HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

German Title:
Ab in die Ewigkeit

Canada, 1981
Director: J. Lee Thompson

7/10

Very entertaining and surprisingly pretty intelligent slasher with a solid cast, a great twisted plot, a huge amount of tension and atmosphere, some fantastic kills and a brilliant ending.

Only flaw: it's definitely much too long (110 min - probably one of the longest slasher ever made).

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE BRAIN

THE BRAIN

German Title:
Das Gehirn

USA, 1988
Director: Ed Hunt

4/10

A laughable and super-cheesy but entertaining low budget schlock including a stupid plot, terribly bad dialogue, horrendous actors and some really lousy special/make-up effects. At least there are 3 things that make it worth watching: the surpringly outstanding first 10 minutes (weird but quite suspenseful) the nice performance of David Gale and, of course, the silly-looking monster-brain, one of the 80s' most hilarious 'creatures'.

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CHOPPING MALL

CHOPPING MALL

Alternate Title:
Killbots

German Title:
Shopping

USA, 1986
Director: Jim Wynorski

4/10

Generic 80s flick, very cheesy, very silly, full of lame actors and terrible dialogue - but in some kind of way also pretty entertaining. Cool robots, some great action-packed scenes and some gorgeous kills (especially the exploding-head-scene). Turn off your brain and enjoy!

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GRADUATION DAY

GRADUATION DAY

Alternate German Title:
Graduation Day - 7 Tage zur Ewigkeit

USA, 1981
Director: Herb Freed

4/10

An extremely cheesy 80s slasher, full of horribly bad actors, awful pop-muzak and terrible dialogue. The suspense-level is low and the script is crap - but nevertheless, it has its entertaining moments: a gorgeous opening sequence, a funny ending, some great atmosphere and a couple of absolutely fabulous kills (highlight: the spikes under the landing mat).

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THE STUFF

THE STUFF

German Title:
The Stuff - Ein tödlicher Leckerbissen

USA, 1985
Director: Larry Cohen

7/10

Undoubtedly one of the freakiest and craziest 80s movies, of course from camp-master Larry Cohen. A mad but also pretty critical horror-satire full of funny ideas, crazy characters, amusing dialogue and really nice special effects.
I really can't get enough of that wonderful Stuff :-)

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MOTEL HELL

MOTEL HELL

Alternate Title:
Hotel Hell

German Title:
Hotel zur Hölle

USA, 1980
Director: Kevin Connor

7/10

Highly entertaining and quite original, but also pretty freaky and a bit disturbing horror-satire with a good script full of brilliant ideas, a bunch of gorgeous actors and a nice score. An underrated must-see-flick!

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DEAD & BURIED

DEAD & BURIED

German Title:
Tot und begraben

USA, 1981
Director: Gary Sherman

8/10

Great and highly original 80s variation on the zombie-theme, pretty tense and extremely atmospheric with many suspenseful and frightening scenes, a terrific and brilliantly-twisted script, a wonderful soundtrack, some gorgeous gore and an entertaining cast (James Farentino, Robert Englund...). A must-see classic!

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EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS

EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS

German Title:
Arac Attack - Angriff der achtbeinigen Monster

USA, 2002
Director: Ellory Elkayem

5/10

An ok homage to the 50s monster movies but IMO nothing special. The first half is utter boring and slow, gladly the second half is fast-paced and action-packed. The spider scenes are all pretty entertaining, the special effects look ok. Unfortunately the whole cast is extremely disappointing: the acting is lame, most of the characters are extremely annoying and David Arquette... well, I just don't like him.

Wiki ~ Imdb

The FRIDAY THE 13TH series

FRIDAY THE 13TH

German Title:
Freitag der 13.

USA, 1980
Director: Sean S. Cunningham

6/10

It will be always a mystery to me how this mediocre slasher could turn out into one of horror's most successful franchises. Don't get me wrong: it's a decent movie with some awesome kills (especially the brutal kill of young Kevin Bacon), some supenseful scenes and a great ending - but there are also some unbelievably annoying actors, pointless scenes, dumb dialogue and... well, let's face it: the story is pretty dull.

Similar movies like Sleepaway Camp or The Burning are way better.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2

German Title:
Freitag der 13. - Jason kehrt zurück / Freitag der 13. Teil 2

USA, 1981
Director: Steve Miner

7/10

A surprisingly good sequel, better than Part 1. Jason Voorhees makes his killing debut and he succeeds brilliantly in chopping up teens (see what I mean?). I also like Jason's sack over his head (not as good as the icehockey-mask but it has that certain something).

The whole movie is creepier, faster and more tense, and the ending is fantastic - but of course there are also a bunch of annoying actors, plot holes and stupid dialogues.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3

Alternate Title:
Friday The 13th Part 3-D

German Title:
Und wieder ist Freitag der 13.

USA, 1982
Director: Steve Miner

8/10

IMO this is undoubtedly the best of all Friday-movies, of course not only because of Jason finally getting his trademark hockey-mask: it's surprisingly pretty suspenseful and atmospheric, in some scenes very fast-paced, there's plenty of gore and great kills, and some of the actors are comparatively good.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER

German Title:
Freitag der 13. Teil IV - Das letzte Kapitel

USA, 1984
Director: Joseph Zito

5/10

An ok sequel but not really anything special. Some tense and pretty atmospheric scenes, Jason looks amazing and his kills are once again awesome - but you quickly realize that it's the same story now told for the 4th time, and the characters never have been as dumb and annoying as in here. A bit of a letdown.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V: A NEW BEGINNING

Alternate Title:
Friday The 13th: A New Beginning

German Title:
Freitag der 13. Teil V - Ein neuer Anfang

USA, 1985
Director: Danny Steinmann

2/10

Terrible sequel. Every single character is annoying as hell. There's no suspense, no tension, it's full of boredom and the ending is shit. Some great gore but that's it.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES

Alternate Title:
Jason Lives: Friday The 13th Part VI

German Title:
Freitag der 13. Teil VI - Jason lebt

USA, 1986
Director: Tom McLoughlin

6/10

A real treat after the awful Part 5. Totally unscary and unoriginal, but nevertheless very entertaining. The whole film is extremely funny and humorously, but also pretty brutal and gore. The plot is mad and majority of the cast consists of hilariously overacting characters.

A perfect popcorn flick.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD

German Title:
Freitag der 13. Teil VII - Jason im Blutrausch

USA, 1988
Director: John Carl Buechler

6/10

The last sequel that I'd call better than average, especially because of the plot that may be a bit strange but at least offers something new and original. It's very brutal and gory, some of the deaths are really brilliant, there's plenty of atmosphere and the acting is ok. By the way, this is Kane Hodder's first performance as Jason and I daresay that this is definitely the best Jason of all Friday-films.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN

German Title:
Freitag der 13. Teil VIII - Todesfalle Manhattan

USA, 1989
Director: Rob Hedden

3/10

Part 8 is just lame. The script/plot is terrible, the actors are bad and the title is completely misleading: Jason is in New York for about 15 minutes. The kills are all brilliant and the end is great, but overall... well, just lame.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY

Alternate Title:
Jason Goes To Hell

German Title:
Jason Goes To Hell - Die Endabrechnung

USA, 1993
Director: Adam Marcus

1/10

I really don't know what they were thinking when they made this steaming pile of shit. Part 5 is a masterpiece compared to this crap.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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JASON X

USA, 2002
Director: James Isaac

5/10

Jason goes to space - yep, it sounds silly and stupid and in fact it is silly and stupid, but it's so entertaining to see Jason slashing around on a starship and it is even more entertaining to see him transforming into Uber Jason.

Turn off your brain, grab yourself a bottle of beer and a pack of popcorn, lean back and enjoy this fabulous cheesefest!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FREDDY VS. JASON

USA, 2003
Director: Ronny Yu

7/10

Pretty enjoyable clash of the titans. Plot is shit and most of the actors are average but seriously: when Jason meets Freddy, who cares about such trifles?

It's a fabulous gorefest, not very tense, but extremely gory and entertaining - again a perfect popcorn flick!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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FRIDAY THE 13TH
(Reboot)

German Title:
Freitag der 13.

USA, 2009
Director: Marcus Nispel

4/10

A very disappointing reboot. The first 20 minutes are alright, Jason looks great and he kills are all pretty solid. For the rest, it's plain shit. A terrible plot, some extremely annoying characters played by some lame actors, horrible dialogue, no tension, no suspense, no nothing. Meh.

Wiki ~ Imdb

The SLEEPAWAY CAMP series

SLEEPAWAY CAMP

Alternate Title:
Nightmare Vacation

German Titles:
Blutiger Sommer / Camp des Grauens

USA, 1983
Director: Robert Hiltzik

8/10

Clearly one of the best and most interesting slashers from the 80s. A really good and original story combined with some nice atmosphere, great characters, a bunch of absolutely terrific kills + one of the most shocking end twists in history. Classic!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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SLEEPAWAY CAMP II: UNHAPPY CAMPERS

Alternate Title:
Nightmare Vacation II

German Title:
Camp des Grauens 2

USA, 1988
Director: Michael A. Simpson

7/10

A decent sequel which comes pretty close to the original. Fuck the lame dialogue and the shitty actors - the movie is great fun with many suspenseful scenes and, again, a couple of brilliant kills (especially the nasty toilet scene!).

Wiki ~ Imdb

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SLEEPAWAY CAMP III: TEENAGE WASTELAND

Alternate Title:

Nightmare Vacation III

German Title:
Camp des Grauens 3

USA, 1989
Director: Michael A. Simpson

4/10

Part 3 desperately tries to surprise and impress you - but totally fails. The kills are once again great but the rest is just boring and uninteresting.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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SLEEPAWAY CAMP IV: THE SURVIVOR
(Partially filmed in 1992 but never completed. The unfinished footage was released in 2002 as a bonus disc in a Sleepaway Camp Box-Set.)

USA, 1992/2002
Director: Jim Markovic

-/10 (unrateable)

The footage looks cheesy but in some weird kind of way worthwhile. Could have been good, could have been bad, who knows?

Wiki ~ Imdb

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RETURN TO SLEEPAWAY CAMP

USA, 2008
Director: Robert Hiltzik

4/10

A bit similar to Part 3: absolutely fun and brillant kills (the penis scene... ouch!) but the rest sucks. What was Hiltzik thinking to do a movie with no single likeable character? Thankfully most of them get killed.

Wiki ~ Imdb

AUDITION

AUDITION

Original Title:
Ōdishon

Japan / South Korea, 1999
Director: Takashi Miike

10/10

Super-sick and extremely disturbing masterpiece from provocateur Miike, unbelievably tense and atmospheric with a great story, awesome actors, brilliant cinematography, a haunting score and a finale so phenomenally gruesome, you'll never forget it. Outstanding movie!

Wiki ~ Imdb

ROGUE

ROGUE

German Title:
Rogue - Im falschen Revier

Australia, 2007
Director: Greg McLean

7/10

Fully entertaining croc horror, quite tense and atmospheric with beautiful cinematography, a decent cast and some great effects. The crocodile looks absolutely stunning and is absolutely believable and authentic.

It could have been gorier and more fast-paced, apart from that it's absolutely top-notch and thrilling.

Wiki ~ Imdb

ERASERHEAD

ERASERHEAD

USA, 1977
Director: David Lynch

10/10

One of the weirdest, most bizarre, most surreal, most grotesque, most disturbing movies ever made. So unique, so exceptional, so unbelievably outstanding. Not a film, but an excellent work of art, a fascinating masterpiece. Indescribably brilliant and original.

Wiki ~ Imdb

INLAND EMPIRE

INLAND EMPIRE

Alternate Title:
Inland Empire: A Woman In Trouble

USA, 2006
Director: David Lynch

9/10

Unbelievably impressive Lynch-masterpiece, of course not as great as "Lost Highway" or "Mulholland Drive", but still absolutely brilliant with a terrific cast (Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons...), magnificent cinematography, a fantastic soundtrack and an outstanding script. Of course, I did not understand it. The story is completey confused and bizarre and it's pretty obvious that it's completely impossible to fully understand it - never mind, because it's still incredibly tense and atmospheric with many, many outstanding pictures and scenes, often even extremely scary and disturbing, and full of excellent and also hilarious ideas.

Wiki ~ Imdb

MULHOLLAND DRIVE

MULHOLLAND DRIVE

Alternate Title:
Mulholland Dr.

German Title:
Mulholland Drive - Strasse der Finsternis

USA, 2001
Director: David Lynch

10/10

Nearly as good as Lost Highway, but way more disturbing, haunting and confusing. Again with an amazing cast, stunning cinematography and a fantastic soundtrack. Pick of the bunch is the plot which you could call the definition of mindfuck: whenever you think "Ha, got it!", something indescribably weird suddenly happens and you realize that Lynch fucked your mind real hard again :-)

Anayway, it's hard to tell more about it. Mulholland Drive is a movie so weird, you have to see it to believe it, so strange and mysterious but also so beautiful, wonderful and excellent.

Wiki ~ Imdb

LOST HIGHWAY

LOST HIGHWAY

USA, 1997
Director: David Lynch

10/10

Definitely one of the best movies ever made and beyond all doubt David Lynch's defining masterpiece. Extremely weird, confusing and disturbing, but also pretty haunting and disturbing, with astonishing cinematography, a fantastic cast and an amazing soundtrack.

The one movie that totally made me a Lynchian.

Wiki ~ Imdb

BLUE VELVET

BLUE VELVET

Alternate German Title:
Blue Velvet - Verbotene Blicke

USA, 1986
Director: David Lynch

10/10

An absolutely tremendous kinda-arthouse classic from grandmaster David Lynch, highly disturbing and rousing, but surprisingly also quite funny and entertaining. It's packed with stunning performances from awesome actors like Kyle MacLachlan (wonderfully weird), Isabella Rossellini (admirable) and of course Dennis Hopper (insane!!!). Cinematographically it's plain beautiful (great shots, excellent images, awesome light and colours...), musically it's plain brilliant (Roy Orbison, Julee Cruise, Chris Isaak...).

Highlights: nearly every single dialogue line from Hopper ("Goddamn, you're one suave fucker!" / "Shut up! It's daddy, you shithead! Where's my Bourbon?" / "Heineken? Fuck that shit. Pabst Blue Ribbon!" / "Fuck you, you fuckin' fuck!" etc. etc.) and a couple of remarkable and absolutely unforgettable scenes, f.e. the ear discovering, Hopper's unsettling first appearance, the hilarious lip-sync performance and the dazing confrontation with the naked Rossellini.

I'd say, it's a masterpiece.

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE FLY 1 & 2

THE FLY

German Title:
Die Fliege

USA, 1986
Director: David Cronenberg

9,5/10

From all Cronenberg-movies I've seen so far (not that many), I enjoyed "The Fly" the most. It's one of those movies where almost everything is perfect. The cast is outstanding (terrific performances from Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis & John Getz), story, script and dialogue are all simply brilliant, the pacing is awesome (always tense or thrilling, no dull moments) and the special / make-up effects are just amazing (f.e. the fantastic-looking Brundlefly).

An impressive and smart work of art

Wiki ~ Imdb

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THE FLY II

German Title:
Die Fliege 2

USA, 1989
Director: Chris Walas

5/10

- Review Coming Soon -

BRAINDEAD

BRAINDEAD

Alternate Title:
Dead Alive / Dead-Alive

New Zealand, 1992
Director: Peter Jackson

10/10

Peter Jackson is a brilliant director who made great movies like 'Heavenly Creatures' or the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy, but seriously: THIS is his masterpiece. By far the most excellent comedy/horror/splatter flick in history, unbelievably funny, hilarious and silly, unbelievably gory and extreme, unbelievably lovely and sweet, unbelievably over-the-top and groundbreaking, absolutely magnificent and excellent.
I repeat: a masterpiece!

Wiki ~ Imdb

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE

Alternate Title:
Cemetery Man / Of Death And Love

Italy, 1994
Director: Michele Soavi

10/10

Michele Soavi's last horror movie, a masterpiece. One of the best Italian horror films ever made and one of my alltime horror favorites.

An incredible blend of horror, comedy, arthouse and romantic movie with a refreshing and inventive story, brilliant images, brilliant cinematography and a great cast.

A tremendously magnificent work of art.

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE DEAD series

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

German Title:
Die Nacht der lebenden Toten

USA, 1968
Director: George A. Romero

9,5/10

A landmark and extremely important classic, the one movie that redefined the horror genre. A fantastic and unique low budget movie, very suspenseful, thrilling and creepy, with a brilliantly written script, intense acting and a couple of outstanding, terrifying and even a bit disturbing zombie scenes - timeless masterpiece!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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DAWN OF THE DEAD

Alternate Titles:
Zombi / Zombie / Zombies: Dawn Of The Dead

German Titles:
Zombie / Zombie - Dawn Of The Dead / Zombies im Kaufhaus

USA, 1978
Director: George A. Romero

10/10

Probably one of the best sequels and one of the best zombie movies ever made. Nearly everything's perfect about it: the brilliant socio-critical story, the zombies, the gore, the breathtaking score, the settings, the characters - I can't think of anything else to mention.

Even better than the orginal and one more masterpiece from Romero.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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DAY OF THE DEAD

German Title:
Zombie 2 - Das letzte Kapitel

USA, 1985
Director: George A. Romero

8/10

Not as good as its 2 predecessors but still a great zombie movie. It's definitely too long and often too slow-paced - apart from that it delivers everything that a zombie-fan needs: an interesting socio-critical story, plenty of gore, good looking zombies and lots of that special end-of-everything-atmosphere that only Romero is able to create.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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LAND OF THE DEAD

USA, 2005
Director: George A. Romero

9,5/10

As if he never stopped making zombie-movies: 20 years after 'Day Of The Dead' Romero returned with one more excellent chapter in the saga of the living dead. A virtuoso plot, magnificent gore, outstanding zombies, great actors (especially Dennis Hopper) and a wonderful score. Just incredible!

Wiki ~ Imdb

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DIARY OF THE DEAD

USA, 2008
Director: George A. Romero

8/10

Romero's done it again: one more fully entertaining zombie flick. The concept of reimagining the original in conjunction with recent themes like media or Web 2.0 is refreshing, although the plot itself is rather weak.
As for the rest... well, nothing to beef about: plenty of zombies, gore, atmosphere, suspense and everything else we expect from a Romero movie.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD

USA, 2009

Director: George A. Romero

5/10

Clearly the weakest entry in the Dead-saga so far. A surprisingly weak story, a mediocre cast, too many boring moments and some terrible CGI. Sure, there's some great atmosphere and the zombie scenes are mostly pretty great but overall it's just an average zombie-flick that anybody could have done. I think finally it's time to retire Mr. Romero because I don't wanna be disappointed by you one more time.

Wiki ~ Imdb

DON'T LOOK NOW

DON'T LOOK NOW

German Title:
Wenn die Gondeln Trauer tragen

UK/Italia, 1973
Director: Nicolas Roeg

10/10

Masterpiece! One of the first horror movies I've ever seen and still one of my favorites. Unbelievably tense and suspense-driven, highly atmospheric and creepy with an amazingly eerie Venice, a terrific cast (Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie...), an amazing script and a super-shocking ending. Simply brilliant!

Wiki ~ Imdb

SOCIETY

SOCIETY

Alternate Title:
Dark Society

USA, 1992
Director: Brian Yuzna

10/10

Probably one of the most underrated horror movies of all time, an incredibly bizarre and weird but also extremely intelligent satire about the 80s upper ten thousand, very tense and thrilling, with a great cast and some mindblowingly fantastic effects. The finale is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing AND most impressive things I've ever seen. A total must-see!

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE SHINING (Original & TV Series)

THE SHINING

German Title:
Shining

USA, 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick

11/10

Absolutely magnificent classic, one of the greatest horror movies ever made. A perfect cast (Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd...), perfect locations, perfect cinematography, outstanding atmosphere, outstanding tension, unbelievably frightening and scary - hell, I daresay that this is one of the few horror movies that is 100% perfect.
An uber-brilliant masterpiece.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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THE SHINING
(TV mini-series)

Alternate Title:
Stephen King's Shining

USA, 1997

Director: Mick Garris

7/10

Very good adaptation of King's cult novel which stays extremely true to the book but sadly can't hold a candle to Kubrick's adaptation.
Of course I know that this was only made because King hates the Kubrick-version (which has got not much to do with the book) and wanted something that is actually true to the original. Well, in this kind of way they really did a great job: it's extremely faithful to the novel, pretty tense and supenseful with a good cast (especially Steven Weber), brilliant-looking locations and a great score.
Sadly it's a bit too long and lengthy, completely overshadowed by Kubrick's version and IMO the kid who plays Danny is simply untalented and ugly.

Nevertheless it's definitely one of the few good and watchable King-adaptations.

Wiki ~ Imdb

The PHANTASM series

PHANTASM

Alternate Title:

The Never Dead

German Title:

Das Böse

USA, 1979

Director: Don Coscarelli

9/10

The brilliant start for one of the weirdest and most original franchises in horror history. Unbelievably atmospheric and eerie with a bizarre but great plot, a bunch of great actors (A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Banister...), a wonderful score, beautiful settings, great gore, great effects and of course 2 of the most interesting creations in movie history: the Tall Man (played by the magnificent Angus Scrimm) and the flying killer-spheres.

A brilliant cult-classic.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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PHANTASM II

German Titles:
Das Böse II / Phantasm II - Das Böse 2

USA, 1988

Director: Don Coscarelli

9/10

Generally I could use my Part1-review for all the other parts because they are all absolutely great. Part 2 is more action-packed and also a bit funny, nevertheless it's as great as its predecessor. Highly atmospheric and tense, fast-paced and entertaining, atmospheric and creepy. Simply a brilliant sequel.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD

Alternate Title:
Phantasm III: The Third Power

German Titles:

Das Böse III

USA, 1994

Director: Don Coscarelli

9/10

I can't help it, I liked Part 3 as much the first 2 parts. The story gets more and more weird, atmosphere and style changing to something more and more surreal. It's visually stunning with fantastic special effects, great effects, great acting and superb action.

Excellent sequel that totally keeps up the high quality level.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION

Alternate Title:
Phantasm: oblIVion

German Title:
Das Böse 4 - Phantasm

USA, 1998

Director: Don Coscarelli

8/10

The 'weakest' of all Phantasm-films, still an absolutely fabulous sequel. Often a bit too slow-paced, apart from that it's just great with fantastic-looking locations, magnificent atmosphere and an highly interesting and enlightening plot that revails many of the secrets and mysteries of the Phantasm-universe.

Let's all hope that this is not the end of this magnificent serties. Please Mr. Coscarelli, come out with Phantasm 5!!!

Wiki ~ Imdb