Top 5 Sci-Fi Horror Films For Halloween
5. The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger holds a special place in my heart, it’s one of the first B movies I ever saw, and it introduced me to the Troma production company. The synopsis from the trailer is “meet little Melvin, he’s a 90 pound weakling, everyone teased little Melvin until he had a horrifying accident and fell into a vat of toxic chemical waste, which transformed little Melvin into a creature of superhuman size and strength.” From here Melvin becomes a hero known as The Toxic Avenger. Following his transformation he begins to use his new abilities to pursue incredibly violent means to clean up the streets of the vile criminals that have taken over the town of Tromaville. The people of Tromaville end up loving him and the criminals and corrupt politicians hate him. Enough so to gather together to take him down. Will he survive? Find out by watching the film. I must really press though that if you don’t like cheesy B movies from the 80s you may not like this film. But if you can handle the camp and, more importantly, the extreme violence (at one point a drug dealers head is put under the weights from exercise equipment, and the weight is dropped on his head and you actually see the result) it’s a great film.I would say if you’re easily offended and can’t handle gore, you may want to avoid this one. For everyone else, it’s going to be a great time!
Final Verdict: 5/5
4. Re-Animator
Re-Animator follows the exploits of Herbert West (Jeffery Combs), the titular Re-Animator who has developed a chemical formula to bring people back from the dead. Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, this film addresses the frailty of the human spirit in the face of the horrors of scientific ambition. Herbert West is a university student that doesn’t believe in death, after a failed experiment to bring his mentor back from the dead, he is removed from the university of switzerland and brought to a campus in the US. There he discovers on the campus a professor that stole many ideas and concepts from his recently deceased mentor which immediately causes friction with that professor especially when it comes to the concept of death. Herbert’s rampant ambition to bring back the dead however brings into question the morality of such a venture, and what grisly lengths scientists will go to achieve fame. How many people must die and be reborn to satiate his ambition? And what horrifying consequences will be exacted on him and those around him for his hubris? Like many others in this list, this is a pretty violent film, so if you’re squeamish I would recommend not watching this film, but if you enjoy a bit of gore, this one is spectacular.
Final Verdict: 5/5
3. Return of The Living Dead
Return of the living dead begins with Burt (Clu Galuger) doing orientation with a new hire: Freddy(Thom Matthews), at a medical supply warehouse. After a while he asks Freddy if he’s aware of the Night of the Living Dead film. After Freddy says yes, Burt explains that what happened in the film was based on true events, and he has proof because they accidentally shipped some of the bodies of the zombies there. He brings Freddy to the basement to look at the barrels of bodies. The barrels contain rotting corpses with a glass panel to look inside and a phone number on the side for contacting the US army if the container is ever breached. Freddy asks if Burt’s ever concerned about the canisters breaking open. In response Burt enthusiastically slaps one and says ‘of course not these babies are made by the US Corps of Engineers,’ and it is at that moment that the container breaks, releasing chemical gas into the air cuing the intro credits. This film is notable in the zombie genre for its use of zombies that can run (they aren’t slow folks) and, more importantly, talk. You actually learn some motivation for why they seek out brains. Outside of that it's also considered one of the best punk rock horror films ever, with a main cast of 80s punks facing off against the undead to an awesome punk soundtrack. The effects are incredible and the fact the zombies talk brings a slightly philosophical aspect to the film that questions the morality of murdering these (sentient) creatures.
Final Verdict: 5/5
2. From Beyond
“He bit off his head like… a gingerbread man” one of the most amazing opening lines to a horror
film I’ve ever heard. From Stuart Gordan the director behind Re-Animator, and with some familiar actors from the cast of Re-Animator comes From Beyond, a truly quintessential 80s sci-fi film based on another story by H.P. Lovecraft. After Crawford (Jeffrey Combs) sees his mentor’s, Dr. Proterius, head bitten off by an interdimensional creature during an experiment with a resonator, he is brought to an insane asylum as he is presumed to be the murderer after he tells his story to the police (cue the gingerbread line). Meanwhile, Dr. Micheals (Barbara Crampton) arrives to examine Crawford and after talking with him for a while finds out about the interdimensional experiment. Her curiosity leads her to suggest letting Crawford redo the experiment to prove he isn’t crazy. Little did Crawford know, this was more of a command than a suggestion. This film focuses on the hubris of mankind in the face of the unknown with two characters in the film being so driven by their thirst to know and feel more than any other human being that it consumes them. Lovecraft had a knack for pressing on the frailty of mankind in the face of the cosmic unknown. What could we as a species do in the face of creatures so godlike and powerful that we would appear to be as ants to them? Would it redefine our views of ourselves as a species? Criminally undermining the ambition of the human spirit henceforth? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.
Final Verdict: 5/5
Videodrome
Where does the line between reality and hyperreality permeate in our existence? Does violence viewed on television filter its way through our brains to be manifest inside our reality? What even is our reality? Do we even exist outside our own perception? These are all questions raised by Director David Cronenberg in one of his most psychological films, Videodrome. James Woods plays Max Ren, an adult television broadcaster who’s always on the lookout for fresh, raunchy, and violent content for his station when he stumbles across a pirated signal for a show called Videodrome. The program presents raw carnal emotion and violence. As he wonders how they get the actors to demonstrate such realistic pain and emotion, he immediately becomes entranced by it, so much so that he begins a journey to find out who produces the program in hopes of airing it on his television station. The show begins to take over his mind as he sees horrific hallucinations that manifest intense scenes of body horror and lead to him weaving his way through the secrets of the program to figure out what exactly is happening to his mind. Videodrome is a seminal Canadian horror film that centers around deep rooted questions of not only existence but the effect media has on our minds. It is not to be taken lightly though as it contains scenes of graphic violence and sexual content, mostly in the form of body horror.
