Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The 10 Horror Films You've Seen 100 Times (Part 1)

Due to my Mother being ill, I've been spending more time at my parents house, instead of my own place. My parents were never the type to keep up on technology, so they still have a VHS player hooked up along with  the collection of tapes that I watched throughout my years of living there. Even though they have a DVD player, while I was there I felt the need to take a trip down memory lane and use the old trusty VHS player.

I stayed up until almost four O'clock in the morning watching horror films I haven't seen in a while, and the nostalgia struck me. Here I am, staying up late watching tapes at my parents house. For those few hours I was a young teenager again. And then it hit me. I thought of making a two part post that mentions 10 horror films that just about every horror fan has seen at least 100 times.

I'm not ranking these in any particular order, we've all seen some more than others. I'm just listing them, and today is the first 5. These are films that most of us still watch today on higher formats like DVD and Blu-Ray, but they still bring back memories because, they've been with us for so long. They're the films that helped to seal the deal on us being horror fans, the ones that had an impact on us because we watched them so many times, the ones that we'd stay up late at night to watch to be scared and thrilled. The films we'll always cherish, no matter how aged they are, they'll never be irrelevant to us.

These are the movies that'll always strike memories in us, and they will always make us remember where we were in life when we became obsessed.


"Elvira, Mistress of the Dark"


Everybody loves Elvira! It's not enough that she hosted her own show, they had to give her a movie as well, and aren't we glad they did? As if there wasn't already enough about her to love, now we got a full feature length film based on her! This movie is filled with laughs galore and has some pretty laughable-yet amazing-stunts and special effects. It's the best of Elvira in 90 minutes, and I've watched those 90 minutes more times than I could count. And I'd never take back a second of it.

FUN FACT: During the scene in which Elvira is being burned at the stake,the heat from the flames was so intense that it melted Cassandra Peterson's black Elvira wig.


"Killer Klowns From Outer Space"


This was a movie that was scary, yet really, really amusing. We'd be creeped out, but turn around and laugh in the same scene. Unless you have a fear of clowns, I don't think anyone was really scared of this movie. It's the definition of a popcorn flick! It's fun, cheesy, goofy, and a hell of a lot of fun. Even though you may have gotten a little freaked out by it, you always returned for seconds and thirds. And as a child, it had you checking your cotton candy when you went to the fair.

FUN FACT: The giant "King Klown" from the ending sequence, effectively called "Klownzilla" by the Chiodo brothers, was actually played by one of them (Charles Chiodo).


"Critters"


Who honestly can say that they do not enjoy watching "Critters"? I don't know anyone, and it's because even if you don't like it for whatever reason, there's still something to enjoy about it as well. Long ago were the days when you could have cute little fur balls as small terrors. Not only does this one have laughs, it has a little bit of everything. As ridiculous as it is, it has that touch of perfection that we've all grown to see and love.

FUN FACT: There are only 2 deaths on-screen, all the other characters are simply just 'harmed'.


"Tales from the Hood"


This is that movie that everyone and their mother talked about. I remember the days when my friends would say, "hey, you wanna come over my house and watch 'Tales from the Hood?". Though I can't lie, I was one of those people asking my friends as well. We didn't care that it was the same film 100 times we were watching, we thought we were cool as hell for watching this stuff. And we were, we just didn't know exactly how cool we were until now that we look back at it. ...Okay, we weren't that cool. But to us, we were.

FUN FACT: David Alan Grier, known during the early to mid 90's as one of the cast members on the sketch show In Living Color (1990), appeared in a very rare non-comedic role as Carl, the very abusive stepfather during the second segment. 

"Monster Squad"


This is what I like to call the default movie. When you were bored or didn't know what to do, or didn't have anything on TV to watch, you watched "Monster Squad". It's got all of the movie monsters that have become icons over the ages in one film, and featured kids your age! It was a dream film, you'd get lost in the fantasy of it all. And wishing you could be as cool as the kids in the movie. And no matter how many times you watched it, the ending with Frankenstein never got any easier to watch. This film is loved and adored by everyone, and rightfully so.

FUN FACT: Liam Neeson was paid for a bit part that was never shot.



If you can agree on any and all of the above as being films you've seen countless times, and films that you hold dear in your heart, then check back tomorrow when I reveal the remaining 5 films!

9 comments:

  1. Haha! Maybe it's because I live in the UK, but I've only seen Critters and Monster Squad from that list! Not even sure Killer Klowns from Outer Space is out over here, and I've never even heard of Tales from the Hood!

    Must be an American thing. I think I have Elvira in a b-movie boxset but I've never watched it! I'll have to leave you my list in the comments section lol! ;)

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    1. You've never watched Elvira? You missed out on a lot of fun during your teenage years LOL You'll know what I mean when you watch it. I think every guy falls in love with that film around the age of 14.

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    2. Yeah I haven't seen it. I knew of Elvira when I was young, I just never got round to seeing it! Seen some of the shows though so it's all good! :)

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  2. Sorry to hear of your mother.
    I'm quite surprised Elvira was willing to get that close to fire. She got badly burned as a child.

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    1. Thank you! Multiple sclerosis is a terrible disease.

      Yeah I'm surprised by that as well. And considering the amount of skin she shows, we never see scarring. I've seen her scars before though.

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  3. Excellent, funnily enough I have yet to see Elvira. I remember the tape in the store though when I was a kid. It's on the list.

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    1. Elvira is worth watching just for looking at her LOL. But the movie is a really awesome horror comedy. It's on Netflix instant, if that's of any use to you. Cheers!

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  4. Had I been a horror fan much sooner in my life, I'm sure I would have been watching these many times, but Elvira, Monster Squad, and Killer Klowns are ones that I've only seen for the first time within the last few years. Of course I loved them, but I really wish I had been one of those people who got to grow up with them.

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    1. That happens to me all the time. I just saw Trick or Treat recently, within last month. And I fell in love, I was so mad that I hadn't been around when the film came out! I liked it so much, I put Sammi in my banner (guy with guitar). So I know your feeling, but where our fun is, is in finding the films and experiencing them :)

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