1990’s – The New Nightmares of the Nineties
Oh the paradox! This is the 90s. I went into this project with a preconceived notion of nineties horror not being up to par with the rest of the decades. In short, I thought nineties horror was pretty lame. This was based on memories of initial viewings without any revisits whatsoever. The horror of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s I had encountered several times. I never wanted to revisit the 90s. But for this project, I did. Now my feelings about the decade are less cut and dry. It’s a more complicated situation than a “nineties sucked” attitude. I had written intro paragraphs for this section based on my former opinions. I had some rewriting to do.
Initially, I wrote things such as this:
The 90’s saw a revival of slashers, but the suspenseful scares found in the movie Halloween just weren’t there. Some of the more campier horror films were more annoying than funny. And it seemed as if this industry was so concerned with casting familiar and “oh so pretty/handsome” faces that these young twenty/thirty-somethings only distracted audiences from the horror they were trying to sell.
No doubt, I prefer the 70s and 80s horror. But I neglected some of the more positive aspects of the 90s. Also, there were good films I missed entirely. I saw them for the first time when making this list. As to my negative comments concerning the “revival of slashers”, I now have a better idea of what was going on. Let’s begin with that.
Audiences were getting tired of slashers. This is due in no small part to disappointing recurrences of the modern movie monsters they once loved. With sequel after sequel, slashing menaces such as Michael Meyers, Jason, Freddy and Leather Face were becoming caricatures of themselves. Nothing new creatively was going one with these dudes. They became more comedic than frightening, and not in a good way. No doubt, this bombardment of groan-worthy pictures took place during the 80s. But these sequels leaked into the early nineties, leaving potential audiences with the feeling, “Is this shit still going on? We’re in a new decade now, come on!”
What the movie-going public didn’t realize was they were “Craving the Crave.” This would be Wes Craven, creator of Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He would retool his work and give us horror films that were self-aware. According to WorldFilmCarnival, this happens when a film “acknowledges its existence as a piece of entertainment, poking fun at its own tropes, clichés, and conventions.” With films such as Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (hey, that’s part of this decade’s title!) and Scream, Craven was hoping audiences would reinvest in the horror genre with his new blueprint. Generally speaking, he was successful in his endeavors. His new style was well received. The specifics of these particular films will be discussed later in this list.
In the italicized paragraph three paragraphs above, I mentioned “The 90’s saw a revival of slashers” In order to be revived, they would have had to have been killed off just like their onscreen victims. I don’t think they died but perhaps they took a nap for a few years. After the success of Scream, they woke up and were ready to party. Alas, most of these should have stayed in bed.
While we’re on the subject of changes brought about by Scream, check this out. In past decades, horror films, especially slashers, used relatively unknown actors and actresses. For some reason, 90s slashers featured familiar faces, many being TV stars. This is especially true with Scream but also the lame slashers films that followed. Examples of these “followers” will appear on this list.
I still prefer horror films that trust their material enough without having to succumb to the gimmicks of self-awareness. Too much self-awareness leads to too much parody in my opinion. But that’s just me. Still, I ended up liking some of these “unlikeable” films more than I thought I would.
Other things were going on in the nineties besides slashers. There were crime thrillers that had just enough of that “something” to qualify them for the horror category. They showed us movie serial killers didn’t have to be mute or beastly in appearance like Jason, Michael or Freddy of Leatherface. They could be human on the outside but inhuman on the inside. A couple of these films appear on this list.
There were some period horror pieces in the 90s. I have three films on his list as examples. Also, there were innovations in black horror cinema. These are horror movies that also deal with social issues. Some examples will be included in the section.
Finally, there will be some trend senders – late 90’s movies that set a pattern for things to come in the 2000 aughts, including what is said to be the first found-footage film.
Silence of the Lambs – 1991
This past year, I have read Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon (Not a prequel as some think since this book was published well before Silence of the Lambs), and I am currently working on Hanibal, the third book in the series. Yup, I’m plunging into the sordid depths of one Hannibal Lecter, the genius psychiatrist/serial killer and cannibal who is one of the antagonists of Silence of the Lambs. I just might (remember, “might” I say. A BIG might, bigger than Mighty Mouse) prefer the film over the book. This of course has to do with the splendid performances of Anthony Hopkins and Jody Foster.
For a long time, I never thought of this as a horror movie. Crime thriller – yes. Horror? Well everyone else thinks it’s horror, so here it is, on the list, perhaps foreshadowed in the intro when I wrote of crime thrillers.
The People Under the Stairs – 1991
Here be a Wes Craven movie. But not any that I alluded to in the intro. But even with The People Under The Stairs I guess he had realized Freddy Krueger’s days as a horror comedian were coming to an end, so he decided to make this horror-comedy. I found it more annoying than funny. Rottentomatoes reviews hold at 67% positive. This number is lukewarm at best, only slightly favorable.
I wrote about this once already and really don’t feel like retreading, so, here – a link
“Links are cool, links are fun, I wish one on everyone!” – By Danny Cheely – the awesome poet.
(Pssst – This is a movie about people who are kept locked under the stairs! So sorry for the spoiler.)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 1992
I first saw this back in the 90s, not in the theater but on video. I remember I wasn’t so impressed. I revisited this movie for the purposes of this list to see if my opinion had changed. It did. I found it more favorable after a second viewing after a thirty-year gap. Still, this movie is far from flawless.
If memory serves me correctly, this film was advertised as the closest portrayal of Bram Stoker’s work to date. Hence the name, not “Dracula” but “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” I read the novel and I can say this film takes all kinds of story-telling liberties. So perhaps it should be called Almost Bram Stoker’s Dracula?
I get that the original film mixed up characters, showing Renfield as the real estate agent that gets trapped in Dracula’s castle rather than Johnathon Harker, as both this film and the novel depict. But this film created a love story where none had existed, having Dracula discovering the Mia character is the reincarnation of his long-lost love. She too comes to realize this and begins to fancy Drac over her fiance Harker. There are many other inconsistencies. Too many to name.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula boasts an all star cast with a renowned director. Francis Ford Coppola helms this project. Cast members included Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins. It’s a big production with a loud musical score, fancy camera work, crazy shadows (too many). Much of the atmospheric shots are subtle in other films. Not so here. This is a bombastic movie. It is too self-consciously artsy. It’s a good film though, just not great.
The Candyman – 1992
This is a film I had to revisit. I only saw it one time back in 1993 on video. I remember thinking it was a fair film. After seeing it again, I upgraded my rating from fair to good.
As a kid, there was the Bloody Mary legend. Look into a mirror and say “Bloody Mary” three times and she will appear in the mirror next to your reflection. What does she look like? I had no idea because she never appeared. “That’s because you were supposed to chant it 10 times,” someone would say. Tried. Again…nada. “Did you turn off the lights?” Tried/nope. “Did you throw water on the mirror?” Tried/nope. “You’re not supposed to use water. You’re supposed to use blood”. Oh fuck off.
In the movie, the legend is true, only it’s the name “Candyman” one is to recite. The ritual is mostly known among urban black Americans. In particular, The Candyman haunts the Cabrini Green Chicago housing projects. Several murders have been attributed to him
A female graduate student is studying urban legends and gets in way over her head when she does field research in the projects. The Candyman, a son of a slave who was lynched for impregnating a white woman, stalks her from beyond and frames her for multiple murders.
This film has a powerful message about historical racism and current day injustices caused by institutional racism.
Tony Todd, who played Candyman, passed away almost a year ago at age 69. May he rest in peace.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare – 1994
For the longest time I avoided this movie. My attitude was “Why on earth would I want to see yet another lame-ass Freddy Krueger movie”. While I thought Nightmare on Elm Street 1 and 3 were good, the rest of the Freddy films blew chunks. Later in life, I heard this film was different from those subpar sequels. Better.
A couple weeks ago, I saw Wes Craven’s New Nightmare for the first time in preparation for this list. I was surprised in a good way. This wasn’t the same stale and corny Freddy that had overstayed his welcome at the movie theaters. He wasn’t trying to break a record for the most groan-worthy attempts at catch phrases. In fact, he barely spoke at all. He was more mysterious, much like his depiction in the very first Nightmare on Elm Street film.
Wes Craven chose to reboot the saga in an interesting way. This time, Freddy haunts, not the characters of his previous films, but the actors that played them. It’s a film within a film. Wes Craven the director, Heather Langenkamp the scream queen, Robert Englund the man behind the Freddy makeup, John Saxon the scream queen’s father; they all play themselves, victims of a script Wes is being compelled to write by forces unknown.
This is a unique film and its creativity pays off.
Interview With the Vampire – 1994
Let’s give a warm welcome to Brad Pitt! (Yay and clap.) Please give it up for Tom Cruise! (Yay and clap.) Ladies and Gentlemen, Antonio Banderas has entered the house! (Yay and clap!) And let’s not forget the pretty and charming little girl, Kirsten Dunst (Yay and clap!)
Surely, you are saying, this is an example of what is spouted in the italicized section of the intro concerning the oversaturation of famous young actors/actresses in 90’s horror, the “oh so pretty/handome.” You are right, it is. Still, I like this movie.
Anne Rice (may she rest in peace 🙁 ) was skeptical about Tom Cruise playing a somewhat androgynous vampire with a few hundred years under his belt. She was surprised at the final result and so was I. Tom Cruise, the cocky jock, slipping into the role of the effeminate Vampire Lestat? He did it. Brad Pitt was “okay” at playing Louis the Vampire, the protege of LeStat. He mesmerized audiences with his appearance, as he does in many of his movies. For me this only helps the film if his character is supposed to possess hypnotic beauty. In this movie, that is important to his character.
Kirsten Dunst, the charming little girl that she was, is excellent playing a dual character. Sweet and innocent but also a blood sucking little terror. Antonio Banderas – I believe he was miscast. The vampire he plays, according to the book at least, is youthful, thin and unassuming, not this mature Latin lover type.
This movie got me interested in the book series, Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. By showing viewers what the world is like from the vampires’ perspective, the anguish and loneliness that comes from being damned to a near-eternal life, I was introduced to a whole new way of understanding vampire mythology. All on account of Anne Rice, of course, but it was this film that led me to her.
Se7en – 1995
Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt go against Kevin Spacey in a movie about a serial killer who kills victims in accordance with the seven deadly sins. People, and I mean everyday people, are running around in this world giving into sloth, pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, and gluttony without any repercussions. Whatever happened to the deadly part of the deal, hmmm? That’s where Kevin Spacey comes along. He’ll overstuff a fat person, commit nasty atrocities on one who is lustful, you get the picture. It’s up to detectives Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt to stop him.
This film is a very suspenseful crime thriller. The gruesome parts make this a horror movie. There’s an interesting, unexpected ending as well.
Tales From The Hood – 1995
This is a story about a mechanic who opens the hood of a customer’s car. He takes in all the machinery for about a minute before looking over to his customer.
“Yes siree, Bob. I can already tell the guts of your car have quite the history. In just these few seconds I already know things about your engine, battery, transmission, belts and so much more. I’m a gonna relay to you what I know.”
I’m just kidding y’all! Let me begin again. This is a black horror anthology beginning with a funeral parlor director who accepts three street thugs into his place of business, supposedly to make some exchange. He’s got the stuff and the thugs want it. What stuff and where is it and what’s the street value? Well, the director dude doesn’t tell them any of that. Not yet. Instead he shows them around the place, introduces them to several corpses resting in their coffins. He tells these punks stories about how they died.
The mortician tells the four stories. I won’t get into all the details but they are mostly horror revenge stories against corrupt and abusive racist white cops, abusive fathers, and former Klansmen politicians. Gang bangers get their comeuppance too.
I saw this for the first time in preparation for this list. I wanted to like this more than I actually did. It was a fair movie. Too much overacting and exaggerated dialogue. The best tale was the one that involved the funeral director and the three punks (Goldilocks and the three bears?). It wraps up quite nicely.
The Craft 1996
Party of Five TV star Neve Campbell teams up with Fairuza Balk (known for her Goth appeal) , Robin Tunney and Rachel True (the latter two also known from television shows) to play outcast high school girls who experiment with witchcraft. Lo and behold, the experiment works. They can do magic., usually at the expense of someone.
I would say this is an above average horror movie. It turned Campbell into a scream queen and exposed Balk for her talent at playing wild girls.
Scream – 1996
Let’s go back to 1996 or 1997, whenever it was when me and a buddy rented this and watched it on my VCR. The movie finished and I was like “meh.” I don’t know if that word existed yet, but that was the feeling. My buddy thought it was good.
Here in good ol’ 2025 as I was making this list, I knew Scream had to be on it. It’s a movie that “screams” of the 90s. If I posed a directive to an unsuspecting person who lived through the nineties that went something like, “Quick, name a 90’s horror movie. Don’t think about it, just name one. On your mark, get set, go!,” I’m guessing most people would mention Scream. I decided before I go ahead and rip it to shreds, I better revisit the film. So I did. Guess what? I liked it better the second time around. A near thirty year gap between viewings softens a person I guess.
Mind you, Scream still would not make my top 50 horror movie list. But I understand it for what it is now. What is it? A self-aware horror film about horror films.
Teenagers in some rich California town are getting killed by someone in a ghost face mask. The killer seems obsessed with horror movies and quizzes some of his victims of movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th before hacking them. There are horror movie Easter eggs here and there, like a high school janitor who dresses and looks like Freddy Krueger. People are getting stalked and killed with the Halloween music in the background. Someone even explains “the rules” of horror movies. (virgins are spared, horny fuckers die, etc.)
What we have here is a Wes Craven who, once again, is experimenting and trying to create a fresh new way of making horror movies. (Oh yeah, Wes Craven makes the Scream movies). Scream was successful enough to become a franchise. Back at first viewing, I just wanted a slasher movie, not all this parody stuff. Now I accept it. I Still like the 70’s and early 80s straightforward slasher movies better though
I guess after Party of Five’s Neve Campbell finished The Craft, she be like “Horror if fun. I want more!” So she was given the starring role in this film. Some of her costars are Drew Barrymore, Courtney Cox (Friends star) and Henry Winkler. (The Fonz! “I don’t Scream, I just go ayyyyeeee!”)
I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997
I watched this film specifically so it could be on this list. Otherwise, I would have no interest in seeing this. I had none back when it came out, and very little later in life. I say “very little” because obviously there was some interest because I did watch it. I was kind of excited to see how bad it was going to be. I was disappointed. Why? Because it wasn’t as much of a stinkaroo as I thought it would be.
To be clear, this is not a great movie, nor is it a good movie. I’d say it’s your average slasher, which accounts for the mostly negative reviews. Remember, I said people were tired of the same old formula. This movie has the same old formula. All that said, it is scary and suspenseful at times.
Four teenagers (Boy, girl, boy, girl) do something they regret the summer after high school graduation. They pay for their misdeeds the next summer when they all reunite. That pretty much sums up the plot. It’s obvious by the film’s title, isn’t it?
Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt of Party of Five fame and Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. More faces from TV that want their pretty mugs slashed apart in horror movies. Jennifer Love Hewitt be like, “Um, like, my co-star in Party of Five, Neve Campbell, got to be in Scream, so, like, shouldn’t I be in a horror movie?
Urban Legend – 1998
I think this film thought it was going to be the next Scream. Or maybe the next Candyman. It failed miserably. A killer is wiping out students at and around some university. The killer does so by mimicking urban legends, making them real. It references the murder scenes from horror movies of the past w/out giving credit, calling them instead “urban legends”. A killer is hiding in the back seat or your car. The movie depicts a creepy gas station attendant trying to break into a woman’s car as she’s trying to drive away, all the while trying to warn her about someone hiding in her back seat. A twist! Yeah, but this exact setup was done in a 1983 horror anthology Nightmares. It also depicts a killer harassing someone over the telephone, only to be revealed to be hiding somewhere in the house. This was lifted from the film When a Stranger Calls 1979.
This is a film I watched solely for the purposes of making this list. I thought it would be stupid and it didn’t disappoint. Hooray, it met my low expectations beautifully! Starring Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, and somebody from Dawson’s Creek, some Joshua Jackson dude, Oh and how can I forget! Starring Robert Englund! Nice try at getting Freddy. It didn’t help though.
Ringu – 1998
What’s this, we have a good movie on the list finally? Yes, Ringu is very well done. It’s a J-horror film (Japanese horror). Several years later, an American version hit theaters (simply titled The Ring), but this is both the original and superior film.
Ya know that warning about leaving stray baggage alone? The same should apply to video tapes. Even if there was such a warning, teenage girls would never abide by it. After playing a tape, they receive a phone call. The voice on the phone says “Seven Days”. This means they are to die in seven days.
The video tape features a girl with hair so long it covers her head. She is climbing out of a well.
This is one of those trend setting films I discussed in the introduction. What is the trend? Watching films made outside of America in order to see good horror films.
The Sixth Sense – 1999
What’s going on here, we have two good horror movies in a row? Yes we do.
For those who don’t know, this is the “I see dead people” movie. Haley Joel Osmond stars as a nine-year-old boy who for reasons unknown, attracts stray spirits.They haunt him everywhere, at home, at school, at birthday parties. Other kids make fun of him because he freaks out a lot. If they only knew! I mean, wouldn’t you freak out if ghosts jumped out at you every day of your life?
Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist who tries to help him. He thinks the poor kid is mentally disturbed. He will learn in big ways things are not always what they seem.
This film is known for its big twist of an ending. It fooled me, because it was so cleverly done. A big hit for director M Night Shyaman. He followed with many more horror/suspense films. None of them could top what he did in this movie. In fact, many of them were stinky-poo. One of his films, The Last Airbender, is listed as one of the worst films of all time. But hey, he always will have The Sixth Sense. (If this is the case, wouldn’t he have the sense not to make stupid movies?) (Oh SHUT UP!)
The Mummy – 1999
Here comes the final period piece on this list. Just before the millennium was set to close, right in the nick of time arrived a high-budget Mummy movie. The world had never seen one of those before. With all those low budget mummy movies of the 40s with a bandaged creep limping along in the woods, we now have a walking CGI corpse, skin all rotted away to reveal bulging blood vessels, muscles and tendons. I don’t think the film ever shows a bandaged mummy.
Once the Mummy regains his flesh, he has powers. He can create sand storms and place a giant version of his face in the encroaching sand.
All this “wow” and still not nearly as good as the original 1932 Mummy with Borris Karloff. Less is better, less is better.
Yet, I remember his film being all the rage. I remember this came out the same time as Star Wars The Phantom Menace. Folks disappointed with this long-awaited film were wishing they had seen The Mummy instead.
I don’t know. It was okay but I don’t get all the love and hype.
The Blair Witch Project – 1999
Ta da! What we have here is the first found-footage film that blazed the trail for many stray, roaming filmmakers (Those found-footage filmmakers in the 2000s). Too bad it couldn’t forge a trail for this movie’s story characters lost in the woods
I get it. Some of you out there be like, “Oh that movie sucked! I mean, seriously, all that camera shaking, that annoying bitch that got everyone lost, and there was never anything worth looking at in the whole damn film!”
The premise: Three college-aged filmmakers with camera equipment wander the woods in search of the legendary house of the Blaire Witch. They film everything, night and day. They get lost. Weird things happen. Every morning, some artifact is left outside their tents. They are frightened. This footage is the film itself.
I too would have preferred a still camera. I couldn’t see with any detail just exactly what those sticks left outside their tent every night looked like. Yes, the lead character was annoying.
The Blair Witch Project isn’t my favorite horror film, but I recognize its strengths and why it was hyped. Nothing like this had been done before. It succeeds at mimicking real life footage, thus making the situation very real. If viewers can just accept the shaky camera and focus on the characters’ plight, then the story will be absorbing.
The ending of this movie is also criticized. I think it was brilliant.
The Books of Daniel 