Not every monster and maniac gets to be on Hell’s Mount Rushmore.
Let’s take a moment to remember some other awesome horror characters.
These are names synonymous with October.
Theyre some of the icons of horror and/or Halloween.
And you know what?
We hear enough about them.
Lets take a second to look at the second, third, and even fourth tier down.
The unsung horror icons who dont get the mainstream love like the A-list slashers.
You know, because Halloween and…Anyway.
No, this sadly isnt the world that we live in, but I wish it were.
Believe it or not, there are threeBasket Casefilms that all dig into this tiny terror.
Surprisingly Belial gets a number of films to work through these issues, strengthening his character more each time.
Bubba Ho-Tep is like the antithesis of your usual mass-murdering unresting spirit.
Usually, these kinds of guys go after the children.
The only people possibly capable of stopping him are the people who will refuse to believe the potential victims.
The Car actually delivers a very solid performance.
Sometimes its angry, pensive, or even frustrated.
The Car is as well developed a character as any of its human co-stars.
Did I mention that The Car can laugh?
Well it can and it does.
It takes place in a canyon and involves TNT.
I probably couldve been clearer there.
P.S.Guillermo del Torohad a fully functional replica of The Car built to use as his getting-around-town vehicle.
He hasnt murdered any pedestrians with it, to our knowledge.
What if Genie from DisneysAladdinwas a handsome demon monster with genitals made of fire?
Well, wonder no longer.
Billy Zane plays the title character, I think.
Rumor has it that James Cameron cast Billy Zane inTitanicbased on his performance in this film.
Hes just so darn good at pretending to be a colossal jerk.
That scene on the beach?
Like take that in.
When was the last time you felt that in aGodzillafilm?
Its a sentient(-ish) fortress with the express purpose of taking down and trapping its prey.
Whats more to the point and efficient than that?
There are 17,576 torturous rooms to navigate through here.
Youre probably wondering why the wolf isnt the one listed as the big bad, instead of David.
Surely the wolf is the monster in this film.
Catch a bus to the middle of nowhere to take a stab at minimize the damage hell do?
Are you serious, David?
Turns out, the answer is may not.
Watch NightBreed on Amazon
DR. WILLIAM WEIR
Event Horizon
OhEvent Horizon.
I should love you.
I should unfairly compare all future loves to you.
But, though Ill always cherish our time together, I think were better off as friends.
Its about a haunted spaceship that has been to Hell.
This should be my all-time favorite film.
What should have beenHellraiserin space turned out to be more likeHellraiser: Bloodlinein space.
I mean,Bloodlinewas already in space, partly.
They were both edited into oblivion and should have been much stronger films.
That was the point.
Wait, now Im talking aboutBloodline.
Why am I here?
What could go wrong?
The gravity drive was tested aboard the starship Event Horizon, which promptly disappeared.
Anyone that steps aboard her is made to hallucinate, mutilate themselves and/or die horribly.
Then, back down to Hell they all go.
Dr. Weir, however, becomes possessed by the haunted ship and begins killing the crew.
The band .357 Lover wrote a rockin crustbuster about this film which is absolutely worth your time.
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GAGE CREED
Pet Sematary
Evil children are the worst.
I mean, what do you do to defend yourself?
Grab their arms and force them to repeatedly punch themselves in the face?
Do that thing where you hold your hand on their forehead while they struggle to walk towards you?
And what if the evil child is your own child?
Only catch is, whatever comes back is now evil.
Gage comes back, evil as all get out and with a substantially more advanced vocabulary.
It wasnt THAT bold of a statement, but its one that I stand by.
This film is beautiful, oppressive and it growls.
It literally growls at you.
It also happens to have the all-time heavyweight champ of jump scares.
And he does all of this from the confines of a straight jacket.
Patrick Ewing makes a cameo as the angel of death, which is a bit miscast.
Every Knicks fan knows that the angel of death is Reggie Miller.
?but thats part of the reason why these creatures work so well.
The same killer that murdered her previous friends in ways that just didnt make sense, logically.
When she films the killer, her camera simply refuses to record him.
He appears as a tracking glitch, reduced to a blur that cant be comprehended.
You will die whether you believe in them or not.
Its easy to see how this guy would move onto things likeHellboy,Pans Labyrinth, andPacific Rim.
Guillermo del Toro just feels most at home when hes playing with monsters.
He even turns Charlies one friend, ONE friend, into a vampire.
And what does Jerry do when confronted by this dime store Van Helsing?
He mocks him, belittles him and sends him running away in complete shame.
Jerry Dandridge, prince of jerkness.
Thats sometimes a hard thing to conveyespecially in a film thats filled with ghostsbut the Grim Reaper achieves this.
Peter Jackson has created a super rich villain here.
Mark Duplass plays Josef with such a normal, depressing quality that really works for him.
Creeps exploration of that line and keeping you guessing is why this all works so well.
Plus, that ending, you guys.
Talk about a misguided trust exercise.
I wont go into the plot, because it should really be experienced spoiler-free.
A lot of comparisons have been made toThe Matrixwith its whole reality-is-not-what-it-seems angle, but thats not entirely fair.
When he points his hand at you and says Sleep, now, guess what?
Youre gonna sleep.
Practical effects that look like a natural cross between animatronics and just really good prosthetics.
Winstons said that the creature is supposed to resemble a rotting, cancerous organ, and it does.
Its a nice ripple in all of this that underlines the downside of revenge once more.
Its during the final conflict when we get my favorite moment of the film.
so you can buy his comrades some time, Rudy storms into conflict with some vampire women.
before wasting said vampires with some wooden arrows.
But just in case, lets wax poetic about the enigmatic demon child.
The movie is an anthology of stories, ending with a Sam-based final tale.
Despite that, he shows up constantly throughout the picture.
A flashback to 30 years prior shows him existing and looking exactly the same.
He is the enforcer of Halloween.
The holidays Krampus, if you will (fitting, considering creator Michael Dougherty went on to directKrampus).
Sam makes sure that people agree to the rules of Halloween, or else.
But hey, Alice Cooper is one of his minions briefly, so theres also that!
Blade simply has a knife though!
read more: The Underrated Horror Movies of the 1990s
Six-Shooter is a spider-cowboy hybrid that wields six guns!
Leech Woman actually spews real leeches into her victims mouths in some disturbing kiss of death.
SPACE WORMS
Slither
BeforeJames Gunnwas blowing your mind and creating mega-blockbusters.
He was helping quirky creature features likeSlither.
Add to that the films biting sarcasm and youve got a creative winner on your hands.
Watch Slither on Amazon
TUGWELL
Cast A Deadly Spell
Okay, full disclosure.
Im including this one for my own satisfaction.
Ill sleep well, knowing that Ive turned at least a few people on to this hidden gem.
HBO produced this film for TV and is (to my chagrin) unfairly overlooked.
OConnor plays Tugwell, a mob enforcer who has traded in his slapjack for spell book.
Hes a big creep.
In a certain sense that clearly defined mission makes the Woman even more frightening.
Shes as singularly focused as some force of nature like Michael Myers.
Like Myers, he wears a bland Halloween mask that makes him look expressionless and ominous.
He preys on campers, much like Jasons known for.
And with Freddy, he both has the janitorial job and the ability to haunt children through their dreams.
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