Not on the List of the 100 Best Horror Movies, But...
There are some absolute GEMS here that shouldn't be missed! The 100 best horror movies honorable mention list has zombies, big women and Paris Hilton!
Like the list of the 100 best horror movies, this honorable mention list will update each year. Sometimes 100 isn't enough...and many of the cult classics are the best weekend movie fare regardless of your concept of "quality".
Click on the movie name for pictures and (wise) commentary...
Attack of the 50 foot woman (1958 Directed by Nathan Juran)
Children shouldn't play with dead things(1972 Directed by Bob Clark)
Ghost Ship(2002 Directed by Steve Beck)
Gothika(2003 Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and Thom Oliphant)
House of Wax (2005 directed by Jaume Collet-Serra)
Motel Hell (1980 Directed by Kevin Connor)
Shocker(1989 Directed by Wes Craven)
Terror Train(1980 Directed by Roger Spottiswoode)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre(2003 Directed by Marcus Nispel)
The Dead Next Door(1988 Directed by J.R. Bookwalter)
The Stand (1994 Directed by Mick Garris)
The Attack of the 50 foot woman
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Release: 1958
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Staring:
Allison Hayes as Nancy Fowler Archer
William Hudson as Harry Archer
Yvette Vickers as Honey Parker
I couldn't, in good conscious, list the Attack of the 50 foot woman as one of the 100 best horror movies because it is, well, stupid. The acting is cheesy and the story is ridiculous at best. Still, this movie is a cult classic, and with good reason.
This is a pre-women's lib film where a jilted woman (Allison Hayes), through a strange twist of fate that includes alien contact, has the opportunity to grow to 50 feet tall to get revenge on both her unfaithful husband (William Hudson) and the entire town.
I saw this one when I was a kid on Sunday morning, and it remains one of my favorite lazy-weekend movies. There are a couple of things that you need to get past if you're going to enjoy this movie...
•Varying height - Allison Hayes seems to vary from about 18 feet tall to about 75 feet from scene to scene.
•Auto inconsistencies - When the sheriff’s station wagon is picked up by the giant (Mike Ross), it becomes a sedan as it is hurled to the ground.
•super-stretch fabric - When Allison first turns into a giant she has to find clothing, but when she shrinks back to normal in the end the clothes on the ground look MAYBE 2 sizes too big for her.
Attack of the 50 foot woman is ridiculous, sure...but isn't that one of the criteria for a horror movie to become a cult classic? Although not of 100 best horror movies caliber, this one is a lot of fun and shouldn't be missed. Maybe this is a good one to watch on date night for those that love horror, but have a date that doesn't.
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Release: 1972
Directed by: Bob Clark
Starring:
Alan Ormsby as Alan
Valerie Mamches as Val
Jeff Gillen as Jeff
Anya Ormsby as Anya
I used to get so much grief for liking this movie when I was in college...either because nobody had ever heard of it before or just because they thought it was ridiculous. This is a great one for zombie fans that didn't find enough on the 100 best horror movies list, although the gore is a bit minimal by today's standards. Heck, for the title alone it's worth watching!
The acting is bad. What makes it worse is that there are actors playing actors in this movie, so a bit of double jeopardy transpires. In the movie, a group of actors are playing a satanic cult that attempts to raise the dead - and it works!
Not one of the 100 best horror movies list to be sure, but this movie will grow on you (once you tune out the terrible music). The black humor throughout makes for an enjoyable time as well. And you will have the added benefit of being ridiculed by your friends who have never heard of the movie before! You won't have to put up with this long though, as I hear that director Bob Clark is working on a remake as we speak, and this should release in 2006.
Ghost Ship
Release: 2002
Directed by: Steve Beck
Starring:
Gabriel Byrne as Captain Sean Murphy
Julianna Margulies as Maureen Epps
I have two words for you: Opening Scene. In fact, these may be the only good words you hear about this movie. Ghost Ship has been described as formula, boring, unimaginative. Well, I like it but mainly because the opening scene in the movie is AWESOME! Really, it's worth renting this one just for that scene, 100 best horror movie or not.
The rest of the movie revolves around an abandoned ship with creepy characters, hell bent on using the crew of a passing salvage ship to repair some hull damage - before driving them crazy and killing them. There's a good ghost too, that bonds with Juliana Margulies and tries to help. If Julianna doesn't get some better roles she'll have to stick with E.R.
Maybe, in addition to a 100 best horror movies list, we should have a "100 best horror scenes" list. Think so? Then Contact us!
Gothika
Release: 2003
Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz and Thom Oliphant
Starring:
Halle Berry as Miranda Grey
Robert Downey Jr. as Pete Graham
Charles S. Dutton as Dr. Douglas Grey
I LOVE Halle Berry. She's beautiful, she's a (fairly) good actress and she typically takes risks in the movies that she chooses to do. That's why Gothika makes the honorable mention page of the 100 best horror movies.
The story is pretty good here too: Dr. Grey (Berry) works with severely disturbed patients in a very gothic psychiatric hospital. She pulls the same thing that many movie-land doctors pull...she doesn't really listen to her patients, but instead dismisses their ranting as delusions not worthy of consideration. Lucky her, then, when she awakens to find herself a patient in her own hospital!
Now, I really have to call "time out" on this part, because the likelihood that a doctor in a psychiatric hospital would end up a patient in that same hospital, being treated by their former friends and peers, is not likely to happen in "real life". But hey, this is horror.
This movie has some good suspense and a decent budget, with a cool surprise ending that you realize is alluded to in the beginning scenes...in typical horror style.
House of wax (2005 version)
Release: 2005
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring:
Elisha Cuthbert as Carly Jones
Chad Michael Murray as Nick Jones
Brian Van Holt as Bo/Vincent
Paris Hilton as Paige Edwards
House of Wax is a remake of 100 best horror movies honoree number 75, and takes quite a few liberties during the "modernization process". Nonetheless, this movie is a great watch with a very interesting concept. A group of college age kids are traveling to a football game, and decide to (inexplicably) stop by the side of the road to camp as night falls. Their camping trip is wrought with strange happenings that lead them to a nearby town. In this town is a wax museum where everything, including the building itself, is made of wax. This movie is notable because it has:
•Interesting plot twists
•Pretty good acting (with one notable exception...see below)
•Awesome special effects
•Paris Hilton with a post through her skull!!!
Yes, this movie made the honorable mention addition to the 100 best horror movie list largely because of the (unfortunate) pop figure Paris Hilton. She does a strip tease...she whines...she acts badly (both in terms of behavior and acting ability)...and she is impaled by a metal fence post in one of the most dramatic and satisfying kill scenes I have seen in a long time. You should see this one!
Motel Hell
Release: 1980
Directed by: Kevin Connor
Starring:
Rory Calhoun as Vincent Smith
Paul Linke as Sheriff Bruce Smith
Nancy Parsons as Ida Smith
Nina Axelrod as Terry
I have always loved Motel Hell, and I have watched it about 8 times. The story is pretty good: a very redneck family sells jerky to travelers that come through their small redneck town. What those travelers don't realize is that the yummy treats that they are eating have their origin in human flesh! The way they "harvest" their meat is very cool too - they cause motorists to have accidents on the road, and then capture their prey and bury them in their garden with only their heads sticking out of the ground.
Motel Hell is full of schmaltz and doesn't take itself too seriously, which I like. Recommended.
Shocker
Release: 1989
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring:
Michael Murphy as Lt. Don Parker
Peter Berg as Jonathan Parker
Mitch Pileggi as Horace Pinker
Wes Craven has several movies on the best 100 horror movies list, and generally he does a very credible job. Shocker is not considered by most to be his best work. When I first saw Shocker, however, I did not yet realize that the "horror intelligencia" has dissed the movie, and I LOVED IT! The serial killer Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi) is caught and sentenced to the electric chair. Something goes wrong in the process of his execution and the soul of Horace Pinker remains intact after the flesh is dead, and lives in the electrical system as pure energy. He also gains the ability to inhabit the bodies of other people (which is really funny when he chooses the body of a very young and sweet little girl...hilarious). OK, kind of silly, I admit. Still, I think this one is better than the reviews suggest...as long as you can get past the absolutely ridiculous climactic ending...
Terror Train
Release: 1980
Directed by: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring:
Ben Johnson as Carne, Train Conductor
Jamie Lee Curtis as Alana Maxwell
Hart Bochner as Doc Manley
What can I say about Terror Train? This is the movie that started me down the path of Horror Movie Freak, that's all. This was the first horror movie that I ever saw, and it made quite an impact. I screamed...I squirmed...and I had nightmares. Now, in the grand scheme of things, Terror Train is not the best movie ever made, but it will always be one of my absolute favorites. As part of the "Jamie Lee Curtis Collection", this one helped to secure Ms. Jamie Lee's stature as the Scream Queen. And yes, she does scream...a lot.
This movie revolves around a graduation celebration held on a moving train...so there's no escape when a psycho comes aboard to exact revenge on those who were mean to him years ago. Because this is a costume-themed party the killer can remain undetected for quite some time. He kills his first before the train leaves the station and steals his victim's costume - and throws the victim himself on the train tracks...when the train takes off it runs over this first victim's head - GROSS! Kind of like a melon popping.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Release: 2003
Directed by: Marcus Nispel
Starring:
Jessica Biel as Erin
Jonathan Tucker as Morgan
Erica Leerhsen as Pepper
Mike Vogel as Andy
Eric Balfour as Kemper
Andrew Bryniarski as Thomas Hewitt (Leather face)
This movie is a remake of 100 best horror movies honoree number 15 from 1974 Directed by Tobe Hooper. The original is an absolute classic, and for good reason. Still, this remake does a credible job of conveying the story. They do this while adding some cool effects that weren't available when the original was filmed. At its core, however, it is a very different movie than the original, and because of this you can't go into it thinking "comparison". Watch this movie knowing full well that it doesn't capture the classic elements of the original, but does a good job being what it is...a good horror flick. Not one of the 100 best horror movies, but good nonetheless.
Regarding Leather face, the chainsaw wielding psycho that wears the facial skin of his victims like a mask...I heard a rumor somewhere that the actor that plays this part, Andrew Bryniarski, was not the original actor cast in this role. He got the part because the first actor wasn't strong enough to use the chain saw one handed. I have not found confirmation of this rumor, however. If you have information regarding this then please Contact us!
The Dead Next Door
Release: 1988
Directed by: J.R. Bookwalter
Starring:
Pete Ferry as Raimi
Bogdan Pecic as Dr. Moulsson
Michael Grossi as Mercer
Jolie Jackunas as Kuller
J.R. Bookwalter is a GENIOUS, and this movie is fantastic! The concept starts out standard enough...suddenly and without warning zombies begin roaming the streets. We later learn that the cause of this is some type of germ warfare invention gone awry. This is a job for the ZOMBIE SQUAD!
Yes friends, this movie introduces what amounts to the A-team of zombie killing, and they travel the countryside looking for non-infected people to save from the roaming undead. All this amid groups of "zombie huggers" picketing for zombie rights.
Also included here is a "preacher" who turns the whole thing into a cult of sorts (is that such a stretch?).
This movie is ULTRA low budget, shot on super 8 I think. The sound, too, is strange...and it took me a while to realize that the entire movie soundtrack and all of the dialogue is dubbed in. Somehow, however, the lack of lavish budget is part of the film's allure. The zombies are great, the scenes where bodies are being ripped apart are awesome, and I laughed so hard through this movie that my stomach hurt! If we had known about this film's existence before devising the 100 best horror movies list then it may have had a place. As it stands, it is on the honorable mention list for 2005, and we'll conduct a survey or something on this site to determine whether it should be elevated in status. In the mean time, watch this movie!
The Stand
Release: 1994
Directed by: Mick Garris
Starring:
Gary Sinise as Stu Redman
Molly Ringwald as Frannie Goldsmith
Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg
Laura San Giacomo as Nadine Cross
Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail Freemantle
The Stand couldn't make the list of 100 best horror movies because, technically, it isn't a movie per se...it was released as a mini-series. As such, it is LONG...very long. Still, this adaptation of the Steven King novel of the same name is definitely worth watching.
A man-made plague sweeps across the world killing almost everybody on the planet. There are those, however, that are somehow immune to the plague. Each of these survivors has a recurring dream that draws them together.
The Stand is a credible version of the rise of the anti-Christ and the ultimate fight between good and evil. The characters are great, the acting fantastic and the budget large. Highly recommended.
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