7th's Top 100 Horror Film Spectacular (100-76)
Posted by 7th on October 10, 2005

Jesus Christ Almighty, but I love me a good horror flick. The problem I run into is that often times, my definition of a good horror flick rarely gels with other views on the subject. In short, most people think my favorite horror movies stink (short of a few mainstays that everyone loves.)

Horror movies have been a long lasting love for me. I remember my local NBC affiliate had a weekly horror matinee that came on every saturday afternoon at around five or six. These were always "classic" horror films like King Kong, Dracula, Frankenstein... But every now and then, they'd show something really out there, like Billy The Kid Meets Dracula, or another one whose name escapes me that had cowboys fighting dinosaurs.

While those certainly fit into my idea of what a horror film was, I didn't necessarily associate horror movies with scary movies. Scary movies kept me up at night. King Kong didn't. Scary movies made me afraid of what was inside my closet. Billy The Kid Meets Dracula made me fear abandoned caves out in the middle of New Mexico.

I didn't really develop a love of scary movies until I was about ten or so, when my next door neighbor Donnis introduced me to A Nightmare on Elm Street. After being scared out of my mind, I experienced the relief that comes after such a film ends, and the sort of high from coming down from that adrenaline rush. It was a rush I quickly became addicted to.

I started recording every horror movie that came on TV. I scanned my TV guide, and discovered that the USA Network had a Horror theater every weekend. It was there that I was first introduced to Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. And of course, I watched Elvira every saturday night, but that wasn't necessarily for the movies, you know. Hey, I was ten, I'd never seen 46 DD undead boobs before.

Over the years, as I saw more and more films, and became more and more desensitized to them, it became harder and harder to be scared. I'd learned the tricks filmmakers used. I got to where I knew what was coming before it happened, spoiling the thrill. Soon I moved from scares to gross outs, but of course, you get to a point there where another bucket of blood doesn't make much of a difference. Essentially, I became more than a bit desensitized to the whole experience.

So here I am now, 30 years old, and I am thuroughly disgusted. Why? Because Hollywood has ruined horror films for me. There hasn't been a decent horror film made in years, the closest probably being something like Se7en. I know it's not technically a horror film, per se, but it had legitimate scares and schock moments.

These days, horror flicks are rated PG-13 so kids can get into them without adults and boost ticket sales. They're mostly goreless, and usually are nothing more than teen comedies with horror window dressing. The closest Hollywood's come to real scares has probably been the remakes of The Ring and Juon (aka The Grudge) and they had to borrow ideas from Japan to make those work.

So I decided this Halloween, that in addition to trashing this year's new wave of horror flicks (that article is forthcoming before the end of the month), I'd take some time to celebrate the films I loved as a kid, and new films I've come to love and respect along the way. Perhaps some of these will be familiar to you. Some you may see and wonder why I put them here at all. Remember, this is not the top 100 horror films ever made. This is 7th's Top 100. I could give a rat's ass what you think.

So grab your popcorn, wrap your free arm around your lady's shoulders, and dim the lights. It's time to go visit where the monsters live.

100) The Man With The Screaming Brain

A general rule of thumb: if it has Bruce Campbell in it, it has to be good. This film is somewhat of a labor of love for Bruce. He's been talking about it for an eternity on his website. It's also his directorial debut. Well, I finally got to see it the other day, on Sci-Fi Channel, of all places. If you like horror films that make you laugh, this is one you cannot miss. Campbell plays a Bulgarian millionaire who (along with his wife) is murdered one night in a cab (the cab driver buys it too) by a crazed gypsy woman. A local mad scientist (played by Stacey Keech) brings Bruce back to life, but has merged what was left of his brain with what was left of the cab driver's. Hilarity ensues as they seek their revenge against the evil gypsy woman. This flick had me roaring. It's a must see.

Click Here To Order The Man With the Screaming Brain!

99) Punk Rock Holocaust

This flick is a guilty pleasure for me, but I puzzled over whether to include it, since it's really more of a touring film than a horror flick. In the end, I decided that it was my list, and I'd put whatever I wanted in it.

Suck it Trebek!

Basically, this movie takes place during the 2003 Vans Warped Tour, and stars many of the bands on that tour (Rancid, Pennywise, etc) as its key players. As the story goes, a legendarily shitty band named Brutal Enigma once tried to con their way into the Warped Tour line up by bribing the Tour director with an undiscovered Black Flagg demo. When the tape proved to be fake, he banished them from the tour. A few days later, they were found dead, apparently having all commited suicide on their tour bus.

Flash forward to the 2003 tour. Band members, roadies, and even fans begin disappearing and turning up dead left and right. As the tour rages across the country, it's up to your favorite gnu-punk heroes and heroines to solve the mystery, Scooby style. I laughed until I stopped.

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98) Sleepy Hollow

Depp. Walken. Ricci. Burton. Elfman. What more do you need???

No, seriously, what more do you need??? Sleepy Hollow takes the classic story of Ichabod Crane and gives it a bit of a more gothic, fablish feel. Instead of a school teacher, Ichabod is a sort of precursor to a modern CSI investigator, an oddly dressed early American equivalent to Sherlock Holmes. He's sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders supposedly committed by a headless horseman. Slick production values, a tremendous score, and a legitimately creepy performance by Christoper Walken as the infamous horseman guarantee a fun time to be had by all. Plus anytime a bunch of the actors in a given film get their heads chopped off, I'm a happy guy!

Click Here To Order Sleepy Hollow!

97) Vampire Hunter D

You didn't think I'd actually do a list like this without SOME anime in it, did you? D is the quintessential horror anime. He's the precursor and downright inspiration for 2004's schlockfest Van Helsing, a half human, half vampire badass who takes out bloodsuckers galore with his overly long sword whilst arguing with the talking face in his hand. Yeah, it's that kind of movie. The animation is a bit dated compared to modern anime standards, but it's nonetheless a classic. Make sure to get the recent re-release so you'll be able to take advantacge of the better English dub (though I recommend just listening to the Japanese dub and reading the subtitles.) There's blood, brains, and dismemberment galore. Not any real scares, really, but the ambiance is good and creepy. Give it a shot. And if you like it, there's a more recent sequel out there. It's not near as good, but it's more D, and that's not a bad thing.

Click Here To Order Vampire Hunter D!

96) Texas Chainsaw Massacre II

Fuck yeah! Most people will tell you that this film was a mere shadow of the original, not near as good, corny, campy, etc etc etc. When you come across such an individual, give them a good stiff kick to the jollies, or whatever they happen to have down there, as this flick's the shit.

Here's the gist. You remember Sheldon, the dork in the wheelchair from the first flick? Well, his uncle is a Texas Ranger (hilariously played by Dennis Hopper) and he can't stands it no more. He goes to the local roadside chainsaw shop (remind me never to move to Texas) and shells out for two little uns, and one fuckin' big one... with holsters!

He tracks the cannibalistic family down to an old abandoned carnival funhouse, shortly after they attack a radio station and kidnap its star deejay, and the bloodletting commences. Why he didn't just bring a 12 guage with assloads of ammo? Who can say? Who cares?! It has chainsaw duels, for Christ's sake! People get their faces peeled off and made into masks! Sawyer, the patriarch of the family, chops people up and uses the meat in a chilli contest... AND WINS!
And then there's Grandpa. Oh, God bless Grandpa, that old sweet bloodsucker! But my favorite, as many would agree, is Chop Top, played maliciously by Bill Mosely. His character coined the phrase "LICK MY PLATE, YOU DOG DICK!" which I myself am fond of using whenever possible.

As you can tell, I really love this one. Plenty of scares, blood and guts aplenty, and it makes me laugh to boot. Highly Recommended.

Click Here To Order The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!

95) The 6th Sense

Those who have read my work for any lengthy amount of time know that I don't particularly think much of M. Knight Imasham's work, short of Unbreakable, which I like a great deal. But it's a superhero movie, not a horror flick.

Of course, in many ways, this movie isn't either, but it has enough sudden shocks to cause those who haven't previously seen it to jump once or twice, and it has lots of dead people walking around, so I guess I can squeeze it in.

Essentially, Bruce Willis is a phsychologist who, after being attacked by one of his patients, is attempting to put his life back in order, when he meets a little boy with a very troubling problem. He can see and talk to dead people.

Most people were completely dumbfounded by the "shocker" twist ending to this one. I knew it fifteen minutes into the film, having pieced it together from the first few scenes and the infamous "I see dead people!" line from the trailer. In fact, I nearly got lynched for blurting it out during the movie (something I'm a bit infamous for.) Still, for those of you who haven't seen it, it is a neat twist, the best M. Knight has had, really. Pay close attention to his use of red, too. It's not just a fashion statement.

Click Here To Order The Sixth Sense (Collector's Edition Series)!

94) Nightbreed

This is another one that I struggled with as to whether or not I should include it. Technically, I wouldn't really classify it as a horror film, but more Clive Barker's take on a superhero story.

Based on Barker's novella Cabal, Nightbreed tells the story of Boone, a young man who's been dreaming about an underground city named Midian, a place where the monsters live. He feels out of place in the world, and feels it's where he belongs. At the same time, he's been having dreams about killing people. He tells these dreams to his shrink, played with cold calculation by the amazing director David Cronenberg (a couple of his films are found later on in my list, in fact) all the while dreaming of going to Midian. One night, he overdoses on medication his shrink gives him, and ends up in the hospital next to a murderer who's been to Midian, and knows it exists. And more importantly, he knows how to get there.

Meanwhile, the shrink goes to the cops and tells them Boone is a serial killer, as his dream descriptions perfectly match a series of murders taking place across Canada. Boone flees for Midian, and the cops follow, cornering him at the very gates, and taking his life. Or did they actually give it to him?

The music is stupendous (Danny Elfman shines once more) the sets are astounding, and the make-up is some of the best you'll ever see. If you haven't seen this movie, you're doing yourself a disservice.

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93) Brotherhood of the Wolf

This is one badass flick, right here. A monstrous beast. A daring hero, and his ass-kicking, native American, kung-fu fighting sidekick. WTF?

It's all in French, so get ready to read, but it's one of the coolest genre bending films I've ever seen. Essentially, it's loosely based on a true story, where several people and animals were slaughtered by an unknown animal in France back during the 1700's. The movie unfolds as two heroes stalk this creature, and try to solve the mystery.

In theme and style, it reminds me of Burton's Sleepy Hollow, but with lots of nudity, kung fu, and unfortunately, French people.

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92) Dead/Alive

I'm warning you right now. This movie is NOT scary in the slightest. But it is, nonetheless, not for the faint of heart. This is one of the early films from LOTR director Peter Jackson. It's a unique, comedic take on the zombie genre, and concerns a sort of Norman Batesish man (except he's not a killer) whose mother gets bit by a rare monkey and becomes a zombie, and quickly infects the whole town. This poor guy is used to being under his mother's boot, and even in her undead state, tries to save face, taking each new victim and hiding them in his house as the undead numbers grow.

The humor is definitely tongue-in-cheek. At one point, a Catholic Priest is introduced, who back flips onto screen, and karate kicks the head off a nearby zombie. He turns to our anti-hero and says completely deadpan "Fear not my son. I KICK ARSE FOR THE LORD!"

This movie is hailed as the goriest film ever made, and I don't doubt it. I've NEVER seen such a bloody spectacle. When you talk about a film with zombies who fuck and give birth to mutant zombie babies, and a scene where the hero climbs up in his giant mutant zombie mother's vagina and carves his way out with a chainsaw, you know you're getting the full monty.

Click Here To Order Dead/Alive!

91) Cemetery Man

This was the first movie I ever saw uuber fag Rupert Everett in, and it's also the only performance of his I've seen that I actually enjoyed. He plays the owner of a cemetary where, to be blunt, the dead come back. The rules are a little different for these zombies, however, as a simple shot to the head seems to get the job done rather effectively.

There's a great deal of macabre humor to this piece. Everett has an Egorish sidekick following him around, who at one point falls in love with a dismembered head. It's not as outlandish as the humor in, say, the Evil Dead Trilogy, but it will make you laugh out loud at least once... especially Rupert's love scene with a dead chick.

Click Here To Order Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore)! [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

90) John Carpenter's Vampires

Yeah, I know. This flick took a real critical beating when it came out. But I love it all the same. I really dig the whole vampire hunter vibe, particularly James Woods's rather Priest-like character. Watching him crossbow vampires and use a tow cable to drag them out into the sunlight gave me shivers in a "12 year old seeing The Lost Boys for the first time" kinda way.

Yeah, it's completely lacking in finesse. And yeah, it has a Baldwin brother in it, and one of the less utilized (but oddly, less annoying) brothers at that. But as far as vampire films go, it gets the job done, and doesn't go out of its way to be an action movie with a horror theme like its cinematic cousin (which you won't find on this list) From Dusk Till Dawn.

Click Here To Order John Carpenter's Vampires!

89) Interview With The Vampire

Here's another one I'll probably get hatemail for. Look, I don't care what you Anne Rice purists have to say, because all the Vampire Chronicles are, really, is cleverly disguised gay porn novels (once you get past Memnoch The Devil, anyway.) Tom Cruise, NAILED Lestat. He IS Lestat. Yeah, Banderas was a shitty choice for Armande, considering he's supposed to be a blonde-haired 17 year old, but everything else was incredible. The sets are astounding, the mood is perfect, and Kirtsen Dunst's break out performance as the vampire child Claudia is what elevated this film from a vampiric curiosity to a genuine horror film. But for Christ's sake, avoid Queen of the Damned at all costs. Stuart Townsend is the ANTI-CRUISE.

Click Here To Order Interview With The Vampire!

88) The Devil's Backbone

Yet another hard choice. This film feels more like a period piece with hauntings than a legitimate horrof flick, but I chose to include it for its feel and originality.

The film takes place during the Spanish Civil War. A young boy named Carlos finds himself left in a run down orphanage, an orphanage rife with stress, elevated by the fact that an unexploded bomb is sitting in the center of the open courtyard, seeming to dare those living therein to keep on doing so.

As schemes are plotted and secrets revealed, a ghost comes to Carlos at night, a ghost that is the key to everything.

This is a great little film, though it does bear a lot of similarities to the ghost stories of Henry James. Still, those who prefer legitimate spooks over gory gross outs will love this movie.

The film is directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the genius behind Hellboy and Blade 2. A good spooky time shall be had by all who choose to ventures into this flick's secrets. I promise you that.

Clieck Here To Order The Devil's Backbone (Special Edition)!

87) Shaun of The Dead

Not since Evil Dead 2 have I watched a horror film that made me laugh this much. In the tradition of horror directors making the most out of very little, this film follows in the footsteps of films like Evil Dead, and Dead/Alive, and succeeds in taking it to the next level.

Unlike the similarly low budget 28 Days Later, this is a REAL zombie movie. Shaun is a dead end kinda guy working a dead end job. He wakes every morning feeling dead inside, trapped in a dead end life. So imagine the irony when he becomes the savior of a town overrun by the living DEAD! Oh, the rich and wonderful irony!

There's several really good sight gags, including a guy who's stomach is ripped open whilst crowd surfing over a mob of flesh eaters. Repeated viewings are warranted, as a lot of what is great about this movie takes place in the background, much like Shaun's life.

Click Here To Order Shaun of the Dead!

86) Alien

Many will say this is a sci-fi flick, and hence should not be included. Well, I call BS on that, especially in light of old classics like THEM!, which was about as sci-fi as The Muppet Movie.

Alien is a haunted house film set on a space ship, but the ghost is a xenomorph: an insectile, lizard like creature that is implanted as an egg in the torso of a human and eventually bursts from their chest and grows to over six feet tall, black, and shining, and dripping.

Sigourney Weaver is Ripley, one of the officers onboard the Nostromo, a ship en route to planet LB-426. They find an abandoned spaceship, filled with these eggs. One of their crew gets an egg implanter stuck to his face, and the horror ensues.

Running in parallel is their android medical officer who suffers a sort of android breakdown and goes amok, proving to be as awful as the alien itself, in his own, bizarre way. He kills as indiscriminately and as nonsensically as the creature, showing that sometimes our greatest fears can come from that which we consider the most familiar.

Alien is also a high spot in horror movie history for being (not neccessarily the first, by any means) THE film to popularize the "oh, it's just the cat!" false scare.

(By the by, you won't find Aliens ( the only other decent film in the series) here because it's an action/sci-fi film with horror elements, ie, the exact opposite of its predecessor. If Aliens is a horror film, then so is Blade, ya dig?)

Click Here To Order Alien - The Director's Cut (Collector's Edition)!

85) The Shining (mini-series)

This is one of those films that everyone knows about. Essentially, it's the ultimate haunted house story: a man and his family trapped in an abandoned (and quite haunted) hotel.

I included this six hour monster for one reason and one reason alone. Well two, really. One: this film is MUCH MUCH MUCH more true to the novel than Kubrick's opus. Two: Rebecca DeMornay is a much better Wendy. Her acting just destroys Shelly Duval's performance. The kid they chose to play Danny is much better too, but his overall cuteness factor detracts from that.

A lot of the best elements from the book that were omitted from the theatrical film have been included here, including the topiary animals that come to life, and the whole episode with the wasp's nest (those who've read the book will know what I'm talking about.) The truth behind Danny's friend Tony is also revealed here, a theme that was completely removed from Kubrick's vision. One final note: The hotel seen here is based on the actual hotel King was staying in when he got the idea for the novel.

I will give you this: it's not as creepy as the first film, by ANY means, which is why it's so far down on my list. But for a TV movie, it does have more than a few legitimate creepy moments. You should give it a try, especially just to see all the things Kubrick left out or changed around.

Click Here To Order Stephen King's The Shining!

84) Bram Stoker's Dracula

In some ways, this film plays out more like a soap opera than a horror film, but what it lacks in gore it makes up with atmosphere, and Gary Oldman's stellar performance as the Fanged One.

You all know the story by now, so I won't insult your intelligence by recapping it.
Oldman is stupendous. Winona Ryder as Mina is awful. So is her hubby played by Keanu Reeves. No, this movie is made by two performances: Oldman's, and Sir Anthony Hopkins as the quintessential Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. His manic pursuit of Dracula could almost be viewed as neurotic. He is much a madman in his own right.

Also of mention is Tom Waits as Renfield. He gives the character a real surreal quality, not unlike his music. Renfield is not so much seen in this film as he is endured. He made my skin crawl more than anything Oldman did in the film.

As for old Vlad himself, Dracula is almost transformed from vile vampire to sharp-fanged sex symbol by the new origin prologue that was not even hinted at in the novel, but lends the creature a humanity he lacked in the book. You don't feel vindicated by his death so much as you feel relieved for him. That alone separates this incarnation of the story from those before or after it.

a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?path=ASIN/B00005R23X&link_code=as2&camp=1789&tag=the7thlevel-20&creative=9325">Click Here To Order Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection)!

83) Nosferatu

This is the film that really got the ball rolling, insofar as vampire movies are concerned. It predated the Hollywood classic by several years, and includes special FX and techniques that, while primitive by today's standards, are nonetheless effective and legitimately chilling.

The film garnered much praise, but was dragged into litigation by Bram Stoker's estate, regardless of the filmmaker's attempts to cover up the origin of his story.

Count Dracula is replaced by Count Orlock here, but everything else remains more or less the same plotwise. Though here, the vampire is not a sleek, sexy, alluring European, but more a bald, fang toothed, gangly night creature, more demonic in appearance than vampiric.

The film was remade in the seventies to a rather grand scale, but believe me, this original, silent version is the way to go. And for a fun take on it, be sure to also check out Shadow of the Vampire, a film that postulates what it might have been like if the actor portraying Orlock was in fact, a real vampire.

Click Here To Order Nosferatu - Special Edition!

82) Hellraiser

Many changes were made by Clive Barker to his infamous creatures from The Hellbound Heart (which in a few subtle ways took inspiration from Poe's classic The Telltale Heart) in his effort to bring it to the big screen. But it works for him. Pinhead has become a horror icon, a darker, less amusing Freddy krueger.

Essentially, a man named Frank had grown bored with life. He sought to experience something beyond pleasure and pain, something more. He found it in a strange little puzzle box, the Lament Configuration, which when solved opened a doorway to Hell, a doorway that the cenobites stepped through, and tore his soul to shreds. But for whatever reason, they left his heart intact, hidden beneath the floorboards.

Some time later, his niece Kirstie and family move into the same house, along with her murderous stepmother, who'd had a fling with Frank just after having married his brother. While moving in, said hubby scrapes his hand on a nail and bleeds all over the floor. Frank's heart absorbs this blood, and he partially reforms. Kirstie's stepmother discovers this, and enflamed by the thought of sleeping with Frank once more, begins bringing him victims to feed off of, to rebuild his body.

When Kirstie discovers this, she seeks out the lament Configuration. To say the least, the cenobites are not happy to hear of Frank's endeavors.

This film is gory, and dark, but not so much scary as it is just gross and flinch-inducing. This film introduced Pinhead to the world, who in later films would go back and forth from good guy to villain, which is why this, his debut outing, is so far down on my list. Once a baddie, always a baddie, says I.

Click Here To Order Hellraiser!

81) Fright Night

This flick has few "sudden shock" scares, but I love it nonetheless, and I do my best to catch it every time it comes on. It's one of those horror movies that becomes more of an old, seldomly visited friend than just a fright flick. For me, it's the horror equivalent of The Goonies.

Charlie Brewster has noticed a few weird things about his new neighbor. He only comes out at night. He has a different female visitor every night, and he has a male roommate who loves to drag human-shaped trashbags to the trunk of his car every morning.

Charlie, being a huge fan of horror films, puts two and two together and figures out that his new neighbor is a suckhead. He becomes so obsessed with the idea, that his best friend and girlfriend (played by the same actress who would eventually become famous as Al Bundy's neighbor Marcy Darcy, not to mention one of the more politically active lesbian actresses in Hollywood) hire former horror star and current out-of-work horror theater host Peter Vincent to come see Charlie, and convince him that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Unfortunately, Vincent discovers an entirely different truth than what he was expecting, and soon finds himself face to face with that which he has been pretending to kill for 30 years.

There are a lot of laughs in this film, and a lot of really great special effects. Chris Sarandon (old Prince Humperdink himself, and the voice of Jack Skellington no less) puts on a performance that, in my mind, cemented him as one of the most memorable cinema vampires of the modern era.

The film also features some fantastic 80's era special fx, and possibly the most annoying sidekick of all time, that being Charlie's best friend. The performance was so memorable, in fact, that the actor in question rode that part's popularity into a string of low budget horror flicks, the first (and best) of which was 976-EVIL, which was fun in a "so bad it's good" kinda way, but nowhere near good enough to make it on my last. I'd love to interview that guy though. I can still here that insane cackle of his. "HAHAHAHAH! AHAHA! HAHAHAH HA HA! OH, YOU'RE SOOOO COOl, BREWSTER!"

There was a sequel made, but it's complete shit. Avoid it at all costs.

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80) Poltergeist

Next to The Shining, I consider this film the best haunted house film ever made, though many will disagree with me. Produced by Stephen Spielberg and directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper (who also made a very memorable sci-fi/horror film in 1985 called Lifeforce (aka Space Vampires) that was mostly memorable for the female vampire who walked through the entire film butt naked.)

Craig T. Nelson (the voice of Mr. Incredible) plays a real estate agent who discovers that his house is haunted. Stranger and stranger things keep happening, until eventually his youngest child Carole Anne is sucked into the other side by way of the TV (it makes sense in the movie, kind of.) From there, a diminutive, almost otherworldly psychic is brought in to try and save the child, and discover the horrible truth behind the hauntings in the house.

As I said, many will disagree with my thoughts on this film, and I'll tell you why.
First, because the movie is all too willing to show the ghosts to the audience, so some will say (in true Spielberg fashion) that it's over the top and lacking in subtlety. On the other hand, it was given a PG rating to increase the potential box office take, which limited the gore and scares the filmmakers could leave in, so many more would say the film doesn't show enough. Me, I think it has just enough real scares to make it memorable, particularly the clown doll scene and the possessed tree.

Real horrors have haunted this film. Two thirds of the cast of this film have died by disease or foul play (the actress who played the oldest daughter was murdered by her boyfriend. Carole Anne died of liver disease, and so on. many will tell you that the actress who played Tangina died, but she recently showed up in an HBO commerical, very much alive and well. The actor who played the Indian Shaman from the sequel died of lung cancer, and the original actor to portay "The Preacher" in the same film also died.)

The second film is so-so, but not good enough to be included in my list, though the Preacher character is certainly spooky. "God is in... HIS HOLY TEMPLE! EARTHLY THOUGHTS... BE SILENT NOW!!!"

Consider it a worthy weekend rental (though the ending is overwhelmingly sappy) but stay far, far away from part three. The actress who played Carole Anne died during production, she and Tangina were the only original characters from the previous two films to make an appearance, and it simply was not good in any way, shape, or form. Bad direction, crappy script, horrible editing, and the last ten minutes included the back of a stand-in's head for Carole Anne, a stand-in who was about 3 inches taller than the original actress. Just stay away from it.

Click Here To Order Poltergeist!

79) Re-Animator

This film represented the fantastic combination of the Frankenstein mad scientist character, and the zombie film. The film made relative unknown Jeffrey Combs into a bona fide underground super star (he went on to play the psychotic FBI agent in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners, and Full Moon's Dr. Strenge rip-off character Dr. Mordrid, among other less notable roles in various sci-fi shows, including almost every Star Trek show beyond TOS, and Babylon Five (he most recently starred in the shortlived show The 4400, and did some voice work for the Toon Disney show "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!")

Combs basically is a scientist at a local college messing around with techniques to re-animate dead tissue. Some of his serum is used in ways he didn't originally intend, and hilarity ensues.

The sequel is universally hailed as the best of the series, but I consider it more of a comedy than anything else. Full of prat falls, jokingly false scares, and quippy one-liners, it's an animal unto itself outside of the original, so I have neglected to include it. That isn't to say it's a bad film, because it's not. It's a hilarious movie. It's just not a good horror movie.

Click Here To Order Re-Animator (Millennium Edition)!

78) Frankenstein

It's not scary, the FX suck, the acting is attrocious, and it bears little in common with the book upon which it is based. Still, I had to include Frankenstein, as it's a horror classic in every sense of the word. I can remember first seeing it during one of those locally run saturday fright fest shows on tv, and I love it now just as much as I did then.

Though the scene isn't in the book, the moment when the creature encounters a little girl throwing flowers into the lake is particularly effective, and possibly the only moment in the film I can site as being honestly disturbing. Other than that, this is pretty docile material. Still, it deserves a place here for what it did for horror cinema, and for advances in movie make-up techniques.

The movie has been remade countless times, with better effects, better actors, and scripts both farther from and much, much closer to the book (the newest and best example being Kenneth Branaugh's 1994 opus "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" that had Robert De Niro playing the creature... it is the closest to being "true-to-book" that any film based on the novel has ever come, but it is completely devoid of scares, and is more of a love drama with occasional gross FX work than it is anything else) but none have ever succeeded in eclipsing the original, and I doubt any ever will.

Click Here To Order Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)!

77) Dracula

And of course, I can't mention Frankenstein without mentioning Dracula. What a tremendous film! Sure, it's campy and hoaky by today's standards, and is certainly bereft of the melodrama and elaborate nature of Frances Ford Coppola's vision mentioned above, but nevertheless, it is the film that spawned a love for horror cinema in many generations since its debut, and forever influenced the idea of the vampire (every widow's peaked, caped vampire on Halloween is essentially wearing a Bela Lugosi costume.)

I can say nothing bad of Bela Lugosi's performance. He'd played the part before in a very successful stage play, and so brought a distinction and European regality to the role. He lives it and breaths it, as well as any undead can, anyway. In every scene, with every line, he IS Dracula, and that, my friends, is the greatest praise I can afford it. It amuses me now, but as a child, it terrified me, and therein lies its eternal charm.

Click Here To Order Dracula - The Legacy Collection (Dracula / Dracula (1931 Spanish Version) / Dracula's Daughter / Son of Dracula / House of Dracula)!

76) Salem's Lot (1979)

I have a fondness for this film, because it is the first horror film I have a memory of ever seeing. I was three years old, and at my aunt's house. Salem's Lot was on the TV. The scene I recall most is where the first boy to die wakes up in his coffin, his eyes demonic and glowing. The smile on that kid's face is forever burned into my memory, along with the following scene where he appears floating outside his best friend's bedroom window. It gave me nightmares for quite a while. I can distinctly remember lying awake with my Dad sitting on my bed with me, unable to take my eyes off my bedroom window for fear of one of my own friends coming for me.

The clothes date the film badly, as do the cars, hair cuts, and general acting styles. This was a made-for-TV film, so it's very short on gore. But it has scares aplenty, especially the resident vampire of the film, (who here is given a very Nosferatu-inspired look.) It's not the most frightening film I've ever seen, but it left an impression on me that I never really got over. Perhaps that can only be said by one who saw it at such a young age as I did. You'll just have to watch it and see for yourself.

(Of note to semi-King fans. The alcoholic priest who encounters the vampire in this film becomes one of the later heroes in the Dark Tower books. If you were a fan of Salem's Lot, you might want to give them a look.)

(Also of note: there's a really crappy made-for-video sequel to this film floating around out there. It starred Michael Moriarty, and is really really bad. Don't even bother.

(Of even further note: The film was recently remade into a very passable USA miniseries starring Rob Lowe. I didn't enjoy it as much as the original, but it's certainly worth a look.)

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And that does it for the first batch. I'll be back soon with the next 25, my friends. Till then, try to stay out of the dark.

Click Here To Read Part 2!