Cinemassacre's Monster Madness

This year’s Monster Madness kicks off with Cabin in the Woods, a cliche horror archetype with unique twists.

A creepy horror film from the silent era about devil worship and evil rituals, also known as “Witchcraft Through the Ages”.

An underrated slasher film, with a masked killer.

Vincent Price hosts this bizarre sketch comedy show from the 70′s, starring various lovable monster personalities.

An 80′s film that pays tribute to the 50′s. Alien slugs crawl into peoples’ heads and turn them into zombies.

Man-Made Monster is a science fiction horror film released by Universal Pictures. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. in his horror debut.

Today we look at the most absurd horror film to feature two actors to win academy awards, Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey.

Today we look at a TV series, Night Gallery. Rod Serling’s sub-par followup to The Twilight Zone.

One of many “Black Cat” movies, based loosely on the Edgar Allan Poe story, from Italian horror director Lucio Fulci. This time, the cat is a killing machine!

It’s Hammer time! From Hammer Studios, comes the first in a horror trilogy about the Karnstein family, a vampire story even older than Dracula.

How does a horror series come back out of the toilet bowl, after the insanely horrible Exorcist II: The Heretic? The answer. Brad Dourif.

Boris Karloff stars as a man brought back to life in a lab, very much like Frankenstein, in this typical horror chiller from the golden age.

Roddy Piper has to lay the smackdown on some alien scum, in this tribute to 50′s B-movies. The X-ray glasses were referenced in the NES game Bart Vs. The Space Mutants.

Time to add some kaiju action in this year’s Monster Madness. We’ve already taken care of Godzilla. Now let’s talk about another important monster from Toho.

A non-perfect, but highly enjoyable stylized nightmarish film from Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton before he was Batman.

The original giant reptile from stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen. Pre-dates Godzilla by one year!

A highly stylized take on the classic tale, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves. Produced by FRED FUCHS.

The first color horror film!

Today we look at a modern horror film about ghosts and possession. A young boy travels outside his body, leaving himself an open vessel for evil demons to enter.

A minor classic from the Universal catalogue, starring Bela Lugosi. Based on an Edgar Allan Poe story.

An underrated horror flick about scary dummies and a masked killer with an inventive method of murder. Effective, but uneven. Has elements of Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Charles Laughton stars in this overlooked adaptation of Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Bela Lugosi stars in a minor role.

The “so bad it’s good” movie from my generation. The killer doll Chucky is back, and more funny and likable than ever. See our review for the original Child’s Play here.

Rushed out the same year as the original King Kong, this sequel holds up surprisingly well. Starring Robert Armstrong and featuring the same master effects artist Willis O’Brien.

This 3 hour made-for-television movie was aired in two parts. Based on the Stephen King novel, it popularized the idea of the scary clown.

An underrated thriller from William Castle about nightmares. Only available on VHS for unknown reasons.

Quentin Tarantino’s most underrated and misunderstood film about a killer played by Kurt Russell who murders his victims with his car.

Bela Lugosi is absent in Universal’s only direct sequel to the original Dracula. Gloria Holden plays Countess Marya Zaleska, the reluctant vampire who wants to be free of her father’s curse.

A nostalgic Nickelodean anthology TV series from our generation, about kids, the Midnight Society, who gather around a campfire and tell scary stories every week.

One of the great Mel Brooks comedy classics, starring Gene Wilder. A big tribute to Universal’s original Frankenstein trilogy, faithfully emulated in Black & White.

Monster Madness closes this year, with one of few movies to truly capture the real Halloween spirit!