Fun ones:
Bubba Ho-Tep: not sure if this is lesser-known or not. But still a great film.
House(1986): Tired of Haunted House films and CGI monsters? Check this out.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: A direct to video classic.
Night of the Comet: A tremendously fun 80’s movie that happens to be a zombie movie.
Pontypool: Sort of a comedy, sort of a political message film, sort of a linguistic essay, sort of a zombie film, wholly smart and engaging.
Poultrygeist: May be the best Troma film from recent years.
Return of the Killer Tomatoes: Some say this is better than the original. It is perhaps smarter and has a young George Clooney, but man I love the original.
The Stuff: Larry Cohen is a hero of mine-a true B-movie Auteur who had big ideas and didn’t let tiny budgets stop him from making imaginative, crazy films and this is one of his more accessible ones.
Intense:
Bloody Reunion: Tremendous Asian horror film/Jacobean revenge tragedy.
The Burning: I love horror films but really hate the 80’s camp slasher film: yes, Friday the 13th included (though 3 wasn’t terrible). But this film is particularly brutal and effective and my favorite of the bunch.
Candyman: Overlooked 90’s horror gem.
Fragile: Jaume Balaguero (Rec) directed this really terrific film that never really got distributed. If you liked The Orphanage or Dark Water you’ll like this one, even if you don’t like Calista Flockheart (who isn’t annoying in this).
Hellraiser: Inferno: I’ve mentioned it before-my favorite of the series and if you liked Sinister you can see where Derrickson developed a lot of his ideas.
Monkey Shines: A minor Romero classic and in some ways Romero’s lesser seen films (The Crazies, Knightriders, Martin) are his best films. This isn’t as harrowing as Martin or as transcendent as Knightriders but it is a rather serious one and genre bending thriller with an evil monkey. Basically I could have just said Evil Monkey and sold you on this, couldn’t I?
Session 9: If you talk to connoisseurs of horror this film will be at the top of many of their lists of the best horror films you’ve never seen.
Shutter: I think there may be an equation that the more terrible the American remake is the more excellent the original film was. If you understood what I meant by that, you can understand that Shutter is a fast paced, scarefest that is ambitious and successful.
Them (ills): The best of the thankfully short lived 2000’s era strangers trap and torture a family sub genre.
Drama/Art films
Pulse: Sort of a ghost story. More an amazing film/meditation about the alienating effects of technology.
Santa Sangre: This homage to Mexican melodrama is perhaps Jodoworksy’s most widely accepted film. Not as insane as El Topo or as accessible as The Rainbow Thief. It made Ebert’s best films of the 80’s list if that means anything to you.
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