Wes Craven’s definitive classic. Bet you can’t guess what it is. A Nightmare on Elm Street is an unbelievably original, terrifingly realistic, and overall terrifying that, despite a weak ending, is one of the best horror flicks of the quarter of a century. The film deals with a deceased child molester who now lives only through the dreams of the children of those who burned him alive. Robert Englund is truly frightening as Freddy Krueger. Wes Craven delivers a surprising amount of tension that still holds up today.

Nancy is having nightmares about a frightening, badly-scarred figure who wears a glove with razor-sharp “finger knives”. She soon discovers that her friends are having similar dreams. When the kids begin to die, Nancy realizes that she must stay awake to survive. Uncovering the secret identity of the dream killer and his connection with the children of Elm Street, the girl plots to draw him out into the real world.

The film goes for suspense, drama, and gore and delivers for the most part. Heather Langenkamp gives a very solid performance as Nancy Thompson, the young woman is the “leader” among her friends and the only one who may get out alive. Forget about Jamie Lee Curtis’ whimpering performance in “Halloween”. Here Langenkamp is the real deal and she kicks ass. A great horror film that still delivers today. Look for a young Johnny Depp who, arguably, has the best death scene in the flick.

I will start this review off with one simple fact: I love Sam Raimi. I remember staying up late at night as a child watching the original “Evil Dead” through the corners of my fingers. It scared the hell out of me but, at the same time, there was something genuinely gratuitously amazing about the film. It was bold, bloody, filled with puss and maggots, and gore. It was incredible. If the nine year old me at the time could have married anything, it would have been The Evil Dead.

After the Evil Dead trilogy, Raimi pretty much stayed away from horror (not including the excellent and sorely underrated “The Gift”). That is until 2009 when Raimi splashed his way back into the scene with “Drag Me to Hell.” I’ll be the first to admit that I had no desire to see “Drag Me to Hell.” PG-13? Yawn. Ancient spirits? Double yawn. Justin Long? I think I’m falling asleep already. Little did I know what I had coming.

The plot is relatively simple. Determined to impress her boss and get a much-needed promotion at work, Christine Brown lays down the law when mysterious Mrs. Ganush literally comes begging for mercy at her feet. In retaliation for being publicly shamed, Mrs. Ganush places the dreaded curse of the Lamia on her unfortunate target, transforming Christine’s life into a waking nightmare. Her skeptical boyfriend, Clay, casually brushing off her disturbing encounters as mere coincidence, Christine attempts to escape eternal damnation by seeking out the aid of seer Rham Jas. But Christine’s time is fast running out, and unless she’s able to break the curse, she’ll be tormented by a demon for three days before literally being dragged to hell.

What follows is gore, gore, and more gore. How this film was granted a PG-13 I’ll never know. A waterfall of a nosebleed, gooey dentures, dancing goats, maggots…if you can imagine it, it’s here. The film works as a social satire (the death of the middle and lower classes) and as a horror/comedy (the ritual at the end has to be seen to be believed). The performances are top natch and the ending is quite ballsy in its conviction (you’ll see it coming a mile away but will be surprised they actually follow through on it). Overall though, if you love movies like “The Evil Dead”, “Army of Darkness”, or “Cabin Fever”, it’s a must watch. It is one of the best horror films of 2009.

Buy it here: Drag Me to Hell (Unrated Director’s Cut) [Blu-ray]

Oh the joys of “Leprechaun”. The basic plot? A really nasty leprechaun is robbed of his gold and forced to lie trapped in a crate for ten years thanks to a magical four-leaf clover. When the Leprechaun is awaken from his slumber, he makes a vow to kill everybody who stands in his way of his recovering his gold. Sound promising? I’d say your luck just ran out.

“Leprechaun” is the sort of movie I might expect to see from someone who decided that there simply MUST be a St. Patrick’s Day horror movie (or October movie challenge….haha). The movie does have one good thing going for it, though, a young Jennifer Aniston who is actually quite charming as our lead and ultimate “Final Girl”. Tory is a spoiled young girl from L.A. forced to spend the summer with her father and friends in an all but condemned house in North Dakota. The very same house the mean, old Leprechaun has been staying!

Ugh…is this movie over yet? There is a slight bit of blood and gore, but the leprechaun spends more time trying to be funny (his “jokes” make Freddy Krueger seem like Woody Allen) than providing us with satisfying deaths. Far too many ridiculous sight gags are played, insulting the intelligence of even the youngest of viewers, and the climax (“FUCK YOU LUCKY CHARMS”) is too inane for words. In the world of horror movies, Leprechaun is typical B-rated horror….nothing more and nothing less.

Four high school school friends Paul, Karen, Bert, Marcy and Jeff rent an isolated cabin in the woods to spend a week together. When they arrive, a man contaminated with a weird disease asks for help, but they panic and kill the man, who drops dead in the water reservoir. When Karen drinks tap water and gets the disease, the group starts their journey to hell.

“Cabin Fever” is a no-holds-bars white knuckle horror-comedy that is both scarier and funnier than 95% of the other crap out there. The setup is simple: Five teens decide to go camping out in the woods at an old cabin when, one-by-one, they begin to become the victims of a killer flesh eating virus. As one might expect, many characters are killed in an awesome over-the-top gory fashion and there is a solid amount of nudity for a 2003 horror flick. It can be argued that this movie is not for everyone but fans of 80′s gore films will be in gore heaven.

P.S. I’ve talked to many people who have said they didn’t care for this movie because it wasn’t scary. Sorry, wrong type of horror flick. Watch it expecting “Evil Dead” and you’ll be fine. Also, I am one of the few people out there that genuinely loves the gooey horror sundae of a sequel, “Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever”.