Another one of Jamie Lee Curtis’ “scream queen” movies from the 80’s and a surprise casting of David Copperfield (amazingly playing “The Magician” as it notes in the credits). The film follows the now common cliche of a group of young people doing something horrible to an unpopular kid and then later, having to pay the price for their past mistake & guilt. The killer’s “Groucho Marx” mask is cheesy and yet kind of disconcerting because it’s so unexpected at the beginning. And because things are set on New Year’s Eve during a costume party, the film uses the “killer changing costumes” trope providing a new disguise after each kill.

Jamie Lee Curtis plays a similar heroine in a lot of these scream queen films but I feel like this one of her stronger and more interesting versions of the character. I’ve also got to mention the veteran actor Ben Johnson who plays the train conductor. He’s so good and adds a level of believability and gravitas to the whole thing. There’s a weird magic thing going on the whole time that actually becomes some of the most entertaining parts of the film. There’s also the obligatory disco music that sounds so out of place today.

Terror Train is one of the more enjoyable horror films from the era thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis’ charisma and an interesting premise using a train to put a new take on the slasher genre.

The original Friday the 13th has virtually nothing to do with the Jason lore the public knows today. And although the sequel is actually really effective in places (that ending is awesome), it also shows very little resemblance to the Jason we all know. It wasn’t until Part 3 that we get the hockey-mask wearing, machete carrying monster that has become a staple of Halloween store displays and corporate costumes.

This is also when things get ridiculous (well, maybe it was ridiculous from the beginning) but the murders become comically staged such as when a man doing handstands is sliced in half in the most jokey way possible. There’s also a Psycho homage scene in a shower that plays out in a pretty non obvious way.

None of the Friday the 13th’s are particularly brilliant (especially the horrible remake) but they are definitely fun and part 3 is when things became really entertaining and when most of the iconic moments the films are known for first appeared.

A classic of the genre and by some, considered to be the greatest horror film of all time. But it’s as much a thriller as a horror film. What really sets it apart is a third act that is positively alarming. With heavy religious overtones and questioning of global belief systems, the film works on multiple levels.

Sure the music is horribly dated in places and as was typical of many early 1970’s films, the use of songs with contemporary vocals gets in the way sometimes. But the Keltic-sounding compositions add an eerie calm and spin an almost hypnotic web. The animal masks and cheery dispositions of the townspeople (in contrast to the sometimes dreary events) is also haunting and effective.

Starring Edward Woodward (known best from TV’s The Equalizer) as a devoutly Christian policeman, there’s a high degree a realism (when the music is not getting in the way). Christopher Lee plays one of his most iconic roles. Lee felt this was one of his best performances and I agree. A powerful film that poses compelling questions and that ending, still shocking over 40 years later.

This is the one that started it all. Not only did this film save the Hammer film studio, it resurrected (pun intended) the entire horror film genre. This is my favorite telling of the classic Frankenstein story and because of copyright threats, the story is tweaked here in many ways from the original Mary Shelly classic which may seem to be a bad thing but really, the changes make the entire tale more compelling and engrossing.

Peter Cushing gives a powerful and memorable performance as Dr. Frankenstein and Christopher Lee stars as “the creature.” Because Universal Studios was threatening to sue Hammer if Universal’s creature design or story beats were used, the makeup applied to Lee is totally different than any other frankenstein before. This gives a much more terrifying effect as the creature looks more like what a real collection of dead body parts might actually be, disturbing even to this day.

The gothic Victorian setting gives this film a timeless quality, the plot moves along at a brisk pace, and the acting is top notch throughout. This is the frankenstein movie you need to see.

An instant classic of the gothic horror genre, Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015) brings class, style, substance, and production values back to the horror genre in a big way. No found footage here. This is good old-fashioned, big budget horror, the likes of which we haven’t seen in theaters for a long time and it’s long overdue.

If there’s one fault here, it’s the predictable story and pacing. But if you understand what I believe Del Toro is going for, using inspiration from films like The Innocents (1961) and The Haunting (1963) as well as all kinds of references to Italian horror and Victorian-era conventions, then Crimson Peak is spot on even down to the exposition-spouting ending. In a lot of ways, Crimson Peak is like an updated Hammer Horror film. And the script, acting, and pacing fit perfectly when viewed from that perspective.

The acting is fabulous with an especially standout performance by Jessica Chastain. She sells her character 100%. I should also mention that the female characters are handled very well here, no damsels in distress to be found. The imagery and creature designs are as beautiful as you’d expect from Del Toro and the art direction & costumes, just…wow. Every frame is a gorgeous splash of color and creativity.

I implore you to go see this film, support it, put your dollars towards a horror film with an actual budget and help tell Hollywood we want more original stories like this.

Quentin Tarantino has controversially said that Psycho II is better than the original. He’s right this sequel is so much better than you’d expect and keeps the series quality surprisingly high but the main reason this sequel works so well is because of the first. Audiences bring in all the context and baggage from the first film, and because of that, Psycho II crackles with tension. I should also mention that the film is shot with lighting and costume/set designs that have made it age very gracefully, still looking modern and “classic” even today.

The story of Anthony Perkins career and sad death is filled with disappointment. A brilliant actor, so good, so believable, that his most popular character Norman Bates become synonymous with him to the point of him being typecast and even shunned because of his association with the psychopathic character. It’s a real shame because I believe Perkins had a lot of other great roles in him that he was unfortunately passed up for. But we can take some solace in the fact that we got several performances of Perkins as Norman Bates through the sequels, just showing how great of an actor he was.

Psycho II is much better than it had any right to be, a clever spin on the well-known story of the first, and with a timeless performance from Anthony Perkins.

Body Bags was a TV movie that originally aired on Showtime. The movie is an anthology film, consisting of three separate short horror stories. The first two are directed by John Carpenter himself and the last is directed by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The first part (Gas Station) feels more like a mundane Twilight Zone episode but then turns into an over the top slasher. It’s the scariest of the three.

The second (Hair) is more of a comedy / horror with Stacy Keach playing a balding man who undergoes a disastrous hair treatment. The final is my personal favorite (Eye) starring Mark Hamill as an up and coming baseball player who suffers a severe injury to his eye and undergoes the first eye-replacement surgery. Though the surgery is a success, unfortunately the donor eye was from a killer and the eye begins to take over. Mark Hamill has the perfectly cheesy line when his wife him to come in from digging in the backyard, “I can’t. I have to finish digging your grave.”

Possibly the best part (certainly the most entertaining) is seeing John Carpenter with heavy makeup and dressed up as a morgue worker spouting one-liners and dead body puns. Hilarious. It’s not a masterpiece but hey, it’s John Carpenter and it’s a blast.