Top 50 movies part 2

24. The Birds (1963) Dir. by Alfred Hitchcock

A wealthy San Francisco playgirl pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.

Hitchcock does it again. Once again he shows off his ability to take a great original story by someone else, and take it to the next level, most likely making it better than the story itself. The man can make birds terrifying! This movie is a pulchritudinous and enigmatic film, a puzzle without an answer as they say. He gives you question after question, but never truly answers them, but does it with style and grace.



23. Arachnophobia (1990) Dir. by Frank Marshall

South American killer spider hitches a lift to the US in a coffin and starts to breed and kill.

There is a large percentage of the world that shares a fear of spiders. Arachnophobia being one of the leading phobias, this movie preys on that fear. Im sure there are millions of people who have never brought themselves to watch this movie, just because of what is holds. I agree, spiders are an admirable foe. They don't show emotion, they usually move at a terribly slow pace, and they can be more deadly than almost everything else on the planet, just with their fangs. They are a tiny version of Mike Myers, with eight legs. The conclusion is a bit rediculous but doesn't take away from the movie at all. This is a semi-realistic kind of horror, and I like it.



22. Rear Window (1954) Dir. by Alfred Hitchcock

A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Oh wow, another Hitchock movie in my top 50. Are you suprised? There is probably more to come. This one is so brilliant because it adds so many different fears together. Seeing something wrong, and the feeling of not being able to do anything about it. It's like being on an operating table, the knock out gas didn't completely work, and you feel every cut the doctor makes. Hitchcock's attention to detail and understanding of human nature can turn the simplist story into a freaky nightmare.



21. The Gate (1987) Dir. by Tibor Tikacs

Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard.

This movie was essential to my childhood. One of the first horror movies I ever saw, and loved it. It still holds it weight today as well. Strong perfomance from the two kids, Stephen Dorff and Louis Tripp, and extremely good special effects make this an exciting movie to watch on any occasion.



20. Alien series (79,86,92,97) Dir. by Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.

This series has always been at the top of my list. While the third one is clearly the worst of the series, I'll still watch it if it is on T.V. The creatures are about as amazing as you can get, R.I.P Stan Winston. The first one is clearly the best film, and probably Ridley Scott's best work, but the second is my favorite. Maybe it's just because it has more action.



19. Martyrs (2008) Dir. by Pascal Laugier

A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Carl is going to yell at me for puting this on here, but I had to do it. While maybe it doesn't deserve to be this high, right now it is all I can think about. Amazing movie, but I won't go into great details since I just did a review on here.



18. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Dir. by Stanley Kubrick

The monoliths have been watching us. They gave humankind the evolutionary kick in the pants it needed to survive at the Dawn of Time. In 1999, humankind discovered a second monolith on the moon. Now, in the year 2001, the S.S. Discovery and its crew, Captains Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, and their onboard computer, HAL 9000, must discover what alien force is watching Earth.... Written by Tones {tones120c@aol.com}

This movie set the standard for almost every science fiction movie to come along since. Some refer to it as a movie about everything, and they are probably right, but what I like about it is the way Kubrick tells the story. He doensn't overload the movie with dialogue. He just lets the scenery and his direction tell the story. He leaves it open for human interpretation.



17. Dog Soldiers (2002) Dir. by Neil Marshall

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.

Dog Soldiers revived a failing werewolf genre for me. It also managed to create some of the coolest looking werewolves the genre had ever seen. Great acting and great directing make this a must buy for anyone. Undoubtedly Neil Marshall's best film.



16. Nosferatu (1922) Dir. by F.W. Murnau

Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife. Silent classic based on the story "Dracula."

Max Schreck was the original Dracula. He is the vampire grandfather. Silent or not, this movie is brilliant and still scary. Schreck dives so deep into his character, it is hard to believe he is truly a man. Arguably the best vampire movie ever made.



15. Jaws series (75,78,83,87) Dir. by Stephen Spielberg, Jeannot Szwarc, Joe Alves, Joseph Sargent

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

What do you expect from a book by Peter Benchley? This movie tore a hole in business for beach resorts for a while, haha. Everyone is already a little afraid of sharks, and this series made people terrified. It could scare people with barely showing the shart at all. When it did though, the shark look scary as ever. I don't feel like this series ever really lost its thunder.



14. Gremlins 1 and 2 (84,90) Dir. by Joe Dante

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

This movie scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid. It was almost embarrassing to grow up and realize its probably the funniest horror movie ever created. Joe Dante is brilliant with his work, and the way he sets up a scene gives each individual gremlin a full on personality.



13. Feast Trilogy (2005,2008,2009) Dir. by John Gulager

Patrons locked inside of a bar are forced to fight monsters.

This trilogy is absolutely amazing. It is rediculous, gory, mediocre acting, and completely unbelievable. With all that said, it is perfectly executed. It keeps you guess, and it takes pride in being a movie that is completely unpredictable, and it delivers. The second and third movie taper off a bit, but ramp it up in the shock department. One of the most entertaining trilogies I have ever seen.



12. Psycho (1960) Dir. by Alfred Hitchcock

A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

Man could Hitchcock pick the movies he wanted to direct. He could make chocolate syrup dripping from a knife terrifying in black in white. Spawned a series of movies that weren't nearly as good as this one, but they were mildly entertaining.



11. The Blob (1958, 1988) Dir. by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., Chuck Russell

A strange lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.

The Blob and the remake are both amazing in their own ways. The first one had some of the best special effects of the time, and strong performances. The sequel had the same only a mullet. Read my review for the remake on here.



10. The Wolf Man (1941) Dir. by George Waggner

A practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him can not possibly exist.

This is the original werewolf movie. Everything about this movie is absolutely amazing. Acting and Directing are virtually flawless. Read my review for more.



9. The Mist (2007) Dir. by Frank Darabont

A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

Frank Darabont should be the only person allowed to make Stephen King adapted movies. His vision of King's short story is stunning. He was given permission by King to write a new, more complete ending for the film. He did so with a shockingly good bang of ending. I was almost in tears, it was so emotional. Not just to see how amazing movie of a movie it was, coming from my favorite author, but because how emotional the film was. The creatures aren't overwhelming at all. The movie focuses on the story and the characters instead of the creatures. Amazing acting on all parts, and Marcia Gay Harden deserved an Oscar for her supporting role in this film.



8. Night of the Lepus (1972) Dir. by William F. Claxton

Giant mutant rabbits terrorize the southwest!!

There are movies out there that are just so horrible they are great. This is one of those movies. I saw it originally on TNT Monstervision with Joe Bob Briggs, and instantly my obsession with monster movies about abnormally large creatures was born. The Trio, Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, and Rory Calhoun all give actually great performances in such a silly movie. My favorite part is the three ways they have for filming the rabbits. One- Film really close up to make rabbits look huge, two- film rabbits in a fake smaller scale model of a town to make them look huge, and three- my favorite, when a rabbit attacks a person, it is a guy in a rabbit suit, and you can clearly tell! I searched almost 7 years for this DVD and they finally did a large full release on it. It will always be one of my favorites.



7. 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later (2002, 2007) Dir. by Danny Boyle, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

These are two very different, but beautifully pieced together films, from two very different directors. I don't care what anyone says, this is a zombie film. I don't care if it is a virus, they are zombies. The first film was all about discovery, about what had happened, and how to survive. The survival aspect of the film was intense, and you felt like you were learning at the same pace as Mr. Murphy was in the film. The second one is an emotion filled explosion of an action film. Both deserve to be near the top of all zombie films.



6. Night Watch, Day Watch (2004,2006) Dir. by Timur Bekmembetov

A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

Technically an action filled fantasy film. Timur is a brilliant man for bringing these amazing books to the big screen. Night Watch was made on such a low budget, yet when you watch the movie, it seems like a blockbuster hit. Perfect acting, and creative vision make this a movie to own. Watch it and you will be blown away.



5. Dawn of the Dead (1978) George A. Romero

Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Probably the most entertaining of Romero's zombie flicks, this movie delivers everything you could want in a movie. The most important part of this movie is that Romero could have went a very different serious route with it, but this film carries a comedic undertone that cracks me up every time I watch it.



4. Night of the Living Dead (1969) Dir. by George A. Romero

A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.

This movie is responsible for the unstopable flow of zombie movies being made today. Hell, even I have written a script for a zombie movie. This movie is legendary in every way imaginable. Romero owes his career to it. Scary to the end, forever a landmark in film. This movie deserves to stand on it's own.



3. Phantasm series (79,88,94,98) Dir. by Don Coscarelli

A young boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a mysterious arsenal of terrible weapons with him.

If you are looking for a horror that's got Balls... ITS FOUND YOU. The best tagline for a movie ever! I am the biggets fan of Phantasm you might find anywhere. The series is so brilliantly filmed and written. It's also one of the most bizarre, and complex stories I have ever seen. What impresses me the most, and something that no other series has ever done, is that through three decades of these movies, they still have the same cast. The only exception being Universal forced Don to pick a replace for Baldwin for the second film. Don got his way after that mistake, but Baldwin is still bitter about that. If Phantasm V gets pushed through finally, that will mark four decades with the same characters. Yes, they are all still alive.



2. Evil Dead Trilogy (81,87,92) Dir. by Sam Raimi

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

What can I say abou these movies without losing my breath? Pure genious, that is all I really need to say, and I hope Raimi doesn't taint them by a remake or a horrible fourth movie without Ash.



1. Moon (2009) Dir. by Duncan Jones

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.

I know this movie is brand new, but it instantly jumped to my top movie of all time. It is as close as you can get to a perfect movie. Everyone should own AT LEAST one copy of the DVD. I could watch this movie over and over and never get bored. It is probably the most overlooked movie of last year. Sam Rockwell probably should have taken the Best Actor Oscar. I'm a little upset about it. Read my review for the full story.


I was going to do some honorable mentions, but there are just too many. If you want to know what my honorable mentions were, just email me or leave me your email addy.

I leave you with the remainder of the posters

Top 50 Favorite Horror/Scifi/Fantasy Movies

I have reached 50 followers now, and this site is growing like crazy. I love everything that is going on, and I just hope I can continue to feed you baby birds. So I decided to create a list of my top 50 favorite movies of this genre. There are multiple problems to this situations. The first, I created a list of 100 movies I love, and then narrowed it down to 50. I should have left it at 100. I had to leave out so many amazing movies. Second, I didn't really gauge the list on the films themselves necessarily. Some on the list are movies that just had an impact on me at some point in time. Most of the movies that are in a series, I just left them in the series, and viewed it as a whole. I really hope everyone enjoys my list, and feel free to tell me your thoughts. I am always up for a discussion.



50. American Psycho (2000) Dir. by Mary Harron

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

This one had to make my list. I have bought this movie three times now on DVD. If something happens to one copy, I get another. This movie is so brilliantly made, that I could watch it over and over again. The story by Bret Easton Ellis is absolutely amazing and extremely entertaining.



49. Pitch Black (2000) Dir. by David Twohy

A transport ship containing 40 passengers heading to other worlds for, among other reasons, settling, New Mecca, and for one passenger, Riddick, another cell. The ship encounters a tiny meteor storm and crash lands on a barren planet with only 1/4 of its complement surviving. Survival is tough with Riddick on the loose and no water in sight. However, come nightfall, they have even more to fear... Written by Jeff Mellinger {jmell@uclink4.berkeley.edu}

Pitch Black is the the ultimate science fiction movie. It has everything you could ever want out of scifi movie, including Radha Mitchell. It was so amazingly filmed on such a low budget. It was back when Vin Diesel was still a bad ass, and not a pawn. Twohy is so brilliant in his writing, almost everything he does. I don't put the sequel because I didn't care for it as much. Original story, and awesome action, make for a superb movie.



48. Razorback (1984) Dir. by Russell Mulcahy

A wild, vicious pig terrorizes the Australian outback. The first victim is a small child who is killed. The child's granddad is brought to trial for killing the child but acquitted. The next victim is an American TV-journalist. Her husband Carl gets there and starts to search for the truth. The local inhabitants won't really help him, but he is joined by a hunter and a female farmer to find the beast. Written by Mattias Thuresson {mattias.thuresson@mbox300.swipnet.se}

If you really want to know how I feel about Razorback, read my recent review. I have always loved this movie. The way it is filmed sets it apart from other large creature movies of the 80's. Mulcahy doesn't always get the credit he is deserved. Saw this movie first on TNT Monstervision.



47. Dracula (1931) Dir. by Tod Browning

The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

Still not my favorite vampire movie, but it is Bela Lugosi. He is the utility player of Universal monster movies. The guy is amazing, plus this one really helped paint vampires as not just mindless creatures.



46. Zombi 2 (1979) Dir. by Lucio Fulci

Strangers looking for a woman's father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.

Lucio Fulci is an amazing Director. He has such a unique way of filming zombies, and it tends to add a lot of tension to his films. Then there is the popular Shark vs. Zombie battle. Who the hell thinks of that? One of my favorite moments in zombie history.



45. The Shining (1980) Dir. by Stanley Kubrick

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

I'm a huge Stephen King fan, and The Shining is one of the best King adaptions that have been on the big screen. What do you expect with Kubrick though? Great acting, desolate location, and a great script, not to mention the kid himself is a little creepy looking.



44. Puppet Master Series (89,91,93,99,2003,2004,2010) Various Directors

Puppet maker Andre Toulon shoots himself at the Bodega Bay Inn before his Secret of Life can be stolen by the Nazis. 50 years later in 1989 the secret is discovered by Neil Gallagher. Soon he sends messages to his psychic friends Alex Whitaker, Dana Hadley, Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford who arrive to find his wife Megan who claims Neil to be dead. As the night goes by, the murderous puppets are awakened and unleashed on the group, only for them to discover that evil comes in all sizes. Written by Wallace Entertainment

And that's just how it all begins. I remember watching these movies on USA Channel late nights. These were some of the first horror movies I ever watched, and they are amazing.



43. The Last Man on Earth (1964) Dir. by Ubaldo Regona

Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the only survivor of a devastating world-wide plague due to a mysterious immunity he acquired to the bacterium while working in Central America years ago. He is all alone now...or so it seems. As night falls, plague victims begin to leave their graves, part of a hellish undead army that''s thirsting for blood...his! Written by Jeremy Lunt {durlinlunt@acadia.net}

It was either this or Omega Man, but personally I prefer this one. Mostly because it is Price and not Heston, and also I feel this one is a better portrayal of the story. This could have directly led to my love of apocalyptic movies.



42. House on Haunted Hill (1959) Dir. by William Castle

An eccentric millionaire, Fredrick Loren, who is throwing the "party" for his fourth wife, Annabelle, invites five people to a secluded mansion with the offer to spend one night in his house which is haunted, with the stipulation that the power will be out and all doors will be locked at midnight, allowing no accessible escape. Anyone who stays in the house for the entire night, given that they are still alive, will each receive $10,000.

This movie is so superior to the remake, and once again the Price is right. Vincent Price that is. While being scared when I was younger, this movie's comedic themes tend to shine through as I am now an adult. It hasn't lost its appeal though, and that solidifies it in my top 50.



41. The Hitcher (1986,2007) Dir. by Robert Harmon(86), Dave Meyers

A young man(or woman) who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher's crimes, and has his(her) life made into hell by the same man he(she) escaped.

I had to include both the original and the remake. I was pumped for the remake and it didn't let me down. I know it's not as good as the original, but should that stop me from enjoying it? If you ask me Sean Bean gives as strong of a performance as Rutger Hauer. It was the supporting cast that fell a bit short on the remake. I recommend both to everyone. The original is probably the more scary one, and the remake is more funny with action.



40. Critters Series (86,88,91,92) Dir. by Stephen Herek, Mick Garris
Kristine Peterson, Rupert Harvey

A Kansas farm is attacked by a hoard of hungry flesh-eating monsters from outer-space with razor sharp teeth and a witty attitude! The family who inhabit the farm must seek the help of a local drunk and his critter-fighting bounty hunting pals before its too late... Written by Joe Collins

I had to include this in my top 50. These movies scared the shit out of my when I was younger. Now days I find them more funny than scary, but entertaining none the less. Creatures created by the famous Chiodo Brothers Productions(Killer Klowns from Outer Space), are basically what makes these movies must owns. While the third one lacks a bit and is clearly the least favorite, the second one(directed by Mick Garris) makes up for in sheer genius. With great actors on board before they became famous(Billy Zane, Dee Wallace, Barry Corbin, Leonardo Dicaprio, Aimee Brooks, Angela Bassett, and Brad Dourif. Last but not least, Critters 4 might be responsible for starting the "lets take our failing series" in to space technique carried out by many film franchises today. Everyone should own these movies.



39. Children of the Corn (1984) Dir. by Fritz Kiersch

A young couple wander into a mid-western town where all the adults are apparently dead and the children participate in a cult that worships a malevolent force in the corn fields. Based on a Stephen King novella. Written by Keith Loh {loh@sfu.ca}

I know what you are thinking. There sure is some Stephen King on this list. Yes, he is my favorite author of all time, but his books are often turned into great movies. In this case a novella is at the core. This movie made me not want to have kids ever when I watched it in my late teens, and yet I only waited until I was 24, haha. Linda Hamilton and Courtney Gains(as Malachai) really make this a solid film, supported by a great cast of young children giving above normal performances. I haven't seen the made-for-tv remake yet though, but I will.



38. The Exorcist (1873) Dir. by William Friedkin

When a teenager is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

This movie itself is flawless on a number of levels. One, having Max Von Sydow in it , haha. I'm not a deeply religious person by any means, but watching this movie still makes me want to sleep with a bible for a few nights afterwards. Don't give me that Jennifer Carpenter as Emily Rose is just as good as Linda Blair bullshit. We both know its not true.



37. Poltergeist (1982) Dir. by Tobe Hooper

While living an an average family house in a pleasant neighborhood, the youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne, seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the television. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house's walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and amuse the family, but they take a nasty turn- they horrify the family to death with angry trees and murderous dolls, and finally abduct Carol Anne into her bedroom closet, which seems like the entrance to the other side. Written by Thomas O'Rourke

Tobe Hooper, while dormant lately, used to make amazing movies, and this is one of them. Hundreds of times a year, I still hear people quoting Poltergeist. I didn't really care for the sequels that much, but the original is definitely solid. It doesn't hurt that it was written by Steven Spielberg. Heather O'Rourke's passing generally takes over most conversations about Poltergeist, and yes it was sad she didn't have a chance to grow up and branch away from the Poltergeist series, but I don't think the Poltergeist curse should shadow over a great film. I don't really know what to think about the remake coming out next year either.



36. The Thing (1982) Dir. by John Carpenter

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Another movie being remade in 2011, this movie was originally a remake as well. It was loosely based of The Thing From Another World (1951), and the short story, "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr.. The special effects by Roy Arbogast were creative and disturbing at the same time. It is just a really fun movie to watch.



35. Drag Me To Hell (2009) Dir. by Sam Raimi

A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

I know this movie is pretty new to be on the list, but WOW what a return to directing the horror genre for Sam Raimi. He is one of my favorite directors, but almost always falls short as a producer. It was really nice to see him direct a solid and sometimes very scary horror movie again. The story of the curse was an extremely original and entertaining one. Performances were right on the spot, and I'm glad to see it is getting the attention it deserves.



34. In the Mouth of Madness (1994) Dir. by John Carpenter

With the disappearance of hack horror writer Sutter Cane, all Hell is breaking loose...literally! Author Cane, it seems, has a knack for description that really brings his evil creepy-crawlies to life. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane's mysterious vanishing act and ends up in the sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb's End. The fact that this town exists as a figment of Cane's twisted imagination is only the beginning of Trent's problems.... Written by Tad Dibbern {DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu}

Yes, another John Carpenter movie on the list. Personally, I think this is by far the scariest John Carpenter movie ever, well maybe Ghosts on Mars is scary, but for very different reasons. This movie messes with your mind, and throws multiple forms of fear at you, including crazy ass creatures. Sam Neill is flawless as John Trent, and so is Charlton Heston.



33. Jacob's Ladder (1990) Dir. by Adrian Lyne

A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him.

This movie instantly made me a huge fan of Tim Robbins. His performance is amazing, and really adds to the confusing, yet awesome plot to the film. Adian Lyne did a great job of making sure you only know as much as the lead character does, and it makes the movie twice as creepy.



32. Tremors Series (90,96,01,04) Dir. by Ron Underwood, S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock,

Natives of a small isolated town, defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.

The one thing I really love and respect about this series is its ability to be completely original. They could have just made lame sequels that basically follow the same formula as the original, but they didn't. The second spawns the same creatures that now have the ability to walk on land, and the third one gives them flight. It automatically adds a new element to each film. I don't really care for the prequel that much, but it is definitely an interesting take on an origin story for the worms. I hear there is a fifth one coming out, and that scares me a bit, but we will see. The first one was the best, but I enjoy all of them.



31. Orca: The Killer Whale (1977) Dir. by Michael Anderson

A hunter squares off against a killer whale seeking vengeance for the death of its mate.

I absolutely love this movie! I don't think it is entirely impossible for a mammal such as a killer whale to be imbued by an emotion such as vengeance. I rank this up there with Jaws as far as water creature movies go. This one felt realistic and paced to perfection. A strong story and strong acting is really noticeable as the movie progresses to its ultimate showdown.



30. An American Werewolf in London (1981) Dir. by John Landis

A hunter squares off against a killer whale seeking vengeance for the death of its mate.

This movie is singlehandedly responsible for giving my love for werewolves birth. It is the first werewolf movie I ever saw, and it left an impression. The creature fx are amazing, and the transformation gives me chills. There are so many awesome shots in this movie. Thank you John Landis.



29. Hellraiser 1 and 2 (1987, 1988) Dir. by Clive Barker and Tony Randel

An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell.

I only wanted to include the first two Hellraiser movies, as the rest of them get kind of crazy and stupid. While they are mildly entertaining, the first two are the strong ones that stand out to me. Their gory nature is something of a beautiful sight, and could only be directly from the mind of Clive Barker. The first two are filled with such a great plot, it really sucks the rest weren't able to hold up to these two.



28. Friday the 13th series (80,81,82,84,85,86,88,89,93,2001,2009)
Dir. by Sean S. Cunningham, Steve Miner, Joseph Zito, Danny Steinmann, Tom McLoughlin, John Carl Buechler, Rob Hedden, Adam Marcus, James Isaac, Marcus Nispel

Thought to have drowned in Crystal Lake, Jason Voorhees returns with an arsenal of weapons to exact his revenge on the unknowing campers of the lake. Written by Michael Silva {silvamd@cleo.bc.edu}

Wow, that is a lot of people to work on one series of movies. I thought about leaving Jason X out of this, but it takes place in space, and that always wins over anything else. This series used to bring me a lot of fear. The Jason mask is recognized by all, and feared by most. Now I laugh a lot at it, and it's extremely creative kills. I put the remake on there because I think it is one of the better remakes over the last few years, and unfortunately helped more remakes to be put on the calender. I never like talking about the first one, because I am afraid I will reveal the biggest secret that everyone should know by now. These movies are not stand out amazing by any means, but they get the job done.



27. Nightmare on Elm Street series (84,85,87,88,89,91,94,)
Dir. by Wes Craven, Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell, Renny Harlin, Stephen Hopkins, Rachel Talalay

In the early 1980's, a psychopath named Freddy Krueger - known as the Springwood Slasher - murdered several children with a glove outfitted with straight razor blades attached to the fingers. When a foolish decision by a judge sets him free, Krueger is burned alive in the boiler room where he worked by an angry mob of the parents whose children he terrorized & murdered. Years after his death, the children whose parents were responsible for Krueger's death - including Nancy Thompson, daughter of the police officer who arrested Krueger - are experiencing terrifying nightmares involving a burned man wearing a glove with razor blades on the fingers. The ghost of Freddy Krueger is haunting their dreams, and when Nancy's best friend Tina dies in her sleep violently during a dream confrontation with Krueger, Nancy realizes she must find a way to stop the evil psychopath's reign of terror - or never sleep again... Written by Derek O'Cain

This series has always been one of my favorites. The wise cracking Freddy Krueger can be hilarious and terrifying at the same time. The kills are so original and creative. A kid who has a hearing aid gets his hearing aid turned all the way up, and dies because of a pin(s) drop. That is amazing! Wes Craven returning for New Nightmare was pretty creative as well. I'm a little excited for the remake out soon.



26. Halloween series (78,81,88,89,95,98,2002)
Dir. by John Carpenter, Rick Rosenthal, Dwight H. Little, Dominique Othenin-Girard, Joe Chappelle, Steve Miner

A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.

No I did not forget Halloween III. I excluded it because it is garbage. I know they didn't think there were going to be any more Mike Myers movies, but that doesn't give it an excuse. I didn't include the remakes either, but that's because they were pretty much worthless. The original Halloween will always be the best, and I feel it most like gave birth to a whole slew of other slasher movies. John Carpenter truely is a master of horror.



25. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) Dir. by Alfred Hitchcock

A serial killer known as "The Avenger" is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting's daughter is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Written by Col Needham {col@imdb.com}

Basically a story of Jack the Ripper. This movie has been remade a couple of times, and I haven't seen those, but I am a firm believer that Hitchcock movies should never be remade. Let Psycho be an example to you. One of the best Directors of all time, Hitchcock manages to put fear in you even if the film is in black and white and silent. The man is a genious. This is one of my favorite Hitchcock films and one of his earliest.

Survival of the Dead Trailer!!!

Thanks to The Moon Is A Dead World blog and Bloody Disgusting, I just saw a trailer for Survival of the Dead, and it almost made me cry tears of joy. I won't get my hopes up too much after Diary of the Dead, but it really looks like a return to the old school zombie flicks we loved from Romero!

Martyrs (2008)

Martyrs (2008) Dir. by Pascal Laugier

First I was like Wow, then I was like ah cute, then I was like Huh?, then I was like What the f**k?! That's about how my viewing went. What a movie! I have spotted a couple reviews of this movie, and some said they could predict the ending from the very beginning. Those people are liars. That movie was so intense. Just when you think you have a grip on what is going on, they slam you with some new piece of information.

The movie is essentially about two girls, Anna (Morjana Alaoui) and Lucie (Mylene Jampanoi). Lucie escaped from torture when she was little, and still haunted by the things that happened to her. Anna is basically her best friend, and wants to be there every step of the way for her. Fifteen years after escaping, Lucie has tracked down the people that tortured her, and wants to take her well deserved revenge. The results of her actions, pulls the two girls deeper into something they never saw coming.



First off, the acting in this movie is some of the best acting I have ever seen. The two girls especially, as they are as close to flawless as I think you can get. The loving caring Anna almost polar opposite to the angry tortured Lucie, and yet they fit together like a screwed up jigsaw puzzle. They pretty much carry the film, which is a good thing since the entire film is basically just about the two of them. There is something about the way they play off each other. Lucie believes she is doing the right thing, and has a one track mind toward her vengeance. She believes it will free her. Anna is terrified at what Lucie is doing, but she feels so strongly about Lucie (Love, and maybe lover?), that she will do anything it takes to save her.

Im pretty tired of this movie being compared to Saw and Hostel. The only thing they have in common is there is a bit of gore. This is an emotional roller coaster of what humans are capable of, only set to the background of torture. There are no bounds when dealing with human depravity, as this movie will show you. Everyone always has the capacity to create and destroy. This movie may cover the extremes on both ends, but it does it in a believable manner. The pain and suffering that someone will endure to remain alive is breathtaking. Watching this movie I felt like a deer in the headlights. I just couldn't look away. While most of the scenes are not actually that gory, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. The emotion put into the story and characters kept butterflies in my stomach. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was no way I could ever guess what was going to happen.



The movie threw twist after twist at me. There was a point around fifty minutes into the movie where I felt like the movie had ended. I thought how could this possibly continue after the events that had transpired. I was blown away by what happened next, and this happened multiple times. Martyrs seemed to cover action, romance, horror, drama (oh lordy there was drama), and even a hint of science fiction. Martyrs is like a messed up movie pot pie, and those were the ingredients.

The writing on this movie seemed to be close to perfect. My only bone to pick with it is the main character in Pascal's last movie Saint Ange was Anna Jurin, and in this movie if you combine Anna with Lucie Jurin, look what you get. I don't know, I just don't like repetition of characters names from film to film, if they are not the same character. The pacing on the film was brilliant, just when it started to slow down, it picked back up again. I will admit some of the gore was done pretty well. Not once did it ever feel overboard. Yes, the stuff they were doing was outrageous, but it was done extremely believable. Pascal's ability to turn a general everyday newspaper title into a disturbing film really shines through here. Some refer to the film as Clive Barker-ish. Which is funny because I heard that he was originally slated to direct the upcoming Hellraiser remake, but dropped out for some unknown reason.



All and all, from beginning to end this movie was a beautifully violent dive in to human boundaries, and I am sure as hell glad I read all the reviews that hyped it up for me. I look forward to seeing Mylene Jampanoi in the upcoming supernatural thriller hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood. I really hope everyone gives this movie a chance and checks it out. I don't feel you will be disappointed. If you feel confused, try and perservere. The ending is messed up in so many ways, but completely answers all questions but one. I can't say what that question is. You will understand.

Entertainment Value: 9/10 Barber's Razors
Cinematic Value: 8/10 Barber's Razors

Holy Crap!!!

Wow! I have over 40 followers now. When did that happen? I haven't even been blogging for two months. That is awesome. It makes me really happy to see that people are at least enjoying what I have to say a little bit. Thanks to everyone for all the support. It is so much fun meeting new people who share similar interests as me. I hope everyone enjoys reading my blog as much as I love reading theirs. Thanks again to everyone for showing interest in Dead End Drive-In. I shall find some way to reward you guys one of these days!

Pandorum (2009)

Pandorum (2009) Dir. by Christian Alvart

Don't fear the end of the world, fear what happens next. Fear is what happens. I had wanted to see this movie since it was in theaters, but never found the time or money to go. I wish I had gone, as I feel the movie might have been amazing in a theater setting. The setting Alvart creates with Pandorum is outstanding! Bower and Peyton (Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid) play two guys who wake up out of cryogenic sleep around the same time. They don't remember much of anything, and are trying to figure out what has happened to the ship they are on, and the people that were with them.



I split this film up into two parts. The first part is discovery/confusion in which the characters spend most of their time trying to figure out what happened to them, as Ben Foster ventures out into the ship. The half has much confusion, which I don't generally like that much, but in this case it sort of works. It is very much needed as a building block for the plot and characters to grow on. This is also where much of the fear from the movie comes, as you don't see as much of the creatures, and they are much scarier when you don't know everything about them. I really hate when everyone else's blog is exactly right about this movie, but it really is a mixture between Event Horizon, Alien, and The Descent. I don't feel like it was stealing though. It felt more like paying homage to the movies.



The characters on this film are what really makes it exciting. It's complete madness, as you can't seem to tell who is crazy and who isn't. I think they are all crazy. I will say it again and again, Ben Foster is the most underrated actor in the business. He is outstanding no matter what he touches. It doesn't matter if the movie is insanely bad. Take Alpha Dog for example, as he puts in a great performance much unnoticed because of a crappy film. Most people never know that it is him doing the acting. He is that good at acting, people don't know it is him. Whether it is Mars in Hostage, Eddie in 11:14, Dave(pierced guy) in The Punisher, Angel in X-men 3, The Stranger in 30 Days Of Night, Charlie Prince in 3:10 To Yuma, or I think everyone should check out his role as Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery in The Messenger. This guys is amazing, and if he doesn't win an Oscar within the next five years I will be surprised. Unfortunately, his counterpart, Dennis Quaid is one of the major downfalls of the movie. His character never really develops until the last twenty minutes of the movie, and by then you don't really give two hoots about him. The majority of his performance is scarce jabbering over a radio, just trying to find out where Bower is, and it's quite annoying. I never felt like Cam Gigandet's character really had any weight until a much needed confrontation with Quaid's character. Cam's acting was on par for what he usually pulls. It started off really bad then got better as the movie progressed. German born actress Antje Traue as Nadia, and Vietnamese born Mixed Martial Arts fighter Cung Le were amazing additions to this cast, and gave it a strong diversity in character. And finally a pleasant surprise I didn't see coming was Norman Reedus (Boondock Saints) in more of a short cameo role. It's always nice to see him doing stuff.



I'm interested in what this movie would have been like in one of those DBOX motion controlled technology cinemas I keep hearing about. A decent script by Travis Milloy gave Alvart a lot of room on this one. He really pushed the envelope on claustriphobic fear, and that always seems to be a crowd pleaser these days. I can't say that I cared that much for the creatures of the film, but I will say that they didn't really take anything away from the strengths of the film. If you can get past the creatures being extremely unbelievable, then I think you would enjoy it. This movie was originally supposed to have a budget of $200,000, so when then found out there was going to be a big budget, I think they went a little wild with all they could do. They had fun, and it really shows. With this only being Alvart's fourth film, and only his second in English, I look forward to watching his previous films along with his films in the future. I see he is already made himself known as the new face of German cinema, and looks to be strong in the Horror/Thriller department. I look forward to him remaking one of his German Films Antibodies into an English film soon. With all things considered, I think Alvart did an amazing job on Pandorum.



I think the major downfall here is that Pandorum was the first of a proposed trilogy, and because of box office mediocrity, we will likely never see the other two done. That is just sad. Pandorum is a good strong movie, not as good as Event Horizon or Alien, but better than The Descent. It's definitely a must see.

Entertainment Value: 8 Needles in Arm out of 10
Cinematic Value: 8 Needles in Arm out of 10