Ray Harryhausen ended his career on a high note with this Grecian fantasy, which is packed to the brim with the creatures he enjoyed bringing to life. Clash of the Titans, one of the most violent films in Harryhausen's lengthy career, had a few brushes with the BBFC before its release, and even in a somewhat revised version (both to the screenplay, submitted to the board before release, and to its final edit), the picture had more than a few unsettling moments. The most scary monster of them all, in our opinion, was Medusa: a ferocious beast whose sight can turn people to stone. Shes a remarkable creature, with her writhing hair and rattlesnake tailfar better, in our opinion, than the cackling CGI monstrosity (played by Natalia Vodianova) in the 2010 version. Clash of the Titans is available on Amazon.
Maniac (27th) (1980) Tom Savini's work will be referenced more often than anybody else's on this list, and for good reason: the guy understands how to create a realistic, startling, and unforgettable cinematic death. And boy, did he pull it off a couple times in Bill Lustig's sweaty, filthy Maniac. The shotgun sequence alone will blow your mind, as the title lunatic blasts a person to dust with a single shot through a vehicle window. No, not literally. YouTube/Fox Searchlight Pictures
The Machine Girl, 04 (2008)
An Asian classic that makes extensive use of chainsaws...or chainsaw blades. Schoolgirl dresses, chainsaws, and martial arts are all awesome. Aided in putting the Tokyo Gore style on the map! This concept of employing reconstructed or improved body parts is a recurring theme in Asian Gore flicks. Saw blades continue to arise in various forms and sizes, motivated in part by manga and super heroics, and often appear from body portions as an act of retribution. Machine Girl is one of those timeless films.
09 of 20 Paranormal Activity (2009) Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures This POV video takes "The Blair Witch Project" to the next level by using "found footage" to capture the haunting of a suburban couple by a demonic spirit that takes over one of them. REC No. 8 of 20 (2007) / REC No. 2 (2009) Photographer: Filmax The violent Spanish horror film "REC" (released in the United States in 2009 but adapted as "Quarantine" in 2008) plays like a zombie viral infection thriller, as a "sickness" transforms the occupants of an apartment building into bloodthirsty maniacs, but it turns out that the plague is demonic in origin. Surprisingly, "REC 2" does away with the supernatural aspect entirely.
