Everyone recalls the 1990s as a beautiful era for fashion and comedies, but what most people forget is that it was also a terrific moment for horror. Fans of horror films such as Scream, The Sixth Sense, and The Blair Witch Project were busy renting films like Scream, The Sixth Sense, and The Blair Witch Project while series like Sex and the City dominated the small screen.
The decade gave us icons like Hannibal Lecter and Ghostface and new spins on classic franchises like Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween.
Today, we will be counting down our top pick of monsters from the 90s that did not fail to make their mark (some, quite literally).
Octalus (Deep Rising, 1998)
The film Deep Rising is directed by Stephen Sommers and stars Famke Janssen, Treat Williams and Kevin J. O’Connor. It tells the story of Argonautica, a brand-new ocean liner that has set out on its very first cruise.
Apart from internal concerns, such as a robber attempting to steal money from her fellow passengers, Argonautica also has to deal with troubles that occur from the ocean’s depths. While the travellers fight to stay alive, a terrible sea creature known as the Octalus attacks the ship with its massive tentacles.
The Octalus’ origins are unknown throughout the story, but based on its sharp teeth, tentacles, and grotesque-looking body, it is likely that it is an old creature lurking in the sea’s depths.
Some of the passengers even uncover other ships sinking exactly where the Argonautica was attacked to indicate how old the monster is. When only a few people remain on the vessel, they try their best to take down the beast, but it overpowers them, killing them one by one.
The Octalus finally meets its demise when the Argonautica blows up, destroying it in the explosion. However, a loud noise similar to the creature’s can be heard as the surviving passengers reach a nearby island, indicating that the Octalus was not the only one of its kind.
Although the Octalus’ body is too big to be seen in its entirety in any of the film’s frames, we do glimpse each of its tentacles with mouths and spikey fangs in the end. They appear to have their own minds, as they can each track down their preys while being a part of the main body.
The creature consumes the victims’ bodily fluids and spits out the hollow skin shell, and while living largely deep inside the water, it appears to be an amphibian that can breathe outside air.
The Octalus resembles a big octopus in appearance, but it is far deadlier and has far too many teeth in far too many regions of its body, according to a concept artist who attempted to sketch the complete creature.
Kothoga (The Relic, 1997)
Directed by Peter Hyams, The Relic stars Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore and Linda Hunt. The story follows the Kothoga, a museum creature who goes AWOL and begins assaulting people as it wanders the building’s hallways late at night.
As a detective and a biologist work together to track it down, they must race against the clock to protect the public from this diabolical monster before it kills again. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
The Kothoga has the ability to change its form into a hybrid of reptiles, fish, mammals and insects and even walks among people as a human named John Whitney, who happened to be an anthropologist working at the museum.
He turned into the Kothoga by drinking an ancient soup created by South American tribesmen that was also preserved at the institution. The tribesmen created that stew by using a fungus with mutagenic hormones in order to transform against enemies that may attack their land.
The Kothoga is able to survive only if it feeds on the hypothalamus of humans and animals alike, or if it continues to consume the fungus that created it. In the ancient days, it served as the tribesmen’s guardian angel but once its purpose was fulfilled, they left it out to starve and die to prevent it from harming anyone else.
Whitney’s Kothoga has a sloping back with crocodilian spikes and a dark brown mane on its back, which is crowned with a strong tail. Like an anglerfish, it features bright eyes that are small in comparison to its head, as well as exposed gums and spikey teeth. It has two sets of tusks, one of which is smaller than the other.
Whitney’s history made him a more dangerous version of the Kothoga, capable of not just hunting down but also avoiding any traps laid for him. The Kothoga meets Margo, a girl Whitney loved, near the end of The Relic, and his human mind resurfaces for a brief while.
Margo uses this temporary weakness to blow up the lab the Kothoga was in while she hides inside a maceration tank, finally killing Whitney in his Kothoga form.
Giorgio (Castle Freak, 1995)
Stuart Gordon directed Castle Freak starred Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs and Jonathan Fuller. The film follows a couple who visit Italy with their blind daughter and arrive in a 12th-century castle.
They soon begin to experience mysterious noises and occurrences around the castle, and their daughter complains of someone entering her chamber every night while they sleep, like in most haunted house stories.
They soon discover a local prostitute and the housekeeper brutally slain within the fort, much to their shock. When the father sets out to learn the secrets of the castle, he discovers that they are not alone, as an abused child who was left to die in the basement now dwells there as the “castle freak,” hellbent on wreaking havoc on people’s lives.
Giorgio was beat up regularly, abused and barely given scraps as a meal when he was hungry. All this was faced by him when he was a mere child so one cannot help but feel sympathy for the freak.
He did not choose evil, rather his circumstances are what made him evil. When Giorgio is not acting out of anger and resentment for the treatment he was given since childhood, he is acting based on the only things he has learnt in life- violence, neglect and abuse.
For many, the castle setting and Giorgio’s grotesque appearance reminds them of the most famous creature that was victim to his circumstances and hence became a “monster”- Frankenstein’s monster.
Throughout the film, we see Giorgio and Rebecca forming a potential bond as she does not respond with fear or horror on meeting him, but things do not go that way as Rebecca’s mother Susan is overprotective of her due to her disability.
When she learns the truth about Giorgio, she reacts in the same way he would—scared. Rebecca is bound by this ugly man who has been left alone for years and is solely known to be negative and hostile.
Finally, Rebecca’s father, John, arrives to finish the job. While Giorgio and John fight on the castle’s roof, the father sacrifices himself in order to kill Giorgio. Susan weeps and expresses her love for her husband at the end of the film, as John’s family attends his funeral.
Judas Breed (Mimic, 1997)
Guillermo del Toro’s film Mimic starred Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam and Josh Brolin. The film is a sci-fi horror that tracks the emergence of a cockroach plague that threatens to wipe out New York’s juvenile population. Susan Tyler, an evolutionary biologist, introduces a kind of “Judas” bugs into the environment in order to infiltrate the cockroaches’ habitats.
Her approach appears to be working until she realises that the Judas bugs are continuing to evolve and are now mimicking and hunting out their next victim, humans. Initially, the Judas Breed was programmed to hunt down disease-carrying cockroaches and release an enzyme that would kill them.
The scientists even made sure to program the species to die out once their work was done, but things clearly did not go as planned, and the Judas metamorphosised into something more dangerous for the human race than the roaches it was aimed to decimate.
This man-made insect breed was conceived in a way that could mimic the appearance of its prey so that it may be able to blend in with them and find their hideouts. The same characteristic was retained by them when they began to view humans as their main source of sustenance, giving meaning to the film’s title.
With huge wings and forefeet that could stab anyone in its path, the Judas looked like a crossbreed between a Praying Mantis, a Murder Hornet, and a mosquito. They were enormous, and despite their best efforts to blend in with people during the day by imitating their look, they were not evolved enough to do so successfully.
It was obvious from their faces that they were not normal people, so to compensate for their lack of powers, they began to utilise the skin of their victims to build human face masks, much like the famed serial killer Ed Gein.
Mimic ends with Susan and her friends setting fire to a loose gas pipe, creating an explosion and killing all the Judas Breed and although one male Judas manages to escape, Susan is able to create a diversion enough for it to get crushed by an oncoming train.
The audience is relieved that the species is eradicated, but given how the film spawned two sequels, we know that they found a way to survive.
The Killer (Split Second, 1992)
Split Second is an American British science fiction horror that starred Kim Cattrall, Alastair Neil Duncan and Pete Postlethwaite. As the earth is ravaged by global warming and other crises caused by mankind’ own flaws, the Killer emerges and embarks on a never-ending murder spree, ripping out the hearts of its victims and torturing them more than is necessary.
Officer Harley Stone appears to have a grudge towards the Killer because it murdered his comrade and even kidnapped his widow to punish Stone more. The Killer is a ten-foot tall humanoid with black slimy skin that stands naked. It has no genitalia and its eyes twinkle crimson above its always-smiling mouth.
Many believe that it has come around so that the world may finally pay for its sins and has a connection to the Chinese calendar as it arrives every year of the Rat. Once it begins to wreak havoc, it does not stop for up to twenty-five years and given how no guns or weaponry is advanced enough to defeat it, mankind must only suffer until the time is up.
The Killer’s personal grudge against Stone is more like a sadistic game for it whereas for the latter it is his one and only chance at redemption after not being able to save his partner’s life. The creature puts its “mark” on Stone and a few others, enabling it to make them hear and see whatever it wants from wherever it wants.
The Killer does not hesitate to rip out the hearts of anyone who cross its path, despite the fact that it appears to target only those who have Scorpio as their Zodiac sign. It has superhuman strength and durability, as well as extraordinary speed, which allows it to crash through anything, including walls.
It is not only physically strong, but it also has a high level of intelligence, making it exceedingly difficult to defeat. It is eventually revealed that the Killer possesses all of these traits and powers because it has been eating people’s hearts for years, allowing it to acquire all of their DNA.
The film’s ending is similar to that of Deep Rising as we see Stone finally being able to free his dead partner’s widow and rip the creature’s heart out, killing it. However, as they leave the place behind, bubbles erupting in the waterbody nearby indicate that there may be more of them.
Foster (Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor, 1990)
Directed by Glenn Takakjian and starring Tara Leigh, Matt Kulis and Dianna Flaherty, Metamorphosis: The Alien factor is seen as an unofficial sequel to The Deadly Spawn. Both films were made on a shoestring budget, and Metamorphosis is now classified as B-grade horror.
Despite this, it managed to provide us with a monster with its own special appeal. The film depicts a government organisation conducting tests on alien DNA that it has obtained. The group is named TALOS, and its goal is to figure out how many different sorts of mutations may be made from DNA.
The alien DNA has a mind of its own and manages to break itself loose on the scientific compound, killing everyone in its path, much to the recent Marvel flick Venom. The daughter of a TALOS security guard is then left to emerge as the hero of the fable.
Foster is filled with gruesome scenes that may curb your appetite and although it was made with a budget slightly higher than that of Deadly Spawn, the monster in this film did not live up to that of the latter.
The creature here- Foster- is nothing but a huge pink mass with teeth on it. It resembles the Graboids from Tremors very slightly and looked perfect for that of a B-movie. Given how creature features were limited in the 90s because of the lack of CGI, the Foster does remind us of John Carpenter’s The Thing, but given its stiff movements and low budget cinematography, it has more of an 80s feel to it and is a completely fun watch.
Langolier (The Langoliers, 1995)
The Langoliers was a TV miniseries directed by Thomas Lee Holland and based on Stephen King’s novel Four Past Midnight that aired in 1995. This novella was made up of four short stories, one of which was titled The Langoliers.
The plot involves a group of ten passengers who wake up on a red-eye flight to find the remainder of the plane’s passengers, including the captain, missing. Fortunately, one of the ten survivors was a pilot, and he assisted in landing the jet at a Maine airport. When they arrive, they notice that the airport, like the plane, is bleak and deserted.
One of these passengers named Craig suffers from PTSD due to childhood abuse and has a phobia of a creature called the Langolier which hunts down the lazy and irresponsible. These Langoliers are fur ball creatures with three jaws and no legs.
They feed on time that one has already left behind or lost out on and the passengers of the plane come across them because they had accidentally crossed over into a time rift while they were asleep.
Mysteriously, they are able to fly but have no wings to propel that flight, and even though they do not appear to have any brain, eyes or ears, they seem to navigate their surroundings easily and use senses as well as anyone.
Craig’s father utilised the Langolier as a myth, similar to the Boogeyman, to keep his son from procrastinating or ever taking a break, but when Craig stepped over into the time rift with those other passengers, they turned out to be really real, much to his shock.
Aliens (The Puppet Masters, 1994)
1994’s science fiction The Puppet Masters was directed by Stuart Orme and adapted from the book of the same name written by Robert A Heinlein. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal and Keith David and follows a CIA agent named the Old Man as he investigates a flying saucer that has landed on Earth with a group of They discover, much to their dismay, that aliens with mind control skills have landed on Earth and have attached themselves to people’s backs, binding with their neural systems and treating them like puppets.
On further probing, the group realises that the aliens can be detached from one’s back via electric shocks and that they all share a collective conscious that rests in their UFO in the form of a hive.
They soon resort to biological warfare after coming across a boy with history of encephalitis and his disease being the reason the aliens could not take control of him. The group breaks into the UFO and destroy the extra-terrestrials, but one last remaining alien attaches itself to the Old Man. In an attempt to save mankind, he gets on a helicopter where his son blows him up along with the creature.
The aliens have the appearance of an electric ray fish and utilise their tentacles to attach themselves to the victim’s nervous system via their spine. Because there was no other means to eliminate them, biological warfare proved to be the only viable option.
Idle Hand (Idle Hands, 1999)
This dark comedy horror was directed by Rodman Flender and starred Devon Sawa, Seth Green and EldenHensen. The film’s title is inspired from the famous saying that “idle hands are the Devil’s play-thing”.
The film follows Anton Tobias, a young stoner with two best pals and a crush on the girl next door. Anton appears to be the prime suspect after his parents are inexplicably murdered on Halloween night.
Although Anton is perplexed by the charges, he does not have much time to think about them before murdering his two best friends, Mick and Pnub. Anton realises that his hand has a mind of its own and, as a result, is possessed.
Like extremely loyal friends, Mike and Pnub decide that in death too, they will help Anton get rid of the possession and hence get back inside their own bodies. In an attempt to help him, Mike and Pnub help Anton cut off the hand, which in turn sends the idle hand on a killing rampage of its own.
A high priestess who arrives in town looking for the evil hand informs Anton that the appendage will take Molly, his next door crush, back to Hell with it. While they all try to stop it and save Molly, the hand kills many people.
In a humorous climax, Anton, Mick, and Pnub get stoned to gather power before ultimately putting an end to the hand, which loses control when Anton blows smoke towards it, resulting in its death.
Anton is crushed by a car that his buddies mistakenly drop on him from above in a rare accident, and he resolves to return to Earth to be with Molly. Mick and Pnub also have a happy ending, as they are able to ascend to paradise.
Tommyknockers (The Tommyknockers, 1993)
Another TV miniseries based on a Stephen King work, The Tommyknockers was directed by John Power and starred MargHelgenberger and Jimmy Smits. When writer Bobbi and her partner Gard uncover a stone object in the woods near their home, they investigate more and discover that the woodland is littered with cubes made of an unknown alloy that are linked together.
The more they learn about the thing, the more weird symptoms appear, such as insomnia, telepathy, or the ability to make complicated technologies out of ordinary kitchen utensils.
Everyone in town starts getting very creative with what they are doing except Gard. He believes the metal plate he got placed in his head years ago because of an accident is what is preventing him from gaining the abilities that others are.
However, things soon go from weird to dangerous and some of the folks start to go mad and rave about something called “tommyknockers”. When the town’s EG Marshall Ev Hilly digs deeper into its history, he finds some disturbing claims from the tribals that the land is cursed and many mass murders are taking place on it as well.
The storyline of the film becomes increasingly intricate as it emerges in layers, and Gard and Anderson quickly realise that the village is perched atop a massive extraterrestrial ship.
They discover a little boy named Davey who had gone missing some time ago when they dig deep enough to reach it. The aliens, sometimes known as “tommyknockers,” are robbing the townspeople of their vitality.
Gard and Anderson pilot the ship above the earth, and before the townspeople, who are still under alien control, can stop them, Gard lowers Davey and Anderson and soars higher. The spacecraft explodes in the sky, and we see Anderson looking up and hearing Gard repeat some of his poems in a devastating finish.
The Resurrected (The Resurrected, 1991)
The Resurrected was directed by Dan O’Bannon and starred John Terry, Jane Sibbett, and Chris Sarandon. Claire employs a private eye named John to investigate her husband’s recent strange behaviour after he moved into a farmhouse and sequestered himself in the film. This happened not long after her husband Charles learned about his family’s history and came upon a painting by Joseph Curwen.
After admitting Charles to an asylum because of his growing insanity, the doctors claim that his metabolism is unnaturally high and that they cannot find any reason behind his recent cravings for blood and raw meat.
While Charles is in the hospital, Claire and John continue their investigation and discover that in the year 1771, Charles’ great grandfather Joseph was involved in acts of necromancy while his wife cheated on him with someone named Ezra. Joseph’s necromancy had to end abruptly after a flood hit the house and the townspeople attacked it thinking there were malformed creatures living inside.
When Claire and John visit the place themselves, they are attacked by these entities and barely surviveafter leaving behind a bomb to explode. On reaching the hospital, Claire informs John that she is pregnant while he takes off to confront Charles at the asylum with the briefcase as it is filled with human bones.
It is then revealed that Joseph has survived for all these years as a result of many experiments he has conducted on the dead, and Joseph reveals that he forced Charles to execute a ritual that allowed him to take his form while Charles’ bones are kept in the briefcase.
As John pours a magical elixir on Charles’ bones, they begin to reanimate, and he and Joseph lock horns before vanishing into the cosmos. One question remains unanswered- whose baby is Claire pregnant with?
Demons & The Collector (Demon Knight, 1995)
This is the inaugural feature film on the HBO series Tales from the Crypt, directed by Ernest Dickerson. This action-packed comedic horror film stars Billy Zane, William Sadler, and Jada Pinkett Smith and begins with a vagrant named Frank Brayker? being pursued by someone known as the Collector.
Brayker seeks safety and enlists the assistance of a drunk, who transports him to a boarding house. The residents in the area call the sheriff after learning of a car theft, and the Collector takes use of the chance to persuade them that Brayker is a dangerous thief. The Sheriff, on the other hand, arrests both Brayker and the Collector before the latter hits him in the head and sends Brayker away.
It seems like the Collector is in pursuit of an artefact that Brayker possesses and in order to get to it, he draws up his own blood on the sand to create an army that would chase after Brayker.
Not ready to give in so easily, Brayker uses the artefact itself to draw blood and mark doors and windows to keep the Collector’s creatures out. The other residents of the boarding house hide inside with Braykeras he tells them that they must survive the night.
Finally, the townspeople surround those inside the church demanding answers when Brayker informs them that what he holds is the last of seven keys God left behind when he was creating Earth. It can be used by demons to take control of the planet and was initially filled with the blood of Christ during his crucifixion.
Since then, every holder fills it with their blood before passing it on to the next. While Brayker gets busy narrating the story, the Collector uses this time to possess various people inside the church to launch an attack from within where Brayker gets wounded badly.
He chooses Jeryline, one of the residents, as his successor and delivers her the keys, which provide her visions of the past, as well as a seven-star tattoo. She defeats the Collector and gathers Brayker’s blood before boarding a bus that would take her out of town. She meets a guy dressed similarly to the Collector on the way and realises he is the next Collector in line, just as Jeryline is the next relic protector in line.
The Collector looks to be totally human, but the demons he summons have the appearance of skeletal zombies with fragile hair and flashing eyes. Their lifeless bodies were created solely to carry out directives.