EVIL DEAD aka THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

"Can they be stopped?"

1981 - Color - 85 minutes - NR - Director: Sam Raimi

"Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons."

What a simple premise for a movie that had the biggest influence on me mentally and physically (it made me sick to my stomach) as a kid. When I first witnessed this movie I was nine years old and it was directly after viewing the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time. What a nightmare of a film night my dad put me through. In my mind I knew these films were fiction but I knew this stuff could really happen. Chainsaw massacres: TRUE (I'd seen America's Most Wanted, murderers existed). Demon Possession and demonic books: DOUBLE TRUE (I grew up in a born again Christian home, this stuff was real and dangerous!). I watched this TERRIFIED, I truly believed the incantations from the Necronomicon could possess you. I had to turn it off and rewatch it during the day. Demons don't come out in sunlight, right? Besides the essential slasher movie and sci-fi of this age you need to see Evil Dead (again). Beyond original. Zombie demons, Lovecraft worship, pencils stabbings and carnal violence by trees?! Perfect. Redone with a large budget it would lose its eternal charm, if it was done with a budget when it was first made it would've been bigger than the Exorcist. No debate.

Rewatch this (not the sequel, the uneducated get them confused) and throw your cynical mindset out the window. See this with new eyes, whatever you THINK you remember you don't. The camera work is EXCELLENT, the special effects are the most crudest and bloodiest for their time, the acting is bad in a good way and the story alone is more orginal than any haunted house, spooky woods story going at its time or currently. This movie is 31 years old and still spookier and grueling than you will ever be. Stop being an annoying know-it-all and get a bag of popcorn and bask in its greatness.

THE STUFF

"You are what you eat."

1985 - Color - 93 minutes - R - Director: Larry Cohen

"A delicious mysterious goo that oozes from the Earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation. But the sugary treat rots more than teeth when zombie-like snackers begin infesting the world."

This movie is the best!! Apart from the obvious parallels with The Blob (not released as a remake until 3 years later) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This is an original take on combining those two classic sci-fi tales. This movie has everything going for it. Great VHS cover art and special effects! Decent direction, acting, soundtrack and appropriate over the top gore effects. This is definitely a movie that I remember as a child, revisiting as an adult and still really enjoying!! This is a favorite amongst everyone in my house. A MUST SEE!

CREATURE aka THE TITAN FIND

"First you die...Then the terror begins."

1985 - Color - 97 minutes - R - Director: William Malone

"A team of astronauts encounter a vicious alien creature that has the ability to manipulate its victims after death on the isolated Titan lunar base."

Complete and total rip-off of Alien in the worst way. Probably its most famous and loved by fans for this simple fact. It also takes some ideas from John Carpenter's The Thing. Where the film lacks in attempted atmosphere it makes up for in appropriate(?) gore. I heard a rumor that the effects team also worked on The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator and appropriately Aliens. Highly recommended for disciples of sci-fi horror!!

DEATHDREAM aka DEAD OF NIGHT

"The dead of night changed the lives of many...and ended the lives of some."

1974 - Color - 88 minutes - PG - Director: Bob Clark

"A young man killed in Vietnam inexplicably returns home as a zombie."

A modern (for its time) take on the story The Monkey's Paw. A classic tale that I never get tired of. This has more of a sinister EC comic story feel. Smoke machines and a local park as Vietnam and over the counter make up effects galore. Let the dead remain dead.

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP

"From the caverns of the deep...IT strikes!"

1980 - Color - 80 minutes - R - Director: Barbara Peters

"Scientific experiments backfire and produce horrific mutations: halfman, halffish which terrorize a small fishing village by killing the men and raping the women."

An interesting B-movie 50's era plot with a splatter sensibility. Complete fun topped off with crude and disgusting effects. The best are seen in the shallow water lagoon lovers scene. Not a game changer but worth a watch as an opening film on a Saturday night double bill.