"Carnival of Souls" (1962)

While recently remade, Carnival of Souls is a spooky film set in the early 1960's.  After emerging as the lone survivor in a terrible car crash, a woman named Mary becomes increasingly disturbed.  When she finally accepts a new job as an organist at a church (scary enough, eh?), she begins to be haunted by a menacing ghost.... (insert creepy ghost noise here)

Oh, the horror!

Carnival of Souls is available to watch instantly on Netflix, Hulu, AND Youtube (it's a pretty old flick).  Therefore, there's no need to buy it-- instead, just watch it for free!  In the meantime, check out this trailer:

P.S. This film didn't get stellar reviews when it first was released, but in the late 1980's it was regarded as a cult classic!  However, the director of the film never worked in the industry again and lead actress Candace Hilligoss was dropped promptly by her agent.

P.S.S. The evil ghoul/man creature that Mary sees throughout the flick is actually director Herk Harvey in makeup.  He actually wore his ghost makeup to interviews later on-- talk about dedication....

"Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (1986)

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a cult classic that explores the depth of psychopathology.  Henry is a bonafide serial killer who, once released from prison, begins to show his new roommate/ex-prison partner Otis the ropes of serial killing.  They go on a crime spree together and Otis quickly loses his grip on any amount of morality he had left.  Meanwhile, Henry meets Otis's sister and begins to change... or does he?

While you can watch this film via Netflix instant, you should really go ahead and buy Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer for your own collection.  It is a thought-provoking, creepy movie that will make you think twice about going into a hotel with a strange man.

P.S. This movie was made with a measly budget of $110,000-- talk about super low-budget!

P.S.S. The character of Henry is actually based on the real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.  He also befriended a man named Otis and became romantically involved with his sister in real life.

"Don't Go in the House" (1980)

There's no easy way to put this-- Don't Go in the House may be a classic slasher film, but it ain't pretty. In fact, the entire premise can be summed up in two sentences: a crazed construction worker was abused as a child by his sadistic mother, who always set parts of his body on fire.  His ideal coping mechanism involves picking up strange women at discos, taking them home, and setting them on fire. He would have been better off if he just practiced some meditation or scrapbooking, eh?

Lucky for you all, you can watch Don't Go in the House on YouTube for free.  No need to buy the movies, folks, unless you really, really like fire and/or disco....

P.S. The director hired dancers to play the parts of the burned women-- they looked just like the original actresses but were much slimmer.  Apparently, when a body is burned it shrinks drastically in size.  Interesting.

P.S.S. This film is mainly well-known due to Quentin Tarantino, who notoriously featured it at his first film festival in 1996.

"Trilogy of Terror" (1975)

Before Karen Black starred in Rob Zombie's House of a 1000 Corpses, she was a bonafide scream queen.  Take her role in Trilogy of Terror, a 1970's horror film that centers around 3 different stories.  Karen Black plays 4 different women in this film and does so beautifully, I might add.  From a student obsessed with his teacher to a tale of two twins to a woman tormented by an African doll (my personal favorite), each story is fun, cheesy, and horror-filled... well, maybe not that last adjective.

Watch Trilogy of Terror for free on YouTube on either your computer, iPad, or TV.  How great is that?

P.S. Actress Karen Black is more than just a scream queen-- she actually had a hand in rewriting certain parts of the script and figuring out gory special effects.  Talk about a Renaissance woman!

P.S.S. The creepy African doll was actually owned by the director of the film-- talk about taking a souvenir home....

"Chainsaw Sally" (2001)

Sometimes you just watch a movie where every aspect stays with you for eternity; other times, you watch a flick that you can only remember parts of, like Chainsaw Sally.  Frankly, I rented this low-budget flick because of its creative, catchy title, and was expecting nothing else than a good laugh or jump.  However, for being so low-budget, it is a surprisingly campy, intriguing film that is easy to watch.  It deals with Sally, a librarian by day but a chainsaw-wielding serial killer by night.  Living with her transvestite brother in their murdered parents' home, they take extreme measures to protect their land.  Let's just say that chainsaw becomes pretty handy....

(Photo Credit)

Rent Chainsaw Sally from Netflix, or, if you really love librarian/serial killer combos, purchase it from Amazon.  Also, make sure to check out the trailer below:



P.S. The star of this film, April Monique Burril, is not only the wife of the director, but was also pregnant during filming.  Tossing around a chainsaw in fishnet stockings while expecting?  That's what I call dedication!