About This Quiz
Horror movie enthusiasts know that the 1990s gave us some of the most innovative horror films of our generation. Though some of them were as cheesy as those from decades past, movies like "Scream" (1996) and "The Blair Witch Project" (1999) flipped the script on the entire genre. We soon learned that horror movies could actually have plots (that didn't involve teenagers hanging out alone on stormy nights). They could also have interesting and funny characters.
Let's face it, the 1990s was the last decade in which horror movies didn't rely on buckets of blood and gratuitous violence to attract crowds (even the slasher films didn't overdo the gore). We watched and learned that we could grow emotional attachments to vampires (back then, vampires were always the bad guys). We saw (what we thought was) the end of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise ("Freddy Vs. Jason" came out in 2003 ... for some reason). We saw the 20th anniversary of the "Halloween" franchise with "Halloween Water" ... um, we mean "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" (1998). Overall, it was a great time to be a horror movie fan.
If you remember the horror movies of the 1990s, check out some of the deep cuts we found, and see if you can name all of them from a single screenshot.
Stephen King loves to explore people's greatest fears, and clowns are at the top of that list. King doesn't just make a scary clown in this film (and book), he makes the creepiest thing that has ever come out of a sewer. Tim Curry as Pennywise is tremendous.
"Scream" was an excellent movie that didn't mind making fun of itself. Spoiler Alert: two horror movie enthusiasts create their own horror movie by killing their fellow classmates at night.
Someone wanted an action movie and a vampire movie at the same time. This is what they got. "Blade" stars Wesley Snipes as a half-human, half-vampire. After his mom is killed, he seeks his revenge. This is an action movie with quite a bit of gore added to it.
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"Ring" (1998) was a new kind of scary. It was suspenseful and showed us that curses are nothing to mess with ... even if you're an investigative reporter who is interested in how people die from watching TV. This was the Japanese film that was remade as "The Ring" in the U.S. in 2002.
"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) was a different kind of horror movie. Yes, it involved murder and suspense, but it also included some deep psychological theory on serial killing.
There is no doubt that "The Blair Witch Project" (1999) was way ahead of its time. It was terrifying without even showing any crazy amounts of blood. You simply got the reaction from the actors (who were acting like they weren't actors).
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When teen witches get out of control, it takes one witch in the coven to stop them. "The Craft" is about what happens when teen drama meets some real crazy witchcraft. If only scars were that easy to erase.
Even if you haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" (1999), chances are someone has already blown the ending for you. This movie was made fun of and parodied so many times that it's impossible not to know at least a little bit about it.
Nothing scared 13-year-old girls more than the thought that a giant man covered in bees was going to attack them if they even thought of his name three times when they walked into the bathroom.
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Johnny Depp in a gothic movie? Sign us up! "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) takes "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to new extremes, giving it a little mystery and witchcraft to boot. It's an amazing twist ... Christopher Walken terrifies the audience.
If you thought that leprechauns were cool guys who simply shared their gold with everyone, this movie might make you stop chasing rainbows. It's an interesting movie about what happens when you get some gold of your own and someone wants it back.
"The Faculty" (1998) is about a few teachers who have gone positively wrong. Alright, maybe they were always that way, but during the span of this film, they're acting beyond strange as they are being controlled by aliens.
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Dracula is one of the most iconic monsters of all time. Movie studios have been making films about him since scary movies were first conceptualized. However, when Gary Oldman plays Dracula, people pay attention.
"Tremors" (1990) is the type of movie you watch for the fun of monster movies. It's about two men who are bored with their lives, but stumble upon a seismologist who is worried about what is happening underground.
Movies like this rely solely on master makeup crews and shocking sound effects. Not only do we see a young boy break into a house and learn that the occupants keep little boys there, but we also learn that they have a daughter.
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The idea that writers have obsessive fans is not new. In "Misery" (1990), we see what happens when you mess with Kathy Bates. She will break ankles and drug you until she gets what she wants (her favorite character back).
What happens when you constantly have nightmares about monsters? Well, you go to a therapist. However, when that therapist is a serial killer ... you die, and then the monsters that you dream about save you. The plot is interesting, but you have to see it before you decide.
"Interview With the Vampire" isn't necessarily the scariest of all horror movies. It actually follows a vampire through his death and the hundreds of years that he has lived among humans. It's fascinating what you can learn in an interview ... as long as you don't die at the end.
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Apparently, all it takes to become a zombie in "Dead Alive" (1992) is a monkey bite. However, when a boy tries to lock his zombie mother in the basement, she escapes and things get pretty bloody.
"In the Mouth of Madness" (1994) is about an insurance investigator who wants to prove that a horror writer isn't really missing. However, nothing can prepare him for what he actually sees in the end.
"Scream 2" (1997) took the funny self-awareness of the original "Scream" film and brought it to horror movie sequels. Nothing was safe after that as we learned what to look for when we watch the second installment of a series.
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"Demon Knight" (1995) is about a man who is protecting a very old key. The Collector (who is played by Billy Zane) would like the key to open the gates of hell and start up the apocalypse. As you can tell, things get a little messy.
Julie James is off to college, and more people around her are dying. Is Ben Wills still alive? Is there another person killing her friends? The only way to find out is to revisit this teen slasher film that scared us all in 1998.
"Bride of Chucky" (1998) went a little bit of a different direction with the "Child's Play" series. It became more funny than anything, as Chucky falls in love and gets married (seriously).
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Quentin Tarantino has made some pretty great movies over the years. Most of his movies include heroes that are a little bit sick in the head. This movie is no different, as we learn that a house of ill repute in Mexico is there as a buffet for vamps.
This horror film doubles as a comedy film. In 1992, it was definitely a new kind of movie. It is no wonder that this film has gained a cult following as it includes time travel, ghouls and chain saws. It stars Bruce Campbell, modern king of B movies. See him in "Bubba Ho-Tep!"
"Idle Hands" are the devil's plaything, and when Anton Tobias (played by Devon Sawa) has his hand possessed, he realizes that things aren't so great for him. His hand kills his best friends. This is one of those horror-comedy movies, and it's definitely a fun watch.
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Upon finding a ship that went missing years earlier, a team finds that there is much more going on than meets the eye. There is nothing more frightening than a horror movie in space ... there is literally nowhere for these characters to run.
"Innocent Blood" (1992) was directed by John Landis. It's about a lady vamp who only drinks the blood of bad guys ... that is until she accidentally turns the baddest of the bad into a vampire himself.
"Urban Legend" is about what happens on a college campus when things get a little weird and people start believing that the stories they hear really do come true. It is a little twist on horror movies, but it gives us some interesting characters.
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In 1990, someone decided that they could make yet another "Exorcist" movie and it would be great. This one is a little bit off the charts on how far it strays from the storyline, but it was definitely a good try.
"The Frighteners" stars Michael J. Fox as a man who lost his wife in a car accident and claims to be able to exercise evil spirits from people and towns. However, when he starts seeing things, everything changes.
Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode (now living under a different name in California). Movies like this started bringing in the nostalgic side of horror films and inspired quite a few other comebacks.
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We all know that "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" was not actually the final movie where we see Freddy killing people off. We see him again in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994).
"The Relic" is about what happens at the museum at night, and the Chicago Field Museum, no less (that place is awesome). In this movie, we see a bunch of museum employees die terrible deaths before someone realizes that a giant monster came out of one of their crates.
"Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994) brought the fantasy horror world into the real world as actress Heather Langenkamp plays herself as the actress who played in the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film in 1984.
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"The Haunting" (1999) is a remake of the British film of the same name that was released in 1963. However, in the '90s, we see Catherine Zeta-Jones play the main character in this not-so-scary horror film.
This movie is about an antique dealer who finds a magical scarab. Sure, he gets to live forever, but he also has a newfound bloodthirst. When someone tries to steal the magical scarab from the antique dealer, things get a little brutal.
In a memorable nightmare sequence, Kevin Bacon pulls out a tooth and drops it in the sink. Anyone who has ever had a nightmare like this knows the exact feeling his character had in "Stir of Echoes" (1999).
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When you are the only group of living survivors left, it's probably not a good idea to argue among yourselves ... especially when there are zombies outside your door. However, "Night of the Living Dead" (1990) gave us a little look at what would happen if the dead did decide to rise.