5 of the Most Insanely Original Films in Horror History
1985’s Re-Animator (#4)
Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator-Courtesy of Empire Pictures
“Don’t expect it to tango; it has a broken back.” – Dr. Herbert West
Re-Animating our list at number 4, our countdown continues with Stuart Gordon‘s Re-Animator. Stunning audiences in 1985, the year of the zombie, Re-Animator is beyond crazy in concept. With its gory story of a mad scientist and his quest for graveyard greatness, Gordon’s Re-Animator is truly one of horror’s most tantalizing terror tales – for the living and the dead.
Showcasing one of horror’s greatest performance, as Jeffrey Combs’ Dr. Herbert West is simply sensational, Re-Animator is crazy good. With its tone of fear, fright, and amazing fun, there’s no other film in horror history quite like Gordon’s Re-Animator. If you’ve seen the last 25 minutes of the ’85 classic, you’ll know how truly twisted the film is.
Based on a short story by H.P Lovecraft, Re-Animator may be about the undead, but like its viscous villains, it comes to life in victorious ways.
1987’s Hellraiser (#3)
Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’- Courtesy of New World Pictures
“Demons to some. Angels to others” – Pinhead
With puzzle box hand, Clive Barker’s 1987 classic Hellraiser is making Jesus weep at number 3 on our list.
Hellraiser, based on Barker’s own 1986 story “The Hellbound Heart,” is about as insanely original as any creative mind could hope to produce. Made for a scant $1M, but torturing audiences out of $14M, Hellraiser would go on to solidify itself as one or horror’s greatest exports.
Telling a tale of forbidden lust and bloody revenge, not to mention those creepy Cenobites, Hellraiser is a film like none other. Boasting a solid performance by Doug Bradley, an actor eventually performing the role eight times, Hellraiser is the work of genius…
That genius, of course, coming from celebrated writer Clive Barker. What Barker created is so exquisitely exceptional it’s truly hard to put it into words. As I’m sure you’ve seen the film, the way Barker infuses family drama with his insane story of hell servants in service of pain is brilliant.
An angel to some, and demon to others, Hellraiser is a true unflinching hell-ride.
