Here we go with part II of my list, In Need of a Cult: Top 50 Movies Deserving More Fans! If you need a refresher on what it’s all about then just keep scrolling down or follow this link.

40) Night of the Comet (1984)
A comet passing over earth leaves all who see it turned to dust, and those not in a bomb shelter zombies! It’s Valley Girl meets Return of the Living Dead. This movie used to be an HBO staple (along with The Wraith and The Legend of Billy Jean). Not particularly gory or scary movie, but it is quirky and endearing.

39) Final Destination (2000)
You can’t cheat death, EVER! This is the first of one of the few decent horror franchises of the past decade. Although it was marketed primarily to a teenage audience, this film isn’t the kind of fluff you’d expect from that. It has a clever premise, creative and awesomely executed kill scenes, and just the right amount of camp mixed with good directing. All three installments are adrenaline fixes (with Final Destination 2 featuring one of the sickest opening car crash sequences ever!) , but the first installment, with it’s teen alienation back drop still takes the cake for me.


38) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Part faux documentary/part slasher movie, Behind the Mask pretends Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers are all real killers. Leslie Vernon strives to join in their footsteps as the next great slasher. This movie is a deconstructionist slasher/comedy, and does a great comedic job of embracing the clichés and directorial devices all slasher movies employ. Terrific casting (Robert Englund, Zelda Rubenstein) and plenty of little Easter eggs for horror junkies to catch in the background. The last third of the movie breaks the documentary style and becomes a traditional slasher flick. The only major flaw, I felt, was the movie’s total lack of gore. Considering how over the top it is elsewhere, I expected some insane kill scenes, but they are very mundane and have almost no blood. Still, it’s a great film in the tradition of Scream.

37) High Tension AKA Haute Tension (2005)
This is another excellent French film. High Tension is a non-stop rush of energy that’s excellently directed and acted. Its grittiness reminds me a lot of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The gore is extreme and very believably executed. The movie never drags and keeps an impressively high pace from the second it gets going.

36) Terror Firmer (1999)
Terror Firmer is one of Troma’s more recent in-house productions, directed by (and starring) Lloyd Kaufman. Whenever Lloyd is in the director’s seat, you know a movie will not disappoint! All the gore, sex, extreme violence, and recycled car crash scenes you expect from Troma are here. It’s the harrowing story of a film crew and their blind director’s attempt to “make some art”… with a serial killer loose on set! Rumor has it the film was made with only a 300k budget! Troma always knows how to stretch a dollar!

35) The Serpent & The Rainbow (1988)
It’s understandable that in catalog as large and with so many classics, some of his great movies will get forgotten over time, but this is Wes Craven’s excellent take on a zombie flick. Set in Haiti, the story focuses on an anthropologist’s hunt to find real zombies… of Voodoo! Craven restrains himself from peppering this movie with all the camp that he is known for, and just delivers a very creepy, serious tale of horror.

34) Prince of Darkness (1987)
It’s one of my favorites from John Carpenter! Unlike The Thing (No. 48), Prince of Darkness hasn’t been gaining appreciation–it’s falling further into oblivion as just another movie in this prolific director’s catalog. The end-of-days theme in horror isn’t new, but I always loved the way Carpenter presented it here. A team of scientists and theologists are sent to investigate the contents of a mysterious cylinder found in an abandoned church that belonged to a sacred cult. Upon arriving, they are greeted with strange dreams of impending doom, homeless zombies gathering at the church’s fences, and supernatural equations from the church’s previous occupants. Like Event Horizon (No. 41), Prince of Darkness amplifies its creepiness through the use of great sets, and doles out the camp in the way only John Carpenter can.

33) Return of the Living Dead II (1988)
The original Return of the Living Dead goes down in the annuls as one of the greatest zombie flicks ever made. Its gore, effects, and comedy are second to none, and it has punk rockers and a great soundtrack to boot! But what about its sequel? Like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (no. 44), this film gets so eclipsed by the first installment that sometimes one forgets it even existed. Return of the Living Dead II, however, doesn’t stray far from the excellent formula set up in the first movie. Just more quality zombies, gore, and comedy!

32) Phantasm II (1988)
“BOOOOOOY!!!” Phantasm is one of my favorite horror franchises, the Tall Man is among my favorite horror monsters, and the balls… what can you not love about the balls!? The basic premise of this movie concerns outerworldly morticians harvesting dead bodies to become midget servants in their own dimension. While many people have heard of Phantasm, not many of them have actually ever seen it. Of those who have, not many have seen any of the sequels beyond the classic first installment from the 70’s. This sequel was made over a decade after the original and picks up right where the first part left off. Darker in tone and stronger in story (and definitely benefiting from the 10+ years of special effects advancements), this sequel is even better than the original. Unfortunately, due to legal battles over who owns the rights, Phantasm II has never made it onto DVD. This, of course, only further hinders this unique movie–and its entire franchise–from the acclaim it deserves. Perhaps, with rumors of Phantasm V being in pre-production, the Tall Man and his balls will finally get the attention they deserve!

31) Cemetery Man (1996)
Rupert Everett stars as an impotent caretaker of a cemetery where the dead rise each evening. Every night, he must quickly put them back in their place. Cemetery Man is more than just a zombie movie. While it takes style and delivery cues from Evil Dead and Dead-Alive (no. 50), Cemetery Man is more an avant-garde, absurdist fable. The film is often as funny as it is existential.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part III