Horror in the 1980s felt grounded in something: themes, style, plot, mood, predictability. But in the 1990s there were a lot of new, creative, weird, occasionally satirical, sometimes dumb ideas, making the decade substantially
unpredictable; and that unpredictability caused an uneasiness that could sometimes be
scary. In fact, that's a major difference for me between these two clearly defined decades of Horror Cinema: the 90s had more legitimate scares on average than perhaps any other period of time. I'm serious! We may not've gotten the parade of Halloween costumes and magazine pinups that poured out of the 80s, but we did get a whole lotta fright, and that feels like the greater accomplishment.
Not many movie things scare me - more likely to bum me out, gross me out, or cause me to jump with some cheap auditory sting - but the better part of the monsters and madmen that infected my thoughts and haunted my dreams came from the final decade of the 20th century, particularly these 5 moments.
- Paul
From Dusk Till Dawn
A mean motherfuckin' servant of God
Upon its release, no one didn't point out the dramatic shift from Crime Thriller to Gorefest halfway through the picture, often noting the first half was more engrossing and punctilious than the mindless mayhem following the pace change. I disagree. The second half maintains the sharp dialogue, and the plot twists and developments are even more elaborate than the humdrum hostage smokescreen in the setup. But the biggest and best surprise comes when the background dread of angry bats all come flooding into the Titty Twister at once and we know we're fucked. And in one of the greatest reveal shots in Horror Movie History, we find out just how fucked we are.
Innocent Blood
Italian food
Shortly before From Dusk Till Dawn's flesh eating demon versions of "vampires" I'd always been used to the suave, gentle, "you're gonna feel a slight pinch" vampire. This was the first time I'd seen an animalistic, carnivorous attack complete with generic wildcat roars and sloppy consumption the likes of which I'd not witnessed since Landis's own Werewolf in London. Out of the dozens of vampire flicks released just in the 90s alone, this one felt the most real.
Lord of Illusions
Homecoming Time
When former cult followers learn of their leader's resurrection, they immediately and gruesomely cut ties with their current lives, casually murdering their respective families, coworkers, etc. It's the darkest and most depressing thing Clive's ever put on screen, but it was only ever scary to me as a kid - not as such that a loved one would kill me, but that they're secretly this other person whose allegiance lies elsewhere.
Jacob's Ladder
Tail from the Darkside
If this film feels kinda ambiguous by the end, just try and remember how it feels at the beginning! The movie's mood (though the movie itself is a mood) is put in place pretty quickly and this introductory scene salts the wound immediately; in a very subtle and simple practical makeup effect, Jacob possibly glimpses a reptilian tail hanging out of the tattered clothes of a homeless subway dweller. Dimly lit, no music cue, just a horrible omen foreshadowing the gross, dark world of unpredictable foreboding that we're stuck in right along with him.
The Blair Witch Project
Ghost kids
The movie has one speed, and that speed is white knuckle panic, so whenever there was any kinda bite, however big or small, it bit like a bitch. The "creepy kids" chestnut typically does nothing for me, but laughter in the dark approaching unseen, leading up to some formless violent chaos conveyed a paralyzing vulnerability that makes me feel unsafe even after the movie's over. It's The Greatest Horror Movie Moment of the 1990s.
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