Cult Classic Horror Film Reviews

The Silence Of The Lambs has been a renowned classic since its debut in 1991.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Silence Of The Lambs has been a renowned classic since its debut in 1991.

Chloe Renaud, Staff Reporter

The Silence Of The Lambs has been a renowned classic since its debut in 1991.Are you a fan of horror movies but find the ever growing list intimidating? Fear no more, here are the five best, and worst, “cult classic” horror movies.

The Silence Of The Lambs has been a renowned classic since its debut in 1991. It follows a woman in the FBI training academy, who is at the top of her class. She is ordered to interview a psychopathic psychiatrist, who is serving life behind bars for murder and cannibalism. She believes that he may have insight to a current case they are working on. Overall, it’s a very gripping psychological horror film that will plague your nightmares for years. The actors, Anthony Hopkins, and Jodie Foster embrace their roles to the fullest extent. Many may know this movie from classic scenes and quotes, such as “Hello Clarise”, and “It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” 9/10.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) may be regarded as funny, because of its premise. In a sleepy town, two teenagers Mike(Grant Cramer) and Debbie (Suzzane Snyder) see a comet crash right outside of their town and they decide to investigate. They come to find a group of human-hungry aliens, who look a lot like clowns from the circus. They try to warn the town, but they don’t listen. The aliens start their killing spree, and after they abduct Debbie, Mike finally decides to make it stop. Despite the crude 80’s style special effects and the design of the clowns, it truly is an interesting story, with well known scenes, like when the clown punches a bully’s head off of his shoulders. 8/10.

The Shining (1980), based on the novel by Stephen King(1977), demonstrates how isolation can affect a person’s stability.

The Shining (1980), based on the novel by Stephen King(1977), demonstrates how isolation can affect a person’s stability. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), his wife, Wendy, (Shelley Duvall), and their young son, Danny, (Danny Lloyd) all take up residency in a remote hotel, so Jack can help get over his writer’s block. As time passes, Danny starts to experience premonitions and Jack becomes more irritable and secludes himself from his family. As time continues, Danny begins to see more, and Jack becomes insane, wanting to axe his family to death. I believe this movie is very good because it has a different premise than most horror movies do. The Shining was one that when it first debuted, was regarded highly and praised. With scenes, and quotes such as, “Here’s Johnny!”, and the two twins that appear at the end of the hallway, still  it is seen as a classic now. 7.5/10

The Ring (2002) has scared children and adults alike for years, as Samara (Daveigh Chase) has become more and more terrifying with each and every remake. The story goes that there is a tape that shows horrifying imagery, and at the end there will be a phone call from an unknown source and it will say “seven days”. At the end of those seven days, an unseen power will come. There have been many remakes and sequels to The Ring series, yet the original remains the best, with clips like when Samara crawls out of the TV screen. The director had admitted not wanting to use “big name” stars, so he used  Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, and Martin Henderson, yet he still created a movie series with a cult following. 7/10

You will scream with fright while watching this movie. Though many have laughed during the beginning of this movie, few make it through to the end of Scream (1996). The assumption that this movie is cliché is purely that, an assumption. The main character Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), is being terrorized by a serial killer in a Halloween costume. The serial killer comes to be known as “Ghost Face”. “Ghost Face” preys upon Sidney’s naivety, and begins to follow her, with a trail of his victims that had gotten in his way behind him. As the movie ends an unexpected twist takes place as the killer is revealed, but that is not all. Many will remember the classic opening scene. Scream was made to be a joke about previous slasher films, but Wes Craven had unknowingly recreated the entire subgenre and that legacy lives on. 6/10

The Hills Have Eyes(2006) is a crude, yet intriguing film.

The Hills Have Eyes(2006) is a crude, yet intriguing film. A family of seven are taking a road trip, taking a route through the desert. They come upon a gas station, the attendant informing them of a short-cut through the mountains. When their tires get pierced by spike strips, two of the men go to find help. They come across the previous gas station and find the attendee hysterical, and newspaper clippings all over, talking about the murders in the mountain they took the shortcut through. As a result, they try to flee but are taken by the leader of one of the monsters that live in the mountain. They take one of the men into a mining cave, while the other comes across a crater on the interstate. After that all the monsters eventually are killed one by one in various methods. 5.5/10

Children of the Corn (1984) centers around a couple driving through the countryside. They come across a seemingly desolate town, and catch very few glimpses at children peeking at them through the windows of stores, and houses. They notice something odd about the children. They are all blue eyed and blonde haired. Soon though, their car breaks down and they are forced to find someone or somewhere they can get help. The couple stumble across a small child in a house alone, and the woman stays in the house with her, although the woman is unaware she has a brother. The man however, leaves and searches the town. The children find him and begin to chase him. He escapes and finds the children, but also learns that his girlfriend has been captured by the children. The man and the children go off to the cornfields to save her, only to find that they are going to sacrifice her to “He Who Walks Behind The Rows”. The children decide to sacrifice their leader instead. Come to find that “He Who Walks Behind The Rows” was angered that the children killed their leader, and he revives the leader. Soon after, a storm comes. They take shelter in a barn, and they learn that they have to destroy the field with fire. They use gasoline and a molotov cocktail, and set fire to their car with the children, and they are on their way. The story can be somewhat confusing and the acting is not very well done, as you can see from the pointless twists and turns that soon enough, become “untwisted”, if you will. 4/10

Ah, the timeless tale of a teenage girl throwing a slumber party when her parents are away. Trish Devereaux (Michele Michaels) does just that in The Slumber Party Massacre (1982). She has her friends come over and they do “typical” girl stuff, but things take a turn for the worse. A serial killer named Russ Thorne (Michael Villella) begins his killing spree. Thorne soon makes his way through his victims, and finds his way to the slumber party. He begins to kill off the girls one by one, and another girl, down the road finally kills him once and for all. 3.5/10

House Of 1,000 Corpses (2003) follows two couples, Bill Hudley (Rainn Wilson) and Mary Knowles (Jennifer Jostyn), and Jerry Goldsmith (Chris Hardwick) and Denise Willis (Erin Daniels), on a roadtrip to find odd roadside attractions. They find “The Museum Of Monsters And Madmen” and learn of the legend of “Dr.Satan”. They set off in search of the tree from which Dr.Satan was hanged and they meet a hitchhiker named Baby.  They pick her up, and the vehicles tires are punctured, and Baby directs them to her house. Few moments later Baby’s brother Rufus shows up and takes them to the family home. The couples are treated to dinner and a show by the family, but the family has much more sinister plans in mind. 2/10

The Leprechaun (1993) is about a leprechaun who kills those who stole his gold, and quite often, those who hadn’t. Dan O’Grady (Shay Duffin), arrives home from Ireland, where he had stolen a leprechaun’s pot of gold. O’Grady buries the gold, before learning that an evil leprechaun, who’s gold he stole, has followed him. O’Grady takes a four leaf clover and traps the leprechaun in a cage, then he suffers a stroke. Ten years pass, and J.D Redding (John Sanderford), and his daughter Tory (Jennifer Aniston) rent the O’Grady house for the summer. They hire contract workers, Nathan Murphy (Ken Olandt), his younger brother Alex (Robert Hy Gorman), and Ozzie Jones (Mark Holton) to repaint the house. Ozzie soon discovers that the Leprechaun is still living in the basement of the home, and he begins to wreak havoc on the group. 1/10