EJ Moreno looks at a selection of forgotten cult horror films from the 1990s that are well worth a watch…
We all know Scream, Candyman, and I Know What You Did Last Summer. These horror films, which emerged between 1990 and 1999, changed the genre landscape and gave us quite a few thrills and chills. But what about those classics that went overlooked?
In what’s often considered one of the weaker decades for horror, plenty of offerings still gave us hope for the genre. As stated, we had the staples in horror, like the significant franchises or massive moments like The Sixth Sense, but today, we’re focusing on genre films that are considered hidden gems, forgotten classics, or misunderstood masterpieces. Pull out the VHS tapes, grab your favorite Hi-C, and join us for a retro horror deep dive…
Tales From The Hood
Nowadays, you can find films often unafraid to delve into Black Horror, but it wasn’t always like that. Exploring Black trauma and its deep cultural roots was a rarity when Rusty Cundieff cracked up that conversation with 1995’s Tales from the Hood.
The anthology film looked at topics like racism, police corruption, and domestic abuse with horror as its conduit. Each of the segments gives you a wonderful little glimpse into the mind of Rusty Cundieff, but it’s what he does with the iconic prologue featuring Clarence Williams III that sits with you. You’ll never forget what and his chilling mortuary, which is just a tiny fraction of how good this gets.
In 2018, we’d finally get a sequel to the film, and while it’s not without its bright spots, you can see the lightning captured in a bottle with the OG Tales from the Hood.
Frankenhooker
Do you want to talk about overlooked? Frank Henenlotter is arguably one of those filmmakers who never got proper praise, even when everything he did is still referenced. Some even pointed out how much 1990’s Frankenhooker inspired Oscar winner Poor Things.
Arguably, this is one of the decade’s most bizarre films; Frankenhooker does what the title implies and mixes the story of Frankenstein with a sex worker. With a premise like that, you’d expect pure sleaze, but something about the Henenlotter classic comes off earnestly sweet. Maybe it’s Patty Mullen as Elizabeth/Frankenhooker, but you can’t help but fall in love with what’s unfolding.
While it feels a little too softcore adult film, those moments don’t overshadow a fun Frankenstein romp through early 90s NYC. This brings you right back to the heyday of video store horror.
Return of the Living Dead 3
Much like the underrated genius of Henenlotter, Brian Yuzna has a host of cult horror classics that speak to genre fans. From his classic Reanimator series to Society, there are bangers upon bangers. But when he joined the horror-comedy Living Dead franchise, he struck gold.
The first two Return of the Living Dead movies were iconic in their own right, but the third installment, targeted at alt-girls, is equal parts sexy and punk. To avoid the plot points from the first two movies, Yuzna takes the franchise in a tragically romantic direction but doesn’t forget the sleaze and cheese needed. While a little less goofy, it’s still a fun romp.
Melinda Clarke’s Julie Walker holds all of this together. In one of the most overlooked horror performances, we get a scream queen worth screaming about. In an already underrated franchise, this is its darling black sheep.
Perfect Blue
It’s a shame Perfect Blue didn’t reach the levels of other animated 90s films that changed the game, but that doesn’t diminish the impact of this vastly overlooked anime horror experience. This is no friendly Miyazaki romp but something dark and twisted you’ll never forget.
Japanese director Satoshi Kon had no idea what he had on his hands when he created the 1997 psychological horror anime Perfect Blue. At the same time that folks were dropping Se7en and Audition, the film stood next to its peers equally. Throughout the film, we never know the difference between reality and fantasy, making you just as lost as Mima.
This could be the most loved of all the movies, as it’s often ranked among the best anime films ever. Even with that, not enough people know the power that Perfect Blue holds within its chilling frames.
The Resurrected
If you’re familiar with the previous entry, Return of the Living Dead, you’ll know Dan O’Bannon. The man behind the original film knows how to craft memorable genre moments, which he displays in this often-forgotten early-90s release called The Resurrected.
Heavily inspired by the work of H. P. Lovecraft, there’s something to the film that sits with you for some time. Even if the filmmaker suffered some edits he doesn’t fully agree with, the bones of the story are pretty impressive, using the best of the detective story with far more to it than just that. A simple mystery turns into something far scarier.
Headed by John Terry and Chris Sarandon, you’ll get wonderful acting on display in a bizarre, which turns out to be the perfect contrast you need for an iconic cult classic.
Stigmata
In recent years, filmmakers have brought religion back into horror, and the result has been some surprisingly great offerings. But the 1990s had complicated feelings on religion, especially with the rise of Gen-X, and we’d see a brilliant exploration of that with 1999’s Stigmata.
Director Rupert Wainwright held nothing back with his brilliant, bold look at Catholicism. Some critiqued how Stigmata handled everything from a theological point of view, but looking back, you can see Wainwright exercising a lot of emotions of the time through the film. While the acting is often poked fun at, I think Patricia Arquette gives this her all.
Sometimes, the choppy music video-style filmmaking distracts from what’s happening, but that’s more of a product of its time than a slight against it. It’s still a solid watch in a year packed with hits.
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
It’s strange to see a remake on this list, as many people don’t associate this decade with them. And it’s even wilder to see a remake of the seminal zombie created by George A. Romero, but the film is seriously that good. It also helps that Tom Savini and Romero were involved.
The 90s kicked off with Night of the Living Dead, an update on the 1968 film of the same name. Many would easily overlook this as a rehash, but the love that went into the film is evident from Romero working on the script to the legendary Savini giving one of his only feature directorial efforts; it all falls into place to bring new life to the original.
We also saw two excellent performances by Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman, who made their original actors proud with great turns. Thankfully, modern audiences have come to know the joy that fills this film.
Audition
For how insanely popular this film was at its release and for a generation of horror fans after, you’d be shocked to know how many don’t see the brilliance of Audition and its legendary director, Takashi Miike. If there’s one movie to revisit here, make it this.
In the era of elevated horror, it’s strange that Audition is not credited enough for bringing that element to horror at a time when it was still slasher sequels and teen-driven romps. Miike took no inspiration from the landscape then and went in a wholly original direction, giving the 90s an iconic movie to close out an overlooked decade.
It’s hard to describe what Miike manifests here, but led by the brilliant Eihi Shiina, you are in great hands with this. Nothing compares to what this conjures up after you see it, sticking with you forever.
Do you have any forgotten 90s horror recommendations? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
EJ Moreno
