7 1990s Horror Movies You Forgot Were Awesome

The 1990s were a year of reinvention for the horror movie genre. After it exploded in popularity in the 1980s thanks to the success of franchises and the major Hollywood remakes, plus the low-budget entries that became famous thanks to video stores, horror went through a cooling-down period where it didn’t offer as much. Though the early part of the decade gave us The Silence of the Lambs and Candyman, it was a tough few years until the likes of Scream came along and gave horror a much needed bost.

Despite the doldrums that horror wallowed in during the 1990s, a victim of its own success, mind you, that doesn’t mean there weren’t major, notable movies being released that entire time. With time, though, these movies may have been forgotten by fans, or perhaps newcomers still haven’t even heard of them; others may have just had their appreciation diminished by every horror movie that copied them in the years since. In the end, the thrills here are as good as they were back in the ’90s, and maybe even better.

7) In the Mouth of Madness

John Carpenter’s 1994 flop may have garnered a mixed reception upon release, but it goes to show how wrong audiences and critics can both be at any given moment. Having created the slasher genre entirely with Halloween, but also delivered one of the most underrated ghost stories with The Fog and the greatest horror remake of all time with The Thing, Carpenter used In the Mouth of Madness to tackle a subgenre few have mastered: Lovecraftian horror, and he proved he knew how to make that work too.

Anchored by a stellar performance from Sam Neill, one year removed from Jurassic Park, In the Mouth of Madness rocks from the jump by not only embracing the roots of its inspiration but using that to put things on screen you’ve never seen, as the “Old Ones” are horrifying and totally original. The film also has something to say about the larger place of the horror genre as a creative force. In short, it rocks.

6) CUBE

Before the Saw franchise gave us strangers waking up in rooms with boobytraps, Cube fit that concept into a perfectly square location. The directorial debut of Vincenzo Natali, the film not only has unique twists but also gore that sometimes rivals that of the Saw movies. If there’s a weakness to the movie, it’s that some of the characters leave something to be desired, but the larger idea of the film and how it manages to re-purpose the same set over and over and over and over, while maintaining a good tempo, is a cinematic achievement. Cube is unsettling and shocking at times, but like others on this list, its influence looms large on the genre, making it fully worth a revisit.

5) Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

Two years before Scream would reignite the slasher subgenre and make horror movies fashionable again for film studios, Wes Craven returned to the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street for a trial run. Set against the backdrop of making a new “Nightmare” movie, where Craven and series actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund star as themselves, this is a meta-horror movie that not only manages to scare with its unique take on evil and monsters, but also gore that takes you by surprise, and winking references that aren’t too overdone. Freddy Krueger purists may not like the direction it heads, but it delivers a unique story about the nature of creativity and how that can be co-opted.

4) The Blair Witch Project

It may seem trite for one of the most famous movies of the genre in a specific era to make a list of films that the audience forgot was awesome, but given the fallout from the success of The Blair Witch Project, plus the sequels and the way it has been imitated across the genre, it’s worth including. When you strip away the hype from the film and the question of whether it’s real or not, you’re left with a movie that is effective from the opening minute. With a succinct set-up for the characters and their world, we have a found footage film that sets the blueprint for the entire subgenre by giving us a clear narrative where we can believe everything and never once question why the camera is on.

The Blair Witch Project works no matter if you believe there is something supernatural happening or if you think these are just three regular people who got lost and are being tortured by the elements. The film never once relents from maintaining the reality in front of you, which makes its uncertain final moments even scarier.

3) The Day of the Beast

Álex de la Iglesia’s dark comedy-horror film about a priest’s unconventional attempts to stop the birth of the antichrist manages to do something few films achieve: satisfy both of these genres. Hilarious at all times, with a grim wink seen in almost every joke, The Day of the Beast is also terrifying in its larger narrative with a gut-punch ending. De la Iglesia uses this to his advantage, pushing the movie to points where a lesser director would cause the material to break down and become something simpler or derivative. The Day of the Beast never falls to that level, always maintaining its own identity while always surprising you.

2) Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Though the public domain nature of George A. Romero’s original film has resulted in countless riffs that are all largely terrible, the Tom Savini-directed remake from 1990 is a true gem and one that devout fans of Romero’s classic should consider. Not only does the film deliver modern visual effects for its monsters and gore, but features a brand new screenplay by Romero, who takes the opportunity to update some of the characters and moments in ways that manage to subvert viewer expectations, while largely adhering to the guiding ethos of the first movie. Starring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman as the two leads, this one has more than just color film to keep you interested, including an ending that feels fresh. A box office bomb upon release and unfairly lumped in with other “Night of the Living Dead” derivatives, this one needs a second, or first, viewing for all horror fans.

1) Mute Witness

Anthony Waller’s 1995 film takes another meta look at filmmaking, following a mute special effects artist who is working on a low-budget slasher movie, only to realize the same set is being used at night to create actual snuff films. The film evolves into a tense and thrilling chase movie as the lead tries to run from this syndicate and their sinister intentions. Russian actress Marina Zudina delivers a terrific performance as Billy, the titular mute witness, which is saying something as she’s one of the only horror movie heroines in film history who has her biggest tool taken away from her; she can’t scream. Though not a conventional horror movie, this one still brings the scares (and includes Alec Guinness in a cameo filmed a decade before the rest of the movie).

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