Some horror flicks know their place, but others like to go beyond!
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00:00Horror movie fans are among the most enthusiastic and generous of any genre.
00:04They want to see the best in just about any film, and will forgive a lot of bad if a horror flick serves up a few fun kills.
00:10But to the same token, there are those films which just have dud written all over them from the jump.
00:15And yet, once again proving that our preconceptions can only take us so far,
00:19these movies actually ended up being so, so much better than anyone expected.
00:23So, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with horror movies that had no right to be this good.
00:29Thanksgiving
00:30Would it have surprised a single person if Eli Roth's 16 years-in-the-making feature adaptation
00:35of his fake trailer for a Thanksgiving-themed slasher film originated in the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse was a total bust?
00:43Pair the lengthy gestation time with Roth's general inconsistency as a filmmaker,
00:47and it was reasonable to anticipate mediocrity at best from Thanksgiving,
00:52especially with the film being quietly shot and released with little marketing fanfare.
00:56What a pleasant shock it was, then, for the movie to end up one of 2023's best-reviewed horror films released by a major studio,
01:03a giddily, self-aware seasonal slasher which delivered the bountiful gore fans of the trailer expected alongside a wealth of black comedy.
01:11Given that Roth's enthusiasm for the concept could have easily wavered over the years and morphed the project into a mere paycheck gig,
01:17it was truly unexpected to see an end result so well-crafted and genuinely entertaining from start to finish.
01:24Dawn of the Dead
01:26Those who were there at Ground Zero when Universal announced a remake of George A. Romero's zombie masterpiece Dawn of the Dead
01:32will remember just how sceptical, if not downright pissed off, fans of the original were.
01:37More to the point, giving such a hallowed property to a no-name music video director called Zack Snyder
01:43and a writer of junkie troma movies by the name of James Gunn?
01:47Ugh, this had disaster written all over it.
01:49But huge props to Snyder, whose bold directorial debut was a more-than-worthy reimagining of Romero's classic,
01:56which ably justified its own existence.
01:59Rather than rehash the original film beat for beat, Snyder and Gunn's retelling is a leaner, arguably meaner rendition of the same core concept,
02:07shedding the more overt satire of Romero's version but doubling down on the deeply visceral hopelessness of its apocalyptic scenario.
02:14Girded by its manic energy and the efforts of a solid ensemble cast, Dawn of the Dead 04 is close to a cinematic miracle,
02:21a movie every card-carrying horror fan was dreading, and yet one which turned out to be a damn gift to them all.
02:27Host
02:29When the film industry ground to a halt by the pandemic in early 2020, filmmakers had to get truly creative if they still wanted to make movies.
02:37And in the horror sphere, nobody took greater advantage of that opportunity than little-known director Rob Savage.
02:43Savage's Host, a horror film set entirely on a Zoom call in the midst of the pandemic, took full advantage of that specific moment in time
02:50to deliver a uniquely gut-wrenching depiction of a seemingly familiar seance-gone-wrong scenario.
02:56Despite its seemingly thrown-together nature, directed remotely by Savage with the cast carrying out their own camera and practical effects work,
03:03Host feels impressively holistic and motivated throughout, elevated considerably by the top-drawer efforts of the mostly unknown ensemble.
03:11Host also benefits from a drum-tight 56-minute runtime, ensuring that it can't even begin to outstay its welcome.
03:18All the same, nobody could be blamed for having basement-low expectations for a not-even-feature-length,
03:24no-budget horror film produced from concept to delivery in just three months and randomly released on Shudder totally out of nowhere.
03:31Wrong Turn 2 Dead End
03:33It's not unfair to say that expectations were basically through the Earth's core for Wrong Turn 2 Dead End,
03:39a straight-to-video follow-up to 2003's modest backwards slasher flick Wrong Turn, helmed by then-unknown filmmaker Joe Lynch.
03:47This had basically everything working against it, including a budget less than one-third of the theatrically-released original,
03:53yet Lynch did perhaps the one thing nobody expected. He made Wrong Turn fun.
03:59Don't be mistaken, Wrong Turn 2 certainly doesn't leave fans wanting for outrageous gore,
04:03but it's also an unexpectedly funny film compared to its more serious-minded predecessor,
04:08taking satirical potshots at reality TV, yet never quite making the descent into nudge-nudge farce.
04:14Lynch didn't have a ton of money to work with, but passion and effort bleed from every frame of this movie,
04:20confirming that he tried his damnedest to make an entertaining sequel rather than a lazy, cynical cash-in.
04:25Four increasingly terrible sequels and a not-bad reboot later, it remains the best of the series by a wide margin,
04:32in turn proving that not all straight-to-video sequels are created equal.
04:36The Empty Man
04:38It's almost never a good sign when a movie spends years languishing on a studio's shelf,
04:42and so there wasn't much hope for The Empty Man, the directorial debut of David Fincher protégé David Pryor.
04:48Pryor's supernatural horror was shot in the summer of 2017,
04:52before atrocious test screenings led Fox to halt its release until October 2020,
04:57where it was quietly dumped in cinemas with little marketing fuss.
05:00Initial reviews were heavily mixed, which combined with a D-plus cinema score seemingly condemned it to obscurity.
05:06Yet, word of mouth among horror fans allowed it to enjoy a resurgence once it hit streaming a short while later,
05:12where it became something of a bonafide cult classic.
05:15And indeed, far from an overhyped film twitter darling, The Empty Man is a beautifully shot,
05:20richly atmospheric horror with one of the most startling prologue sequences of any genre entry from the last few years.
05:27Given the studio's reaction to it, you'd be forgiven for writing it off as a worthless dud.
05:31Yet, it's anything but.
05:33Piranha 3D
05:35Was anyone really in the market for a remake of Joe Dante's 1978 comedy horror film Piranha?
05:40And one in 3D, no less.
05:42And yet, Alexandra Arger's shamelessly schlock-happy effort is in fact a deliriously entertaining romp,
05:48which certainly one-ups the nudity and violence of its predecessor.
05:52Though most of the gory mayhem is saved for the movie's outrageous finale,
05:55this is a lot of fun from beginning to end, thanks to both its unrelentingly goofy tone
06:00and an evidently game cast, especially Jerry O'Connell, Kelly Brook, and Ving Rhames.
06:05And if you saw the movie in 3D back in 2010, you'll surely recall just how much those
06:10in-your-face effects added to the knowingly campy experience.
06:14Even viewed today in 2D though, this is a considerably better directed film than many
06:18could have possibly anticipated, delivering firmly on the bloody promises of its title.
06:23The less said about 2012's lousy cash-in sequel though, the better.
06:27Paranormal Activity
06:29Given that Paranormal Activity spent more than two years being tinkered with by Paramount following
06:34its initial 2007 festival premiere, it was easy to believe that this micro-budget found-footage
06:40film was basically a case of The Emperor's New Clothes.
06:43The pre-release buzz surrounding the film, where the studio labeled it as the scariest
06:47movie ever made while insisting that audiences demand it be screened in their local cinema,
06:51left many suspicious that Paramount was basically using viral marketing to try
06:55and profit off a turkey they struggled to get out of post-production limbo.
06:59And while the film certainly isn't for everyone,
07:02it is a testament to what a skilled filmmaker can produce with relatively minimal resources,
07:07using negative space in the frame to basically let the audience's brain do most of the work,
07:11filling in the gaps and implying what can't actually be seen.
07:14If the inevitable spate of sequels soon enough drove the concept firmly into the ground,
07:19the original film was an inspired flash in the pan which rung tremendous atmospheric
07:24mileage out of two people being terrorized by a mostly unseen entity in their home.
07:29Watcher
07:30Psychological horror film Watcher is a fascinating example of a movie which
07:34benefited from a very happy accident. The narrative focuses on a woman who believes
07:39that a stranger who watches her from an apartment block across the street
07:42may be a serial killer terrorizing the city.
07:45During development, the story was set in New York City, but due to the pandemic making
07:49shooting in the United States financially unfeasible, the decision was made to film
07:53in Bucharest, Romania instead and also shift the setting there.
07:56This ultimately added a whole new dimension to the film as our protagonist Julia now has
08:02to deal with the isolation and anxiety of moving to an unfamiliar country where she
08:06doesn't speak the language, on top of the maybe serial killer scenario.
08:10And it's honestly tough to imagine Watcher any other way. The film would have almost
08:13definitely been less interesting with its original stateside setting.
08:17And so, while nobody's happy the pandemic happened, circumstances certainly allowed
08:21for Watcher to become a better film because of it.
08:24Ouija Origin of Evil
08:262014's Ouija remains one of the worst major studio horror films of the last decade,
08:31enough that nobody could muster much enthusiasm for prequel Ouija Origin of Evil,
08:36even with a talented on-the-rise filmmaker by the name of Mike Flanagan serving as both
08:40writer and director. This was admittedly two years before Flanagan totally blew up with
08:45The Haunting of Hill House, and while it was reasonable to expect that this prequel would
08:48surpass the first film, that was really only because the bar was in hell.
08:52While far from Flanagan's finest work, Origin of Evil is a huge step up from its predecessor,
08:57and shares much of the DNA of his better, later projects, namely character-driven scares and
09:02technical mastery behind the camera. It's also headlined by two terrific performances from a
09:07duo of Flanagan's prominent future collaborators Elizabeth Reeser and Lulu Wilson.
09:12Given that Universal could have easily hired any old hack to crank out a soulless sequel,
09:17as the original grossed over $100 million worldwide regardless of critical reception,
09:21it was a pleasant surprise that they actually sought out quality instead.
09:25Terrifier 2
09:27Though the first Terrifier proved an easy success on its mere $35,000 budget,
09:32critical and audience opinion was widely divided, with many criticizing its threadbare plot,
09:37rough dialogue, and underdeveloped characters, but praising its creative gore effects and David
09:42Howard Thornton's performance as Arts the Clown. Upfront expectations weren't exactly high for
09:47Terrifier 2 to be anything but more of the same, though once its 138-minute runtime was announced,
09:53there was genuine concern it would turn out a horribly indulgent mess.
09:57And while Terrifier 2 absolutely could have used some trimming, it is for the most part a
10:01tectonic improvement over the first, from the superior screenplay and performances to the
10:06extreme gore that sure to nauseate even the most well-trained of bloodhounds. Armed with just
10:12$250,000, filmmaker Damian Leone crafted a genuine slasher epic, and one which was
10:18rewarded with an impressive $15.7 million at the box office.
10:22Scream 4, 2011
10:25When it comes to pitch-perfect horror satire, it doesn't get any better than Wes Craven's
10:30original Scream trilogy. Not only did these films dissect and poke fun at the various
10:34horror tropes of the era, but the trilogy also delivered a genuinely enthralling slasher mystery.
10:40Over a decade after the trilogy ended, however, it was announced that Scream 4 would be hitting
10:45our screens, and horror fans unanimously sighed at the prospect. Horror cinema in the 2000s was
10:50dominated by lazy and terrible remakes, with the atrocity of 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street still
10:56fresh in our minds. The concern was that Scream 4 would be another tasteless and needless revival
11:01of a horror classic. What we weren't expecting, though, was for Scream 4 to do what Scream did
11:06best, and lovingly break down contemporary horror tropes. And with Craven returning alongside the
11:11original cast, this was the revival the franchise needed. Moreover, there's plenty of grisly slasher
11:16fun to be had here, too, alongside another fun mystery to solve about who's behind the mask
11:21this time. If you skipped Scream 4, now is just as good a time as any to check it out.
11:25Halloween 2, 1981
11:28John Carpenter's 1978 genre-defining classic Halloween is regarded as one of the greatest
11:34horror films of all time. Unfortunately, like most horror franchises, the ensuing sequels got
11:40exponentially worse with each iteration. While the recent Halloween films have revitalized Michael
11:45Myers as a modern horror icon, horror fans sometimes forget that the original sequel is an
11:50excellent slasher flick. Directed by Rick Rosenthal in his feature debut, with Carpenter returning to
11:55write alongside Debra Hill, the sequel picked up right where the first film left off. Laurie Strode
12:00is taken to hospital, Dr. Loomis is still on the hunt for the escaped killer, and Myers is still
12:05out for blood. While this film had a bigger budget to work with and amped up the gore significantly
12:10from its predecessor, the empty hospital setting nevertheless gave the sequel that same contained
12:15and claustrophobic atmosphere as Carpenter's film. Though Curtis doesn't have much to do
12:19throughout most of the picture, Michael is just as terrifying as before, as an unstoppable force
12:25of evil, and Pleasence once again steals every scene he's in. Best viewed straight after watching
12:30the original film, Halloween II is much better than you imagine.
12:33Hush, 2016
12:35Released on Netflix without any sort of fanfare, Hush gave the impression of being an unremarkable
12:41straight-to-streaming horror flick that was intended to be buried at the bottom of Netflix's
12:45library. And while there are certainly dozens of stinkers released this way, Hush proved to be the
12:49exception. Our first clue that the film was good was that it was directed and co-written by Mike
12:54Flanagan. Though he was yet to go on to helm acclaimed series like The Haunting of Hill House
12:58and Midnight Mass, alongside the likes of hit films Dr. Sleep and Gerald's Game, Flanagan's
13:03previous work on Absentia and Oculus had started to garner him a reputation as a powerhouse in the
13:09genre. The premise is simple, deaf author Maddie is trying to finish her novel when she becomes
13:14targeted by a masked intruder. From here, Hush descends into an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride
13:19in which she must try and stay one step ahead of her would-be killer. What makes Hush excellent
13:23is Flanagan's ability to keep the action grounded within reality, with smartly written characters
13:28who act believable within the given situation. Effective use of gore likewise helps rack up the
13:33tension in this under-seen home invasion horror. Freaky 2020
13:38Best known for his light-hearted comedy persona, the idea of Vince Vaughn playing a serial killer
13:43had many scratching their heads when we saw that he was starring in horror comedy Freaky.
13:47A playful twist on the body swap format, this premise sees Vaughn's malicious murderer,
13:52known only as The Butcher, trade places with everyday teenager Millie after accidentally
13:57invoking a ritual. The opening scene, with its bone-crunchingly violent kills and self-aware
14:02nods to the slasher genre, let viewers know they're in for a fun ride right from the start.
14:06But it's not until the body-swapping begins that this film, directed by Happy Death Day's
14:11Christopher Landon, comes into its own. Proving all the doubters wrong, Vaughn is the main
14:15highlight here. His comedic prowess is on full display as he portrays an awkward teenage girl,
14:20and anyone who saw him in Brawl in Cell Block 99 will be familiar with how intimidating of
14:25an on-screen presence he can be. In Freaky, Vaughn leans into both these personas without
14:30missing a single beat. While this film does admittedly fall into familiar cliches and tropes,
14:35the faults don't dampen any of the slasher goodness in this endlessly entertaining outing.
14:40Fear Street Part II 1978-2021
14:44Netflix's adaptation of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series was marketed as Netflix's horror event of
14:50the summer. A trilogy of terror anchoring around a small town with a history of gruesome massacres
14:55and witchy secrets made for a fantastic premise for a modern slasher. However, an exposition-heavy
15:00script with more teen drama than slasher goodness got the series off to a rocky start. Expectations
15:06for Part II were subsequently diminished, but, to our delight, the follow-up was superior in
15:11all aspects. Jumping back in time to the eponymous year and to a summer camp about to see a massacre,
15:16and now the series was free of all its obligatory set-up, the flick was able to indulge in the
15:21slasher tropes we were hoping for. Although it took some time for the butchery to commence,
15:25this time was spent getting to know the characters, especially sisters played by
15:29Sadie Sink and Emily Rudd, meaning that when the blood started to spill, we were deeply invested
15:33in who'd get out alive. The witchy twist likewise gave the summer camp carnage an intriguing new
15:38spin, whilst simultaneously building upon the overarching story in meaningful ways.
15:43This was all we were hoping for and more from this trilogy.
15:47Wes Craven's New Nightmare 1994
15:50Despite going a tad off the rails in its fifth and sixth installments,
15:54the Nightmare on Elm Street series, especially the first two films, are regarded as definitive
15:59entries in the slasher genre. Within the series, though, Wes Craven's New Nightmare is seen as the
16:04odd one out for being so different to what came before. Unlike the others, this flick took things
16:09in a wildly new direction. Set within the real world, the plot sees returning star Heather
16:15Langenkamp asked to appear in a new Nightmare on Elm Street production, which will be helmed
16:19by Wes Craven, who returns to the director's chair for this film. However, an otherworldly
16:24presence known as The Entity, which has taken the form of Freddy Krueger, once again played
16:29by Robert Englund, begins to wreak havoc on Langenkamp and the production. The metacommentary
16:34approach New Nightmare takes is so far removed from the rest of the series that it's understandable
16:38fans were hesitant to dive in. Still, this new angle was exactly what the series needed. Not
16:43only does the reality-bending script bring intriguing new ideas to the well-worn Nightmare
16:48formula, but the film is brimming with stunning and imaginative visuals throughout.
16:52Child's Play 2019
16:54While there are occasional exceptions to this rule, horror remakes tend to have a poor track
16:59record when it comes to their quality. A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, and The Mummy are just
17:04some of the atrocities responsible for this reputation. Therefore, when a remake of Child's
17:08Play was announced for 2019, hopes weren't exactly high. What was especially worrying
17:13about this remake was that Don Mancini's original franchise was still going strong at the time. Two
17:19recent sequels were met by adoration from fans, and a TV series released in 2021 was also in the
17:24works. This remake consequently felt entirely unnecessary. Despite being detached from the
17:29original series, this Child's Play turned out to be more fun than anyone expected.
17:34Switching the possession angle of the original, this Chucky, voiced by a charismatic Mark Hamill,
17:39who's a commendable stand-in for Brad Dourif, is a malfunctioning high-tech toy that gets an
17:44appetite for violence. More than a modernization of the classic slasher, the 2019 Child's Play
17:49became a razor-sharp satire on consumerism and our over-reliance on technology. This slasher
17:54knew exactly what it was, it never took itself too seriously, and delivered on the gruesome gore.
18:00Slacks 2021
18:02If done right, a horror film can make anything scary. Jaws made us terrified of going swimming,
18:07Cujo ensured we kept distance from strange dogs, and J-Horror X'd turned hair into a
18:13malevolent force. However, one of the strangest things to get the horror treatment was a pair
18:18of jeans in Elsa Keffert's insane horror comedy Slacks. Released on Shudder, the plot saw optimistic
18:24youngster Libby get a new job at a very exclusive clothing store that's about to release a new line
18:29of jeans. The company promote themselves as ethically moral to the public. However, this
18:34couldn't be further from the truth. The fashion house has been exploiting workers in sweatshops
18:38and working them to death. In a ridiculous yet poignant metaphor, the souls of those
18:42workers have haunted these jeans, and are out for revenge against the influencers and fashionistas.
18:48In less capable hands, Slacks could easily have been another forgettable,
18:52schlocky gimmick. But thanks to its snappy writing, wickedly cool presentation,
18:56and wild sense of humor, Keffert's fashionably gruesome flick proved to be a delightfully
19:00entertaining time. Though outlandishly silly at times, Slacks knew how to use its absurd
19:05premise to articulate a surprisingly effective humanitarian message.
19:09Slumber Party Massacre 2021
19:12When it comes to definitive slashes, you don't get much grislier or exploitative than 1982 cult
19:18classic The Slumber Party Massacre. The thought of remaking this video alone would be enough for
19:22dedicated horror fans to turn up their noses in disdain. However, if this list has taught us
19:28anything, it's never to judge a slasher flick by its cover. Helmed by Danishka Esterhazy,
19:33the filmmaker behind The Banana Splits, another surprisingly good slasher, this reimagining of
19:38the original once again sees a group of scantily-clad teenagers fall prey to driller-killer
19:43Russ Thorne, this time played by Rob Van Vuren. More than just a retreading of the blood-spattered
19:48gore and subversive feminist angle of its predecessor, this sleepover had some surprises
19:52of its own. Moving the carnage from the suburbs to a remote lakeside cabin, this version puts the
19:57feminist core of its predecessor front and center. These women are looking to put an end
20:01to Russ' rampage, and they'll stop at nothing to do so. The result is a wickedly self-aware and
20:06devilishly gory time. Currently sitting at a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, Slumber Party
20:11Massacre is much better than you'd expect. Night of the Living Dead 1990
20:16Kicking things off with a movie that many might have written off as doomed simply by association,
20:21Night of the Living Dead 1990 is way better than it has any right to be. Unfortunately,
20:26George A. Romero's Dead series has seen an overwhelming amount of remakes and spiritual
20:31successes that have besmirched its good name. But Night of the Living Dead 1990 was not
20:37capitalised on by a bunch of chances, no no no. This actually had involvement from Romero himself,
20:43who drafted in his longtime filmmaking partner Tom Savini to direct. And while undeniably a
20:49special effects maestro, was not guaranteed to succeed in this other field. Savini puts in a
20:56solid effort, mostly selling the threat of these updated zombies, while the changes to Barbara's
21:00character in particular make her much more compelling than her original counterpart,
21:05with an actual input in the story this time around. One Cut of the Dead
21:10Okay, so One Cut of the Dead should not work and is in a way, technically not even really a zombie
21:17movie. That's because what starts out as a seemingly low-budget horror movie about a filmmaking crew
21:23that gets attacked by real zombies while they're making a fake zombie film, ultimately reveals
21:29itself to have a hidden third layer. That's because it then reveals that what we're actually
21:34watching is really a filmmaking team making a movie about a zombie apocalypse that occurs
21:41while a movie team is filming a movie about a zombie apocalypse. Still with me? Well,
21:47with a structure like that, One Cut has to be executed, ironically if you've seen the flick
21:52perfectly, in order to maximise the impact of its twists. One thing's for sure, we won't get a movie
21:58like One Cut of the Dead again any time soon. Anna and the Apocalypse
22:02A Christmas musical set in Scotland during a zombie apocalypse. Yeah, it's no surprise that Anna and
22:08the Apocalypse was a hard sell for many horror fans. Hell, myself included. Even when the trailer
22:14dropped, it was easy to write this off as a corny genre experiment without the horror chops or catchy
22:19hooks to succeed in either of the genres that it was blending. With a set of likeable characters,
22:25mainly teenagers on the cusp of graduation, and a surprisingly strong sense of horror running
22:30through it, the movie remains compelling for its runtime. The songs are charming, the stakes are
22:36surprisingly high, and while it's not a masterpiece by any means, it is a quintessential pick for a
22:42list like this, because the disparate parts have no right being this good, but when brought together
22:48like this, they absolutely are. The Battery
22:51The Battery, admittedly, is a movie I have only seen once back when it came out in 2012,
22:57but it's testament to its impact that I genuinely still regularly think about it over a decade later,
23:03which is kinda crazy considering we've had so many bigger and more high-profile zombie films
23:08since then. What makes that even better as well is that The Battery is a passion project through
23:13and through, a micro-budget horror made for a mere $6,000 that sees two friends trying to survive
23:20on the road during a zombie apocalypse. With a budget like that, don't expect heart-stopping
23:26action and big set pieces, but The Battery does spend its money wisely, keeping the zombie threat
23:32real while more importantly showing the effect it's having on our two characters. And this is
23:37a character study through and through, showing the highs and lows, let's face it, mostly lows
23:42but I was trying to be kind, of their growing friction as they try to navigate this impossible
23:47scenario. With a unique and harrowing final reel, The Battery is proof that as long as you've got
23:52an interesting idea and intriguing characters, anyone can make a good zombie movie.
23:58Dead Snow
23:59Norwegian horror Dead Snow could have been one of those movies that has a great premise, yes,
24:03that gets people talking at parties, but doesn't actually result in an amazing full 90 minutes of
24:10cinema. Following a group of friends who cozy up in a cabin, only to accidentally find themselves
24:16on the receiving end of the wrath of a group of Nazi zombies, this comedy horror thankfully has
24:21the chops to live up to its mad premise. Featuring chainsaws, heavy weaponry and plenty of inventive
24:28death scenes, Dead Snow is far from a shameless cash-in on the Nazi zombies trend popularized by
24:34Call of Duty in the late 2000s and early 2010s. No, there's real filmmaking craft on display here,
24:42almost as if the filmmakers themselves are trying to prove any naysayers wrong who may think this is
24:47just a corny one-trick pony. It might not be Shakespeare, but hey, to my knowledge he never
24:52made a good zombie story that I know of, but what Dead Snow lacks in substance, it more than makes
24:56up for in pure cacophonous fun, all wrapped in the B-movie thrills of blood, guts and ultraviolence.
25:03Maggie
25:042015's Maggie begins with an already turned victim. After his daughter Maggie is infected
25:09with the zombie virus, it's up to Wade, played by freaking Arnold Schwarzenegger, to find a way to
25:15save her. A horror drama, Maggie looks at all the heartbreaking ways in which a zombie apocalypse
25:21could unite and tear a family apart. Now, the point of casting Schwarzenegger in the role wasn't to
25:27trade on his action movie pedigree, but rather to subvert expectations. Instead, casting him in a
25:32more human, emotion-driven role as a desperate father. That in itself is a risk, as was hiring
25:39first-time movie director Henry Hobson to guide this star. And yet somehow these strange elements
25:45come together for a harrowing and poignant tale. It's not quite a Logan or a pig, but it's way
25:51better than it could have been. Shaun of the Dead
25:54Arriving in cinemas the same year as Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, you could have been forgiven,
25:58and many were, for thinking that Shaun of the Dead was merely a cynical attempt to send up what
26:03was set to be one of the decade's most popular zombie flicks. But Edgar Wright's Rom-Zom-Com
26:09transcends any prejudgement and proved the big-screen talent that had been percolating
26:14through Edgar Wright while he worked away on a string of cult classic comedy TV shows.
26:20You probably know of the story by now. Likeable loser Shaun tries to shield his loved ones from
26:26a zombie apocalypse by hiding in a pub that may or may not have a functioning gun above the bar.
26:32Shaun of the Dead is such a horror staple today to ever think of it as a risk, or something that
26:37people were initially sceptical of, but it's surprising just how little faith people had
26:42in this flick. Resident Evil
26:45Rarely do the phrases video game adaptation and good movie sit comfortably together. You've got
26:51director Paul W.S. Anderson at the helm, a man with a spotty track record to say the least,
26:57a story that's only loosely based on the video games with none of the iconic characters from
27:02the game, a way more pronounced action focus, a dodgy CGI killer AI, and a moment where our hero
27:10Matrix-style bounces off a wall and kicks a zombie dog in the head. But it's actually kind of because
27:16of these elements, not in spite of them, that the original Resident Evil remains a rollicking good
27:21time. Yeah, it won't satisfy if you're looking for an authentic adaptation of the games, but as
27:26its own beast, it does bring the scares, the early 2000s sheen, a kick-ass hero in Milla Jovovich's
27:33Alice, and an effective secret laboratory setting that keeps the action interesting.
27:39Planet Terror
27:40B-movie passion project reminiscent of grindhouse exploitation cinema is the kind of phrase that
27:47makes film financiers wet the bed, and yet that's precisely what Robert Rodriguez managed to push
27:53through production back in 2007. Guided by the overwhelming popularity of collaborator Quentin
27:59Tarantino, who himself directed Death Proof, this film's double feature companion piece, Rodriguez
28:05was able to helm and release a flick that, in other circumstances, would never have seen the
28:10light of day. Especially at the time, where watered down studio mandated horror was king,
28:16nothing about this kitschy film, even though it was underscored by a formidable cast,
28:21including Rose McGowan, Michael Biehn, and Josh Brolin, should have worked, never mind being
28:27this good. This is a flick that turns everything up to 11, including the grain on the picture by
28:33the way. You've got machine gun legs, you've got priests with shotguns, melting faces,
28:38exploding heads, you name it, Planet Terror probably has it. It's grainy, it's gory,
28:44and it's one hell of a wild ride that simply should not exist.
28:48The Exorcist 3
28:50How many times have we seen a phenomenal original movie spawn multiple dour, dire sequels?
28:56Far too many to count. In the case of The Exorcist, that's a legendary piece of horror cinema,
29:02or cinema period to be fair, that has been followed by four pretty darn dreadful entries
29:07in what's now clearly a franchise. Away from the aforementioned four stinkers though,
29:12and there's a genuine diamond in the rough in the shape of The Exorcist 3.
29:17Released in 1990, 17 years after The Exorcist and 13 years after The Exorcist 2 The Heretic,
29:24this William Peter Blatty helmed picture is way, way better than anyone could have hoped.
29:30After the 1973 first film, The Heretic was such a massive disappointment, so by the time The
29:35Exorcist 3 rolled around so many years later, expectation was extremely low for this threequel.
29:41Moving away from the outright horror associated with the series by this point, this third film
29:46takes a rather different approach to its tale by adding in layers of a classic mystery or
29:51whodunit affair, as George C. Scott's Lieutenant Kinderman attempts to solve a case that seems to
29:57have plentiful ties to the events which troubled Reagan McNeil and Father Karras back in 1973.
30:03The Exorcist 3 is just as much a detective thriller as it is a horror movie, and the
30:08end result is something truly spectacular. Friday the 13th Part 6 Jason Lives
30:14To some, the Friday the 13th franchise should have come to an end after 1984's The Final Chapter.
30:20After all, that was the movie that actually did the unthinkable and killed off Jason Voorhees.
30:25While the following years a new beginning would reveal a copycat killer at its core,
30:30that being myth paramedic Roy Burns, of course, 86 went and brought Jason back into the fold.
30:36To do so, the now adult Tommy Jarvis heads to Voorhees' grave to check the brute is still dead.
30:42Clearly, Tommy didn't take into account the terrible weather that would result in Jason
30:46being struck by lightning and reanimated. So why did Part 6 Jason Lives have no right
30:52to be as decent as it was? Well, it basically took a giant dump on the previous two entries
30:57in the franchise, walking back the concept of the series killer being dead, bringing him back
31:02in such a bonkers way, and served up a movie that rehashed the tired tropes, as in Jason
31:07murdering generic pretty young things just because, that had caused a franchise to become stale.
31:13Still, thanks to Tom Matthews' memorable turn as Tommy, a slew of brilliantly gory kills,
31:19and some great one-liners, you have a film that's one of the very best, if not the best,
31:24outing for this franchise in its 11 picture plus one crossover run to date.
31:29Annabelle Comes Home
31:31The Annabelle of the wider Conjuring franchise is a fascinating figure.
31:35Much hyped as being a key part of James Wan's The Conjuring,
31:38this terrifying little turd was ultimately a footnote in that picture.
31:43So, when horror hounds finally got to see more of Annabelle in her own self-titled 2014 movie,
31:49anticipation was high to see this creepy doll fully in the spotlight.
31:53Unfortunately, this film was a total stinker. Still, maybe Annabelle creation could do this
31:58sinister presence justice, right? Wrong, for that was just as bad, if not worse,
32:03than its predecessor. By the time of Annabelle Comes Home in 2019, the bloom was off the rose,
32:10and nobody particularly cared about revisiting a character who interest in peaked six years prior.
32:15For those who did give Comes Home a chance, they were rewarded with a surprisingly good
32:20movie that gave audiences the sinister Annabelle in the Warrens' family home.
32:24This is what we were teased with back in The Conjuring, and this threequel ticks
32:28plentiful terrifying boxes as the titular doll causes chaos for young Judy Warren while
32:33her parents are out of town. It's not just Annabelle who shines here, mind,
32:37for McKenna Grace's Judy, her babysitter, and the sitter's pal are tormented by other
32:42demented apparitions, such as a coins-for-eyes ferryman, a pseudo-werewolf, and a possessed
32:48future-predicting TV set. Curse of Chucky
32:52When Curse of Chucky was first announced, the vast majority of horror fans rolled their eyes
32:56at what was billed as starting from scratch with a standalone tale that ignored everything seen
33:01previously in the child's play franchise. By this point, not only had Chucky long become
33:06an icon of the genre, but audiences had also developed a fondness for Charles Lee Ray's
33:12bride Tiffany and their offspring Glenn-slash-Glenda. To hear that all of this was being
33:17thrown out of the window as the franchise recalibrated after five films, that had many
33:22shaking their head at the prospect of starting an entirely new canon for everyone's favourite
33:27good guy doll. Gone were the battle-worn stitches and scars of Chucky, and instead a fresh new
33:32good guy arrives at the door of Nika and her family.
33:36While this doll starts to covertly slice its way through the family home, this is every inch a
33:41complete restart for the property. That is, of course, until it's revealed that Curse is both
33:46a do-over and a sequel, complete with appearances from franchise favourites Tiffany-slash-Jennifer
33:52Tilly and Andy Barclay. In Curse of Chucky, we have a film which exemplifies how to breathe
33:57fresh life into a series while still being respectful to what has come before. And for
34:02that, writer-director Don Mancini deserves huge credit.
34:06Final Destination 5
34:08After four previous pictures, the Final Destination franchise returned in 2011 for yet another outing,
34:14which was very much presented as the same old same old of an opening act catastrophe being
34:19averted and death then hunting down those who escaped said disaster. For the most part,
34:24that's exactly what we got with all of the regular Final Destination tropes being ticked
34:28off across the majority of this fifth entry's 92-minute runtime.
34:33Sure, there's nothing particularly wrong with the familiar Final Destination narrative,
34:37and it's always guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat for its fake-outs,
34:40but after five films, that basic concept can start to feel a smidge stale.
34:45That's where Final Destination 5 came through, and came through big, by delivering a twist ending
34:51that elevated the movie from forgettable to memorable. That twist ending, of course,
34:56is that the final few minutes of Final Destination 5 revealed that this sequel
35:00was really a prequel, as showcased by two of our survivors getting on the same
35:05flight that exploded during the start of the very first Final Destination picture.
35:09Paranormal Activity 3
35:12By their very nature, sequels tend to operate under a law of diminishing returns.
35:16These follow-ups exist because an initial idea proved to be successful,
35:20and thus that concept is expanded on and revisited in future films,
35:24usually in a way that sees that base kernel of the franchise become less special.
35:29With the Paranormal Activity series, the second film very much fit in with the above logic.
35:34The original movie was a belter which caught the imagination of horror hounds across the globe,
35:39and reinvigorated the long-stagnant found-footage subgenre, and the second
35:44Paranormal Activity offering was decent, but nowhere near as good as its predecessor.
35:49Traditionally, Paranormal Activity 3 would have been worse than Paranormal Activity 2,
35:54and would have been followed by more sequels that got progressively worse with each passing entry.
35:59Surprisingly, this threequel proved to be a fantastic, harrowing effort,
36:03which managed to equal the quality and terror of the 2007 original.
36:08Plot-wise, directors Henry Joost and Raoul Shulman spotlight the younger days of sisters Katie and
36:14Christy, the focus of Paranormal Activity and Paranormal Activity 2 respectively,
36:18and explore their first interactions with the demonic presence that's tormented them in adulthood.
36:23The scares, the ominous sense of dread, and the inventive ways of framing this story
36:28make for a thoroughly disturbing watch.
36:30Evil Dead 2
36:32The biggest reason why Evil Dead 2 should be a stinker of a movie on paper is because many view
36:37the film to actually be a loose remake of the first Evil Dead picture. For decades, the debate
36:43has ravaged on amongst horror hounds as to whether Evil Dead 2 is a sequel or a remake.
36:49Even franchise star Bruce Campbell isn't entirely sure on this matter, with him instead labelling
36:54the film a requel during a 2016 interview with Bay at the Moon Productions.
37:00Given how much of Evil Dead 2 tells a story extremely close to the one seen in The Evil
37:06Dead, that alone should have meant that the film wouldn't be all that well received by fans.
37:10Added to that, this 1987 offering opted to go in a far more slapstick direction than its chilling,
37:16terrifying predecessor. So here you have a sequel that rehashes several pivotal parts of the original
37:22movie, and that strips away some of the balls-to-the-wall scares in favour of a more
37:27comedic approach to its antics. Gloriously, this all comes together to work majestically,
37:32and truly set the tone for what the greater Evil Dead franchise would become synonymous with.
37:37Dawn of the Dead
37:39George A. Romero was an utter genius. This is the person who popularised the concept of ghouls,
37:44and who crafted some of the greatest horror films in history. The reason why Romero's Dawn of the
37:50Dead features on a list of movies that didn't have any right to be as good as they are,
37:54is that the filmmaker somehow managed to top another all-time classic, that being 1968's Night
37:59of the Living Dead, with this 78 picture. Night of the Living Dead revolutionised horror and cinema,
38:06and stands as one of the greats of the genre. So, by traditional film logic,
38:11that initial picture should never be topped by whatever sequels were to follow it.
38:15Completely disregarding this logic, Romero somehow went and bettered Night,
38:19with the mesmerising social commentary charge Dawn, a decade later.
38:24With the ghouls of Night having now spread across the United States,
38:27Dawn of the Dead finds a group of survivors who seek shelter in a shopping mall.
38:31It's terrifying, it's humorous, it's satirical,
38:34and it's forever engaging across the film's two-hour runtime.
38:39For George A. Romero to follow an iconic movie with an even more iconic sequel?
38:43Well, that's just absolutely taking the piss in the best possible way.
38:50There were so many things that could have caused The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 to be rejected by
38:55fans of Tobey Hooper's 1974 classic. Following that iconic industry changer was always going
39:01to be an uphill battle. Plus, it was 12 years since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
39:05and Tobey Hooper boldly delivered a sequel that was vastly different tonally to what had come
39:10before. With TCM 2, that film was laced with black comedy and a sense of playfulness.
39:15And as part of that playfulness, Leatherface and his pops are joined by Chop Top,
39:19played brilliantly by genre-fave Bill Moseley. And elsewhere, there's fresh protagonists in
39:24the shape of Dennis Hopper's Lefty Enright, the uncle of the original film's Sally and Franklin,
39:28and Caroline Williams' radio DJ Stretch. It may have received a somewhat mixed response upon
39:33its initial release, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 nowadays, thankfully, gets a lot more
39:38love. Tommy Verkola's Dead Snow won a whole host of plaudits, with the humour, heart and heaps of
39:46gore striking a chord with many. Nazi zombies attacking in the snowy Norwegian hills? That's
39:51certainly quite the unique premise. And it was one that was unique enough to pull off once,
39:55but surely it couldn't be replicated? Well, Dead Snow 2 Red vs Dead not only replicated that 2009
40:01movie, but managed to better it. As the sequel opens, original survivor Martin has a zombie
40:07arm attached to him that gives him the ability to summon the undead for his own means, yes.
40:13And that comes in extremely handy, of course, when he and his new zombie squad pals have to face the
40:17wrath of Herzog, who is, of course, one of the former right-hand men of Adolf Hitler.
40:22Much like the first film, Dead Snow 2 is often beautiful, with the crisp scenery popping from
40:27the screen, and also being useful in showcasing elaborate sequences of bloodshed and brutality.
40:32Red blood, white snow, perfect mix. Dead Snow is an absolutely bonkers brilliant movie,
40:38and Dead Snow 2 Red vs Dead is that and then some.
40:42Wrong Turn 2021
40:44The first Wrong Turn was solid, the first sequel was okay, but the rest, yeah, it's a bit of a
40:49slog for those who stuck around to watch Left 4 Dead, Billy Beginnings, Bloodlines, and of course,
40:53Last Resort. So, by 2021, there was minimal interest in yet another outing for a franchise
40:59which, truthfully, had become old hat just by the second film. Even more concerning, the 2021 film,
41:05simply titled Wrong Turn, was a second reboot for the franchise. And words like reboot,
41:10remake and reimagining, ugh, they put a cold shiver down the spine.
41:13In a development nobody saw coming, the latest Wrong Turn movie was actually pretty darn good,
41:18pulling back on the gratuitous gore of the franchise, plus removing Three Finger,
41:22Sawtooth and One Eye, the result was a more stylish film that takes its time with its terror.
41:26Rather than the mutated cannibals of fried movies, the bad guys of this picture are some
41:30primitive humans who live in their foundation community out in the woods, all headed up by
41:35the ever great Bill Sage. Always good to see you, Bill. That's not to say that Wrong Turn 2021
41:39doesn't have some gnarly moments, of course, as there is plenty of twisted brutality when
41:43it is called for. Amityville 2 The Possession
41:46As of now, there are a staggering 45 movies that carry the Amityville name. Some of these feature
41:53possessed clocks and mirrors from the old Amityville house, others take things to actual
41:57space and one even centres on a sinister sex toy. Yes, it really does. Of all of these films,
42:03the very best could well be 1982's Amityville 2 The Possession, which is technically a prequel
42:09that takes place before the Lutz family moved into the infamous house, one year after the
42:14family massacre. Here, the DeFeo name is switched out for the Montelles, led by the late great
42:19Burt Young as family patriarch Anthony, who rules with an iron fist and is worryingly eager to
42:24physically assault his wife, children and even threatens a priest. While Young's character is
42:28a proper scumbag though, it's the family's oldest child Sonny who ends up taking centre stage,
42:32as the house possesses him to do its nefarious bidding. Granted, it's a smidge cheesy in places,
42:37very much a product of its time, but Damiano Damiani's Amityville 2 The Possession is a
42:42fantastic, creepy as all hell picture that descends into absolute chaos by the end.
42:47Halloween 3 Season of the Witch
42:50Halloween took the slasher subgenre to a whole other level, and Halloween 2,
42:54that remains one of the most underrated sequels in horror history. Of course,
42:58these movies also introduced us to three all-timer characters in Michael Myers,
43:03Laurie Strode and the crazy, erratic, magnificent Dr Samuel Loomis, so it was quite the curveball
43:09for the third Halloween movie to leave Haddonfield, the Shape, Laurie and Loomis in
43:12its rearview mirror, and that surprise direction was reflected in the mixed response to the movie
43:17at the time of its 1982 release. Halloween 3 Season of the Witch was intended to take the
43:21franchise in an anthology route, each subsequent new movie serving as a standalone picture,
43:26not tethered to other entries in the series. For Halloween 3, the focus switched to the
43:30mysterious Silver Shamrock Company and their must-have Halloween masks, which just so happen
43:34to turn people's minds to literal mush. We're talking maggots, snakes, all sorts of stuff.
43:39Gnarly. Desperate to stop this scheme, it's Tom Atkins, Dan Chalice and Stacey Nelkins,
43:44Ellie Grimbridge, on a quest to put paid to Silver Shamrock's plans. While some struggle
43:48with the concept of a Michael-less Halloween picture, Season of the Witch is a stunning
43:52slice of sci-fi horror that, thankfully, seems to be getting more appreciated in more recent years.
43:58Hellraiser 2022
44:00The Hellraiser series is one full of far more stinkers than it is classics,
44:05with the 11-film franchise one condemned to straight-to-DVD releases after just its fourth
44:10movie. While it didn't get a theatrical release, last year's soft reboot of the franchise was far
44:15better than anyone was expecting. Long had fans been burned by dumpster fires such as Hellraiser
44:20Revelations, Hellraiser Hellseeker and Hellraiser Hellworld, and thus anticipation was low here.
44:26Bringing a welcome lick of fresh paint to the stagnant series, David Bruckner's Hellraiser
44:30features a mesmerising Jamie Clayton as the priest, the leader of the Cenobites. Of course,
44:34some bemoaned Hellraiser for gender-swapping pinhead, but that was a stupid argument in
44:38the first place, and those naysayers were looking rather daft when Clayton absolutely
44:42knocked it out of the park. Being immediately released to streaming platforms didn't really
44:46help the 2022 Hellraiser, yet this film stands as the finest entry in the franchise, probably
44:51since Hellbound Hellraiser 2 all the way back in 1988.
44:56Saw X
44:57Given how the franchise hadn't been truly great for over a decade, few expected much
45:01from Saw X. And to the surprise of many, though, Saw X is actually one of the better instalments
45:06in the entire 20 years of the Saw franchise, and it manages to do that while taking a slightly
45:11different approach to prior Saw films. A prequel that has a lot more heart than one might expect,
45:15and obviously plenty of garish traps and bloodshed, here we find a John Kramer dealing
45:20with the stark reality of only having months to live due to his brain cancer diagnosis.
45:24Set between Saws 1 and 2, and with Amanda Young back as his apprentice,
45:28John Kramer is afforded the hope of a miraculous recovery due to a Norwegian treatment that somehow
45:33cured some of his fellow cancer patients. It would feel a little harsh to go into any further plot
45:37details, but the end result is an extremely thoughtful, delicate entry in a franchise that
45:41eventually just became synonymous with nothing more than the standard trappings of the torture
45:45porn sub-genre. Psycho II
45:48Much like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, 1983's Psycho II faced so many problems due to what it
45:54had to live up to, and because of the sheer amount of time that had passed since its predecessor.
45:58Whereas the gap between the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was
46:0212 years, it was a staggering 23 years between Psycho and Psycho II, only adding further to the
46:08pressure of attempting to follow up on Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece. Clearly, it would
46:13be impossible to make a movie as flawless as Psycho, but Psycho II manages to provide a great
46:18update on Norman Bates. With Anthony Perkins back in the saddle, we pick things up with Norman as
46:23he's freed from a mental asylum, just as a new batch of murders take place in and around the Bates
46:27Motel. Showing a wide variety of emotions in an exquisite performance, Perkins' Norman is
46:33genuinely unsure whether his mother persona is responsible for all of this bloodshed,
46:37or whether something else entirely is at play. Psycho II brilliantly plays with the formula of
46:42the first movie to create a gripping mystery that makes the 23-year wait all very much worth it.
46:47Evil Dead Rise
46:49When looking at the greatest franchises in horror, Evil Dead is the most consistent. The world of
46:53the Deadites had served up an excellent trilogy, a fantastic reboot, and a bloody brilliant TV
46:59series. And some pretty badass video games while we're at it as well. While there was extreme
47:03trepidation surrounding Feli Alvarez's 2013 Evil Dead, that trepidation was even more prevalent for
47:08Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise. With no Ashley J. Williams in sight, and with the familiar cabin in
47:13the woods setting removed, Rise seemed doomed once it was announced that it'd be getting a
47:17quiet release on HBO Max rather than a full theatrical release. Positive early screenings
47:22though, that did mean that Evil Dead Rise got a very short US cinema run, but the film was available
47:27to stream mere weeks after that run. But man, what a devilish delight of a movie Rise proved to be.
47:32Did anybody miss Ash? Nope. Did anybody miss the woods? Nope. Instead, Lee Cronin delivered
47:37a claustrophobic, chilling slice of horror as the action switched to a rundown, high-rise building,
47:42with Alyssa Sutherland on particularly disturbing form as Ellie, a mother who falls under the spell
47:47of the deadites.