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  • Evil Dead

    April 15, 1983 (United States)

    One of the most innovative splatter films of all time, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead though completed in 1981 only received domestic release in 1983. Not a tremendous success initially, it has since become a cult classic. Its sequel in 1987 was a remake/reboot, followed by a proper sequel Army of Darkness, a TV series, and remakes reboots in 2013 and 2023. It is widely sampled in gothic, punk, industrial songs. 

    “Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.” [IMDb]

    Writer & Director: Sam Raimi

    Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor

    IMDb: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/

    Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evil_Dead

  • Carnival of Souls

    September 26, 1962 (United States, Lawrence, Kansas, premiere)

    “After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.” [IMDb]

    IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055830/
    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Souls

    Director: Herk Harvey
    Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger

    https://archive.org/details/CarnivalOfSoulsVideoQualityUpgrade

  • Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

    April 7, 1974 (UK)

    One of Hammer Horror studio’s lesser successful films originally, though it obtained recognition only later. While it is a vampire film, it centers around the vampire hunters – retired soldier Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) and his hunchbacked companion Professor Grost (John Cater). They pick up unlikely Romani companion Carla (Caroline Munro of Dracula AD 1972 plus other Hammer productions) and answer the call of an old friend Doctor Marcus (John Carson) to investigate supernatural murders committed by an untraditional bloodline of vampires. The creative characters and the break from the rigid Hammer formula likely dulled the initial response to the movie, but in the end, what sets it apart is its most endearing quality. Its depiction of obscure elements of vampiric folklore and swashbuckling more than stoney crypts, bloody rituals and the abuses of Dracula breaks from the established format.

    Writer & Director: Brian Clemens
    Stars: Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant, John Cater

    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Kronos
    IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071276/

  • I Spit On Your Grave

    November 22, 1978 (United States) 

    “An aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.” [IMDb] 

    Writer & Director: Meir Zarchi 

    Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077713

  • Last Stop On The Night Train

    aka L’ultimo treno della notte, Nigh Train Murders

    April 8, 1975 (Italy)

    L’ultimo treno della notte, released with the English title of The Night Train Murders or Last Stop on the Night Train debuted in 1975. It’s a particularly brutal horror revenge film directed by Aldo Lado along the lines of Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave (both influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s Virgin Spring). Flavio Bucci (Suspiria), Macha Méril (Deep Red, Vagabond) , Irene Miracle (Midnight Express, Inferno) with soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. It was included in the UK’s infamous ‘video nasty’ list of banned films in 1983. Filming took place in Innsbruck and Tyrol. It takes place on Christmas holiday, following two students who are violently killed on the train by a group of thugs and a sadistic voyeur who only encourages them to push further (trigger warnings here). When the killers happen to visit the parents of the victims, their actions are revealed and a brutal revenge sequence is what follows.

    Director: Aldo Lado
    Stars: Flavio Bucci, Macha Méril, Gianfranco De Grassi

    Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Stop_on_the_Night_Train
    IMDb: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0073836/

  • Basketcase

    April 2, 1982

    Directed by Frank Hennenlotter (Frankenhooker, Brain Damage) and depicts the long gone seedy Times Square of New York City where he grew up and debuted his first films. Centering around the revenge murders carried out by Duane and his deformed  brother Belial, Basketcase is truly an original application to the slasher genre that was becoming a popular formula ain the early 80s with films like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Made on a minuscule budget, the results have become one of horror’s cult classics and a must in any New York centric film collection next to Taxi Driver (in my opinion, anyway!). in 2017 the original 16mm print was restored for preservation by the Museum of Modern Art, receiving a remastered DVD release.

    Writer & Director: Frank Henenlotter
    Stars: Kevin VanHentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083624

  • Premutos

    One of the most off-the-wall bizarre horror movies I ever witnessed. Everything but the kitchen sink. Definitely stands a rewatch before I give it a full write up. This German produced low-budget horror involves the waking of a demon and an undead army, set to a rather boring cast of characters who are at long length slaughtered in a variety of absurd ways that each seem to outdo each other. Witness a panzer tank, chainsaw, skateboard and other unexpected instruments of death.

    https://m.imdb.com/de/title/tt0144555/

  • Phantasm

    Independently made, written and directed by Don Coscarelli in 1979, Phantasm stands out among horror franchises in imagination, creativity, surreal and macabre atmosphere. Set around the events taking place at a cemetery and funeral home, Phantasm incorporates sci-fi and horror with an antagonist from another world transforming corpses into undead labor, pit against cool-dude muscle car musician, his kid brother, and their ice cream truck vendor friend, all as reluctant heroes. Bizarre as it may be, the plot foundation is much more developed than the supernatural slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th which only ever sought to explain (and so badly you’d rather they didn’t) the origins of their villains as an afterthought.

    Phantasm became a cult classic that introduced The Tall Man, played by Angus Scrimm (*August 19, 1926 – † January 9, 2016), aided by spherical killing machines. These chrome orbs have become instantly recognizable as one of horror’s most innovative devices to date. Several sequels followed, as Regie and Mike follow The Tall Man’s wake of desolated small towns across the US, exploring this weird inter-dimensional horror tale, rife with horror fan service and self awareness that keeps the story in the family.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasm_(film)

    https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0079714/

  • François Hadji-Lazaro

    François Hadji-Lazaro (*22 June 1956 – †25 February 2023) was a French actor, musician and producer. Hadji-Lazaro played in many bands such as Les Garçons Bouchers (1986–1995) and Pigalle (1986–2018). Hadji-Lazaro appeared in more than 20 films since 1987, including a lead role in Cemetery Man as Gnaghi

  • Dellamorte Dellamore

    March 25, 1994 (Italy), April 26, 1996 (USA)

    Dellamorte Dellamore (Italy, 1994 - Directed by Micele Soavi) aka Cemetery Man, Starring Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi. Horror, Black Comedy

    Francesco Dellamorte laments his name – Andre Dellamorte would be much better. He is the local caretaker at a small town cemetery in Italy, which entails an additional task beyond digging graves and keeping the grounds in order. Here, the dead return to life as flesh eating zombies and need to be put back where they belong, a second time. This black comedy is based loosely off of the popular italian horror detective comic, Dylan Dog, and involves romance, comedic relief from a bizarre sidekick, a very large gun, and a marvelous ossuary. Some of the best visuals, creative writing, and artistic delivery of the 1990s, and a must see for cemetery aficionados. The best black comedy since The Loved One.

    Director: Michele Soavi
    Writers: Tiziano Sclavi, Gianni Romoli
    Stars: Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109592