"Night of the Demons" (2009)

I have a confession, y'all: I had a ginormous crush on Edward Furlong back in his T2 days.  Unfortunately, his career is leading him down the path of B-level horror flicks-- although, I must admit, Night of the Demons is actually a fun little ride.  A bunch of rowdy teenager/young adults (all of who strangely resemble porn stars) have a wild Halloween party in an old mansion.  Accidentally, they release a slew of evil demons who kill them off one by one in order to take over the world.

You can buy Night of the Demons from Amazon or watch it for free if you have a Netflix subscription.

P.S. This movie is actually a remake of the 1988 film of the same name.  They only difference is that the original flick took place in an abandoned mortuary instead of a cool mansion.

P.S.S. Monica Keena and Edward Furlong actually started dating after being in this movie together.  And yes, I was slightly jealous.... just kidding!

"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....

"Horrors of Spider Island" (1967)

Honestly, Horrors of Spider Island is one of the trickiest horror films to research, mainly because of its many various names and edits.  It was originally called A Corpse Hung in the Web in 1960 and premiered in Germany (it is originally a German-Yugoslav film that has been dubbed in English).  In 1962, it was released in America as an erotica entitled It's Hot in Paradise.  Five years later, it was edited into what we now know as Horrors of Spider Island.  Whew!  What's it all about, you may ask?  A whole slew of sexy, scantily-clad dancers are trapped on a remote island with a dangerous spider/man combo.  Seriously.  That's it.

(Photo Credit)

While you can rent Horrors of Spider Island from Netflix, you can also rent the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Horrors of Spider Island .  However, since Horrors of Spider Island is so frickin' old, you can actually download it for free from the Internet Archive or watch it instantly on Google Video.  If you're particularly fond of creepy spiders and nearly-naked ladies, you can buy either the original or the MST 300 version from Amazon.



P.S. Did we already mention the fact that it was originally a naughty adult film entitled It's Hot in Paradise?  Yes?  Well, we're done here.

"Tremors" (1990)

As most of you know, if there is one thing I fear, it's worms.  Seriously, I don't care whether they are parasitic round worms or plain ol' earth worms, I just hate 'em-- I just know they're going to enter into my body one day and infest my organs.  I strangely have my 4th grade teacher to thank for this fear (don't ask).  Therefore, Tremors, a film starring the infamous Kevin Bacon, horrifies me in particular.  When the residents of a small town are killed by giant, man-eating worms, the survivors huddle together and try to destroy the monsters with the help of a sexy seismologist (since all scientists in movies are women with tons of cleavage and brains).

(Photo Credits)

You can add Tremors to your Netflix cue, or you can buy it from Amazon for next to nothing. Make sure to review the trailer below:



P.S. Technically, the name of the giant worms is "Caederus mexicana".  In the movie, however, they call them Graboids.

P.S.S. Calling all Reba fans-- this is the country singer's first movie.  Ever.

"Puppet Master" (1989)

At first glance, Puppet Master seems like a film that has no redeeming factors-- I mean, puppets?  That come to life?  Really?  However, it's campiness is its saving grace.  Basically, a puppeteer learns some Egyptian trick to give life to inanimate objects, so he tries it out on his clan of puppets.  However, when the Nazis try to sieze his powers, he kills himself and buries the puppets in an old hotel.  Years later, four psychics arrive at the hotel to mourn the suicide of their friend, another psychic.  Soon, though, the puppets awaken and apparently have all sorts of evil goodies, including a drill for a head, a leach that pops out of a doll's mouth and into a person's, etc.  Considering I am deathly afraid of worms, you can guess what the most horrifying part for me is....

(Photo Credit)

Luckily for all you killer doll lovers, you can watch Puppet Master instantly on Netflix.  However, if you really, really like funny horror flicks from the 1980's, you can buy it directly on Amazon.  In the meantime, check out this spooky trailer:




P.S. Apparently, to avoid an X rating, the director had to replace red blood which supernatural-esque green blood.  Yuck!

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

We are halfway through September, folks-- you know what that means, right?  Halloween is coming up soon!  While there is no doubt that All Hallow's Eve is famously delightful for yummy candy and funny costumes, I love it for its collection of scary movies.  Trick 'r Treat is one such example of a film set during the October month.  It shows four stories that are interwoven together, each chronicling some creepy aspect of Halloween.  Whether it's werewolves, ghosts, or serial killers, this movie shows how each one has its special place during that night.

(Photo Credit)

Luckily, you can watch Trick 'r Treat instantly on Netflix, and you can buy the movie straight from Amazon.  In the meantime, check out this trailer:



P.S. Since most of the filming took place at night, children could not work certain hours.  Therefore, tons of little people had to dress up in costumes to take their place.

"Hellraiser" (1987)

I won't lie, folks-- I am slightly partial to all the Pinhead movies, especially the original Hellraiser.  Perhaps it's because it is an original, semi-intelligent horror movie involving supernatural elements and S&M-obsessed demons; or, it could be that I met Doug Bradley (a.k.a. Pinhead himself) once and he was super nice and complimented me on my top.  Regardless of the reason, I think Hellraiser is a horror film that even non-scary movie fans should watch.  The premise is slightly confusing, so let me try to put it in layman's terms: a sociopathic man fiddles with a magical box, gets sucked into the inner realms of Hell, is tortured excessively, escapes, and now is on the run from Pinhead, the leader of these crazy demons (a.k.a. Cenobites).  However, since he is literally just a pile of bones and blood, he hides out in his brother's attic, where he has an affair with his sister-in-law, kills some neighbors, and ultimately has to face his captors.  Are you exhausted yet?  Yah?  Me too.

(Photo Credit)

Rent Hellraiser on Netflix, or do yourself a favor and buy it from Amazon.  Watch the following trailer if you don't believe me on how supremely awesome this film is:



P.S. This movie is actually based on a novella by Clive Barker called The Hellbound Heart.  Additionally, the working title of this movie was Sadomasochists From Beyond the Grave.  I'm thinking they made a good choice....

P.S.S. Pinhead wasn't the character's official name until the second movie-- originally, it was simply The First Cenobite, but fans dubbed the character fondly as "Pinhead."  The rest is history.

P.S.S.S. Guess who has a signed, framed picture in her room that reads, "Dear Katie, See you in Hell.  Love, Doug Bradley." Oh yah, that's right... it's this girl!

"Piranha" (2010)

Okay, folks, I'm not going to insult your intelligence: Piranha, as far as movies go, is bad.  Very, very bad. Sure, it has a cast of B+ actors, like Elisabeth Shue and Christopher Lloyd, but the lack of story, cheesy animation-graphics, and pathetic acting makes it one truly unfortunate piece of film.  Why am I posting on this movie, you may ask, if I think it's so terrible?  Exactly that reason, folks-- it's so bad, it's hilarious!  A remake of the original Piranha (1978) (which I just added to my Netflix que, FYI), the movie centers around a Spring Break-esque party on a river where an underwater tremor releases tons of piranhas into the teen-infested waters.  There is blood, nudity, and plenty of cheesy dialogue-- it can definitely be worse, right?

(Photo Credit)

You can rent Piranha from Netflix, or you could just buy it from Amazon, especially if you have a thing for  those SciFy Channel movies.  Regardless, watch the following trailer before venturing out into the water:



P.S. Alexandre Aja, the director of this film, has gained notoriety for remaking classic horror movies.  Besides Piranha, he also directed The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Mirrors (2008).  Is it just me or does he need to go back to directing better movies, like High Tension (2003)?

"Mimic" (1997)

Do you remember The Orphanage, or Pan's Labrynth?  Both of those films have two things in common: they are really, really good (an understatement I'm sure), and they were directed by Guillermo del Toro.  However, before he was in his critically-acclaimed film stride, he made Mimic, a modern-day monster movie.  Forget Godzilla-- these manmade, giant bug/human creatures kill children on-screen (a little gutsy, eh del Toro?), chase scientists into abandoned subway systems, and cause general chaos and bloodshed.  Plus, this film has Mira Sorvino as a rad scientist and a young autistic boy as an unusual hero....

(Photo Credit)

Mimic is available to watch instantly on Netflix, and you can also grab it for sale at Amazon.  You'll never look a cockroaches the same way ever again!  Check out the trailer for this severely underrated film below:



P.S. Although many (including myself) cinephiles think that Mimic was unjustly written-off as a B-flick, del Toro actually disowned this movie.  He and producer Bob Weinstein constantly clashed about how the film was going to be made, and apparently del Toro was not happy with the ultimate, "audience-friendly" version.

"Shivers" (1975)

(Photo Credit)

Directed by David Cronenberg, Shivers, also known as They Came from Within, is a terrific film on many levels.  At the core, it is a grimy horror flick complete with naked women, parasitic worms, and gruesome orgies.  However, it also represents a deeper message-- the spread of HIV, which didn't occur until years after its release!  The story takes place in a suburban apartment building where a strain of parasitic worms are released into the pool of residents.  The worm isn't spread by air or blood, but instead by sex-- which it then commands its new hosts to do repeatedly.  Overall, it is an excellent scare, but it also is a social commentary on the consequences of free sex.  Is David Cronenberg a Republican, or just a crazed fan of creepy bathtub scenes?  You decide.

(Photo Credit)

Buy Shivers at Amazon, or rent it from Netflix.  Before you decide, check out this old-school trailer from They Came from Within....



P.S. Did you know that Shivers was made in just 15 days?  Pretty impressive, especially considering today's standards.....