Fangoria's 101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen

September 1, 2003
Spurred on by the popularity of such recent films as The Sixth Sense, Hannibal and Signs, Lukeman and his colleagues at the horror magazine Fangoria present a rousing rundown of lesser-known terror flicks. Some of the movies they include were initially flops; some are foreign films, others never even appeared on the big screen. Each entry takes up two or three pages, listing the film's category (e.g.,"Killers/Slashers,""Supernatural/Hauntings" or"Monsters") and its lead actors and characters, along with a description of the story and a bit of"terror trivia." The editors mix old and new, ranging from 1964's Two Thousand Maniacs!, which was"inspired by, of all things, the Broadway musical Brigadoon," to 2001's Session 9, a psychological thriller that was one of the first features to be shot on high-definition 24-frame video, the same process George Lucas used to shoot Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones.

October 1, 2003
In each two- to three-page entry (often illustrated by drooling, maimed, mutating, or rotting monstrosities), Lukeman and Fangoria magazine editors summarize and briefly analyze their favorite lesser-known horror films. The majority of them hail from the 1980s and 1990s, with only one from the 1960s. Included are such underestimated films as Let's Scare Jessica to Death, The Legend of Hell House, Swamp Thing, Night of the Creeps, and Stir of Echoes (which the authors show is on par with The Sixth Sense). And rarely will you find another exploration of the disturbing The Asphyx. Each entry ends with "Terror Trivia," and the book concludes with a DVD source list. On the negative side, even the casual fans also targeted will recognize a number of more mainstream entries, such as Sisters, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake, Manhunter, and Exorcist III. Entries on Terror Is a Man, Scream and Scream Again, The Nightcomers, The House That Screamed, The Blood on Satan's Claw, and Curse III-Blood Sacrifice would be more desirable. In short, it's partly a matter of taste; any perceptive cinema aficionado could produce a similar tome with a different but equally valid 101 titles. For exhaustive film collections only.-Kim Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, PA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.