XXXXer's Top Ten Forgotten Horror Flicks
Mar 10 '02
The Bottom Line Here's the Mother Load!!
As you may know, I had previously published a review in this category detailing my picks for the top ten movies ever in my favorite genre of films, the horror movie.
Well, in the past six+ months since I wrote that essay, I have come up with what may be a more helpful, and more interesting review of my ten best in that genre, what I'm calling my top ten forgotten horror flicks.
Growing up in the '80s was good for a lot of things. Besides being able to watch MTV and VH1 when they were cool (not to mention when they ACTUALLY PLAYED MUSIC VIDEOS ON THEM), I was able to watch kickass horror movies nearly every night on cable TV, and unlike today's cable which edits most horror movies almost beyond rational comprehension, back in the 80s, movies could run on TV with less censorship and editing than the films would be subject to today. Once in a while, there'd be a "Viewer Discretion Warning" ... but to kids pay attention to those anyway? Hell No! If anything, having that warning made me want to watch the flick more!
Anyway...with a huge number of horror films on TV every day....especially Friday and Saturday nights where often there would be horror marathons (what happened to these days anyway...they don't even play half of these flicks on TV anymore and haven't for years...I remember when they were on every other week!) I was exposed to mass amounts of mutilated bodies, cool monsters, and gore, lots and lots of gore.
So, without further explanation, here are my picks for ten of the best horror films that are nearly impossible to find anymore, or so obscure you've probably never heard of them. Hope you enjoy, and maybe you'll even find a few that you saw back in the day, or some that sounds interesting. If so, I've accomplished my goal. Enjoy!
10. Stephen Herek's CRITTERS (1986)
One of my favorite amusing horror films. This movie deals with extraterrestrial balls of spikes that land in SmallTown, USA. A team of bounty hunters are also on hand to hunt down the "krites" as they are called. This one is pretty neat; it has a few scares, and also entertains us with a bunch of laughs and jokes. A great example of a typically cool 1980s horror film.
9. Sergio Martino's TORSO (1973)
One of the best films I've seen in the slasher sub-genre. This film came way before Jason, Freddy, Michael, or any of the other familiar killers of modern horror. Taking place in an Italian art university, TORSO has a demented killer stalking attractive female college students. In this incredibly stylish horror entry, there's quite a bit of nasty gore, and a lot of exposed female flesh, and it includes one of the best scenes ever in a horror film when a girl in a white, loose-fitting shirt is chased through a muddy swamp by the killer. What a great scene!
8. Jeff Lieberman's SQUIRM (1976)
Killer earthworms rise out of the ground in rural Georgia following an electrical storm. This film features some pretty nifty effects, and more than a few moments featuring dumb southern teens smoking pot and poking around in the woods. This one is pretty funny, and includes a great scene where the worms dig into a guy's face, causing him to become a cannibalistic "man-worm." SQUIRM is a lot of fun.
7. Joe Dante's PIRANHA (1978)
On the outside, another JAWS ripoff. In reality, this is a clever Roger Corman production about a multitude of killer piranha released into a waterway in a backwoods town. The effects are somewhat cheesy, and we never really see the fish too well, but the script is amusing, and the cast of characters is great, including Kevin McCarthy in another great role. Also look for the cool stop-motion animation of a creature in the lab.
6. Larry Cohen's Q: THE WINGED SERPENT (1982)
Yes, this film is awful if you really want to get nitpicky, but I happen to like this one a lot. Q was one of the most watched flicks of my childhood. It's about a giant pteradon (flying reptile) on the prowl in downtown New York. It includes dumb (but enjoyable) effects, location filming, and a great cast. Another film that should provide you with 90 minutes of fun.
5. Lucio Fulci's THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1981)
Italian director Lucio Fulci's name has become well known among gore afficianados, but I still feel that this brilliant visionary has gotten nowhere near the exposure that he deserves. This guy along with Dario Argento revolutionized horror, particularly the dying European horror market, in the late 70s and early 80s, bringing the world some of the most violent horror films ever produced. NEW YORK RIPPER is a tale of a deranged psycho who stalks and murders women in NYC while quacking like Donald Duck. Includes some truly revolting scenes of gore, and quite a bit of nudity and sexual depravity. I think it's one of Fulci's best.
4. Lewis Teague's ALLIGATOR (1980)
Another TV favorite from my childhood, this monster movie concerns a giant alligator (named Ramon) who is released into the sewer in Chicago, and grows to some thirty feet long. This film is a lot of fun, and packed with horror film in-jokes and gags, making it very enjoyable for longtime fans of genre films. There's a bunch of great scenes, including one of my favorites where the gator crashes a wedding.
3. Russel Mulcahy's RAZORBACK (1983)
Mistakenly labeled a listless JAWS clone, this bizarre Australian import is another great 80s flick. A giant, wild boar runs wild in the desolate Australian outback, and munches on a few tourists and game hunters. This film reminds me quite a bit of another Australian film, George Miller's MAD MAX. The settings are wild, the characters weird, and the mood is unsettling. I remember watching this flick dozens of times back in the day; probably one of my personal favorite films, all but unheard of anymore.
2. Frank Henenlotter's BASKET CASE (1981)
One great gore flick, and an undisputable cult film. A pair of Siamese twins enact revenge on the doctors who separated them long ago. The twist is that one of them is a misshappen torso: a head with a pair of arms who rips its victims apart. Funny, gross, and highly entertaining, if you can stand the massive amounts of blood.
1. Fred Dekker's NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986)
Wow...this one has 80s written all over it. Direct-to-video feature featuring extraterrestrial slugs that cause humans to become mindless zombies in this mucho enjoyable flick, which features some great effects work, funny moments, and a great B-movie cast including Tom Atkins and Dick Miller. This one is kind of a hodgepodge of elements borrowed from other films, but in my opinion, this is probably the best low-budget horror flick around. This one used to play on TV quite a bit (with a much better ending than the video release), and I finally found a copy of it recently. This is one of my all time favorite horror flicks; one that I couldn't stop watching back in the day. Mucho recommended if you can find it.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WEIRD KIND (Movies that almost made the cut)
-- Jeannot Szwarc's 1975 film BUG (about roaches that can start fires)
-- Burt Brinckerhoff's mucho obscure and really violent 1976 film DOGS, a.k.a. SLAUGHTER about killer pooches
-- Chuck Russell's 1988 remake of THE BLOB
-- William Girdler's 1976 film GRIZZLY about a giant bear. Can you tell by now that I like my JAWS ripoffs? =)
-- Brian Yuzna's 1989 SOCIETY about a weird cult of shape shifters who eat normal people (love that orgy scene)
And finally
A FEW GOOD SOMEWHAT RECOGNIZED CULT HORROR FLICKS
(in no particular order)
1. Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR (1986)
Featuring a great sex scene between a woman and a severed head and lots of exploding cadavers.
2. David Lynch's ERASERHEAD (1978)
Great imagery, and a terrific performance by the late Jack Nance; a work of incredible artistic value.
3. John McNaughton's HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1989)
In my opinion, the greatest horror film ever made. So realistic, it will scare the sh*t out of you.
4. Shinya Tsukamoto's TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1988)
Don't know if this one would really classify as horror, but it is horrific, so I'll include it. One of my favorites.
5. Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1979)
So realistic looking, Deodato lost a court case because he couldn't prove that the people in the film weren't actually killed...
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Member: teh Reverend curry palmeter
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