A poltergeist movie that is nothing like Poltergeist, The Entity stars Barbara Hershey as a woman who is repeatedly raped by an angry ghost. Amazing effects and believable acting make The Entity very scary indeed. Ron Silver is on hand as “the guy who should believe by now but is still skeptical”, and his insistance on medical tests and so on make you feel as frustrated as the victim. Well worth tracking down, if you haven’t seen it you are in for a scary treat.
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This is one of those movies that scared you as a kid and you can’t help being a little scared when you watch it as an adult. When that little vampire boy is rapping on his buddy’s window, “Let me in Mark! Let me in!”. Good stuff. The head vampire is a copy of Nosferatu, and the effect is great.
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While I love big-budget horror movies, I love great but cheap horror movies even more. Castle Freak is a great example of what you can do with access to a real castle and a great makeup man. Amazing atmosphere, a solid story and real chills make this one worth tracking down on dvd.
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Underrated and often forgotten, Stir of Echos is a first-rate ghost story. When released, Stir of Echos was up against The Sixth Sense at the theater, thereby ruining it’s chances there. This one is well worth getting on dvd. Kevin Bacon plays Tom, a regular guy who starts to see random flashes of violence and a young girl out of the corner of his eye. A small, creepy movie that sticks with you for a while after viewing.
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Herbert West has invented a chemical that can “re-animate” dead tissue, and he will continue his experiments regardless of how far wrong things are going. With a very sick sense of humor and plenty of blood and guts, Re-Animator is one crazy ride. See Herbert bring a cat back to life, see him kill it, see him bring it back to life again! See the decapitated head scheme against Herbert and his friends! Highly recommended.
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Steven Spielberg is responsible for this one, a movie that is famous for the quote “They’re here…”. A family living the American dream discovers their house is haunted when their little girl is abducted into the unknown. Poltergeist set a new standard for special effects when it was released in 1982, and they hold up well even today. Computer generated effects mixed with amazing makeup and mechanical tricks are fused together with an excellent script and solid actors across the board. There was an uproar when a movie this frightening was released as rated PG, and this movie was the reason PG-13 was then invented. A ghost story with plenty of action and suspense, it’s a must-see for horror movie fans.
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This movie makes the short list of worthwhile werewolf movies, and is in fact the reason a lot of modern werewolf movies are even made. In 1980 The Howling defined a new standard in special effects, and they hold up even today. No computer graphics, just makeup and mechanics, and the results are terrifying. A woman reporter is attacked during a meeting with a source in a seedy part of town, and develops amnesia regarding the event. While on a retreat to a commune in the woods, she discovers she is among a pack of werewolves, and the fight to escape begins. Keeping sacred the mythology of the werewolf, including the power of the silver bullet, The Howling breaks new ground by taking the subject matter so seriously that you are forced to believe.
Full review here.