Topy 5 Horror Moives of 1989

The last year of just a fantastic decade for horror films.  The slasher films start to wain and die off but there are still a ton of great horror films in this year.  Although I have to say it is the worst year for 3 big franchises: Halloween 5, Friday the 13th Part 8 and Nightmare on Elms St part 5.  All 3 in my opinion are flops.  Each one had a giant success with the prev installments but could not sustain it.  Spoiler here!  None of those 3 make my top 5 list.

Pet Sematary

Stephen King the master!  This is one of my favorite King movie and one of the few films that actually scared me and gave me nightmares multiple nights in a row.  Very deserving of #5 on this list.

Puppetmaster 

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a Full Moon nut.  This it the one that started the Full Moon success that lasted through most of the 90's.  I don't care for this one as much as the sequels but I love it all the same.  No real notable actors in this one but a nice cameo by Barbara Crampton.

Clownhouse

A controversial film to say the least but not because of the film itself but what went on behind the curtains.  Unfortunately this one will probably not see another release on DVD or BluRay.  If it did I would be surprised.  If you have never seen it I recommend it, you can watch the full movie on You Tube.  The quality is not great but unless you were lucky enough to get a copy that never really hit the shelves then it is the only way.

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland

The 2nd sequel to the 1983 masterpiece starring Bruce's little sister Pamela Springsteen as our Transgender killer.  While this was filmed at the same time as Part II it was not released till a year later.  My favorite of the series honestly.

Warlock

One of my favorite movies that is severely underrated.  Steve Miner, who is well recognized in the horror world, did a fantastic job with this film.  Not only is it creepy as shit but Julian Sands turns in an outstanding performance of a very evil warlock.  So yes this is my #1 of 1989!

J.R.'s Top 5 list of Horror Movies for 1987

The late 80's hold a special place for me because it was when I started watching horror movies.  I may have only been 7 or 8 but I knew what was a good movie.  1987 looking at the list of horror movies released, I am finding it really hard to pick just 5.  Love the picks or hate them, this is my top 5 of 1987.

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II

The Prom Night sequels are guilty pleasures of mine.  Prom Night II is so much fun you can't help but  have a blast watching it.  True it does not have anything to do with the original and does not star Jamie Lee Curtis but it is a great watch and I highly recommend it!

Creepshow 2

The follow up to the anthology horror success of Stephen King and George Romero is my number 4.  I could watch this movie probably once a week and never get tired of it.  It has just the right mixture of cheese and just good horor.  There are only 3 stories on this one opposed to the original that had 5 but it does not lack in quality.

Dolls

This great film I really did not see till much later.  Mainly because the movie poster and the previews freaked me out when I was little and I was too terrified to see it.  I am a sucker for killer doll movies like this and Puppetmaster.  Guy Rolfe is such a great actor too.  His performance is one of the reasons I love this movie.

The Lost Boys

I am not a huge fan of vampire movies but this is one of best in my opinion.  Packed with a cast of young and virtually unknown actors at the time makes this movie so enjoyable.  I have to mention also that Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander will be appearing at the Twisted Tails Film Festival hosted by Twisted Central.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

This film has to be my number 1 for 1987.  Not only is it the best out of the franchise in my opinion but it is also the first horror movie that I ever watched.  This movie started it all for me.  It totally scared the shit out of me at that age but I still loved it and Freddy Krueger.

Top 5 Horror Films of 1984

As I look through the list of 1984, it was really not a big year for horror movies but 1984 was not boring at all.  This is the year for some big horror blockbusters.  Real classics that made the genre what it is today.  Let's see what we got, shall we?

Night of the Comet

I just saw this recently for the first time.  Not really so much scary as just cheesy 80's awesomeness.  It was good enough to make #5 on the list.

Children of the Corn

A Stephen King book turned to the big screen with a bunch of creepy fuckin kids who are out to kill all the adults in Gatlin.  Oh yea, Linda Hamilton is in this one too!!

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 

Love or hate this movie, it is one of the better Friday sequels.  Certainly not the best but Ted White did an excellent job of playing the larger more destructive Jason and a young Corey Feldman that was pretty alright as well.  While Kimberly Beck was no Amy Steel as a final girl she was a hell of a lot better than Dana Kimmell.  As much as I like Part III I still have to admit Dana was pretty awful.

Silent Night Deadly Night

My absolute favorite movie to watch around the holiday season.  This film really is a slasher film in every way.  Unfortunately it was picketed by the PTA so bad that it only lasted a couple of weeks in the theaters and not getting a release on VHS till some time after.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Of course this was going to be #1 on the list.  The first big hit released by New Line Cinema and another masterpiece in horror for Wes Craven.  Introducing everyone to Freddy Krueger played by Roger Englund and his glove of blades.

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest 1995 - Review

The third installment in the Children of the Corn series that has spawned a total of 9 films including a remake of the original.  The original story was written by Stephen King, and as most of his work it falls nothing short of creepy and downright frightening.  All of the sequels do lack the writing and sheer terror that Stephen King was able to deliver but that does not mean they are not good movies. 

In Gatlin, Nebraska Joshua (Ron Melendez) is running from his drunken father through the corn field.  By the scarecrow he finds his brother Eli (Daniel Cerney) who tells him to go ahead and he will be right behind him, he was going to handle their Father.  Eli puts his bible in the ground and calls upon “he who walks behind the rose” to protect them.  Their Father is overtaken by Eli’s powers and is turned in to the new scarecrow for the corn field.  Without a Father now the boys are adopted by a couple in Chicago William (Jim Metzler) and Amanda (Nancy Lee Grahn) Porter who have no idea what they are in for.  Immediately Amanda takes a liking to Joshua and William takes a liking to Eli.  Joshua is the more naive kind while Eli knows exactly what he is doing and is very evil.  Shortly after moving in Eli plants his corn seeds in an abandoned factory that is almost connected to the backyard of the Porters.  Within 6 weeks the cornfield is fully grown and is time to harvest.  Meanwhile, at school Eli has alienated almost the whole school and made the students his followers.  Joshua has started to put everything together by now and is not interested in being associated with Eli.  Eli needs to be stopped before he takes over all of urban Chicago and his corn gets exported all over the world through William and is trading deals he has set up.

This was the last movie in the Children of the Corn series to be released in the theaters.  Having said that it was not in the theaters that long at all.  Urban Harvest did receive negative reactions from the critics.  The acting is not terrible, but is not the best either.  This is a slasher film made in the 90’s, a decade when slashers were few and far between.  The plot of the film and is put together well and it does a good job of carrying on the storyline from the original film with the flashback scenes that links Eli to the first one.  The only terrible thing about the movie was the ending.  I am not going to spoil it but it is laughable and will leave you thinking, did the really just happen.   This is also the film debut of Charlize Theron who plays one of the followers of Eli.  She does not get a whole lot of screen time but it is more than a few scenes.  Urban Harvest premiered theatrically on September 12^th, 1995 with a limited run.

Out of all the sequels I think this one the best.  Aside from the ending Urban Harvest is a fun horror movie that is loaded with great death scenes, lots of blood and a very evil undertone.  I really liked the characters and their development.  Joshua’s character was naïve and did not have a clue what was going on at the beginning of the movie but by the end he realized what an evil bastard Eli is and how to take care of himself.  If the ending was not such a joke I would say this whole movie was great as it is I can only say most of the movie is great.  Stephen King may not have written the sequels but for the most part they did not let down in keeping with the original storyline.  Stay twisted everyone!