Ultimate List of Horror Movies on Netflix 2010 Edition
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If you have Netflix and are a horror fan in need of something to watch this Labor Day weekend, one look at this gargantuan list I compiled of the new terror titles Netflix has added for instant streaming in just the first three days of this month should keep you busy until Labor Day next year. You’ll find something for everyone, from older titles to recent releases, famous to obscure, classic to not-so-classic, monsters to maniacs – you name it.
For the record, I considered compiling this list in alphabetical order or by year of the film’s release, but then I realized I had already spent well over an hour just sorting through the massive catalogue of titles Netflix has now made available for instant streaming and realized Labor Day would be over by the time I finished arranging this list in any kind of order. Ready? Here you go…
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) – Twenty years after several mysterious deaths shut it down, Camp Crystal Lake reopens — but the place clearly hasn’t shaken its “death curse,” as a deranged killer terrorizes the teen counselors in this original version of the classic slasher flick. Gruesome makeup and effects, a nubile cast (including a young Kevin Bacon) and an iconic villain make this horror film a genre-defining classic for the ages.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981) (review) – Five years after the horrible bloodbath at Camp Crystal Lake, Paul (John Furey) opens up a new camp close to the infamous site, ignoring warnings to stay away. A sexually-charged group of counselors follow — including child psychologist major Ginny (Amy Steel). When the counselors learn that the sole survivor of the previous massacre was killed shortly after, they worry that Mrs. Vorhees’s son Jason might be out to avenge his mother’s death.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1983) (review) – Even taking an axe to the head, Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) is still donning a hockey mask and stalking targets. This time, he hits up “Higgin’s Haven” to terrorize Chili (Rachel Howard), Chuck (David Katims), Chris (Dana Kimmell), Shelly (Larry Zerner), Debbie (Tracie Savage), Vera (Catherine Parks) and Andy (Jeffrey Rogers). The friends’ idyllic summer in the woods, which was supposed to be all about sex, is about to take a bad turn.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 4: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984) – Hockey-masked psychopath Jason Vorhees is back in business at Camp Crystal Lake in the fourth (but far from final) installment of the popular horror franchise. As randy teens are slain one by one, Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) concocts a plan to distract the killer. Makeup master Tom Savini provides much of the wince-inducing gore, and actor Crispin Glover turns in an atypical performance as a stud in training.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING (1985) (review) – Having landed in a mental hospital after “killing” Jason in The Final Chapter, an older Tommy (now played by John Shepard) is released to a halfway house populated by the usual maladjusted teens. Then, surprise, the grisly murders begin anew. Has the homicidal hockey goalie returned from the dead, or is Tommy turning into Jason himself? Juliette Cummins and Deborah Vorhees co-star, with Dick Wieand appearing as Jason.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 6: JASON LIVES (1986) – As a child, Tommy (Thom Mathews) killed Jason Voorhees, the demented serial killer whose exploits landed many a corpse at the bottom of Crystal Lake. Years later, Tommy is losing sleep over a nagging question: Is Jason really dead? When Tommy and a friend visit the cemetery to dig up the murderer’s grave, they find a well-rested Jason ready to spill blood again. Rocker Alice Cooper sings the title tune, “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask).”
COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970) – A modern-day Dracula posing as psychic medium Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) preys on unsuspecting young women in 1970 Los Angeles — leaving their surviving male consorts no choice but to band together and fight back. With the help of a doctor (Roger Perry) who suspects that his female patients’ blood loss is the work of a vampire, they track down the count to inflict their revenge in this fast-paced thriller.
THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA (1971) – Bloodthirsty vampire Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) descends upon an orphanage, where he falls in love with the comely Cynthia (Mariette Hartley). Yorga puts her under his spell and attempts to make her his bride, but Cynthia’s boyfriend, David (Roger Perry), has something to say about that. With the help of a pair of police officers (including Craig T. Nelson), David bravely confronts Yorga’s fanged minions to reach his beloved Cynthia.
VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972) – Years after slaying ravenous vampire Count Mitterhaus, residents of a small European village are quarantined by plague, but their boredom is relieved by the arrival of a circus. Their joy turns to terror when the big top unleashes an ancient evil. Hoping to revive Count Mitterhaus and fulfill his dying curse upon the villagers, the vampires operating the circus wreak bloody vengeance until a schoolmaster uncovers their identities.
HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971) – When she was just a baby, Anna (Angharad Rees) witnessed her father, Jack the Ripper, murder her mother. Now a disturbed adolescent, she frequently falls into trances and continues Dad’s bloody business. Psychiatrist John Pritchard (Eric Porter) believes that Anna can be cured. But the doctor’s interest in her goes beyond the professional, and his burgeoning passion may be his undoing. Horror vet Peter Sasdy directs this Hammer chiller.
DEEPSTAR SIX (1989) – Complete with a crew of intrepid explorers, the vessel DeepStar Six sets sail on a daunting mission to establish a top-secret nuclear Navy base on the ocean floor in this 1989 thriller starring Greg Evigan, Miguel Ferrer and Nancy Everhard. But as the courageous team works to finish its near-impossible task, they inadvertently disturb a terrifying alien life form that could kill them all at any moment.
SCARECROWS (1988) (review) – After pulling off a major heist, a group of ex-military outlaws commandeer a plane for their getaway. But when one of the group betrays them by parachuting out with the cash, the rest follow — and find themselves in the middle of a nightmare. They take shelter in an abandoned farmhouse set in a cornfield, where sinister scarecrows soon come to life and start taking them out one by one in this spine-chilling cult classic.
BLOOD GAMES (1990) – A team of sexy female baseball players whips the local rednecks — and things turn violent when the men refuse to pay up for losing in this campy thriller. While team manager Midnight (Ross Hagen) tries to collect the cash, the locals attack some of the babes. Soon it’s an all-out war, with the hometown hicks hunting down the women, who start fighting back after a few of their teammates wind up dead.
IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958) – One by one, the crew members of a spacecraft returning to Earth from Mars are dying at the hands of a mysterious — and seemingly indestructible — parasitic beast stowed away on the ship. Marshall Thompson and Dabbs Greer co-star in director Edward L. Cahn’s suspenseful, sci-fi classic, which features a script penned by Jerome Bixby, the scribe behind several episodes of “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone.”
THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD (1957) – Arnold Laven directs this 1950s sci-fi creature-feature centered on prehistoric mollusk hatchlings that emerge from the Salton Sea and terrorize Californians. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Twill (Tim Holt) teams up with scientist Dr. Rogers (Hans Conried) to eradicate the deadly threat. While overgrown slugs with huge, piercing mouths take over the land, Twill falls for lab assistant Gail MacKenzie (Audrey Dalton).
THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) – Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) and his friends are on a hunting trip on a remote Canadian island when they are attacked by a swarm of giant wasps. Looking for help, Morgan stumbles across a barn inhabited by an enormous killer chicken. After doing some exploring, they discover the entire island is crawling with animals that have somehow grown to giant size. The most dangerous of all of these, however, are the rats, who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders.
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977) – Vacationers on an isolated island find themselves at the mercy of voracious ants when a toxic spill turns the pests into rampaging, radioactive reprobates. Stumbling into the ants’ creepy lair, a sleazy land developer (Joan Collins) and her clients are horrified to realize that the ants are having a human picnic. Seems these bugs are hell-bent on exterminating mankind and taking over the island. Can anyone stop them?
TENTACLES (1977) – When the bodies of several dead swimmers and divers begin washing ashore, a seaside town is thrown into a panic. A giant octopus is responsible, and Dr. Ned Turner (John Huston) thinks that its appearance may be related to the construction of an undersea tunnel. And even though an upcoming sailing competition may endanger the lives of countless people, local authorities are hesitant to keep anyone out of the water.
TINTORERA: KILLER SHARK (1977) – This gruesome 1978 thriller follows the travails of two shark hunters, Miguel (Andrews Garcia) and Steven (Hugo Stiglitz), on vacation in Mexico. At the start of the trip, all the guys are after is some R&R and a chance to romance the sultry locals. But when bodies start surfacing on the water mangled and dismantled, the pair quickly take it upon themselves to begin hunting down the tiger shark responsible for the carnage.
OCTAMAN (1971) – In the radioactive waters off the coast of a Mexican fishing village, scientists encounter a mutant species of octopus with human eyes and an eerie childlike cry. Whatever the creature is, its outraged half-man, half-octopus father wants it back. When a morally bankrupt scientist (Kerwin Mathews) attempts to sell the critter to a circus sideshow, the creature’s father stalks his team on a bloody rampage.
YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (1967) – When a mighty earthquake shakes South Korea, a terrifying reptilian monster burrows out from its subterranean lair and ascends to the Earth’s surface to wreak havoc on Seoul, feeding on energy and impervious to the military’s most potent weapons. The monster appears to be unstoppable — until a scientist and his young assistant formulate a plan that just might stop the vile beast and save the embattled city.
THE HORROR SHOW (1989) – In the midst of being electrocuted to death, mass murderer Max (Brion James) transforms from flesh and blood into a free-floating supernatural essence. Now completely unstoppable, Max sets his murderous sights on the family of Lucas (Lance Henriksen), the cop who captured him. Full of graphic gore and surrealistic sequences, this horror movie follows Lucas’s desperate efforts to safeguard his loved ones and maintain his sanity.
THE FIRST POWER (1990) – Det. Russell Logan (Lou Diamond Phillips) breathes a sigh of relief upon the capture and execution of a serial murderer known as the Pentagram Killer (Jeff Kober). But Logan’s work is far from finished when he discovers that the killer transferred his soul into another living body. With the help of a psychic (Tracy Griffith), Logan grapples with the nearly impossible task of capturing a slayer with an ever-changing identity.
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) – Fanged femme fatale Mircalla Karnstein (Ingrid Pitt) slakes her bloodlust for mortals of girlish figures in this Hammer horror story that has the 19th-century noblewoman stalking the Austrian countryside, bewitching young daughters at every turn. Appearing first as Marcilla, then as Carmilla, the insatiable siren steals women’s hearts and leaves ruin in her wake, but in grieving General von Spielsdorf (Peter Cushing), she may have met her match.
SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (1991) – Based on a story by novelist Stephen King, this Heartland-set chiller stars Tim Matheson as high school teacher Jim Norman, who returns to his quiet hometown only to find himself haunted by malign spirits spawned by a tragedy from his childhood. With his students expiring — and ghouls of thugs past showing up in their place — Norman realizes the horror won’t stop until he sends his tormentors back to their graves, or further.
MOM (1991) – Proving that flesh-eating monsters don’t practice age discrimination, this black comedy tells the tale of elderly Emily Dwyer (Jeanne Bates), who takes a suspicious lodger into her Los Angeles home. After being bitten by him, she develops a taste for her son, Clay (Mark Thomas Miller). Desperate to keep his mother from committing homicide, Clay has her incarcerated, but after she escapes he must take matters into his own hands.
THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958) – After killing an artist in Transylvania, Count Dracula (Francis Lederer) assumes the man’s identity and heads to America, where he moves in with the Mayberry clan and continues his nocturnal bloodsucking. Soon, his odd habits arouse young Rachel Mayberry’s (Norma Eberhardt) suspicions. And when her best friend mysteriously dies, Rachel turns to a foreign police officer who understands the undead in this classic horror flick.
THE RAVEN (1963) – Roger Corman directs this hoot of a film featuring Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price), a washed-up sorcerer who turns a talking raven back into a man and learns that his presumed-dead wife is actually living with a rival magician (Boris Karloff). But when Craven tries to rescue his wife, he gets more than he bargained for. Loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem, this tongue-in-cheek classic co-stars Peter Lorre and a young Jack Nicholson.
THE TOMB OF LIGERIA (1964) – From director Roger Corman comes this supernatural tale of undying love set in the early 19th century. After the death of his wife, Ligeia, eccentric Verdon Fell (Vincent Price) will do anything to replace her, even if he must sacrifice his new wife, Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd). Plagued by eerie events in her new home, the terrified Rowena seeks help from former suitor Christopher (John Westbrook), but can he thwart Fell’s plan to revive Ligeia?
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) (review) – A plague has wiped out most of mankind, and those who survived have become bloodthirsty vampires. The only “normal” human left on earth, Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) — who was spared by a twist of fate — spends his days methodically hunting down the undead mutants and his nights barricaded against their attacks. But when he meets the beautiful but contaminated Ruth, he discovers a secret that will unravel what’s left of his existence.
THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1964) – A financial crisis forces undertaker Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) to start taking extreme measures. Rather than waiting for new clients to show up naturally, Waldo and his assistant (Peter Lorre) attract new business by killing wealthy individuals in their sleep. Now if only Waldo could just do away with his wife, Amaryllis (Joyce Jameson), and annoying father-in-law (Boris Karloff).
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972) – The eminent Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price) awakens from several years of suspended animation and heads to Egypt with his mute assistant (Valli Kemp) and the corpse of his dead wife, determined to track down the stolen papyrus scrolls he needs to bring his spouse back to life. In this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Phibes is up to his usual tricks, murdering people in strange and heinous ways; meanwhile, a team of inspectors is hot on his heels.
TALES OF TERROR (1962) – It’s a triple threat of terror from the master of the genre: Edgar Allan Poe. This collection of three films — The Black Cat, Morella and The Case of M. Valdemar — offers everything horror fans can’t get enough of, from murder and dementia to live burials, open tombs, resurrection and zombies. And with three of horrordom’s greatest villains (Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone) in the lead roles, the chills are guaranteed.
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) – England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain local power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins, who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches. Aided by his sadistic accomplice John Stearne, he travels from city to city and wrenches confessions from “witches” in order to line his pockets and gain sexual favors. When Hopkins persecutes a priest, he incurs the wrath of Richard Marshall, who is engaged to the priest’s niece. Risking treason by leaving his military duties, Marshall relentlessly pursues the evil Hopkins and his minion Stearne.
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1976) (review) – This 1979 chiller is based on the reportedly true story of George Lutz (James Brolin) and his wife, Kathleen (Margot Kidder), who move into their Long Island dream house with their children. But the Lutz’s lives turn into a hellish nightmare as the legacy of a murder committed on the premises gradually affects the family. Even the priest they call in, Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), cannot exorcise the demonic presence from the home.
AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982) – This chilling sequel (more of a prequel, really) to The Amityville Horror relates the events that led up to arrival of the Lutz family at 112 Ocean Avenue, as detailed in the first film. Soon after the Montelli family moves into the Amityville house, they notice strange occurrences, and before long the eldest son (Jack Magner) becomes possessed and kills the entire family. James Olson plays a priest determined to perform an exorcism on the boy.
AMITYVILLE 3D (1983) – To debunk the Amityville house’s infamous reputation and take advantage of a rock-bottom asking price, skeptical journalist John Baxter (Tony Roberts) buys the place and settles in to write his first novel. But as soon as the ink on the deed has dried, people who have come into contact with John and the house (including Meg Ryan) begin to meet with shocking fates. Is it all just coincidence, or is the house really the gateway to hell?
PUPPET MASTER 2 (1991) – A gang of ghoulish, supernatural puppets uses an Egyptian brain serum to resurrect their long-dead creator, Andre Toulon (Steve Welles), who promptly orders his marionette minions to drain the brains of a team of scientists. Meanwhile, Toulon falls for Carolyn (Elizabeth Maclellan), whom he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost love. Pinhead, Leech Woman, Blade and Tunneler are all back for more in this gory sequel to the 1989 cult hit.
TRANCERS 2: THE RETURN OF JACK DETH (1990) – Stranded in the 20th century after chasing a villain from the year 2247, future-cop Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) discovers that another baddie, Dr. E.D. Wardo (Richard Lynch), has also traveled back in time — with a scheme to turn solid citizens into mindless trancers. The plot thickens when Deth’s presumed dead 23rd-century wife also journeys back to help his crusade. Charles Band directs; Helen Hunt co-stars.
SUBSPECIES (1991) – When he returns to his ancestral Transylvania castle after years in exile, vampire Radu (Anders Hove) steals a mystical life-giving bloodstone from his father, King Vladislav (Angus Scrimm), before the ruler can bequeath it to his younger son, Stefan (Michael Watson). As the brothers battle for the unholy relic, they also tangle over three lovely students who arrive in town to study Romanian folklore. Michelle McBride and Irina Movila co-star.
SUBSPECIES 2: BLOODSTONE (1993) – When Transylvanian vampire Radu (Anders Hove) settles a dynastic rivalry by killing his brother, American student Michelle (Denice Duff) escapes the castle with a bite on the neck — and the bloodstone, a mysterious relic crucial to Radu’s survival. Radu chases the girl to Bucharest, where she seeks help … and begins to sense her own emerging thirst for blood. Ted Nicolaou directs this horror flick filmed on location in Romania.
DEMONIC TOYS (1992) – When pregnant cop Judith Gray (Tracy Scoggins) chases a pair of crooks into an old warehouse full of toys, a demon brings the playthings to life and commands them to attack the policewoman and several others trapped inside. Now, Gray must fend off a laser-wielding robot, a nasty jack-in-the-box, a marauding teddy bear and others to prevent the demon from possessing her unborn child. Peter Manoogian directs this fast-paced horror flick.
DOLLMAN (1991) – When he lands on Earth in pursuit of a criminal from his home planet, extraterrestrial bounty hunter Brick Bardo (Tim Thomerson) — who’s just over a foot tall — becomes a target himself when a New York street gang allies itself with Bardo’s prey. Now, the doll-sized alien lawman must rely on a young mother and her son to apprehend the bad guy before he detonates a bomb that could throw the universe into interdimensional chaos.
DOLLMAN VS. DEMONIC TOYS (1993) – When the devil-possessed dolls from Demonic Toys come back to life, cop Judith Gray (Tracy Scoggins) enlists the help of Brick Bardo (Tim Thomerson), the foot-high alien lawman from Dollman, and his diminutive girlfriend, Nurse Ginger (Melissa Behr), to conquer the diabolical playthings. But before their assault gets under way, the toys’ evil leader, Baby Oopsy-Daisy, kidnaps Ginger to use in a sinister demonic ritual.
SPELLCASTER (1992) – Siblings Tom (Harold Pruett) and Jackie (Gail O’Grady) win a sweepstakes allowing them to compete in a scavenger hunt in an Italian castle for a million-dollar prize, but the eight contestants become the hunted when a supernatural evil is let loose. Along with faded rocker Cassandra (Bunty Bailey), Tom and Jackie learn that they’re being tormented by the nefarious Señor Diablo (Adam Ant), who concocts ingenious deaths for the competitors.
ZONE TROOPERS (1985) – Two American soldiers captured by the Nazis are shocked to discover that a fellow prisoner is an extraterrestrial. Meanwhile, two of their cohorts stumble upon the visitor’s crashed spaceship. Soon, humans and aliens are both racing to rescue their own — and neither side is above throwing the other to the S.S. to save itself. Cult favorite Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten and Art LaFleur star in this quirky sci-fi action flick.
NIGHT DRIVE (1971) – This fast-paced thriller finds Valerie Harper showing off her dramatic chops as Carol Turner, an average housewife who’s forced by an emergency to drive cross-country alone at night. After witnessing a murder, Carol is pursued by the killer. Despite her terror at seeing a policeman shot in front of her, the resourceful Carol controls her panic as she’s chased by the psychotic murderer (Richard Romanus) along the deserted interstate.
AMOK TRAIN (1989) – On a class field trip to Yugoslavia, a shy American college student (Mary Kohnert) finds herself inexplicably drawn into a world of black magic and devilish rituals. Things only get worse when she discovers that she’s been handpicked to be the devil’s bride. Meanwhile, the rest of her classmates are dropping like flies as the victims of a series of gruesome deaths that seem to have something to do with their professor (Bo Svenson).
GHOST WARRIOR (1986) – When skiers in Japan come across the frozen body of centuries-old samurai warrior Yoshimita (Hiroshi Fujioka), scientists secretly whisk the corpse to a high-tech laboratory in California, where they bring him back to life. But when Yoshimita escapes onto the mean streets of 1980s Los Angeles, his ancient and strict code of honor gets him both into and out of trouble. J. Larry Carroll directs this low-budget action fantasy.
OPEN HOUSE (1987) – A serial killer is preying on beautiful female real estate agents who show pricey Los Angeles homes, and radio psychologist David Kelley (Joseph Bottoms) believes that one of his callers is the psychopath. Can he deduce the killer’s identity before he strikes again? David’s girlfriend, Lisa Grant (Adrienne Barbeau), is a prosperous realtor, and when she discovers that the murderer is using her listings to find victims, Lisa’s life is endangered.
THE FALLING (1987) – Three teenagers (Dennis Christopher, Martin Hewitt and Lynn-Holly Johnson) vacationing in Spain drive through a town where the space station Skylab crashed several years earlier, bringing with it alien organisms that transform their human hosts into flesh-eating monsters. A NASA scientist (Luis Prendes) who’s been working on a vaccine teams up with the teens to help contain the epidemic before it destroys the world.
THE IMMORTALIZER (1989) – Demented physician Dr. Devine (Ron Ray) has a chilling business plan: He directs his minions to abduct attractive young men and women so that he can transplant the brains of his wealthy oldster patients into their nubile bodies. Once imprisoned in the doctor’s lab, the youthful victims need to figure out fast how to survive the intentions of Devine and his crazed partner, Nurse Blaine (Melody Patterson).
THE VIDEO DEAD (1987) – When teenagers Jeff (Rocky Duvall) and Zoe Blair (Roxanna Augesen) move into their new house before their parents arrive, they discover the television from hell: Flesh-eating zombies walk straight off the screen, looking for some tasty human dinner. Now the siblings join forces with neighbors April (Victoria Bastel) and Joshua (Sam David McClelland) — who supply a machete, bow and arrow, and chainsaw — in a bloody fight for their lives.
VICIOUS LIPS (1987) – An out-of-this-world girl band has a chance for their shot at the big time — if they can manage to get to the galaxy’s hottest night spot, the Radioactive Dream, in time for their gig in this campy sci-fi comedy. But first, they’ll have to fight their way through a meteor field, deal with a crash landing on a deserted planet and manage a very angry Venusian Man-Beast who’s escaped on his way to prison.
ROCKULA (1990) – After failing to save his lady love, Mona (Tawny Fere), from being killed by a pirate with a rhinestone peg leg brandishing a ham bone, vampire Ralph LaVie (Dean Cameron) suffers from a curse forcing him to meet the reborn Mona and watch her die again every 22 years. Now he’s determined to break the curse and finally have a life with the woman he loves. The rockin’ soundtrack includes music from Bo Diddley and Toni Basil (who plays Ralph’s mom).
NEW YEAR’S EVIL (1980) – As a nationally televised New Year’s Eve celebration rocks toward countdown mania, host Diane Sullivan (Roz Kelly) gets an ominous on-air call from a sadistic killer promising murder at the stroke of midnight — one kill for each time zone — with Sullivan last. True to his word, he strikes. And as victims face a brutal death, authorizes scramble to find a madman who may be closer to Sullivan than anyone knows.
BITCH SLAP (2009) – Three naughty girls — leggy stripper Trixie (Julia Voth), homicidal drug runner Camero (America Olivo) and high-powered businesswoman Hel (Erin Cummings) — team up to rip off a crime kingpin, but surprise betrayals quickly spin events out of control. Guns, hand-to-hand combat, scantily clad women and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor populate this guilty-pleasure throwback to 1960s and ’70s exploitation films.
DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE (1980) – Oliver Reed stars in this tongue-in-cheek horror tale as Dr. Heckyl, whose disfigured face drives him to suicide. But instead of killing him, his lethal drug turns him into hunky Mr. Hype. There’s only one drawback: Mr. Hype’s a cold-blooded killer. Soon, the doctor’s evil side takes over, choosing carnage over love, driving away the only woman he ever wanted. Sunny Johnson, Maia Danziger and Virgil Frye co-star.
CIRCLE OF EIGHT (2009) – Jessica (Austin Highsmith) has no idea what she’s getting into when she moves into an eighth-floor loft at the Dante, an historic building in downtown Los Angeles where the neighbors seem alternately friendly and frightening. Tension mounts as Jessica bears witness to a series of gruesome deaths that, apparently, no one else can see. Ryan Doom and DJ Qualls co-star in this horror serial that originally aired as a MySpace Web series.
DERANGED (1974) – When his overbearing mother dies, sociopathic Wisconsin farmer Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom) stuffs and preserves her corpse to keep him company. But when the novelty of this solution wears off, Ezra prowls for fresh ladies on which to practice his taxidermy. The results are some gruesome dinner parties in the Cobb household and other gory delights. Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby direct this horror film inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein.
CRAWLSPACE (1986) – Klaus Kinski is at his creepy best as Karl Gunther, whose boarding house for young women hides some sinister secrets. He spends his downtime stalking his tenants from hidden passages and carrying out kinky, sadistic experiments. The son of a psychotic SS doctor, Gunther is being tracked by a famed Nazi hunter. But until he’s caught, more unassuming women will fall victim to his depravity. Talia Balsam and Barbara Whinnery co-star.
GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM (1988) – When he spots a former lover he believed to be dead, schoolteacher-turned-psychopath Morris Martin (John Waters) goes on a homicidal rampage to locate the woman and punish anyone he thinks conspired to fake her death. As the body count rises, a shady newspaper reporter (Colin Friels) and a corrupt cop (Bruno Lawrence) close in, but Morris turns out to be a wilier foe than they expected. Mark Joffe directs this dark thriller.
CULT OF THE DAMNED (1969) – Tara Nicole Steele (Holly Near), the pudgy, lovelorn daughter of a hugely wealthy couple — vapid ex-porn star Astrid (Jennifer Jones) and repressed Willy (Charles Aidman) — falls under the influence of a politically subversive cult led by promiscuous rock idol Bogart Peter Stuyvesant (Jordan Christopher). Despite his engagement to Tara, Bogart seduces both her parents, forcing them all to make the ultimate sacrifice to satiate his raging ego.
THE CRIMSON CULT (1968) – Robert Manning (Mark Eden) searches for his vanished brother in a rural English village, where he is entangled in the legend of Lavinia (Barbara Steele), a witch killed 300 years ago. Lavinia’s heir, J. D. Morley (Christopher Lee), wants revenge on anyone related to her killers, such as Robert. Robert romances Morley’s niece, Eve, and is aided by occult expert Prof. Marsh (Boris Karloff), but it is up to him to repel Morley’s evil designs.
CHILD’S PLAY (1988) – A chubby toy doll named Chucky becomes an instrument of terror in director Tom Holland’s unnerving tale of horror. Before cops gun down a serial killer (Brad Dourif), he invokes a spell that transfers his soul into the body of Chucky — who ends up as a birthday present for 6-year-old Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent). When a rash of murders ensues, he knows Chucky is the culprit, but neither Andy’s mother (Catherine Hicks) nor the police believe him.
THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (2009) – In this supernatural thriller, the Campbell family’s move to Connecticut takes a mysteriously dark turn when a series of shocking paranormal events reveals that their inviting new home is a former mortuary with a sordid past. Based on a true story, this terrifying tale stars Virginia Madsen and Martin Donovan as the well-meaning Campbell parents, Kyle Gallner as their cancer-stricken son and Elias Koteas as the enigmatic Rev. Nicholas Popescu.
THE HORSEMEN (2009) – Already reeling from the shocking death of his wife, detective Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) is destined for even darker days when he’s tasked with investigating a series of grisly serial murders inspired by biblical prophecy. This chilling psychological thriller from director Jonas Åkerlund also stars Ziyi Zhang, Clifton Collins Jr., Peter Stormare, Patrick Fugit, Lou Taylor Pucci and Eric Balfour.
THE BURROWERS (2009) – When the men on a pioneer homestead are brutally murdered and the women and children go missing, a posse sets out to find them, assuming they’ve been abducted by Indians. But the truth turns out to be much more horrific. As they find more bodies, it soon becomes clear that something from beneath the ground is brutally attacking humans. Clancy Brown, William Mapother and Sean Patrick Thomas star in this horror film set in the Wild West.
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA (2008) – In the near future, a biotech company saves mankind with synthetic replacements for failed organs. But those who default on their new liver or heart are subject to repossession. Shilo (Alexa Vega) navigates this dystopia while searching for a cure for her rare illness. Her odyssey is set to a number of catchy songs in this tongue-in-cheek opera. Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head and Sarah Brightman round out the deliciously diverse cast.
CATACOMBS (2006) – The City of Lights becomes the City of Frights when American tourist Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon) visits her sister Carolyn (pop star turned actress Pink) and gets lost at a party in the Catacombs, the vast 200-mile labyrinthine network of tunnels that lies beneath Paris. Confusion soon gives way to terror as Victoria begins to suspect she’s being chased — and a swirling rumor about a monster isn’t helping matters either.
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD (2004) – This gore-splattered thrill ride charts what happens when a vampire (Kit Cheung) is roused from slumber and wreaks havoc among the living. With utter destruction in the cards, two monks, White (Gordon Liu) and Black (Louis Fan), and their sidekicks, Sun (Jacky Woo), Fire (Shi Xiao-Hu) and Moon (Shannon Yoh), compete with one another for the right to do battle with the bloodsucker, culminating in a cataclysmic kung fu showdown.
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD: ULTIMATE POWER (2006) – Gordon Liu and Louis Fan return in this unorthodox martial arts sequel. When fellow Taoist priest Hak (Fan) turns into a vampire and goes on a killing spree, Roam Chow (Liu) must use his wits and his lethal combat skills to stop the murders. Douglas Kung directs this horror thriller packed with fast-paced action, stunning special effects and legions of vampires and zombies. Marsha Yuan co-stars.
THE VAMPIRE (1957) – After inadvertently taking pills made from vampire bat blood, Dr. Paul Beecher (John Beal) undergoes a mysterious transformation in this classic horror flick. His instant addiction forces Beecher to take a pill every day, turning him into a hirsute maniac prone to homicidal rampages. As police investigate the murders, Beecher — who only remembers his actions as hazy dreams — begins to suspect himself.
NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953) – Becoming angry after his colleagues reject his theory that Neanderthal man was equal in intelligence to contemporary humans, scientist Clifford Groves (Robert Shayne) creates a potion that transforms him into a primitive man. It’s not long before local residents start falling prey to a series of mysterious assaults. Richard Crane and Doris Merrick co-star in this reenvisioning of the Jekyll and Hyde story.
THE TOMB (1986) – Helen (Susan Stokey), David (Richard Hench) and Dr. Howard Phillips (Cameron Mitchell) rush to stop a murderous ancient Egyptian priestess named Nefratis (Michelle Bauer) after treasure hunter John Banning (David O’Hara) accidentally revives her from her tomb while extracting valuable artifacts. Nefratis is hell-bent on Banning returning her stolen goods, which are supposed to keep her young. John Carradine makes a cameo appearance.
7 ANGELS IN EDEN (2007) – Two young lovers are the final hope for mankind in this chilling vision from director and star Marshall Mills. Will and Mia are the last people left on Earth, but amid the barren landscape, they face something even more terrifying: Will’s nightmares. Seven deadly rednecks — summoned to life by Will’s dreams — relentlessly pursue them. Can they survive the ultimate confrontation between good and evil … and then become a modern-day Adam and Eve?
FEAR OF THE DARK (2002) – Young Ryan is deathly afraid of the dark, but his big brother Dale thinks he’s just vying for attention. Dale’s attitude changes, though, when a storm knocks out the power and reveals good reason for Ryan’s terror. Directed by K.C. Bascombe, this nerve-racking low-budget horror flick preys on the most common of fears. Jesse James and Kevin Zegers star as the two doomed siblings trapped in a waking nightmare.
GANGS OF THE DEAD (2007) – Two rival gangs get more than they bargained for when they arrive at an abandoned warehouse in Los Angeles. Instead of the weapons dealer they expected to meet, they’re greeted by … zombies! Now, the gangs must put aside their differences and work together if they hope to escape the bloodlust of the evil undead. This gory fright fest with an urban twist stars Enrique Almeida, Reggie Bannister and Stephen Basilone.
ART OF THE DEVIL (2005) – Pregnant — and unceremoniously dumped — by her wealthy boyfriend, vengeful Boom (Supakson Chaimongkol) turns to witchcraft in this gruesome Thai thriller directed by Tanit Jitnukul. Before you can say “black magic,” the members of her ex-lover’s family all meet grisly demises. With the police department stumped for suspects, Boom thinks she’s free and clear … until a determined investigative reporter starts to uncover the truth.
ART OF THE DEVIL II (2005) – When a beautiful teacher (Mae Bia) is wronged by six of her students, watch out. Calling on demons and forces of black magic, she extracts an ultragruesome retribution against each of them. Directed by a collaboration of seven directors collectively called the Ronin Team, this occult shocker is plugged as a sequel. But don’t let the “Part II” fool you: This disturbing Thai carnage fest stands alone.
SEVERED: FOREST OF THE DEAD (2006) – When a forestry company’s profit-driven decision to genetically engineer trees goes horribly wrong, a mismatched group of loggers and environmental activists become ravenous flesh-eating zombies. And although a few uninfected survivors remain, their chances of getting out of the wilderness alive are as remote as the forest itself. An ensemble cast stars in this undead gore fest that makes a run-in with a wood chipper seem tame.
BLACK SABBATH (1963) – In this 1963 trilogy of chilling tales, a beautiful woman’s ex-lover terrorizes her, a father returns home a vampire, and a ghost haunts a nurse. The vampire story — probably the most famous of the three — stars a poignant Boris Karloff, who also plays host for the anthology. Italian horror impresario Mario Bava served as writer, director and cinematographer for the film, and composer Les Baxter serves up the martini-soaked lounge score.
BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT (2002) – Thirty-nine years after making his groundbreaking independent horror film Blood Feast, director Herschell Gordon Lewis returns with a sequel. This time around, Faud Ramses III (J.P. Delahoussaye) , the grandson of Blood Feast’s protagonist, moves into his granddad’s catering shop. It isn’t long before Faud proves to be a chip off the old block, as he lures buxom young women into his lair and carves them up for sandwiches.
THE ANGRY RED PLANET (1959) – Earth’s first expedition to Mars loses contact — and never gets it back. Mission Control successfully lands the ship remotely, but finds the crew’s only two survivors in a fight for their lives. Horrific creatures, flesh-eating plants and unfriendly, intelligent life waiting for them at the ship they’ve struggled to get back to are only the start. It’s what’s they find out later that’s truly frightening.
QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966) – This 1966 sci-fi thriller takes place in the 1990s, when an alien ship crash-lands on Mars and sends a distress call to Earth. Astronauts find one survivor, a green-skinned woman, but she repays their heroism with bloodlust. During the flight home, the crew discovers that the alien is a vampire — and feeding her blood plasma from their supply won’t prevent her from attacking them in search of a bigger feast.
THE BEAST WITHIN (1982) – Soon after newlywed Caroline MacCleary (Bibi Besch) gets raped just outside Nioba, Miss., by a hairy, manlike creature, she gives birth to a baby boy (Paul Clemens). But her son, whom she names Michael, begins to suffer from a mysterious malady when he turns 17. Looking for answers, the MacClearys return to Nioba, where they find the name of Caroline’s attacker — and a community desperately attempting to conceal a dark secret.
ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU: DIRECTOR’S CUT (1977) – This 1977 adaptation of H.G. Wells’s sci-fi novel stars Michael York as Andrew Braddock, a shipwrecked sailor who washes up on a mysterious island inhabited by mad scientist Dr. Paul Moreau (Burt Lancaster) — and the ghastly remains of his failed experiments. Don Taylor’s cult classic co-stars Nick Cravat as Moreau’s grotesque “manimal” servant M’Ling, while Barbara Carrera and Nigel Davenport round out the cast of human characters.
SPECIES (1995) – When government scientists (led by Ben Kingsley) receive a transmission from space containing alien DNA, they create the ultimate femme fatale: a hybrid woman named Sil (Natasha Henstridge) with supermodel looks, deadly shape-shifting abilities … and raging hormones. When Sil escapes, a team of specialists scrambles to find her before she can reproduce, culminating in a fright-filled climax in the Los Angeles sewer system.
SPECIES II (1998) – This 1998 sequel follows Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard), an astronaut on his way back to Earth after a mission to Mars. It seems that Ross picked up something on his voyage: an alien virus that’s causing his DNA to mutate, transforming him into a randy crossbreed intent on world domination through procreation. Can authorities stop him before he mates with Eve (Natasha Henstridge), a government-created clone of her human-alien hybrid mother?
SPECIES III (2004) – In this third film of the sci-fi horror franchise, Eve’s progeny — the part-alien, part-human Sara (Sunny Mabrey) — takes after her bloodthirsty mother. In search of someone to mate with, Sara will stop at nothing to find the appropriate partner. The government scrambles to put together a team to nab Sara before she causes total destruction, but she proves as challenging as her predecessor. Natasha Henstridge appears in a cameo as Eve.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1977) – San Francisco biologist Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) turns to health inspector Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) for help when her live-in beau begins acting odd — and distant. Matthew and Elizabeth notice that suddenly almost everyone around them has become impassive. When their friends discover a developing doppelgänger in their commercial mud baths, the foursome realizes an alien invasion is under way. Can they stop it?
SQUIRM (1976) – When a vicious storm ravages Fly Creek, Georgia, several power lines collapse, and the electrical current they transmit provides power to an underground burrow of worms. Soon, the slithering pests become outsized and begin to terrorize the town, while a Southern belle and her city-slicker boyfriend attempt to do battle with the giant creepy-crawlers.
VAMPIRE’S KISS (1989) – Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage, in an all-encompassing performance) is a sleazy literary agent who prowls the bars looking for action. One night he hooks up with Rachel (Jennifer Beals), who, in the course of their evening together, bites him on the neck. The next morning, when Peter is feeling out of sorts, he decides that a vampire bit him. The next step: Buy a real set of fangs, of course … even though most people don’t believe he’s a vampire.
COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) – This Hammer Productions cult classic stars Ingrid Pitt as Elisabeth, a countess who discovers that the blood of young virgins can restore her fading beauty. Her twisted lover, Captain Dobi (Nigel Green), is happy to keep her in supply. But soon, the town begins to miss its nubile residents, and Dobi becomes enraged when he learns that Elisabeth has been posing as her own daughter in order to seduce a younger man.
DIE MONSTER DIE! (1965) – A wheelchair-bound English scientist (Boris Karloff) who acquired mysterious powers from a radioactive meteorite entertains a young American visitor (Nick Adams) with tea, terror and his beautiful daughter (Suzan Farmer). Soon, however, the girl finds herself torn between her father’s evil ways and her need to protect the man she loves from a diabolical end. An H.P. Lovecraft story serves as the basis for this horror classic.
THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (1977) – Astronaut exposed to cosmic rays outside of Saturn’s rings returns to Earth and begins to melt away. Escaping from the hospital, he wanders around the backwoods looking for human flesh to eat.
PHILOSOPHY OF A KNIFE: LIMITED EDITION (2008) – Part documentary, part feature, director Andrey Iskanov’s graphic shocker chronicles the horrors committed by the Japanese army’s Unit 731, which used biological and chemical weapons on Russian and Chinese prisoners during the 1930s and ’40s. The film blends computer-generated replications of grisly experiments with documentary-style segments and the eyewitness account of military translator and ex-doctor Anatoly Protasov. Not for the squeamish.
FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987) – This haunting suspense thriller is based on the acclaimed novel by V.C. Andrews. After a tragic accident leaves them fatherless, four children return to their mother’s mysterious family mansion in hopes of an inheritance. Instead, they are imprisoned and abandoned by their evil grandmother, leaving them to survive a nightmare of cruelty, forbidden passion and a final shocking discovery that will shatter their innocence forever.
SIMON SAYS (2006) – When five high school friends head into the wilderness for a little rest and relaxation, they run headlong into Simon and Stanley (both played by Crispin Glover), backwoods twin brothers with a fondness for booby traps rigged with flying pickaxes. Now, the teens must claw their way out of the woods without springing one of the brothers’ ingeniously lethal snares. William Dear directs this gleefully gory horror flick.
CARRIE (1976) – Carrie (Sissy Spacek) may be ostracized, but the shy teen has the ability to move objects with her mind. So when the high school “in crowd” torments her with a sick joke at the prom, she lashes out with devastating — and deadly — power. William Katt (of television’s “The Greatest American Hero”) co-stars as the object of Carrie’s affection in director Brian De Palma’s deft adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel.
FEAR (2007) – In director Vikram Bhatt’s Bollywood spook fest, a mysterious supernatural spirit terrorizes a woman and forces her to confront the demons of her past. Slowly, she descends into madness in this surprising tale of fears realized. Ameet M. Gaurr, Vishwaas Paandya and Aditya Ralkar also star; Himesh Reshammiya supplies the music.
EPIDEMIC (1987) – Two separate yet related stories warn of a worldwide epidemic in this horror film from director Lars von Trier. The first story centers on a movie director (played by von Trier) and his screenwriter (Niels Vorsel). Funded by the government, the two men develop a horror film about a highly contagious disease that spreads across Europe. In the second tale, a young doctor becomes the unwitting carrier of a plague-like virus. Udo Kier also stars.
RUN! BITCH RUN! (2009) – After drug dealers rape and leave her for dead in the woods, beautiful door-to-door religious-tract peddler Catherine (Cheryl Lyone) trades in her prayers for a pump-action 12-gauge and sets out for payback against the men who attacked her. But once she gets a taste of holy vengeance, Catherine’s thirst for blood becomes insatiable. This over-the-top exploitation flick from director Joseph Guzman contains graphic images of sex and violence.
GENESIS (1998) – When his beloved wife (Trae Houlihan) is killed in a car accident, a sculptor (Pep Tosar) tries to hang on to her memory by creating a statue of her form. Unfortunately for the artist, the clay he’s working with begins metamorphosing in disturbing fashion. The sculptor tries to continue but discovers that his own flesh is beginning to disintegrate in this haunting short feature from writer-director Nacho Cerdà.
AFTERMATH (1994) – This disturbing short feature from gore specialist Nacho Cerdà is set in a morgue, where the day-to-day business of performing autopsies gives way to something far more sinister when one of the employees lingers after closing time. Pep Tosar plays a mortician who delights in the arrival of a beautiful new corpse — the remains of a woman who perished in a car crash — subjecting it to a shocking sequence of abhorrent acts.
THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING (2000) – Shooting a gory movie in a creepy abandoned hospital, a group of horror film buffs stumbles across a corpse and decides to use it in their flick. Bad idea: Their tampering unleashes an army of zombies eager to show the crew what horror is all about. Naturally, all manner of mayhem, flesh-munching and carnage ensue in writer-director David Parker’s tongue-in-cheek homage to the Italian horror genre.
LASERBLAST (1978) – In this campy sci-fi classic, misfit teen Billy Duncan (Kim Milford) leads a miserable existence. That changes, however, when Billy finds a laser gun abandoned in the desert by a pair of aliens. Now, Billy has the supernatural powers that will enable him to get back at his enemies. He soon discovers, however, that each time he fires the gun, he begins to mutate — turning little by little into an alien himself.
LEVIATHAN (1989) – Perched on the hull of a wrecked Soviet freighter, a team of deep-sea miners (including Hector Elizondo, Ernie Hudson and Daniel Stern) — led by head oceanographer Steven Beck (Peter Weller) — comes face to face with a mutant creature that’s the product of a failed genetic experiment. As Beck’s crew members begin to disappear one by one, the flesh-eating monster lurks below the surface — and the divers left alive are scared to death.
EVENT HORIZON (1997) – In 2040, an explorer vessel known as the Event Horizon went missing beyond deep-space boundaries. Seven years later, the ship sends a garbled signal back to Earth that sounds a lot like a cry for help. A rescue ship led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) is dispatched to investigate, but Miller’s crew (including Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan and Joely Richardson) soon realizes the awful truth — something unimaginable has happened on board.
SUPERNOVA (2000) – When the deep-space rescue ship Nightingale 229 answers a distress call from a mining planet, the crew — led by pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader) — leaps light-years to find a lone survivor (Peter Facinelli). But when the man joins them onboard, crew members start disappearing. It seems a mysterious alien artifact that he’s smuggled onto the ship is affecting a nearby star, whose gravitational pull has put the entire galaxy in danger.
CUT (2000) – The cast and crew of the horror flick Hot Blooded get a shock when a mysterious killer slaughters their director. Now, each time someone tries to complete the film there’s another brutal slaying. But a little massacre isn’t going to stop the next batch of bright would-be filmmakers: They’ll finish the film if it kills them — and it probably will — in this gory horror flick starring Molly Ringwald and Kylie Minogue.
SHREDDER (2003) – This chilling slasher flick follows a group of friends terrorized by an ax-wielding murderer during their snowboarding getaway. It seems a shredder dressed in black is taking it upon himself to wipe out anyone who breaks mountain etiquette. As the killer picks off the pals one at a time — in decidedly gory style — the survivors must find a way to overcome their fears and fight back before they too get ripped to bits.
EDGE OF SANITY (1989) – In this variation on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, respected physician Henry Jekyll (Anthony Perkins) has been experimenting with cocaine — which unleashes his alter ego, the uncontrollable Jack Hyde. Under the drug’s powerful influence, Hyde has perverted nightmares and explodes into a killing spree, stalking and slashing beautiful prostitutes. The police can’t catch him, so he has nothing to lose,but his mind.
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) – In this cult horror favorite from twisted writer-director Wes Craven, a pair of repulsive, sadistic escaped convicts kidnap, rape, torture and murder two teenage girls — but the criminals have picked the wrong teens to victimize. One of the girls’ parents, not content with turning to the law, set out to exact an equally brutal revenge on the vicious murderers, who are hiding out in the family’s home.
RAW MEAT (1972) – Trapped under the streets of London after a tunnel cave-in in the 19th century, a group of workers survived for years by consuming the flesh of their dead. Now, their sole descendent has surfaced to feed his appetite on the living. Donald Pleasence stars in this low-budget horror gem from director Gary Sherman, a cult classic notable for its allegorical depth, atmospheric intensity — and stomach-turning gore.
SPHERE (1998) – When a team of scientists (Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson) begins to investigate a giant spacecraft that’s come to rest 1,000 feet under the sea, they discover that it not only appears to have come from the future but that it contains a mysterious sphere. The object soon begins to send out messages, not all of them friendly, in this Barry Levinson-directed film version of Michael Crichton’s novel.
HOUSE OF 9 (2005) – Borrowing from Agatha Christie and the plots of Saw and Saw II, director Steven R. Monroe’s twisted tale takes nine unsuspecting victims (including Dennis Hopper, who portrays an Irish priest), traps them in a mansion and films their every move. Promising $5 million to the player who emerges victorious, their unseen captor uses them as pawns in a demented, live-action “game,” concocting horrible scenarios that force his captives to participate.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992) – Airheaded cheerleader Buffy (Kristy Swanson) is the “chosen one” of her generation — earmarked to kill vampires infesting our streets and towns. Donald Sutherland plays her mentor, and Rutger Hauer is Lothos, the alpha male bloodsucker she’s assigned to liquidate. This precursor to the popular series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar lacks the TV version’s dark tone, but features plenty of campy fun.
THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE (2001) – Twelve-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is the latest arrival at Santa Lucia School, an imposing stone building that shelters orphans of the Republican militia and politicians during the last days of the Spanish Civil War. Carlos gradually uncovers the dark ties that bind the inhabitants of the school: hidden riches, sexual intrigue and the restless ghost of a murdered student, who may be the only one to provide resolution.
THE GHOUL (1933) – Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff), a British Egyptologist, finds a magic jewel in the tomb of an Oriental idol. The talisman is supposed to grant immortality to those who are buried with it. So, Morlant arranges to have it put into his grave upon his demise. And beware those who might double-cross him, because Morlant’s spirit will arise to wreak vengeance on his betrayers! This film was the screen debut of British stage actor Ralph Richardson.
SCOOBY DOO AND THE MONSTER (2003) – Shaggy, Scooby-Doo and the whole gang hop in the Mystery Machine for a groovy road trip south of the border, when the monstrous El Chupacabra threatens to ruin the lively Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. Fueled by Scooby snacks, the sleuths uncover clues that lead them deeper into spooky shenanigans — but soon those meddling kids will find out if it’s really a monster at work, or just some clever crooks up to no good.
LITTLE MONSTERS (1989) – Join Brian (Fred Savage) as he faces his worst fear — the ghoulies that live under his bed — and finds they’re not so bad after all. In particular, he hits if off with Maurice (Howie Mandel), a friendly but ditzy monster that takes Brian under his wing. Soon, Brian is learning all of the monster secrets and the lesson that the greatest fear is fear itself. And the duo mixes in a few pranks — against both humans and monsters — along the way.
FRANKENSTEIN (2004) – This small-screen adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel stars Alec Newman as Victor Frankenstein, the scientist-gone-mad who creates the ultimate monster, fashioning a creature out of body parts harvested from corpses. When the world recoils from the doctor’s creation because of its repulsive appearance, the creature turns on its maker. William Hurt plays the professor who warns Victor against going down a perilous path.
FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (1987) – On the eve of his niece’s execution, historian Julian White (Vincent Price) recounts four terrifying tales in this gruesome horror anthology. It seems the town of Oldfield, Tenn., isn’t the sleepy hamlet it appears to be: White introduces four scary short stories involving necrophilia, ghosts, voodoo priests and demon children with uncontrollable appetites. Clu Gulager, Terry Kiser, Harry Caesar, Rosalind Cash and Cameron Mitchell star.
INTRUDER (1989) – It’s late evening the night before a local supermarket goes out of business, and the night crew is busy sweeping up. But things won’t stay quiet for long: Register girl Jennifer (Renee Estevez) has an insane ex-boyfriend who’s just been sprung from prison, and he’s returned to win her back … at any cost! Soon, the night crew starts dying one by one (talk about a checkout line!). Costars Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi. Scott Spiegel directs.
THE BURNING (1981) – Years after a summer camp janitor (Lou David) is severely burned and disfigured as the result of a teenage prank gone awry, he’s released from the local insane asylum and returns to the scene of the crime to seek revenge against those who harmed him. Several yet-to-be-famous stars pop up in this classic teen horror flick, including Oscar winner Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld.”
THE INCREDIBLE TWO-HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971) – When a psychotic killer is mortally wounded while burglarizing his home, demented Dr. Girard (Bruce Dern) seizes the chance to graft the criminal’s head onto the full-grown body of his assistant’s mentally challenged son, Danny (John Bloom). But Girard cannot control his two-headed creation, and soon the malicious monster breaks free to terrorize the countryside. Casey Kasem co-stars in this outlandish horror flick from director Anthony M. Lanza.
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972) – Racist transplant surgeon Maxwell Kirshner (Ray Milland) never lets anything compromise his work — even his impending death. When he learns he has a terminal illness, Kirshner decides to attach his brilliant noggin to another man’s body. But his search turns ups only one suitable donor: black convict Jack Moss (Roosevelt Grier). Before you can say “double trouble,” the two heads fight for control of their shared physique in this campy classic.
SPELLBINDER (1988) – When he saves young, homeless Miranda (Kelly Preston) from her abusive boyfriend, ruthless attorney Jeff Reed (Tim Daly) learns that until recently, the gorgeous girl was part of a coven of witches — but he takes her under his wing (and into his bed) anyway. But soon, Jeff discovers that the coven has plans to make Miranda their next human sacrifice, and they don’t intend to let a lawyer stand in their way.
TROLL 2 (1986) – When young Joshua Waits (Michael Stephenson) and his family vacation in the remote town of Nilbog, the strange townspeople excitedly offer the Waits the local cuisine. But behind the eager hospitality lies a sinister motive and only Joshua knows the horrifying truth. Warned of goblins by his ghostly Grandpa Seth (Robert Ormsby), Joshua must save his family and himself from an unsavory end in this fantasy horror tale.
Again, those are just the horror titles made available for streaming on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of September. Wouldn’t be surprised if I missed a few.
If movies aren’t your thing, you’ll also find the first seasons of several horrific TV shows now streaming: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, MonsterQuest, Dead Like Me, Paranormal State, and the 1991 revival of Dark Shadows.
And there’s more to come. Other horror flicks Netflix will begin instant streaming before the end of September includes:
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
CARRIERS
BLUE DEMON
CLAWED: THE LEGEND OF SASQUATCH
RODAN
WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER
DRIVE THRU
THE BREED
PETER BENCHLEY’S CREATURE
MULBERRY STREET
LAKE DEAD
BORDERLAND
THE GRAVEDANCERS
WICKED LITTLE THINGS
MY BLOODY VALENTINE (remake)
THE RAGE: CARRIE 2
SCREAM
