tell, with the noir-inflected shadows growing longer with the greatest subtlety.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

Longlegs

722. (new) Longlegs

Osgood Perkins

2024 / USA / 101m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, Lauren Acala, Kiernan Shipka, Maila Hosie, Jason William Day

“Gloom and evil fascinate Osgood Perkins. Implacable, patient, cruel malice permeates his films, and none more so than Longlegs, a nerve-racking and dour excursion into diabolical and gruesome terror. His films feel like a reaction to the recent trend in horror that posits the monster is more interesting than its victims – an idea that is often a crutch for weak filmmaking and worse character development. Even when Perkins’ protagonists find themselves sliding slowly to become the antagonist, it’s true, seeping, simmering, seething evil that is the ultimate threat, pervasive as fog or the smell of rot under your nose.” – Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle

Genres: Police Procedural, Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Supernatural Horror

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

723. (new) Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

James Signorelli

1988 / USA / 96m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Phil Rubenstein, Larry Flash Jenkins, Cassandra Peterson, Damita Jo Freeman, Tress MacNeille, Edwina Moore, Mario Celario, Lee McLaughlin, Bill Swearingen, Charles Woolf

“The film is extremely campy, but anybody who chooses to watch a film centered around Elvira knows this going into it. The real question is can Elvira carry an entire feature length film on her own? The answer to this is fortunately “yes”; although much of it consists of deliberately-bad acting or breaking the fourth wall, the character of Elvira is entertaining enough to make it all fun. It’s a film for a certain type of movie fan. Anybody who is a fan of B-grade horror films — or who simply remembers her late 80s media blitz — should already be acquainted with Elvira, and will know what to expect from the film.” – Morgan R. Lewis, Morgan on Media

Full Circle

724. (new) Full Circle

Richard Loncraine

AKA: The Haunting of Julia

1977 / Canada / 98m / Col / Haunted House | IMDb
Mia Farrow, Keir Dullea, Tom Conti, Jill Bennett, Robin Gammell, Cathleen Nesbitt, Anna Wing, Edward Hardwicke, Mary Morris, Pauline Jameson

“A couple years ago, I laid out a subcategory of 70s horror called “Melancholy Horror,” describing it as “a sub-genre of especially artistic horror/thriller/supernatural drama films that fill half of you with genuine scares, and the rest with a genuine sadness– or at least a sense of overwhelming alienation… They always make the most of their budgets, however, and come across as very impressionistic, hypnotic, and dreamlike; the 1970s film stock often lending sunlight, candlelight, and fall colors a special ethereal prominence.” THE HAUNTING OF JULIA is no masterpiece: it’s not as good as DON’T LOOK NOW or THE CHANGELING or AUDREY ROSE, three films that it resembles thematically. But in Melancholy Horror, atmosphere often trumps narrative quality, and JULIA has atmosphere in spades” – Sean Gill, Junta Juleil’s Culture Shock

The Omega Man

725. (new) The Omega Man

Boris Sagal

1971 / USA / 98m / Col / Post-Apocalyptic | IMDb
Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo, Eric Laneuville, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Jill Giraldi, Anna Aries, Brian Tochi, DeVeren Bookwalter

“What “The Omega Man” lacks in serious and heavy handed tone is made up with very groovy and stylish action, suspense and even some character driven frivolity. In other words it’s a deep down 1970’s, balls to the wall, sci-fi cult classic. First there is a lot to love with Heston here, playing up the machismo at times, he conveys capably that he is alone, barely sane and desperate. He is just bad ass from frame one till the very closing of the movie.” – Victor De Leon, Horror News

Split

726. (+140) Split

M. Night Shyamalan

2016 / USA / 117m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Izzie Coffey, Brad William Henke, Sebastian Arcelus, Neal Huff, Ukee Washington

“Though the central character of “Split” is a man with a split personality, the film also tells the story of a split in the world. Just as “Unbreakable” suggested the origins of a superhero in a near-death childhood experience, so “Split” shows a young woman able to combat evil because of the strength she has developed from horrific personal trauma. With its crude realization of the shibboleth that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, the movie is more than a story of feminist survivalism; it also makes the perversely tawdry suggestion that a woman’s tragic knowledge—and necessary power—comes with an unbearably high price.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Apt Pupil

727. (new) Apt Pupil

Bryan Singer

1998 / USA / 111m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson, Mickey Cottrell, Michael Reid MacKay, Ann Dowd, Bruce Davison, James Karen, Marjorie Lovett, David Cooley

“Apt Pupil doesn’t pan out as a hunted-Nazi thriller, although Dussander — chillingly interpreted by McKellen, who’s spectacular in every role these days — at one point goose-steps in an old SS uniform. Neither is it a full-tilt Stephen King thriller, particularly after first-time screenwriter Brandon Boyce softens up the violence of the author’s much more murderous text. But absorb “Apt Pupil” as a student-teacher parable, a shaping-of-character tale about an unusual Nazi suspect and an alienated kid as American as apple strudel, and you’re in for a start more disturbing than anything Keyser Söze could provide.” – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Puppet Master

728. (-85) Puppet Master

David Schmoeller

1989 / USA / 90m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Paul Le Mat, William Hickey, Irene Miracle, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Robin Frates, Matt Roe, Kathryn O’Reilly, Mews Small, Barbara Crampton, David Boyd

“The puppeteering while ancient is still rather eye catching as Schmoeller saves time and money by picture most of the puppets through point of view shots and roaming angles through the hotel while relying on stop motion to do the rest of the work vividly painting a picture of the characters and their own innovative defense mechanisms. Including the Tunneler and his steel drill atop his head, and Blade whose own hook and knife combo would become a trademark of the series. “Puppet Master” ends as a fairly Frankenstein-ish film that meshes dream like paranoia with classic monster movie tropes to bring us the first of a lasting money fueling legacy for the Full Moon collective.” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

Genres: Supernatural Horror, Slasher, Evil Doll

Hasta el viento tiene miedo

729. (new) Hasta el viento tiene miedo

Carlos Enrique Taboada

AKA: Even the Wind Is Afraid

1968 / Mexico / 88m / Col / Mystery | IMDb
Marga López, Maricruz Olivier, Alicia Bonet, Norma Lazareno, Renata Seydel, Elizabeth Dupeyrón, Rita Sabre Marroquín, Irma Castillón, Rafael Llamas

“Shown on Mexican television every Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos… it is also widely considered the best Mexican film of the horror genre. Mexican movie studios did produce a number of horror movies during the 1950’s-1960’s (Mexican Cinema’s Golden Age), but they were largely mediocre movies featuring masked wrestlers. What sets Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo apart from the latter is Taboada’s introduction of 19th century literary gothic motifs in a contemporary setting… Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo is the first in a horror trilogy by Taboada and while Veneno Para las Hadas (Poison for the Fairies) received awards and was more critically acclaimed it’s the former that remains his most popular film.” – Cinema Nostalgia

Bedlam

730. (-184) Bedlam

Mark Robson

1946 / USA / 79m / BW / Thriller | IMDb
Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House, Richard Fraser, Glen Vernon, Ian Wolfe, Jason Robards Sr., Leyland Hodgson, Joan Newton, Elizabeth Russell

“This situation feels like it would lend itself rather well to traditional horror film terrors, particularly with director Mark Robson and cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca making the inside of the hospital look so despicably dark and forbidding, and there are certainly shots and even entire scenes that click on that level; but ultimately, Bedlam refuses to commit fully to being that kind of horror film, lest it fall into the same trap that it sets for Bowen: namely, talking about how it wants to help the inmates, but secretly being terrified of them. For Bedlam is a full-on message picture about how shamefully we treated the mentally ill back in 1761, and how loathsome was a society that would encourage such treatment just so the rich could keep themselves entertained by exploiting the insane, which is kind of an odd message to sell with quite so much urgency in 1946, but there you have it.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

La sindrome di Stendhal

731. (-270) La sindrome di Stendhal

Dario Argento

AKA: The Stendhal Syndrome

1996 / Italy / 120m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Asia Argento, Thomas Kretschmann, Marco Leonardi, Luigi Diberti, Paolo Bonacelli, Julien Lambroschini, John Quentin, Franco Diogene, Lucia Stara, Sonia Topazio

“Dario Argento’s The Stendhal Syndrome from 1996 is among one of his finest gothic/slash/occult/slash/horror and gore films and the first [Italian] film to use CGI. In this film his own daughter Asia Argento takes the blows, as opposed to his former partner Dario Niccolodi… Dario Argento tries to make a connection, as in all of his films, to the irresistible pull of the supernatural that captivates people and makes them prisoner despite premonitions of danger or perhaps because of them. At least as spectators we know that the danger is out there but when it’s going to hit is an unknown… a compelling film that doesn’t get vulgar or cheap, but stays in some kind of respectable depravity.” – Moira Sullivan, Movie Magazine International

Raat

732. (new) Raat

Ram Gopal Varma

1992 / India / 127m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Revathy, Rohini Hattangadi, Om Puri, Anant Nag, Sushant, Jaya Mathur, Master Atit, Tej Sapru, C.V.L., Nirmalamma

“Chances are you haven’t heard of Raat or seen it in your video stores. Whatever the case may be, this indianized version of “The Exorcist” is a slick, well-acted horror flick, a genre you don´t get to see very much in India… The film is reminiscent of many films like Kaun, Aks and even English films like Stir of Echoes and The Sixth Sense… Raat may not be flawless but has enough style, performance power and tight directed sequences for one not to forget. The deadly camerawork and background music make it a must own for fans of the genre and those that have followed up on Ram Gopal Varma’s works.” – Akshay Shah, Planet Bollywood

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

733. (+249) Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

John Harrison

1990 / USA / 93m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Deborah Harry, Christian Slater, David Johansen, William Hickey, James Remar, Rae Dawn Chong, Matthew Lawrence, Robert Sedgwick, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore

“Director John Harrison doesn’t do too much wrong here, but he’s helped immensely by three decent stories, a fun wraparound, and a collection of great actors in the main roles […] There’s plenty of dark humour, there’s just enough gore to keep fans of the red stuff happy, and there are some enjoyable practical effects (some enjoyable for being good, and some enjoyable for being amusingly fake). It’s also perfectly paced, coming in at about 90 minutes, therefore preventing any one tale from outstaying its welcome.” – Kevin Matthews, For It Is Man’s Number

Malignant

734. (new) Malignant

James Wan

2021 / USA / 111m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jean Louisa Kelly, Susanna Thompson, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie, Christian Clemenson, Amir AboulEla

“And it’s all paced with a wonderfully delirious sense of escalation. By and large it seems like the story of a young woman who has some kind of mysterious psychic link to a killer, and it continues along in that vein until the last act, when everything gets more grisly before going utterly apeshit. It gets much weirder and much bloodier than everything preceding it without getting any more serious in tone, blending the giallo-style flashbacks that reveal exactly how everything really happened with some classic body horror. Like everything else about this film, it swings for the fences and I found my jaw in my lap at how melodramatic and audacious the whole thing ended up being.” – Cliff Evans, A Lifetime in Dark Rooms

Genres: Mystery, Horror, Body Horror, Police Procedural, Slasher, Action, Splatter, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Horror

Gritos en la noche

735. (-291) Gritos en la noche

Jesús Franco

AKA: The Awful Dr. Orlof

1962 / Spain / 90m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Conrado San Martín, Diana Lorys, Howard Vernon, Perla Cristal, María Silva, Ricardo Valle, Mara Laso, Venancio Muro, Félix Dafauce, Faustino Cornejo

“The audio elements of Orlof complement the visuals, combining efforts to keep the audience on their toes. The dizzy musical score by José Pagán and Antonio Ramírez Ángel… Actually, I misspeak – “music” is far too nice a word for the cacophony of percussion and bizarre arrangements that permeate Orlof’s soundscape. Pagán and Ángel’s work is more of a thrumming wakeup call to the senses, a bucket of cold water tossed down the ear. The camerawork and the soundtrack combine to form a general aesthetic of “screw aesthetics,” infusing Orlof with a manic, exhilarating energy that enlivens and rejuvenates the clichés in the script.” – Nate Yapp, Classic-Horror

The Reflecting Skin

736. (-87) The Reflecting Skin

Philip Ridley

1990 / UK / 96m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Cooper, Sheila Moore, Duncan Fraser, David Longworth, Robert Koons, David Bloom, Evan Hall, Codie Lucas Wilbee

“Ridley’s debut film is clearly reminiscent of Lynch, but the differences reveal more than the similarities. Ridley’s sense of humor is less flamboyant than Lynch; he also tends to handle his bizarre touches with more subtlety. Most significantly, for better or worse, The Reflecting Skin has a literary sensibility missing in Lynch. It feels like a adaptation of an out-there experimental novella. That’s precisely what we might expect from a first time director whose previous career was as a novelist and playwright… What this web of symbols all may mean, if anything, is left to the viewer to decide… Obviously, there is a theme of loss of moral innocence, and also a theme of encroaching age and decay. But, for the most part, Ridley fills the screen with unresolved metaphors that seethe and boil just below the surface of the narrative.” – Greg Smalley, 366 Weird Movies

Donnie Darko

737. (-125) Donnie Darko

Richard Kelly

2001 / USA / 113m / Col / Mystery | IMDb
Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Arthur Taxier, Patrick Swayze, Mark Hoffman

“Maybe Richard Kelly’s fate is to be the cult circuit’s Michael Cimino — forever admired for one great film amid subsequent missteps, including a director’s cut of the same movie. Kelly has yet to match the mysterious mood or magnitude of his filmmaking debut, 2001’s “Donnie Darko” — a collision of time-travel sci-fi, commentary on ’80s Reaganomics malaise and teen angst that’s simultaneously witty and poignant… And what works as nervy comedy also foreshadows Donnie’s burden and reinforces Kelly’s thematic idea that teens can be capable of amazing, world-changing things. Concluding with compassionate nobility and an unforgettable epilogue, “Donnie Darko” represented the one moment when Kelly’s eccentricities weren’t extraneous and ambition matched his grasp.” – Nick Rogers, The Film Yap

Sangue per Dracula

738. (-220) Sangue per Dracula

Paul Morrissey

AKA: Andy Warhol’s Dracula

1974 / Italy / 103m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Vittorio De Sica, Maxime McKendry, Arno Juerging, Milena Vukotic, Dominique Darel, Stefania Casini, Silvia Dionisio, Inna Alexeievna

“Outrageous, over the top in the sex, skin and gore department (the film was rated X when it came out, and I doubt it would get any rating at all today), Blood for Dracula is at once a horror film and a spoof—but it’s also something more. A strange, lingering sadness hangs over the film in its depiction of the end of an era. There’s a somber quality to Kier’s Dracula and also to the eldest daughter of the house, Esmeralda (Milena Vukotic)—a quality that lasts long after all the blood spurting, severed limbs and sex have passed. It’s a strange film—sometimes a beautiful one—but it’s also the textbook definition of “not for everyone.”” – Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress

La morte vivante

739. (-178) La morte vivante

Jean Rollin

AKA: The Living Dead Girl

1982 / France / 86m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Marina Pierro, Françoise Blanchard, Mike Marshall, Carina Barone, Fanny Magier, Patricia Besnard-Rousseau, Jean Berel, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, Véronique Carpentier

“Language aside, Francoise Blanchard dedicates herself to the part of Catherine so completely, that the story works. You’re not scared of Catherine; you’re scared for her – disturbed by the concept of being self-aware enough to realize that you’re dead and that there may be no escape from a life of feeding on other humans. It’s rich material for a horror film, and this is one Rollin movie that’s a more satisfying genre effort than what we’re used to from the director. Typically, Rollin’s films combine gothic horror visuals with avant garde arthouse sensibilities. Living Dead Girl is a more straight-forward, dedicated horror effort – more thoroughly plotted, more exciting, more gruesome, and more unsettling than Rollin’s typical vampire work, while still feeling unmistakably like a Rollin film.” – John Gholson, Horror’s Not Dead

It Came from Outer Space

740. (-247) It Came from Outer Space

Jack Arnold

1953 / USA / 81m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson

“It Came from Outer Space stands out from the 50’s alien-invasion-movie crowd in so many ways that it’s difficult to keep track of them all. For one thing, there’s the portrayal of the aliens themselves. These spacefarers are a far cry from the Martians of War of the Worlds or Invaders from Mars, but they are equally far from the stern but benevolent Klaatu of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Of all the movie aliens of the time, I believe these are the most plausibly portrayed, the ones whose actions and motivations most closely resemble what one would expect from intelligent organisms in their position. They are neither villainous conquerors led by a diabolical megalomaniac (think Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) nor beatific missionaries of interstellar peace. They are reasonable beings who have gotten themselves into trouble, and who are willing to do whatever they have to in order to get out of it again. If that means treating the natives a bit roughly, so be it.” – Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours

House of Dark Shadows

741. (-302) House of Dark Shadows

Dan Curtis

1970 / USA / 97m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Roger Davis, Nancy Barrett, John Karlen, Thayer David, Louis Edmonds, Don Briscoe, David Henesy

“The soap opera Dark Shadows was Curtis’ baby and it ran on ABC from 1966-1971 hitting the peak of its popularity with the release of this film in 1970. While the show had many long running storylines and even storylines in different eras, Curtis decided that the film version was going to tell the Barnabas vampire tale alone. Audiences were a bit shocked by how much harsher the film version of the show was, with a Barnabas that was much less sympathetic and violence that was, well, violent. With a tightly focused vampire story, Curtis produced a film which has the feel of a classic Hammer film… The film is aided immeasurably in this regard by its location photography in upstate New York and Connecticut.” – Brian Holcomb, Kinetofilm

Silent Night, Bloody Night

742. (new) Silent Night, Bloody Night

Theodore Gershuny

AKA: Silent Night, Bloody Night

1972 / USA / 81m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Patrick O’Neal, James Patterson, Mary Woronov, Astrid Heeren, John Carradine, Walter Abel, Fran Stevens, Walter Klavun, Philip Bruns, Staats Cotsworth

“With a title like Silent Night, Bloody Night, you may be under the impression that this impressive little horror movie uses graphic violence and gore to get at its audience. That couldn’t be further from the truth, as Gershuny goes to great lengths to give the film an ominous feel that never wears off. He enjoys giving us outside glimpses of the Butler house, standing silently and almost proudly out in the snow, only to cut to the darkened interior where horrible secrets wander the shadows. The filmmakers muster plenty of atmosphere and they divide it evenly throughout the film’s runtime, but the film isn’t bashful about its bloodletting.” – Steve Habrat, Anti-Film School

Count Yorga, Vampire

743. (+85) Count Yorga, Vampire

Bob Kelljan

1970 / USA / 93m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Robert Quarry, Roger Perry, Michael Murphy, Michael Macready, Donna Anders, Judy Lang, Edward Walsh, Julie Conners, Paul Hansen, Sybil Scotford

“Count Yorga – Vampire (originally conceived as a soft-core porn film entitled The Loves of Count Iorga) is a nifty little low-budget exploitation effort that uses its resources to good effect. The shocks are crude but effective. Although relatively tame by later standards, the gore has a nasty edge to it, underlining the film’s cynical sensibility and downbeat ending… [it] survives on the strength of its title performance and on the inventiveness of its approach to modern day vampirism. Yorga may not be a very refined film, but it packs a lot of attitude, and there’s no denying that the surprise ending is like a wicked little punch in the face.” – Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

744. (new) The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Yorgos Lanthimos

2017 / UK / 121m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Barry G. Bernson, Herb Caillouet, Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Dal Vera, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Nicole Kidman, Drew Logan, Alicia Silverstone

“Lanthimos commands ]the] world with precise craftsmanship, resulting in a crisp aesthetic underscored by unsettling rumbles of bass and strings. All of this congeals into an atmosphere of fragility and natural unease, which escalates into pure dread by the end. While it features little of the blood and spectacle of a studio horror film, Sacred Deer frightens in a more unconscious manner. It introduces a nightmare concept and milks it for every drop of morbid, deeply uncomfortable dread. From the first scenes, Lanthimos tells the viewer that this world is far from normal, as Kidman mimics an unconscious patient for Farrell’s delight, or Keoghan seduces Cassidy with unreadable intent. The strangeness only escalates from there, until it reaches a point of either confusion or terror, depending on the viewer. The film’s anxiety feels closely tied to our country’s current state—the privileged paranoia that an outsider will take your safety from you, leaving you at the mercy of senseless, violent nature.” – Ben Larned, Daily Dead

Revenge of the Creature

745. (+78) Revenge of the Creature

Jack Arnold

1955 / USA / 82m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Nestor Paiva, Grandon Rhodes, Dave Willock, Robert Williams, Charles Cane

Revenge of the Creature is surpassed by its predecessor in all but one regard: the Gill-man becomes a clear victim of circumstance and will thus evoke compassion from those of a sensitive inclination. Specifically, the creature is abducted from his natural environment and put on display for exploitative purposes; therefore, the Gill-man’s savagery in the final act occurs within a decidedly justifiable context—much in contrast to Creature from the Black Lagoon, wherein the ethics of invading an animal’s territory and suffering the consequences thereof are presented through an ambiguous perspective.” – Jon Davidson, Midnite Reviews

Fritt vilt

746. (+211) Fritt vilt

Roar Uthaug

AKA: Cold Prey

2006 / Norway / 97m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Endre Martin Midtstigen, Viktoria Winge, Rune Melby, Erik Skjeggedal, Tonie Lunde, Hallvard Holmen

“Roar Uthaug’s debut feature is a conventional but nicely handled slasher pic that makes good use of spectacular mountain range locations. Widescreen lensing format and above-average perfs add a touch of class to the tale of five snowboarders who take shelter in the wrong mysteriously abandoned (or is it?) ski lodge… Likeable characters are given more personality than the usual genre cannon fodder, and, while the basic premise is routine, pic orchestrates its scares with brute effectiveness. The only letdown is the killer himself, a generic “Halloween”-y faceless ghoul in goggles and heavy winter wear.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety

The House on Sorority Row

747. (-36) The House on Sorority Row

Mark Rosman

AKA: House of Evil

1982 / USA / 91m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy, Harley Jane Kozak, Jodi Draigie, Ellen Dorsher, Lois Kelso Hunt, Christopher Lawrence, Michael Kuhn

“The score by Richard Band is victorious in setting the mood, deploying an orchestral warmth that carries the movie to a richly cinematic level, while [the] editing concentrates on smooth transitions and tension, building the picture into a legitimately effective chiller, even with a few pokey spots of exposition. Rosman takes cues from the suspense masters and infuses “The House on Sorority Row” with traditional stalking sequences and mysterious happenings, most tied to court jester imagery. The helmer also makes good use of the location, working through basements and bedrooms, while the pool area plays a critical part in the story. The feature is unexpectedly competent, providing refreshing attention to the stages of fear, while allowing for some college student stupidity to open up the viewing experience, with most of the male characters complete oafs, reinforcing the strong feminine viewpoint of the movie.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray

Censor

748. (new) Censor

Prano Bailey-Bond

2021 / UK / 84m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Clare Holman, Andrew Havill, Felicity Montagu, Danny Lee Wynter

“We know now that all those horror movies didn’t warp anybody’s mind, at least not in any kind of mass way. Censor, on the other hand, asks us to suppose that too much consumption of them could impact one’s point of view. Even more chilling is the idea that it could happen without knowledge, thereby plunging a person into a hell they never see coming. Bailey-Bond is smart to marry that concept to the very human element of Enid never fully accepting her sister’s likely fate. It grounds the story, causing us to fear for the character the further she goes on her quest. Atmospherically photographed, effectively edited, and possessing several genuinely shocking moments, Censor is a terrific horror movie about horror movies.” – Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat

Dans ma peau

749. (+210) Dans ma peau

Marina de Van

AKA: In My Skin

2002 / France / 93m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Marina de Van, Laurent Lucas, Léa Drucker, Thibault de Montalembert, Dominique Reymond, Bernard Alane, Marc Rioufol, François Lamotte, Adrien de Van, Alain Rimoux

“It’s mostly the suggestion of what Esther is doing to herself that worms its way into your mind and won’t leave you alone, and that’s what people were finding so uncomfortable that they couldn’t continue to watch the film. Being confronted with a sudden boundary between “me” and “my body” isn’t something many of us have dealt with, and our innate inclination for self-preservation tells us to run from the suggestion that such a thing is possible. That might make In My Skin the ultimate horror movie, one the proposes that, given the right stimulus, we ourselves could be our own worst mortal danger.” – MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan

750. (-199) Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan

Nobuo Nakagawa

AKA: The Ghost of Yotsuya

1959 / Japan / 76m / Col / Jidaigeki | IMDb
Shigeru Amachi, Noriko Kitazawa, Katsuko Wakasugi, Shuntarô Emi, Ryûzaburô Nakamura, Junko Ikeuchi, Jun ôtomo, Hiroshi Hayashi, Shinjirô Asano, Arata Shibata

“Along with the masterful camerawork, the film’s lighting and music play an integral role in selling the dreadful feeling that permeates the entire film. The final moments are scored with traditional Japanese music that grows in driving intensity with the images on-screen, culminating in a stunning, powerful ending that perfectly caps off the film. The violence is surprisingly graphic and still very effective, over fifty years after release. No US film would have ever gotten away with the stuff they do in this film, and as such it feels like a more recent film than 1959. The violence is nothing compared with later films of course, but given the time, it’s incredible. The Ghost of Yotsuya is an amazing, haunting, wonderful horror film that fans of the genre should definitely not miss. It is proof that horror films can be artful and grotesque simultaneously.” – Will Kouf, Silver Emulsion

The Endless

751. (new) The Endless

Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead

2017 / USA / 111m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, James Jordan, Emily Montague, Lew Temple, Justin Benson, Ric Sarabia, Aaron Moorhead, Kira Powell, Peter Cilella

The Endless opens with a quote from cult horror author H.P. Lovecraft, whose dread-filled mythos of ancient alien gods and terrifying occult knowledge is a key influence on Benson and Moorhead’s work. But the tone here is more classic low-budget indie drama, restrained and cerebral, than nightmarish horror. Initially, at least… A key future challenge for the duo will be how to bring this fine-grained auteur approach into the commercial mainstream without diluting their strongly original vision.” – Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter

Vampire Circus

752. (+68) Vampire Circus

Robert Young

1972 / UK / 87m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters, Anthony Higgins, John Moulder-Brown, Laurence Payne, Richard Owens, Lynne Frederick, Elizabeth Seal, Robin Hunter, Domini Blythe

“Modern viewers will indeed be amazed at the level of grue here. Throats are slashed, human beings torn limb from limb by ferocious beasts. Said vivisected bodies are discovered in horrific fashion, and gunshots blow holes in the back of hunky henchmen. This isn’t your pathetic piecemeal PG-13 shocker. From a crucifix to a cutlass, weapons draw gallons of blood here, and Young shows a real flare for fatalistic invention. Indeed, the director is Vampire Circus‘s certified wild card here. While sticking to the storytelling conventions rather well, he adds unique visual elements to the mix, including obvious homages to then arthouse cinema hits and moments of his own unique invention (a pair of aerialists are shot from below as they spin and contort in the air, giving their performance a surreal, hallucinogenic aura).” – Bill Gibron, Pop Matters

Bug

753. (-225) Bug

William Friedkin

2006 / USA / 102m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brían F. O’Byrne, Neil Bergeron, Bob Neill

“Bug is not surprisingly being advertised as being “from the director of The Exorcist,” which says almost as much about the lingering power of that 1973 horror classic as it does about the disappointing nature of Friedkin’s career over the past three decades. The comparison is not just a marketing ploy, though, as Bug allows Friedkin to play on his strengths as a director–namely, managing actors in close quarters. For all the talk about pea soup and head-spinning in The Exorcist, that film was in many ways a chamber piece, with its issues of faith, religion, and the true nature of evil playing out largely within the tight confines of a little girl’s bedroom. By the end of Bug, Agnes’s motel room is as unrecognizable as Reagan’s bedroom was, transformed from a place of ordinary existence into a realm of extraordinary degradation in which two people finding love and acceptance culminates into a literal inferno.” – James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

The Lords of Salem

754. (+11) The Lords of Salem

Rob Zombie

2012 / USA / 101m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Judy Geeson, Meg Foster, Patricia Quinn, Ken Foree, Dee Wallace, Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Fancy

“Movies by Rob Zombie, the goth rocker turned cult filmmaker, aren’t for everybody. But he couldn’t care less. He makes movies exactly the way he wants to, with no thought of pleasing mainstream audiences. They can like it or lump it. His latest effort, “The Lords of Salem,” is true to form… [fans] will want to rush out to see this stylishly lensed work, which references Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and Dario Argento’s “Suspiria,” Others are advised to look elsewhere for fun in the dark.” – V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Begotten

755. (+168) Begotten

E. Elias Merhige

1989 / USA / 72m / Col / Experimental | IMDb
Brian Salzberg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry, James Gandia, Daniel Harkins, Michael Phillips, Erik Slavin, Arthur Streeter, Adolfo Vargas, Garfield White

“Few motion pictures have the power to jolt an audience with the fury, imagination, and artistic violence of Begotten, a 1991 tour de force from Elias Merhige currently debuting on home video. This cryptic independent production is a film of eccentric brilliance, skillfully balancing the glorious and the grotesque in an unforgettable work of art. Perhaps the most striking aspect of Begotten is its cinematography. Filmmaker Merhige photographed his work on 16-mm black-and-white reversal film and then rephotographed the footage frame by frame on black-and-white negatives through density filters, a four-year labor that required 10 hours of work for each minute of the 78-minute film. The result is a visual work unlike any other – one that looks like an ancient ritual filmed on the scene thousands of years ago and only recently dusted off for viewing.” – Phil Hall, Wired

Genres: Experimental, Horror, Surrealism, Sadistic Horror, Slow Cinema, Religious Film, Splatter, Gothic

Frankenstein

756. (new) Frankenstein

Kenneth Branagh

1994 / USA / 123m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Richard Briers, John Cleese, Robert Hardy, Cherie Lunghi

“Writers Steph Lady and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) retain much of the source’s action and all of its spirit, but still make the work speak to our age. Their lines echo modern concerns, from the boundaries of medicine to epidemics even to students on athletic scholarships. The mayhem that overtakes so many versions of Frankenstein doesn’t here. Through all the passion and horror runs a strong philosophical cord, questioning our ability to challenge nature, to remake it simply because we can. The film is ever reminding us there are costs to crossing frontiers, human lives, that must be considered.” – Robert Faires, Austin Chronicle

Môjû

757. (+138) Môjû

Yasuzô Masumura

AKA: Blind Beast

1969 / Japan / 86m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Eiji Funakoshi, Mako Midori, Noriko Sengoku

“Given the rather static nature of the mise-en-scène, Masumura must be admired for stretching out such an elementary idea to feature length, yet the most overwhelming impression of this film is its deliciously overwrought visual style, conjuring up such a vivid and endlessly interesting, self-contained cinematic world inside the claustrophobic confines of Michio’s studio. Yes, The Blind Beast really is as outlandish as it sounds, and must rank as one of the most powerful and potently disturbing horror films ever conceived.” – Jasper Sharp, Midnight Eye

Frankenstein

758. (-581) Frankenstein

J. Searle Dawley

1910 / USA / 16m / BW / Gothic | IMDb
Mary Fuller, Charles Ogle, Augustus Phillips

“Despite the poor quality of the print, Dawley’s monster is on a par with many in modern horror films and must have seemed truly disturbing when the film was first released. Rather than being assembled from parts, he is created using a chemical process that sees him emerge as a skeleton gradually acquiring flesh. It’s a haunting image which substantiates his unnaturalness. Unfortunate, then, that when fully developed he resembles a member of Lordi, but Charles Ogle still manages to make him seem threatening, looming impressively. Opposite him, Augustus Phillips is a master of grand gestures, making the hero a complex if somewhat effete individual, a man whom we can feel for even in this limited context. This Frankenstein is not, in modern terms, very sophisticated, but it fills out its running time well and viewers are unlikely to lose patience with it.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

Genres: Gothic Horror, Science Fiction, Trick Film, Zombie, Low Fantasy

Afflicted

759. (new) Afflicted

Derek Lee & Clif Prowse

2013 / Canada / 85m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Derek Lee, Clif Prowse, Michael Gill, Baya Rehaz, Benjamin Zeitoun, Zach Gray, Jason Lee, Edo Van Breemen, Gary Redekop, Lily Py Lee

“To take the handheld genre and some creature mythology and push it forward is fun to witness, especially for a work that simply doesn’t feel like a freshman effort. Showing a surprising understanding of what makes a film like this work, the duo gets us to care for our characters before dragging them through hell and back. Additionally, the use of practical effects helps sell the chaos even more, particularly with a low budget… While the use of the cameras in the found footage genre often feels tacked on, here it’s not only integral to the way it is shot, but the story itself. Every action and shot is so painstakingly planned out that it becomes fascinating to think about how they possibly created the effects they did without the use of heavy CGI sequences.” – Bill Graham, The Film Stage

The Dark and the Wicked

760. (new) The Dark and the Wicked

Bryan Bertino

2020 / USA / 95m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Marin Ireland, Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Lynn Andrews, Tom Nowicki, Michael Zagst, Xander Berkeley, Charles Jonathan Trott, Ella Ballentine, Mel Cowan, Mindy Raymond

“Although it’s filled with dread, Bertino maintains a slow-burning tempo that avoids most tropes. His themes involve isolation, depression, elderly neglect, all lined within the scope of political and religious allegories. These complex ideas are often explored through basic everyday household objects. The phone keeps ringing but it’s usually an apparition of their mother on the line commanding them to “get out and go away.”” – Eamon Tracy, Irish Film Critic

Cat's Eye

761. (+69) Cat’s Eye

Lewis Teague

1985 / USA / 94m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Kenneth McMillan, Robert Hays, Candy Clark, James Naughton, Tony Munafo, Court Miller, Russell Horton

“As a whole, CAT’S EYE is a well-written and well-produced slab of 80’s horror nostalgia, and aside from some of the music and dated special effects, there’s not much that prevents the film from being timeless. There’s a certain amount of black humor present that Stephen King was so good at, and there are brilliant callbacks throughout the film, be it portions of the film referencing earlier segments, or subtle things that reference scenes or bits of dialogue that didn’t initially seem noteworthy.” – Aaron Duenas, The Death Rattle

Wai dor lei ah yat ho

762. (+202) Wai dor lei ah yat ho

Ho-Cheung Pang

AKA: Dream Home

2010 / Hong Kong / 96m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Josie Ho, Juno Mak, Hee Ching Paw, Michelle Ye, Hoi-Pang Lo, Eason Chan, Ying Kwan Lok, Norman Chu, Kwok Cheung Tsang, Chu-chu Zhou

“”Dream Home” is a ghastly, disturbing and, in its depiction of a person who can’t seem to get ahead in a competitive, unforgiving economic climate, surprisingly melancholy horror show. Unspooling out of sequence for a reason, with Sheung’s killing spree interlaced with the telling of the events that have led her to such drastic measures, the film does not condone her actions, but does show how someone could be pushed in such an extreme direction. Indeed, Sheung has a passable apartment as it is, but her obsession with moving up in status turns her into a monster who will stop at nothing to get what she thinks she deserves.” – Dustin Putnam, The Movie Boy

Shock Waves

763. (-108) Shock Waves

Ken Wiederhorn

AKA: Almost Human

1977 / USA / 85m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Brooke Adams, Fred Buch, Jack Davidson, Luke Halpin, D.J. Sidney, John Carradine, Don Stout, Clarence Thomas, Sammy Graham

“Director Wiederhorn allows his camera to act almost voyeuristic as it creeps through the trees to spy on the zombies that pop up from the murky water. They are presented as paranormal specters that are silhouetted by the blinding sun reflecting off the water. At times, we see them from an extreme distance, marching in formation and turning to barely acknowledge their gaunt commander as he pleads with them to stop their meaningless slaughter. It was these scenes that made me fall in love with Shock Waves, the film just subtle enough while every once in a while, getting right in our faces so we can see its soggy decay. We never see any scenes of mass carnage, the zombies preferring to drown their victims instead of gnawing at their flesh and sucking on their entrails. That fact that the film remains eerily tranquil throughout, never getting frantic or hurrying is what really makes this film such an effective little adventure.” – Steve Habrat, Anti-Film School

The Girl with All the Gifts

764. (new) The Girl with All the Gifts

Colm McCarthy

2016 / UK / 111m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Gemma Arterton, Dominique Tipper, Glenn Close, Anamaria Marinca, Paddy Considine, Sennia Nanua, Lobna Futers, Daniel Eghan, Fisayo Akinade, Anthony Welsh

“This fiercely intelligent British chiller from Scottish director Colm McCarthy, whose small-screen credits include Doctor Who, Sherlock and Peaky Blinders, breathes new life into age-old horror tropes, taking familiar fears of zombies, the apocalypse and eerie children and spinning them in surprising ways. Although writer Mike “MR” Carey’s narrative about a fungal plague that turns victims into cannibalistic “hungries” occupies a post-28 Days Later landscape, the central obsessions explored here are closer to the identity crises of Never Let Me Go (both book and film), with a strong underlying strain of the very British weirdness of John Wyndham.” – Mark Kermode, The Observer

Only Lovers Left Alive

765. (new) Only Lovers Left Alive

Jim Jarmusch

2013 / UK / 123m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi, Carter Logan, Aurelie Thepaut, Ali Amine

“The film is marked by a mood of exhaustion, an end-of-era fatigue that comes across as strangely heady in its world-weariness. Jarmusch undertakes this project in the full knowledge that if you’re making a vampire film now, you might as well be making it as if it were to be the very final example of its genre: a genre facing its exhaustion, even luxuriating in it. For this is an authentically Romantic (with a capital R) take on vampirism and on certain of its elements in particular: blood-linked love; immortality and its attendant ennui; the need to withdraw into nocturnal isolation; and the idea that if you had endless time to live, then you might benefit by accruing endless knowledge, however useless on the earthly plane that knowledge might be.” – Jonathan Romney, Film Comment Magazine

The Flesh and the Fiends

766. (+224) The Flesh and the Fiends

John Gilling

AKA: Mania

1960 / UK / 97m / BW / Gothic | IMDb
Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasence, George Rose, Renee Houston, Dermot Walsh, Billie Whitelaw, John Cairney, Melvyn Hayes, June Powell

“While many films from the sixties have quickly become dated thanks to modern filmmaking, this film actually seems to be just as fresh as if it were written only last year. Sure, there are some lengthy dialogue passages indicative of the era and a few of the performances have that acting feel common to most films prior to the seventies, but I can think of very few films from that period of time whose script could easily be re-submitted today to a major Hollywood studio and filmed for contemporary audiences just as it appeared on the page. Iím not sure if that has a little something to do with the fact that the film is filled with uncharacteristically large amounts of nudity and violence that were common only to grindhouse films of the time, but it is absolutely amazing how well this film still stands up over forty years later.” – The Deuce Grindhouse Cinema Database

Dust Devil

767. (-384) Dust Devil

Richard Stanley

1992 / South Africa / 87m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Robert John Burke, Chelsea Field, Zakes Mokae, John Matshikiza, Rufus Swart, William Hootkins, Terry Norton, Russell Copley, Andre Odendaal, Luke Cornell

“”Dust Devil” doesn’t rush its story, and it doesn’t intend on creating a fast pace. It’s slow, and steady, and sometimes sluggish, and with the constant narration, Stanley devotes much of the dialogue to exposition on the plot, and on mounting tension. Stanley relies on much of the settings of sand, dunes, mountains, and peaks to create a sense of the barren and void, a world where Dust Devil reigns and controls without hope of outwitting him. He has powers, and he’s utterly relentless, and Stanley lets us explore him while keeping him an enigma. “Dust Devil” is a surreal experience, but it’s also one truly underrated piece of work.” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

Better Watch Out

768. (new) Better Watch Out

Chris Peckover

2016 / Australia / 89m / Col / Home Invasion | IMDb
Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Patrick Warburton, Virginia Madsen, Alexandra Matusko, Georgia Holland, Beau Andre

“In the end, even with some hesitations going into the film, Better Watch Out soars as a modern instant Christmas horror classic that will find its way into the yearly seasonal rotations of many genre fans. Its concept is consumable, the execution is sharp in handling the genre shifting between horror and often extremely dark humor, and its self-referential approach make it both entertaining and fulfilling as a piece of horror cinema. It plays its narrative and plot loose and fun while maintaining a wink-wink sense of attitude as it runs through the tropes of the usual home invasion/survival film.” – Matt Reifschneider, Blood Brothers

Wild Zero

769. (+202) Wild Zero

Tetsuro Takeuchi

1999 / Japan / 98m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Guitar Wolf, Drum Wolf, Bass Wolf, Masashi Endô, Kwancharu Shitichai, Makoto Inamiya, Haruka Nakajo, Shirô Namiki, Taneko, Yoshiyuki Morishita

“Anyways, for Wild Zero, you can easily see the influences of George A. Romero’s Trilogy of the Living Dead movies throughout this film – from the way the zombies behave and look to some familiar scenes and ideas being thrown up. Unlike Romero’s films, this one does not have any type of satire or social commentary, but just plain craziness, brainless action and Rock ‘n’ Roll! You can expect an abundance of over-the-top action sequences, gore, explosions, tacky situations, lame dialogue, clichés, computerised zombie blasting, dazzling special effects and flamboyant characters! There really is never a dull moment to be had. So just switch off your brain and enjoy the ride!” – Scum Cinema

Vamp

770. (-119) Vamp

Richard Wenk

1986 / USA / 93m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, Grace Jones, Billy Drago, Brad Logan, Lisa Lyon, Jim Boyle

“[T]he make up effects are fantastic with Grace Jones taking on the form of clawed monster with grotesque results, while every vampire has their own distinct personality and form allowing them individual bouts of horror with every lunge at our characters. Sandy Baron is a considerably excellent reluctant hero who becomes a vampire hunter as the film progresses, learning to survive among the rats in the sewers who desperately want to kill him to save their goddess Katrina. “Vamp” is a wonderful trip down memory lane and a horror comedy that still holds up to this day with vampires who were actually horrifying at one point in time.” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

Paranormal Activity 3

771. (-72) Paranormal Activity 3

Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

2011 / USA / 83m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Lauren Bittner, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Hallie Foote, Dustin Ingram, Johanna Braddy, Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden

“This paradox—the less you see the more you think you see, or the more you think about seeing—is what used to make horror go. Before Tom Savini and Dan O’Bannon, and before the essential redundancy of torture porn, scary movies depended on viewers’ imaginations. The Paranormal Activity films return to that low-budget idea, with an exponentially high profits pay-off. Their plots are rudimentary, and this third installment’s architecture is both banal and ludicrous (as it elucidates how the sisters came to know the demon plaguing them in the first two films, it wades into hoary-old-witches waters). But you don’t go to horror movies for story. You go for sensation, to be moved. Paranormal Activity 3 not only gets that, it also asks you to get it, to be aware of how you’re being moved, and your part in the moving.” – Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters

The Toolbox Murders

772. (+69) The Toolbox Murders

Dennis Donnelly

1978 / USA / 93m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure, Nicolas Beauvy, Tim Donnelly, Aneta Corsaut, Faith McSwain, Marciee Drake, Evelyn Guerrero, Victoria Perry

“Simply put, The Toolbox Murders is everything you’d expect it to be for the first third of the film. The gore might not be enough to satiate the staunchest of gore-hounds, but it is rather blunt and brutal. The rest of the film chooses to be psychologically disturbing and unsettling with a story that engages a viewer just enough. While you might be a bit put off by the change in pace and tone, you should definitely stick with this one.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, The Horror

Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal

773. (+181) Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal

Chul-soo Jang

AKA: Bedevilled

2010 / South Korea / 115m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Yeong-hie Seo, Seong-won Ji, Min-ho Hwang, Min Je, Ji-Eun Lee, Jeong-hak Park, Jang-hun Ahn, Su-yeon Ahn, Su-ryun Baek, Shi-hyeon Chae

“”Bedevilled” is a far more morally complex and challenging film than this synopsis might suggest, and is by no means a straightforward revenge thriller in the traditional sense. Similarly, despite its setting, the film isn’t an exercise in exploitative backwoods fear, nor is it an overtly feminist rant, with Seoul being portrayed as a bleak place full of random violence, and with the island being run by a monstrous matriarchy whose members are every bit as bad as Bok Nam’s male abusers, reinforcing oppression and ignorance. The film also eschews a typical revenge narrative or indeed the usual patterns of victims and abusers as protagonists, beginning with Hae Won as the main character, and later shifting to Bok Nam, only for things to be turned on their head when she turns devilish aggressor.” – James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

The Lair of the White Worm

774. (-388) The Lair of the White Worm

Ken Russell

1988 / UK / 93m / Col / Black Comedy | IMDb
Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee

“Christianity and paganism clash in Ken Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm, a campy account of the horrors that beset a small England town when the mysterious Lady Sylvia Marsh (Catherine Oxenberg) decides to conjure up the ghosts of worms from long ago… Russell’s compositions are gorgeous to look at though it’s the deliciousness with which the story unravels that made Lair of the White Worm Russell’s most enjoyable film since his masterpiece Crimes of Passion. One amusing scenario here says everything that needs to be said about Russell as a director: James discusses worm-lore while his friend Angus (Peter Capaldi) voraciously chews on spaghetti. Cheap effects and gratuitous displays of nudity only heighten the film’s delirious demeanor.” – Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

Deep Rising

775. (new) Deep Rising

Stephen Sommers

1998 / USA / 106m / Col / Action | IMDb
Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Anthony Heald, Kevin J. O’Connor, Wes Studi, Derrick O’Connor, Jason Flemyng, Cliff Curtis, Clifton Powell, Trevor Goddard

“”Cheese Rising” might have been a more apt title for this Giant Monster from the Depths throwback. Despite its obvious drawbacks, however, this patently silly horror show is good, stupid fun if you can just manage to leave your intellect at home for a while… the film manages the look and feel of something far more than the sum of its many-tentacled parts… despite Deep Rising’s off-the-scale cheese factor, it’s still a rollicking good time, frequently poking fun at itself and assorted horror film conventions… While the film is essentially Aliens aboard a luxury liner, Sommers keeps thing fast and loose, negotiating some splendid action set-pieces within the cramped confines of the mammoth ship” – Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

Genres: Action, Horror, Giant Monster, Splatter

Grave Encounters

776. (-90) Grave Encounters

Colin Minihan & Stuart Ortiz

2011 / Canada / 92m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Ben Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir, Juan Riedinger, Shawn Macdonald, Arthur Corber, Bob Rathie, Fred Keating, Max Train

“The crew for a fake TV ghost-hunting show has an unfortunate brush with genuine supernatural phenomena in “Grave Encounters.” Debut feature for duo Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, who’ve dubbed themselves the Vicious Brothers (not to be confused with fellow horror helmers the Butcher Brothers), treads by-now-familiar scary-mockumentary terrain… Still, pacing is taut, the setting eerie, and eventual scares are fairly effective if never particularly original. If a somewhat formulaic air hangs over whole enterprise, it’s nonetheless creepier and less cookie-cutter than your average mainstream slasher. Tech/design factors are polished within the faux-verite concept.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety

Triangle

777. (-386) Triangle

Christopher Smith

2009 / UK / 99m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Rachael Carpani, Emma Lung, Liam Hemsworth, Bryan Probets

“After his passable, low-budget horror movie, Severance, the British writer-director Christopher Smith takes a big leap forward with this clever and compelling occult thriller. Shot on the coast of Queensland but set in Miami, it interweaves to potent effect Nietzsche’s theory of “eternal recurrence”, the mystery of the Mary Celeste and Sutton Vane’s once popular play Outward Bound… It’s creepy, atmospheric stuff and at every twist of this Möbius strip we wonder how Smith will keep things going. But he manages it with considerable skill and we leave his picture suitably shaken.” – Philip French, The Observer

Wishmaster

778. (-78) Wishmaster

Robert Kurtzman

1997 / USA / 90m / Col / Black Comedy | IMDb
Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff, Robert Englund, Chris Lemmon, Wendy Benson-Landes, Tony Crane, Jenny O’Hara, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Ricco Ross

“A well directed, extremely gory, funny romp. It grabs you in the beginning with an over the top slaughter fest set in old Persia and never lets go. This flick has enough imagination for three movies and is not ashamed to also borrow elements from previous genre films . A little bit of “Hellraiser” here, a pinch of “Elm Street” there…hey…it never hurts. This film is a throwback to 80’s vibe horror with jaw dropping special effects, weird dream sequences, funny one liners and a wonderful nasty villain.” – The Arrow, Arrow in the Head

Open Water

779. (-363) Open Water

Chris Kentis

2003 / USA / 79m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Michael E. Williamson, Cristina Zenato, John Charles

“Chris Kentis, who wrote, directed, edited, and shot the film (with his wife, Laura Lau), is working with prime pulp material—but he doesn’t have a pulp sensibility. I mean this as a compliment. Shot on digital video and micro-budgeted, Open Water is terrifying precisely because it doesn’t go in for cheesy shock tactics and special effects. (Those sharks are real.) Strictly speaking, it’s not even in the shark-attack genre—it’s more like a black comedy about how things can go horribly wrong on vacation. You think you’re safe, and the next thing you know you’re lost at sea and something’s nibbling your gams. That’s an apt metaphor for a lot more than scuba diving.” – Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Honeymoon

780. (new) Honeymoon

Leigh Janiak

2014 / USA / 87m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway, Ben Huber, Hanna Brown

“Janiak is concerned with exploring how relationships break down and Honeymoon operates much better as an examination of married life than it ever does as a creepy horror flick. One morning Paul wakes up and feels like he doesn’t know his other half anymore. He feels frustrated, he feels trapped. Their sex life grinds to a halt. Bea finds her identity being chipped away by a relationship that is feeling increasingly like a performance. She still wants to love her husband but she can’t talk to him about what’s really going on and how she’s feeling. That’s the real horror of the piece – questioning how well you really know the person you’ve committed your life to. This is all subtext, of course, but it’s wonderfully conveyed in way that’s both subtle and hard to miss.” – Joe Cunningham, Film4

Evil Dead Rise

781. (new) Evil Dead Rise

Lee Cronin

2023 / USA / 96m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anna-Maree Thomas, Lily Sullivan, Noah Paul, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Billy Reynolds-McCarthy

“However, once “Evil Dead Rise” really gets going, it doesn’t let up. This is a loud, giddy, packed-house-at-midnight type of movie, and its premiere at SXSW was accompanied by much hollering, cheering, and genuine screams of fright from the audience. Cronin unabashedly uses both jump scares and “look behind you!”-type of gags to punctuate this pummeling bloodbath, and one scene in particular in the film’s roller coaster of a middle section seems bound to inspire a lot of yelling at the screen in multiplexes around the world.” – Katie Rife, RogerEbert.com

Genres: Supernatural Horror, Splatter, Body Horror, Zombie, Sadistic Horror, Chamber Film, Haunted House

Riget

782. (+96) Riget

Lars von Trier & Morten Arnfred

AKA: The Kingdom

1994 / Denmark / 561m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Kirsten Rolffes, Holger Juul Hansen, Søren Pilmark, Ghita Nørby, Jens Okking, Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg, Peter Mygind, Vita Jensen

“The horror aspects of the show are compelling, but in many ways Riget is a somewhat generic hospital soap opera, drawing you in to the lurid goings-on that happen once the rubber gloves come off. It’s a familiar format, and an effective one, but in much the same way that Twin Peaks lured unsuspecting viewers in with a murder mystery and a seemingly recognizable small town setting, Von Trier uses the power struggles and trysts of the medical staff as a springboard into the surreal and fantastic. In fact, the influence of David Lynch’s TV masterpiece, which aired a few short years before, permeates the show […] There’s also something very Lynchian about its disorienting tonal shifts, going from corporate thriller to gruesome darkness to offbeat comedy in the blink of an eye, which adds a bitingly satirical dimension to the proceedings.” – Thomas Michalsky, WFMU’s Beware of the Blog

Infinity Pool

783. (new) Infinity Pool

Brandon Cronenberg

2023 / Canada / 117m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Cleopatra Coleman, Alexander Skarsgård, Dunja Sepcic, Adam Boncz, Jalil Lespert, Mia Goth, Zijad Gracic, Amar Bukvic, Alan Katic, Thomas Kretschmann

“Infinity Pool is a glorified horror flick that tickles the senses if audiences can get behind the blood and gore that comes along with it. The film will stick with the audience long after the credits. It is provocative and visceral no matter how one will look at the screen. It may make some people uncomfortable to watch, but it is hard to look away. Not a lot of films are taking chances, but there are a few like Infinity Pool that tests an audience and makes bold choices.” – Mufsin Mahbub, All Ages of Geek

Genres: Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction, Psychological Horror, Satire, Crime, Surrealism, Erotic Thriller, Body Horror, Toronto New Wave, Dystopian, Sadistic Horror

Leprechaun

784. (+160) Leprechaun

Mark Jones

1993 / USA / 92m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Olandt, Mark Holton, Robert Hy Gorman, Shay Duffin, John Sanderford, John Voldstad, Pamela Mant, William Newman

“Davis was said to have wanted this role as a bad guy after coming off a career drought, with a lead role in Willow as “the good guy.” It’s without a doubt, that the Leprechaun franchise would have never even been conceived or enjoyed as much without Davis in the lead role. He carries the movies, and every scene without him is lacking severely because the cast cannot carry the film. I would call Leprechaun an example of pure nineties cheese and also a movie I’m sure Jennifer Anniston would like to erase from her resume… There is some mild gore, Davis owns the role and has a couple of shining moments. This is definitely not a movie I’d show to kids. That little bastard is creepy looking and could haunt a little child’s dreams.” – Richard Taylor, Severed Cinema

Matango

785. (+181) Matango

Ishirô Honda

AKA: Curse of the Mushroom People

1963 / Japan / 89m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Miki Yashiro, Hideyo Amamoto, Takuzô Kumagai, Akio Kusama

“Honda portrays the way in which the rapid economic growth of Japan has resulted in a population divorced from these cultural and natural origins. The rigid mechanical efficiency of a modern society is revealed to be merely illusionary, as the hierarchy crumbles steadily the further this ship of fools is removed from it. Carried away by the forces of nature on a freak ocean tide, the film’s irreversible conclusion is that of evolution turning full circle; man becomes mushroom as he reverts back to the primordial sludge.” – Jasper Sharp, Midnight Eye

Land of the Dead

786. (-417) Land of the Dead

George A. Romero

2005 / USA / 93m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Eugene Clark, Joanne Boland, Tony Nappo, Jennifer Baxter, Boyd Banks

“The ideas fly as fast and furious as the body parts, but brilliantly Romero never stoops to obvious, dialogue-driven harangues, instead opting to submerge his conceit- that is, a divided society where zombies reflect our own political complacency – in the forgotten stuff of subtext. The gore is amped up appropriately from earlier films, and provides a literal cross-section of destruction and dismemberments; some of them exist for sheer thrill value, but Romero, unlike many of his style-stealing disciples, knows that substantive storytelling is the key to evoking true dread, not a coroner’s checklist of body parts.” – Todd Gilchrist, IGN Movies

Fear Street: 1994

787. (new) Fear Street: 1994

Leigh Janiak

AKA: Fear Street: Part One – 1994

2021 / USA / 107m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Maya Hawke, Charlene Amoia, David W. Thompson, Noah Bain Garret, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Kiana Madeira, Jana Allen, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald

“But “1994” strikes a great balance between building backstory and tying it into the chaotic present-day: the mythology settles in, and the movie focuses on lean and extra mean thrills that include a couple of excellent slasher set-pieces in the high school and a grocery store, all with an expressive, playful lighting palette. The most fun parts of “1994” display a strong balance of the brutal and the playful, and yet while its energy is a developing charm of the series, it’s the overall tone created by Janiak that’s the most impressive.” – Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com

Genres: Slasher, Supernatural Horror, Teen Movie, LGBTQ, Teen Movie, Romance

Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural

788. (-431) Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural

Richard Blackburn

AKA: Lady Dracula

1973 / USA / 80m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Lesley Taplin, Cheryl Smith, William Whitton, Hy Pyke, Maxine Ballantyne, Steve Johnson, Parker West, Charla Hall, Jack Fisher, Buck Buchanan

“Lemora is a film that transcends the confines of the medium and reaches a place in our lives where we have felt the most vulnerable and alone. Our nightmares. It brings a fantasy tale to life and presents it in the most morbid of ways. The use of lighting, locations, sounds, and music, are so complete and intact throughout the film and at such an even level of dream-likeness, that you’d be hard pressed to find anything that remotely comes close to delivering the atmospheric quality that it so relishes in. This film is highly recommended to anyone who loves low budget horror films that ascend their shackles and for anyone that has ever gotten lost in their own dreams.” – Jay Shatzer, The Lucid Nightmare

The Pit and the Pendulum

789. (new) The Pit and the Pendulum

Stuart Gordon

1991 / USA / 97m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Lance Henriksen, Stephen Lee, William J. Norris, Mark Margolis, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Barbara Bocci, Benito Stefanelli, Jeffrey Combs, Tom Towles, Rona De Ricci

“Of course, running throughout the film is the Inquisition’s sickly preoccupation with the ‘perils of the flesh’; although the majority of the torture scenes are quite bloodless, this obsession with carnality as something corrupting and malign lends the film and script an unseemly feel. It’s always there, finally coming to the fore in the film’s conclusion, but colouring word and deed throughout [..] Although The Pit and the Pendulum has an escalating pace and even odd moments of humour which makes it feel a long way away in tone from a period Gothic like, for instance, The Monk (2011), it does have substance and much to recommend it, aesthetically, stylistically and in its imaginative development of a classic horror short story (not forgetting Richard Band’s sweeping movie soundtrack).” – Keri O’Shea, Brutal as Hell

Død snø 2

790. (new) Død snø 2

Tommy Wirkola

AKA: Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead

2014 / Norway / 100m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Vegar Hoel, Ørjan Gamst, Martin Starr, Jocelyn DeBoer, Ingrid Haas, Stig Frode Henriksen, Hallvard Holmen, Kristoffer Joner, Amrita Acharia, Derek Mears

“The smartest thing returning director-writer Tommy Wirkola and co-writers Hoel and Stig Frode Henriksen do to avoid the whiff of rehash is broaden the original film’s mix of dark gore and bleak laughs to victim-rich, vulnerable neighboring towns, including the outlandish notion of World War II grudges resettled as zombie melees. The “Red” of the subtitle isn’t a blood-color reference. There’s also a sweetly funny tweak of geekdom in the form of an American trio of movie-zombie nerds — led by Martin Starr — who fly to embattled northern Norway to see and fight “real” zombies in the (rotting) flesh. As bad-taste splatter comedies go, “Dead Snow 2″ is one of the more charitably nutty ones, less about gorging on gore than reveling in how silly the whole genre can be.” – Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

The Battery

791. (new) The Battery

Jeremy Gardner

2012 / USA / 101m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim, Niels Bolle, Alana O’Brien, Jamie Pantanella, Larry Fessenden, Kelly McQuade, Eric Simon, Ben Pryzby, Sarah Allen

“The problem with most modern zombie films is that the writers forget that the humans should be the centerpiece of the film, and not the zombies. Director Jeremy Gardner’s “The Battery” is the prime example of how to handle this kind of genre entertainment with a low budget. Rather than flood the screen with zombies, the monsters are used sparingly and for great moments of terror and memorable scenes, while Gardner focuses primarily on character, building two complex and unique people we can love and hate, in many ways.” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

792. (-120) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Eugène Lourié

1953 / USA / 80m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef, Steve Brodie, Ross Elliott, Jack Pennick, Ray Hyke

“Like all movies of this kind from this period, you can probably read into The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms the fear of imminent destruction, but the spectre of the Cold War isn’t so pronounced that it gets in the way of being a fleet thriller: the destruction of New York is decidedly far from thorough, and there’s not a scrap of hand-wringing about nuclear energy or anything. It’s pure survival horror, with a punch of people we like being faced with an implacable, unstoppable force, and if that makes the film a bit shallower than a lot of the other classic monster pictures, it’s also a huge part of the reason that it’s so much better than all but a tiny number of the films it influenced.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

The Cell

793. (+54) The Cell

Tarsem Singh

2000 / USA / 107m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Jennifer Lopez, Colton James, Dylan Baker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Gerry Becker, Musetta Vander, Patrick Bauchau, Vincent D’Onofrio, Vince Vaughn

“The Cell is a clear, classic case of a director’s vision invigorating standard material. The film moves at an effectively erratic pace: action in the real world moves fairly swiftly, but once it’s in the world of the mind, the pace becomes more languid, befitting the surrealism of dreams. It is in this latter realm that the film really soars. Dream worlds in movies are nothing new–witness the oeuvre of David Lynch or, for a less highfalutin example, the Nightmare on Elm Street series–but the visual ideas put forth by Singh are spectacular and unique; there’s an atmosphere of excess that hasn’t even been reached in Lynch’s famously bizarre work.” – Michael Dequina, The Movie Report

Resolution

794. (new) Resolution

Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead

2012 / USA / 93m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, Zahn McClarnon, Bill Oberst Jr., Kurt David Anderson, Emily Montague, Skyler Meacham, Carmel Benson, Justin Benson, Catherine Burns

“The horror in Resolution is effective because it’s well-crafted, but it’s greatly heightened by the fact that its two central characters matter. Chris and Michael really do come across as lifelong friends, at least at one time close to the point of basically being brothers. There’s a chemistry, a rapport, a genuine bond that’s rarely glimpsed in horror. There are layers and dimensions to these characters that transcend two or three word stock descriptions. The usual Junkie’s Running Dry clichés like the pale, gray makeup and hollow eyes you’re probably picturing are all noticeably absent; hell, Chris is the funniest and most charismatic guy in the movie. Resolution greatly benefits from having such an outstanding cast” – Adam Tyner, DVD Talk

El vampiro

795. (-79) El vampiro

Fernando Méndez

AKA: The Vampire

1957 / Mexico / 95m / BW / Vampire | IMDb
Abel Salazar, Ariadna Welter, Carmen Montejo, José Luis Jiménez, Mercedes Soler, Alicia Montoya, José Chávez, Julio Daneri, Amado Zumaya, Germán Robles

“The movie is enveloped in an all pervading atmosphere of gothic fantasy: cobwebs glisten in artificial moonlight and luminescent mist enshrouds the dilapidated hacienda which is ensconced in permanent shadows. The film has a surprisingly expensive look to it. Although the turn toward horror and fantasy in fifties Mexican cinema was largely inspired by the decline of the industry, the superior production values of it’s heyday in the forties are still very much in evidence in “El Vampiro”. The film is loaded with exceptional moments of directorial brilliance and great imagination – and the camera often moves with a Bava or Argento-like mind of it’s own.” – Blackgloves, Horrorview

Planet Terror

796. (-191) Planet Terror

Robert Rodriguez

2007 / USA / 105m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Rebel Rodriguez, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Julio Oscar Mechoso

“Planet Terror – Robert Rodriguez’s contribution to his Grindhouse collaboration with Quentin Tarantino – is a first-rate homage to the schlocky, sleazy B-movies of decades past, loading on the gore, clichés, and self-referential dialogue like there’s no tomorrow with a cascade of influences from John Carpenter, James Cameron, George A. Romero and Lucio Fulci (just to name a few), all the while topping off its gimmicky (though totally effective) construction with countless scratches, blips, audio/visual inconsistencies and even a carefully placed “missing reel” in its loving ode to the almost lost end-of-the-line theater experience.” – Rob Humanick, Projection Booth

Squirm

797. (-453) Squirm

Jeff Lieberman

1976 / USA / 92m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow, Jean Sullivan, Peter MacLean, Fran Higgins, William Newman, Barbara Quinn, Carl Dagenhart, Angel Sande

“As ridiculous as all this sounds, Squirm really doesn’t veer off into absolute camp—it’s the sort of movie that obviously invites mockery on the premise level but doesn’t actively wink at the audience to goad them into taking the piss out of it. Instead, Lieberman leads the audience right to the precipice and delivers exactly what’s to be expected from a killer worm movie: some grisly, squishy sequences meant to both amuse and disgust all at once.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, The Horror

Teeth

798. (-58) Teeth

Mitchell Lichtenstein

2007 / USA / 94m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman, Lenny von Dohlen, Vivienne Benesch, Ashley Springer, Laila Liliana Garro, Nicole Swahn, Adam Wagner

“While “Carrie” is the obvious influence (with genital transmogrification instead of telekinesis, and the other sex doing the bulk of the bleeding), “Teeth” could be seen as a “Reefer Madness” for the New Chastity Generation. The camp sensibility, however, is fully self-aware, not unlike certain Todd Haynes’ movies: the Barbie-doll biopic “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story,” or the black-and-white venereal horror/sci-fi segment of “Poison.” Writer-director Lichtenstein, best known for his central part in Robert Altman’s 1983 film of David Rabe’s “Streamers,” straddles one line between earnestness and facetiousness and another between horror and satire, shifting and pivoting from one to the other. Most of the time his balance is just right.” – Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times

Willard

799. (-386) Willard

Daniel Mann

1971 / USA / 95m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Bruce Davison, Sondra Locke, Elsa Lanchester, Michael Dante, Jody Gilbert, William Hansen, John Myhers, J. Pat O’Malley, Joan Shawlee, Almira Sessions

“Despite it’s reputation as simply a horror film about a creepy guy who loves rats (a reputation confirmed by the forgettable Crispin Glover remake), Willard is actually much more than that. It’s a complex and sympathetic character study and for a few misfits in the audience, it gave us a protagonist we could finally identify with and a film that helped define our later lives. It was Willard and not Catcher in the Rye, where we finally came to recognize our own alienation.” – Jim Knipfel, Den of Geek

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

800. (+80) Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

John Carl Buechler

1988 / USA / 88m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Jennifer Banko, John Otrin, Susan Blu, Lar Park-Lincoln, Terry Kiser, Kevin Spirtas, Susan Jennifer Sullivan, Heidi Kozak, Kane Hodder, William Butler

“[It] really wants to do something different. “Different,” in this case, means gene-splicing elements from another film into the familiar formula, and the result – about a face-off between the hulking masked maniac and a troubled teen with telekinesis – is fondly if not quite respectfully called “Carrie Meets Jason.” You cannot really take the results seriously, but they are fun, offering both an interesting subplot and a chance to see something never really shown in a Friday film before: Jason getting his ass handed to him on a platter. “Purists” might object to seeing their favorite anti-hero dissed so badly, but anyone looking for a good time should be able to get at least a few chuckles out of seeing Jason meet his match.” – Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique