24. Bride of Chucky
The idea of Chucky, a serial killer taken in the form of a children’s doll, is a pretty scary idea. This was true with the case of the first Child’s Play and is sort of true with the second and third movie. However, each of the Chucky movies progressively get more ridiculous then the previous. The series really hit its peak with The Bride of Chucky, a sequel that took the franchise into a different direction.
This time, the movie introduces another doll named Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly, and adds a Bonnie and Clyde element to the movie. Both Chucky and Tiffany are stuck in their doll forms and must find a way to turn themselves into human by enlisting the help of two unsuspecting couple, Jesse and Jade, who are unintentionally caught in the mix of this plot.
What makes The Bride of Chucky fun to watch is that it’s a movie that’s self-aware of the franchise. Killer dolls might sound creepy, but it doesn’t seem to work on screen. The new direction of making Bride of Chucky campy adds funnier elements that’s never been explored in this franchise before; such as, how would Chucky work with an accomplice he despises, and how does he have sex? The movie also has more over-the-top kills in the movie.
The mindset that probably went into this movie was basically how much destruction can two talking dolls make. It’s a new reinvention that explored different avenues the first three movies couldn’t do. It’s funny, it’s bloody, but most of all, it’s really a movie about serial killer dolls.
25. The Monster Squad
Not so much a horror movie but an homage to classic horror monster movie, The Monster Squad is a unique and graveyard smash of a little film about a group of kids who are exactly that: the Monster Squad. In this movie, the Monster Squad are in search of a magical amulet that will rid the world of evil monsters.
However, with the aid of the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and the Frankenstein Monster, the evil Count Dracula is on the hunt for it so that nothing can stop him from taking over the world.
Following in the footsteps of eighties coming-of-age films, like Stand by Me and The Goonies, Monster Squad takes a notch higher by being extremely non-politically correct. In these coming-of-ages films, kids would curse like sailors and would get in situations that involved excessive violence. In the movie, the kids wield guns and during one humorous scene, shoves dynamite down the Wolf Man’s pants, causing it to blow up.
It’s also surprisingly dark with its many moments that are so mean spirited that it becomes funny. At one point, Count Dracula straight up calls a little girl a bitch in the movie. While there are many movies that are considered timeless, this movie is quite the opposite by being dated for being filled with what’s frowned upon now, and that’s what makes it a fun movie.
Being stuck in a time where being politically correct is important, eighties coming-of-age movie are a joy to watch because it seems like they were made just to offend this time period.
26. Dead Snow
Another addition to the cabin in the woods genre, this Norwegian horror movie gives Call of Duty a run for its money by milking on the subject of Nazi zombies. The movie is about a group of medical students who are seemingly on vacation, when all of a sudden, they’re confronted with the undead soldiers.
The Nazi zombies are after buried gold that the teens accidentally discovered. As with all cabin in the woods movie goes, the usual happens when characters are killed when they leave the cabin to go investigate a sound, and an epic climax ensues as the remaining survivors gather what’s left of their strength as they fight the perilous undead army of the Third Reich.
As the movie runs, we’re treated with a blood fest of characters and zombies being axed in torturous ways, especially with the ripping of the guts, which seems to be a favorite for the film. The movie is relentless, yet terribly clichéd. But the movie takes a turn when instead of being victims of the Nazi zombies, the remaining group decide to fight back. What then ensues is a bloody good show of gory spectacle, and an amputation scene that goes fubar.
27. Basket Case
Another bizarre monster slasher movie, this time, the killer is more of a human blob that somehow has super human strength. Basket Case is about two conjoined twins named Duane and Belial. At an early age, Duane and Belial were separated against their wills. As a result, both Duane and Belial move to New York City in order to get revenge on the doctors who separated them. Belial himself, really just a blob of human flesh and arms, live in a basket. Hence the title, Basket Case.
Frank Henenlotter directs this first feature length movie of his, granting him an established director of horror comedy exploitation. The movie is shocking and sickening at times, which is why it’s a whole lot of fun. The creature effects of Belial is done with puppetry, stop motion, and people simply holding onto the Belial when they’re being attacked.
The movie is extremely gory with the over-the-top deaths, and the sequels get worse and worse with that. The movie works to its advantage with its low budget, giving it that schlocky B-movie feel. In fact, there is one scene where Duane pulls out a wad of cash for the apartment. That wad of cash is literally the movie’s budget.
28. Maximum Overdrive
B-horror films are the mad-libs of horror movies. Instead of a traditional killer of some sorts, B-horror movies injects in bizarre things as killers, like ants, tomatoes, and now trucks. Stephen King steps in and directs his first and only feature length movie, and though this was supposed to invigorate the fans of Stephen King, it was met with confused disarray.
Maximum Overdrive is a lesson in our overreliance on technology and how machines are in a sort of way dominating the Earth. However, this movie is more of a bizarre survival thriller meets demolition derby. In the movie, a comet passes by Earth, causing all electronic appliances; such as trucks, vending machines, and even planes, to become autonomous and bent on killing humans. A small band of survivors are stuck in a gas station diner as a group of menacing trucks circle them.
Although this idea has much potential on paper, it is muddled with horrible execution. Stephen King admitted that he didn’t know what he was doing when directing this movie, and it definitely shows. The humans are killed off in the most over-the-top way possible by being run over by trucks, or getting shot with soda cans from a vending machine.
A kid playing in a little league baseball game gets caught in a steam roller. With all of its awfulness, the music is the real savior of the movie because it is entirely composed by AC/DC.
29. Thankskilling
Most holiday themed horror movies are a mockery in general. And while Halloween is the best holiday to sell a horror movie, Thanksgiving is quite possibly the worst. This is what Thankskilling aims to do. Kick-started with a budget of that from a student film,
Thankskilling is a very small movie that stars no noticeable stars, and the movie’s special effects are laughable. But what it does have are awful cringe inducing Thanksgiving puns and a killing spree with ridiculous deaths that can only happen in a Thanksgiving related horror movie. A group of teens head up to Crawberg, only to be stalked by an evil talking turkey bent on revenge. The teens must find a way to outsmart and kill the turkey before they themselves are killed off.
It’s a horror movie parody that, get this, is about an evil killer turkey. It points towards the direction “so bad it’s good” route that it must have been done like this on purpose, and thankfully it is. There’s a bizarre scene where the turkey kills a character’s father, and then pretends to be the father. There’s another where a character’s death leads to a best friend montage, complete with a song. So get together for the holiday of Thanksgiving, eat up, and watch this movie with the family. It’ll be totes fun.
30. Battlefield Baseball
This movie barely qualifies as a horror movie only because it has zombies and bloody carnage in the movie. But this movie is still worth mentioning because it is an utterly ridiculous movie.
Adapted from a Japanese manga, this movie depicts a hopeless high school baseball team as they are up against the baseball team, Gedo, a team consisting of zombie players who are merciless in their appetite for destruction. The high school team manager must convince a transfer student, whose battlefield baseball skills are off the chart, to join the team. However, he himself has his own past to settle as it revolves around a tragic story involving baseball.
The title explains what you’ll be expecting from this movie. It’s practically baseball that’s treated like it’s a battlefield. There are players with their limbs blown off, impaled by baseball bats, and guns blazing. But the movie goes even further with ridiculous territory by adding random musical numbers, violent action scenes that rely on cartoon logic, and a character who regenerates into different actors like in Doctor Who.
Author Bio: Kevin Tran is a recent graduate from Cal State Long Beach with an emphasis in Film and a minor in Communications. He is into film editing but he loves to write on the side. His love of film started when he borrowed my friend’s copy of Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive and enjoyed it so much that he became obsessed with ridiculous movies with excessive cult followings.