OMG Horror

The female character has long been an integral staple of horror film lore.  From Janet Leigh in Psycho (or any of the multitude of blondes Hitchcock employed – by the way it’s Hitch’s birthday today, or would have been – so big ups to Al!) to any of the female leads in 80s slasher films, hell, even to Rose McGowan in Planet Terror.  Female characters are vulnerability personified and that makes for some damn interesting horror scenarios.  Well, we at OMGHorror.com have decided to compile a list of what we deem the top ten horror heroines of all time (by alphabetic surname).  Enjoy!

Perhaps too often a horror film location is overlooked.  Taken for granted.  Perhaps an audience is more geeked up to see ferocious death sequences, a close-up of a demented killer, a half-naked woman running for her life, whatever.  But the best horror films know how important it is to cull as much discomfort from where the film is set than the actual story itself.  Well OMGHorror has compiled a list of the top dozen horror film settings.  From the deep oceans to the vast cosmos, from the heart of the jungle to the eateries of the mall - we've got it all.  Enjoy!

Boat/Ocean - There’s something awfully terrifying about a horror film set largely on a boat.  You have the claustrophobia, the isolation, the vast unknown of a surrounding ocean, and of course, whatever the hell is lurking in the waters.  The fear lies in inescapability, the utter vulnerability the characters endure throughout the film.  Such (at sea) scenarios inherently foster true suspense, and it’s the mounting tension that becomes a large part of the narrative.  It’s not just the startles and abrupt jump fright that is so instrumental to the terror, it’s often all about the build up and ultimate payoff.  It might be worth noting Alexandre Aja’s Piranha 3-D is currently filming (with Liz Shue no less). 

Best Example: Jaws

Honorable Mention: Piranha, Rogue, Leviathan (haha)

Most mainstream critics pan the horror genre as something insidious, profane, gratuitous, not to be taken seriously – you name it.  It’s a genre that suffers from the perceived notion of inferior filmmaking, acting the particular facet in that viewpoint.  And while it may be true to an extent, after all, every film genre has its own lot of dreck, if it weren’t for the horror genre, a lot of our most revered film and TV stars never would have gotten their chance to shine.  In fact, the horror realm has long been a fecund breeding ground for actors to blossom, some into stars, granted some more luminous than others.  Now, here is our alphabetic list of well known actors who more or less got their start in a horror flick.  Enjoy! 

Jennifer Aniston (Leprechaun, 1993) – Well before copping a cool million per episode of “Friends” and swapping public barbs with her ex-man’s new lady, Jen Aniston took a substantial role in the immortal Mark Jones film Leprechaun.  Surely it wasn’t Aniston’s first acting gig, she did play Jeannie Bueller in the ephemeral TV spin-off series of “Ferris Bueller,” but come on – how can you top trying to evade a sadistic little green ghoul as a way to seek super stardom.  It was Aniston’s first theatrical movie however, and proud of that she should be even if credited behind Warwick Davis, who trivially enough, also played the titular role in Willow.  Mind-blowing, right?!?        

Most mainstream critics pan the horror genre as something insidious, profane, gratuitous, not to be taken seriously – you name it.  It’s a genre that suffers from the perceived notion of inferior filmmaking, acting the particular facet in that viewpoint.  And while it may be true to an extent, after all, every film genre has its own lot of dreck, if it weren’t for the horror genre, a lot of our most revered film and TV stars never would have gotten their chance to shine.  In fact, the horror realm has long been a fecund breeding ground for actors to blossom, some into stars, granted some more luminous than others.  Now, here is our alphabetic list of well known actors who more or less got their start in a horror flick.  Enjoy! 

Jason Alexander (The Burning, 1981) – Back when the man had hair, long before he was playing a neurotic bald schlep on one of the most successful TV series to come about, Jason Alexander displayed his sophomoric comic chops in the top flight slasher effort The Burning.  The flick, which features Tom Savini’s self-described best work (with The Prowler) focuses on a vengeful burn victim who goes ballistic on a group of camp counselors who tormented him years before.  Alexander plays one of the teens, spending the bulk of his time scamming on girls and clowning on the resident meat-neck Glazer.  Stay tuned next time for another known thespian that shows up in The Burning.        

From Germany to Japan, this time for Foreign Fear Friday we celebrate the work of j-horror auteur Takashi Miike.  Born on August 24, 1960 in Yao, Osaka, Japan – the 48 year old has been groomed for the world of cinema since his early days in attendance of Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film, despite his claims of rarely going to class.  He did graduate from the school, doing do under the staunch tutelage of hailed visionary filmmaker Shohei Imamura (the founder and Dean).  Early in his creative career, Miike’s work lingered in the realm of TV and V-cinema (straight to video), an avenue he often returns to as a way to enjoy the artistic freedom that major studio censorship rarely encourages.  Despite tinkering in a barrage of genres on early on (a skill that would persist in the coming years), themes of extreme violence and graphic perversion have remained steady throughout. 

Too often we associate the terror of a horror film from the onscreen violence, blood-letting, elaborate fatalities, dingy settings, etc.  What goes overlooked a lot of the time is the musical score of a horror film, an emotional avenue that not only augments a picture as a whole, but cuts right down to the basic of human emotions.  Horror scores, more than any, hold the arduous task of reflecting the fears and uncertainty in the characters of the narrative and much stock has to be invested in them in order to pull it off effectively.  Here now, is our list of the 20 best all time horror scores.  Since they all tend to kick so much derriere - we’ve gone ahead and alphabetized them instead of ranking them by superiority (it’d be pretty difficult to do so)  Enjoy!  

The Beyond (Fabio Frizzi) – Fulci smartly goes back to the well with help of Fabio Frizzi for his 1981 masterwork The Beyond.  Honestly, this might be in my top two or three of our list.  It has such a banging baseline and a choral accompaniment that it’s a piece of music I look forward to playing on my own from time to time, independent of the film itself.  When the march-like drum-roll kicks in I feel like getting my dance on, don’t you? It’s perhaps an unheralded score, as is the film, which never saw an uncut version in America until 1998 when Quentin Tarantino re-released the film in all its gory glory through his Rolling Thunder Pictures company, which tamed with Grindhouse Releasing to bring the correct version to light.  Damn glad they did so.

Everyone knows (and loves) Bruce Campbell for his unforgettable role of Ash Williams from the horror splatstick Evil Dead trilogy. But despite what you might think, Campbell has been in a handful of other good horror-themed films. Read on as OMGHorror celebrates the 7 movies every Bruce Campbell fan should watch that aren't Evil Dead!

#7: My Name is Bruce

Though My Name is Bruce, which was directed by the big-chinned B movie actor himself, didn’t quite capture the magic and appeal of the Evil Dead films as it intended to, Bruce Campbell is nothing short of hilarious in it. And after 15 years without a sequel to the trilogy that made him such a cult movie icon, this movie is the next best thing. In My Name in Bruce, Campbell plays an exaggerated version of himself who lives in a rundown trailer and is forced to be in crappy Sci-Fi Channel-esque movies because he's desperate for any kind of work.

Without spoiling too many of the funny parts in MNIB, in one scene Bruce is approached by a fan of his in a wheelchair who wants an autograph. After the guy expresses his dissatisfaction with the half-assed autograph he gets, Bruce asks him if he’s ever seen the movie Raw Hide and when the fan says "yes," he replies with “well, then you should know to keep those doggies rolling” and then pushes the disabled fan hard with his leg  who rolls backwards down the street. 

#15: The Unborn
In what is probably no match for It's Alive or the vat of bile known as The Suckling, The Unborn is David S. Goyer's (Blade: Trinity, The Invisible) latest foray into the world of the macabre. When a young pregnant woman (Odette Yustman) starts to slowly become possessed by the entity inside of her, all kinds of eerie revelations and horrific truths are unearthed. Despite the flick being rated PG-13, Goyer is smart enough to cast screen greats like Gary Oldman and Jane Alexander alongside fresher talent like drop dead lookers Megan Goode and Carla Gugino. The Unborn is delivered January 9, 2009.

With Turkey day in the rear view and a the rest of the holiday season laid out before us, OMGHorror is thrilled to share with you our creme de' le' creme compilation of holiday horror films. From Michael Myers carving a tad more than pumpkins, Saint Nick stuffing more than stockings, Uncle Sam recruiting more than young healthy frames, to embittered valentines offering more than candy hearts - we've got it all for you here in one place. Happy Holidays!

HONORABLE MENTION/RUNNERS UP:

#13. CRITTERS 2: THE MAIN COURSE (1988)
Alright, we thought we'd kick this thing off with a little PG-13 levity. From the mind of horror bon vivant Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Masters of Horror) comes not only our sole list sequel, but compared to its predecessor, one that actually stacks up considerably well. This time out, a larger, more ferocious gaggle of greasy aliens invades a new town with a meatier body count. This time though, a nest of Krite eggs are mistaken for festive Easter eggs - a zany springboard for all kinds of hectic shit to be set in motion. The comical return of the besotted red-neck bounty hunter, re-teamed with oddball space pirates or whatever they are from the first one gives a nice familiarity from the initial film; never getting too close or far from the source material. In fact, The Main Course acts like it; essentially beefing up the action, inflating the violence, speeding the tempo - in generally enhancing the sequel and making it that much more entertaining. The special effects by Martin Bresin (Tremors, Candyman) and the work from the makeup team in this version is pretty top shelf; the critters hyper-animated and emoting with every note of ghoulish range. Then add genre stalwart Lin Shaye and the kick ass Barry Corbin to the mix and you get a wildly watchable Easter bash!