Five 90s must watch horror films

The 90s was a seriously “cool” decade for cinema. There was a wealth of counterculture movies such as Fight Club and Trainspotting. It’s the decade that brought us Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. It gave us iconic characters such Austin Powers and The Dude from the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski; and much loved movies like Toy Story and Jurassic Park. Horror, in contrast to the often comedic, campy horrors of the 80’s, took a grittier turn with thrillers such as the multi Oscar winning Silence of the Lambs and Seven. It was the decade of the revolutionary The Blair Witch Project, a film with nearly no budget that made a killing at the box office. So, here’s a variety of 90s movies to get you in the mood for the season:

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption) gives a powerful performance as Jacob, a Vietnam veteran, adjusting to his new life as a postman with his girlfriend Jezzie, having separated from his wife. His life is disrupted by unsettling hallucinations and haunting flashbacks of his ordeal in Vietnam and the death of his son. As these hallucinations become increasingly disturbing, he reaches out to his fellow comrades, who have experienced similar horrors. They come to believe that their predicament is the result of an experiment by the army. Whilst the conclusion to the film does not come as a surprise, the journey there is an incredibly moving one. It may be an emotionally draining watch, but it is also life affirming in its poignant approach to death.

Braindead (1992)

Forget The Lord of the Rings, this film is truly Peter Jackson’s masterpiece. Braindead, also known as Dead Alive, is very much reminiscent of the campy horrors of the 80s, such as Fright Night and Evil Dead. This zombie flick follows the story of mummy’s boy Lionel, whose blossoming relationship with the feisty Paquita is put at risk after his overbearing mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat monkey and begins to decompose. The film includes a zombie baby, an ass kicking priest and intestines with a mind of their own. The film descends into hilarious, bloody madness, with numerous original and unforgettable scenes of gore, that makes it memorable amongst the horde of zombie movies.

The Crow (1994)

The story of the Crow, the story of its creator and that of its lead actor is a tragic one. James O’Barr wrote the graphic novel on which the film is based, as a way to deal with his grief after the death of his girlfriend, for which he blamed himself. If that wasn’t enough, during filming, a mix up with a prop gun, lead to the death of the lead actor Brandon Lee. The night before their wedding, Shelley Webster and Eric Draven are brutally attacked and killed by a low-level street gang. On the anniversary of his death, Eric returns with a crow as a link between the land of the living and the land of the dead, to avenge the death of his beloved Shelley. The grimy Detroit setting of this neo-noir makes Gotham look like Venice. The film is quintessentially gothic in its style and soundtrack, with music from the likes of Nine Inch Nails and The Cure. Brandon Lee gives an unforgettably cool and moving performance as Eric, which was even an inspiration to Heath Ledger in his role as the Joker. The film is a worthy tribute to Brandon Lee and deserving of its cult following.

Scream (1996)

Scream successfully revived the tired slasher genre, following the countless sequels to A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday The 13^th and Halloween. Director Wes Craven had already established himself as a master of horror with his films The Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes and A Nightmare On Elm Street, when he brought his talent to this self-referential, funny and intelligent script. Scream is meta in its awareness of horror movie tropes, adds depth to its characters and plays on the audience’s expectation of the slasher genre. The plot follows Sydney Prescott, a high school student in the town of Woodsboro, who becomes the target of the masked killer ‘Ghostface’. The film is accessible to those who aren’t fans of horror films, as its sharp lead, Sydney, says ‘What’s the point? They’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It’s insulting.’ But for those who love horror, it’s a delight to pick up on the various references to classic horrors.

Cube (1997)

There is no denying that the acting in this film is sub-par, but that’s not enough to overshadow its unique premise. The film centres on a group of strangers who find themselves trapped in a maze of interlocking, industrialised cube-shaped rooms conceived by the mathematician David W. Pravica. Each room has a hatch on all the walls, the ceiling and the floor, which leads to an almost identical room. Amongst these countless rooms, some are rigged with traps designed to kill. As each of the strangers find each other, they begin to theorise the reason for, and nature of their predicament. Whilst polarising critics, the film deserves praise for its direction, chilling atmosphere and tension created by the nightmarish and claustrophobic setting of the cubes. It has earned a cult following, spawned a sequel and a prequel and a remake is planned.