The Video Verdict

#19 Cloverfield

What would happen if you took the cinema vérité style of The Blair Witch Project and applied it to a big-budget monster movie in the vein of Godzilla? That is the question producer J.J. Abrams made a reality with 2008’s Cloverfield, a smart and thrilling genre mash-up that’s now considered a fan favorite. 

#18 Prom Night and Terror Train

Following Halloween, the one-two punch of Prom Night and Terror Train in 1980 cemented Jamie Lee Curtis as the original Scream Queen. These slashers used the blueprint Halloween made popular and by doing so created two future classics invigorated by Jamie Lee’s powerful charisma, and lungs.

#17 The Poseidon Adventure

Considered the granddaddy of the 70s disaster epics, this Irwin Allen production paved the way for movies like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. Mixing nail-biting suspense with visual spectacle, The Poseidon Adventure remains unmatched in its technical marvels despite having been followed by a sequel and a remake in 2006.

#16 Black Christmas

Often considered the template for the modern slasher movie, 1974’s Black Christmas helped usher in a wave of stalk-and-slash vehicles that would reach a pinnacle by 1980. It wasn’t until 2006 when the holiday classic was remade (to love-it-or-hate-it reaction) by the Final Destination team. Which version do you prefer?

#15 Dressed to Kill

The culmination of Brian De Palma as the modern Hitchcock was evident in the visually stimulating 1980 classic, Dressed to Kill. Partially inspired by Psycho, De Palma’s film presents a shocking murder-mystery wrapped in layers of sexual identity, misdirection, and good old fashion suspense.

#14 King Kong

The RKO classic King Kong left its footprint on cinema history when it was released onto unsuspecting movie-goers in 1933. Dazzling audiences with its groundbreaking special FX, King Kong unleashed a wave of sequels and remakes, including the 1976 and 2005 versions. (Sidenote: When describing a scene from 2002’s Spider-Man, Matt accidentally refers to Superman. We apologize for the mistake!)

#13 Salem’s Lot

44 years ago a television miniseries reminded audiences vampires could be very scary. Based on the Stephen King novel, Salem’s Lot brought bloodsuckers out of Transylvania and into modern society in the form of terrifying demonic forces taking over a small New England town. The Video Verdict gets to the bottom of King’s 1975 book and Tobe Hooper’s classic 1979 movie adaptation. 

#12 Pet Sematary

With the recent release of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines on Paramount+, The Video Verdict goes back to the original source material, Stephen King’s 1983 book, and how it shaped the popular 1989 film adaptation, as well as the misunderstood 2019 remake. (52m.)

#11 Hammer Monsters

Echoing the success of the Universal Monsters, Hammer Films’ colorful takes on Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man lead to a splashy, successful comeback—with two of those “rebooted” characters landing multiple sequels that helped make the studio’s name synonymous with Gothic horror. But how do The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, and The Curse of the Werewolf compare to their black-and-white American counterparts of over a decade earlier? Is bloodier and British better? (40m.)

#10 Universal Monsters

Dracula. Frankenstein. The Wolf Man. Three classic monsters, three classic films that spawned generations of horror movies, which are still felt around the world today. The Video Verdict’s tenth episode dives into the world of the Golden Age of the Universal Monster. (38m.)