If the ’90s taught us anything, it’s that Tamagotchis were way harder to keep alive than we first anticipated, Edward Furlong’s bangs were cooler than a liquid-metal shape-shifting cucumber and those slap bracelets could severely reduce circulation to your fingers if left on for too long (it was totally worth it, though).
The ’90s ruled. Not only did they introduce us to Pogs, rollerblades, Ring Pops and Angelica’s spine-chilling nightmare sequences from Rugrats (oh god, no), but they also introduced us to a multitude of wicked and wonderful horror flicks, too. So, for your reading pleasure, we’ve separated the weak from the chaff and hand-picked a selection of the best horror movies that went on to define a decade. Before we kick off though, we’d just like to touch on a few honourable mentions.
We really wanted to include Stephen King’s It, however, it’s actually a two-part TV miniseries which disqualifies it from this movie-centric list. Nevertheless, we do implore you to check it out in anticipation of Andrés Muschietti’s promising looking interpretation later this year — the 1990 version is still bloodcurdlingly terrifying stuff, even to this day.
Furthermore, small town monster picture Tremors and road movie-cum-vampire caper From Dusk ’Till Dawn are both tremendous, though they both feel a wee too action-oriented to break into a top ten horror-focused list. And don’t forget David Fincher’s depressingly gloomy Alien 3, John Carpenter’s frightening Lovecraftian tale In The Mouth of Madness, Adrian Lyne’s mind-bending suspense-driven Jacob’s Ladder and Martin Scorsese’s dread-inducing Cape Fear remake, which are all super effective slices of horror but just missed out from top ten places by a werewolf hair’s breadth.
So, with that out of the way, come join us as we dive into the ten most memorable horror movies from the ’90s. Just don’t forget to bring your shiniest pair of Dr. Martens and your coolest flannel shirt for the ride…