1996: Best/Favorite Horror Films of Each Year

This is the seventh entry in a series that I am doing on the best, or at least my favorite, live-action horror films of each year. This series includes a winning film along with up to five or so honorable mentions for each year. I also throw in some of what I call “tangential bonus films” at the end. These are films that incorporate horror elements but, in my view at least, do not primarily fit within the horror genre. These tangential bonus films are thus not actually horror films per se, but are films that should be enjoyed by horror fans for their comedic or other use of horror elements and subject matter.

Overall, 1996 was another good year in horror, and it was comparable in quality to the previous few years. And as per usual, there were some obvious choices for 1996 that horror fans would expect to see on here, as these films regularly make appearances on best of the decade lists. Given that these are my picks, of course they all come recommended. I also went overboard and included four entries in the category of the tangential bonus film. I recommend all of those as well, as films that are perhaps a better classification fit with other genres though they certainly incorporate some horror elements, and would be of interest to a horror audience. 1996 was actually a pivotal year for the horror genre as, spoiler alert, the release and commercial success of a film like Scream would revitalize the slasher subgenre and shape the course of mainstream horror films for the remainder of the decade. Scream was a big part of the turn toward reflexivity and meta-commentary within the genre.

It is not so much a theme, but one other noteworthy component of this list is that of course we must have a film or two that is not in the English language. The rest of the world also makes movies, and some of them are actually good. Plus, hey they will take your doctorate away if you cannot appreciate and do not throw in the occasional non-English language movie. Those are just the rules! I have not excluded non-English language films thus far, but I have also not necessarily gone out of my way to include a token one each year. Readers will remember that 1992’s Man Bites Dog was in French and 1993’s Cronos was in Spanish. But here in 1996, I really went overboard and you are forced to endure not one but two non-English language movies: Spanish and Italian!

As always, horror is one of the truly underappreciated film genres, and the 1990s as a decade is one of the underappreciated eras within horror film. That decade is often thought of as a bit of a ‘dark ages’ situation between the numerous horror classics of the 1970s and 1980s and the modern revival of the genre and the dominance of highbrow, artsy, or ‘elevated’ horror films during the late 2000s and especially during the 2010s. That reason, and that we are now culturally in a bit of a 1990s nostalgia period, is why I wanted to start in the 1990s and proceed through the decade year by year. There were quite a few quality horror films that came out during the 1990s that are worth rediscovering. So whether you are a horror fan, or just looking for a hit of that sweet 1990s nostalgia, I hope you enjoy this list. Previous horror lists for 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 are available, so check those out as well.

Winner: Scream

MPAA Rating: R

I am sure no one is surprised to see Scream at the top of any 1996 horror movie list. For one, Scream commonly appears on best of 1996 lists as well as best of the decade lists. Secondly, I am also definitely a fan of director Wes Craven’s work, with his films, The People Under the Stairs and New Nightmare, already making appearances on my best of 1991 and 1994 lists respectively. I have no idea why the honest trailer (above) for Scream tries to insult New Nightmare as though that film was not great. But hey, no Youtube channel can be correct all of the time, and that line is definitely a bad take from them.

Scream is known as one of the most popular, commercially successful, and critically praised horror films of the decade. And that is quite a number of good and important boxes to check. The film’s genius is that it is an earnest and quality slasher film while also simultaneously satirizing the tropes of slasher films. Since the late 1970s, and really with the success of the first Halloween film in 1978, the slasher film subgenre became likely the largest and most commercially successful horror subgenre over the subsequent decade and a half. It is home to many of the iconic horror franchises and film series, such as Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and of course the aforementioned Halloween. Ironically, Scream would become another of the big horror franchises that it was created to satirize whose sequels would be little more than watered down retreads of the original.

The genius of the original Scream film though lies in that beautiful synergy between screenwriter Kevin Williamson and veteran horror director Wes Craven. We knew from New Nightmare back in 1994 that Craven was interested in and was thinking about the horror genre in meta and reflexive ways that some would come to associate with postmodernism. So it should not come as surprising that Craven would be excited about directing a slasher film about a group of teenagers being stalked and attacked by a masked killer where the teenagers live in a fictional world that has all of these horror franchises and thus the teenagers are aware of the tropes of slasher films and that the events in their lives are proceeding according to those conventions. It was a great film concept that built on the reflexivity and meta aspects that some other horror films from the early 1990s like Popcorn, New Nightmare, and Into the Mouth of Madness had approached from different angles. And even now 25+ years later it is still a brilliant concept. But a great idea is only one part of what makes a great film. You need someone to truly be able to execute that idea. And that is where that creative fusion and collaboration between Craven and Williamson is just magical. Scream worked then and holds up to this day as a horror classic because it is a genuinely well made and effective slasher film that also contains a layer of satire over the entire thing given that the characters are aware of how horror movies are supposed to work. Scream is perhaps the best example that I can think of where a film can, to use a phrase, have its cake and eat it too.

The commercial and popular culture success of Scream revitalized the teen horror and slasher subgenres. The remainder of the 1990s saw numerous obviously Scream-inspired films but none of them were ever as effective as Scream itself. The cast of Scream is another great snapshot or cross-section of 1990s popular culture, including figures like Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, Jamie Kennedy, David Arquette, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, and of course Neve Campbell in the starring role.

And as an aside, Scream’s opening sequence with Drew Barrymore is just brilliant in itself. It serves as a fantastic homage to When a Stranger Calls and is sufficiently self-contained that it could have been released on its own as a short film and would have been one of the best horror short films ever created. But as part of the film, it does everything the story needs it to do. It establishes the serious tone of the film and that audiences can expect a well made slasher film, but also one that is aware of and pokes fun at how slasher films work.

Honorable Mention: The Craft

MPAA Rating: R

Unlike the outright hit success that was Scream, The Craft was a quieter hit and was still quite commercially successful. The audience for the film has grown over time and it is considered a cult classic, especially when it comes to teen horror, to witchcraft themed movies, and even to female centered films. It was another film that was important to the revival of teen focused horror films and to casting up-and-coming young actors.

As for the plot, a teenage girl (played by Robin Tunney) moves into town. After first meeting the popular people at the high school, she become friends with three outcast girls (played by Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and Fairuza Balk) who are all interested in witchcraft and in developing their abilities. With the addition of this fourth girl, they girl are able to have their own coven mirroring the four elements of air, water, earth, and fire. Each girl uses their abilities to enact revenge against an enemy at the school. Fairuza Balk’s character (Nancy) desires more power and convinces the other girls to cast a spell with her called ‘invoking the spirit’ that channels significantly more magical power to her. The spells that the girls had cast against their enemies eventually lead to deleterious ends not only for the intended targets but even for themselves. Robin Tunney’s character (Sarah) attempts to cast a spell to limit Nancy’s power after Nancy kills a boy from school, which both fails to work but also makes her an enemy of the other coven members. The coven uses their magic to try to pressure Sarah to kill herself. Sarah is able to ‘invoke the spirit’ and defeat the other girls and remove their magical abilities.

The film is noteworthy for truly delivering as a teenage high school drama film with magic introduced into familiar high school aged conflicts and situations. The making and breaking of friendships is a common theme in teen and coming-of-age dramas. The intense range of emotions around high school dating and the demands of beauty culture are likewise common features of teen movies. Again, the strength of the film is how the filmmakers can explore these familiar topics from the perspective of a group of female characters as well as the seamless injection of magical abilities into this world to heighten the conflicts above mere drama and into actual horror.

The core of the movie really is those relationships between the four witches and the performances of the actresses are a significant part of what makes the movie not just work but be memorable. We also get notable supporting roles for Skeet Ulrich and Christine Taylor. And yes, that marks the second appearance of both Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich on this list, as both were in Scream.

Honorable Mention: Thesis (Tesis)

MPAA Rating: R

Thesis is a Spanish language film, and thus is our first non-English language film on this year’s list. Thesis (or Tesis in Spanish) is a wonderful film that is simultaneously of its era but also deals with issues of violent film and society that are still relevant today.

The plot centers around a university student named Angela that is writing a thesis on audiovisual violence and its impact on society and the family. She works with her thesis advisor, Professor Figueroa, to find the most violent films that the university has. She also connects with a fellow student name Chema who collects violent and pornographic films. Figueroa finds a tape in the university’s archives and is found dead the next day by Angela in the screening room as he was watching the film. Angela retrieves the videotape before the police can find it. Angela watches the film with Chema and they learn that it is a snuff film of the murder of a female student from their university. She and Chema investigate the matter and attempt to identify who is making snuff films at the university, while she herself becomes the target of stalking and harassment by another student who might be the killer.

This is one of those films that I suspect many people have not seen, so I do not want to give away too much. But the film features some great and intense suspense sequences, and even makes you question what you think you know about the characters. The subject matter of the film and the question of the role of violence in film and television in society is a topic touched on by other films from the decade, with Scream being the obvious choice just from this same year. However, Thesis approaches this topic from a different and fresh perspective. Thesis is a great example of low budget filmmaking done well. This was a strong first film by director Alejandro Amenabar who would go on to direct several other films, with 2001’s The Others starring Nicole Kidman being the most well known. While the two films do not really have anything in common in terms of the plot, both were written and directed by Amenabar. So if you like The Others then it is definitely worth checking out his other work like Thesis.

Honorable Mention: Fear

MPAA Rating: R

I was not always sure if I would have the room to include this film on the list, but I am glad to be able to talk about it. Fear is one of those films from the decade that has been largely forgotten about, even by horror fans, let alone by popular culture. While not the massive success that some other teen horror-thrillers were from this time period, this film made back three times its budget. Plus, you would think that a film starring two actors, Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, who would become even more popular after this film would cause some more people to go back and revisit this one. I was pleased to see that at least one outlet considers this one of Wahlberg’s ‘iconic’ roles. While this film might have cult status for some, I think this film should be even more well known and more appreciated than it currently is.

Similar to what I said back on the 1992 list for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the topic of this film involving a violently abusive boyfriend and a naïve teenage girl ignoring the warning signs and the concerns of her father is one that has been covered numerous times by low budget television movies. There were several of these such television films released during this time period, and unfortunately I have seen many of them. Fear stands out from the pack though not just for its theatrical release, but also really because of the strength of the performances. Wahlberg sometimes gets a bad reputation as an actor, but that is not the case here. I know that might be difficult to believe, but Wahlberg is genuinely great in this role. He is genuinely scary and menacing when he needs to be. But he can also play the darkly romantic (but still creepy under the surface) older boyfriend type that can seduce Witherspoon’s naïve high school girl character. Witherspoon is good here as a young woman in love that is blind to his manipulations and violent tendencies until she finally witnesses something that she cannot ignore. We also get strong supporting performances by William Petersen as the father and Alyssa Milano as the bestfriend. William Petersen is another of those actors that I wish had gotten more famous than they did, but he was also great in 1986’s Manhunter which you will remember that I was quite fond of back on the Hannibal Lecter film ranking.

Again, similar to what I said before about The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, there are certainly other films that touch on this topic, but Fear is probably the best version of this type of story.

Honorable Mention: From Dusk Till Dawn

MPAA Rating: R

From Dusk Till Dawn is the third film from director Robert Rodriguez. Prior to this, he had done the two crime action films El Mariachi in 1992 and Desperado in 1995. Those were the first two entries in a trilogy of films that he would conclude with 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn was written by none other than Quentin Tarantino, who also acts in the movie. Now with this combination of writer and director, you would be correct in expecting this film to be another violent crime-based action-drama. And yes, it certainly is that. But the brilliance of the film is that it is also a genre-switching film, and for approximately the final third of the story it becomes a vampire movie.

Our bank robber brothers, played by George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, are attempting to flee into Mexico. They encounter a family on vacation traveling in a RV. They kidnap the family and force them to smuggle the brothers into Mexico where the group travels to a bar where the brothers are supposed to rendezvous with their contact. However, a fight ensues at the bar and the bar employees transform into these lizardy-looking vampire-type creatures and proceed to kill off most of the people at the place.

The story sounds bonkers and in reality is quite bonkers. However, the whole thing is executed quite well, and the result is a fun and memorable action-horror movie. The genre-switching is effective, and the cast of recognizable actors makes this one of the more well-known and beloved horror movies of the decade. Again, Quentin Tarantino is of course amusingly and aspirationally cast as the brother of George Clooney. But we also get supporting roles from Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, John Saxon, and Kelly Preston, among others. And yes, that makes this movie the fourth appearance of Juliette Lewis on my annual horror lists. It is the reminder that yes she was that prominent of an actress during the 1990s, and yes she is/was that important to the horror genre.

Honorable Mention: The Stendhal Syndrome (La sindrome di Stendhal)

Not Rated

Dario Argento is one of the ‘horror masters’ as it were that I have little experience with and I have not taken the deep dive into his filmography. The 1990s are definitely not considered part of his best era, which would be the 1970s and 1980s. I have seen two of his previous works thus far from the 1990s. These included his contribution to the horror split/anthology film Two Evil Eyes back in 1990, as well as his 1993 film entitled Trauma. His contribution to Two Evil Eyes was good, but I am just personally not a fan of the anthology format, so you will probably not see any of those appear on my lists. And Trauma was just okay for me. So based on this, I was not sure exactly what to expect from The Stendhal Syndrome, but the result was a significant improvement over Trauma and what might actually be his best film from the decade.

The Stendhal Syndrome is both a psychological horror film as well as a serial killer film. As has been done before, Dario Argento’s daughter, Asia Argento, is cast in the lead role. Here she plays a police detective named Anna Manni. While in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery pursuing a serial rapist/killer she suffers from the titular condition. Stendhal syndrome is apparently when a person becomes overwhelmed in the presence of great art and they become disoriented, confused, faint, or hallucinate, etc. Our killer learns of her condition and uses it against her repeatedly to attack her. During the second attack, she is able to get the upper hand and seemingly kill him and knock his body into a river. However, police are unable to locate the body and she begins receiving harassing phone calls supposedly from this serial rapist/killer threatening her and her new boyfriend. I do not want to give away more of the plot because of the various twists and turns that occur toward the end. However, the ending is actually reasonably satisfying, and the film as a whole is a good blending of psychological horror with a serial killer type of story.

Like with most of Argento’s work, The Stendhal Syndrome is of course an Italian language film, so that makes it our second non-English language horror film on this year’s list. I am not sure if that is good news or bad news for any of you readers, but this one (along with Thesis above) is definitely worth checking out. As I said, I have little experience with Argento’s work and the ones that I have seen thus far have been mixed in quality. So it is good to finally come across a film from Italy’s greatest horror director that I can appreciate, even though it is past his golden period.

Tangential Bonus 1: Independence Day

MPAA Rating: PG13

While we do not get a repeat of the Jurassic Park situation where the biggest movie of the year is a horror movie (though marketed as though it were not), but instead we get the next best thing. Independence Day is remembered as the biggest movie of 1996 that truly dominated the summer and autumn box office. For the most part the tone of the film remains within the action-drama realm and there are only a couple scenes that truly play as horror. But Independence Day is also one of the best and one of the most fun alien invasion movies that has ever been made. That combination makes it essential viewing for the year for any genre fan (horror, science fiction, etc.). And yes, I will take Independence Day over Mars Attacks any day of the week.

The film of course stars Will Smith. But there are also several actors involved who should be familiar to genre fans. Jeff Goldblum is one great example of that. Mainstream and horror fans will of course know him from the aforementioned Jurassic Park. But horror fans will in particular remember him from David Cronenberg’s 1986 horror classic The Fly. Bill Pullman is another such actor. Science fiction fans will of course know him as Lone Star in 1987’s Spaceballs. Pullman has also been in a fair number of horror films over the years including 1988’s The Serpent and the Rainbow, 1990’s Brain Dead, 1999’s Lake Placid, and 2004’s The Grudge, and of course in the realm of kid friendly genre fare he was in 1995’s Casper which was in this section back on that list.

Independence Day is another great genre entry from director Roland Emmerich who is known for creating science fiction and disaster films. With Independence Day, Emmerich was coming off the success of 1994’s Stargate and 1992’s Universal Soldier. And of course the massive commercial success of Independence Day would propel him into the realm of one of the most successful directors in the business. After this he would go on to direct other genre films of mixed quality like 1998’s Godzilla, 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow, 2008’s 10,000 BC, 2009’s 2012, and of course the lackluster sequel 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence.

Tangential Bonus 2: Freeway

MPAA Rating: R

It is common for successful actors to star in some cult films or critically acclaimed but commercially ignored films before they get their big breakout performance for a mainstream audience. Reese Witherspoon is one such actress. She appeared in several quality though lesser known films throughout the 1990s. Fortunately for us, we got two of them in 1996 with the aforementioned Fear as well as Freeway. She would of course go on to greater mainstream success with 1998’s Pleasantville, 1999’s Cruel Intentions, and then of course 2001’s Legally Blonde, and she would eventually win the Academy Award for 2005’s Walk the Line.

Freeway is essentially a loose modern adaptation or re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood story. When her mother and step-father are arrested, Witherspoon’s character named Vanessa evades her social worker to try to runaway to her grandmother’s house. Her car breaks down on the highway and Keifer Sutherland’s character named Bob offers to drive her the rest of the way. Sutherland’s character is the ‘big bad wolf’ of the story, and is a serial killer that abducts and murders teenage girls on the highway. When Bob attacks her, Vanessa is able to get the upper hand and shoots him several times. She is arrested and because of her prior record, the police are initially unwilling to believe her story of self defense and that he was the ‘I-5 killer’ that the police have been looking for. Vanessa is tried and incarcerated for her ‘crime’. Police eventually dig further into the case and learn that her version of events was correct. Vanessa is able to escape from prison, and our big bad wolf is able to evade the police. They both arrive at her grandmother’s home, but of course he beats her there and kills the grandmother, so that we can have the shot of Sutherland’s character posing as the grandmother.

Overall, Freeway is a pretty solid crime drama with comedic elements where the serial killer represents society’s disdain for prostitutes and others among the lumpenproletariat. The strong performances by both Reese Witherspoon and Keifer Sutherland keep the serious tone despite the fairy tale root and dark comedy elements.

Tangential Bonus 3: The Frighteners

MPAA Rating: R

The Frighteners is one of those movies that really should have been so much more commercially successful than it was, but it suffered from confused marketing that was unsure how to present the film to audiences. Part of that is the inherent struggle with trying to market horror comedies. If you try to market the film as horror then obviously you are going to dissuade a more mainstream audience that might otherwise like the film itself. But if you market it as a comedy then you risk misrepresenting the film in the other direction because there are real horror elements in there.

The Frighteners is a brilliant horror comedy that finds a great balance between the two. While the film moves more into a supernatural slasher/horror direction by the end, Michael J. Fox’s performance keeps the feel of the film lighter and fun even as it actually gets darker and more serious. Fox plays a man whose wife is killed in a car crash and he gains the ability to see ghosts. He befriends a few of them and they help him run what is essentially a con to have the ghosts haunt people’s houses to then have Fox’s character come in and exorcise the ghosts for money. However, things go further awry when a malevolent spirit comes to town and begins killing the townspeople. Fox’s character of course becomes the prime suspect, and he has to struggle to stop this malevolent spirit from killing people.

Some people might want to put this one up on the list proper, but the overall lighter tone and Fox’s style of performance have me more comfortable placing this film here in the tangential bonus section. Nonetheless though, there are at least a few elements beyond the quality of this film that make it of interest to genre fans. For one, The Frighteners was directed by Peter Jackson. Prior to his Lord of the Rings fame, Jackson created several horror comedies and horror adjacent films during the 1980s and 1990s. I have not seen all of them, but I think The Frighteners is probably the best of Jackson’s pre-Lord of the Rings work. The other important element for horror fans is of course the casting of Jeffrey Combs as our federal investigator. Combs is one of these actors that is beloved by genre fans over his long career but is basically completely unknown by a mainstream film audience. Horror fans will of course know him from his numerous appearances in horror films, with 1985’s Re-Animator perhaps being the most well known. But Combs also has a special place for me given my love of Star Trek, as Combs has played numerous characters throughout the Star Trek universe. Amusingly, on at least one occasion in Deep Space Nine he actually played two different characters in the same episode! Sadly, the one real downside about The Frighteners, other than the poor box office performance, was that this was Michael J. Fox’s last starring role in film.

Tangential Bonus 4: Star Trek: First Contact

MPAA Rating: PG13

1996 had several great alien invasion movies. We talked about Independence Day above, but First Contact is up there as well in terms of great alien invasion movies. And in fact, you longtime readers will remember that I put First Contact in the top spot of the best Star Trek movies list. Unfortunately, it has become popular in recent years to hate on and nitpick this movie to death. One noteworthy example of that is the infamous Red Letter Media review of this film where Mr. Plinkett disingenuously pretends to not understand the plot of the film or pretends that it does not make sense. It is baffling to me that so many people criticize this film as not cerebral enough and dismiss it as just another dumb action movie, yet most of those people would also say that Wrath of Khan is the best Star Trek movie. That type of nonsense just reinforces how much cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug!

While I consider First Contact to be the best of all the Star Trek films, the consensus remains that at the very least it is the best of the Next Generation films. As I said, the plot is an alien invasion story where the Borg send a ship to assimilate Earth. After they are initially thwarted, they resort to a last-ditch effort to time travel to the past and assimilate Earth in the 21st century. Our Enterprise crew follows them back in time to prevent this continued alien invasion of Earth. Because of the alien invasion premise, the movie is able to lean into a lot of that horror imagery and sounds and does so to great effect. The great redesign of the Borg, especially using quality practical design and effects, likewise facilitates that leaning into of horror. Noteworthy for horror fans is also the presence of Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. Since that time, Krige as become an even more prominent actor within the horror (and horror adjacent) world. And she delivers a standout villain performance here. Basically, we great visuals and effects, great character performances, and a fascinating story. There is a reason why this movie has solid scores on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB.

“The Borg are one of the ultimate Star Trek villains, and especially so for the Next Generation cast. It was only a matter of time until we got the Borg movie that we always deserved. The Borg as we see them in this film are a little different than how we see them in the show–it’s amazing what a movie budget does. But it’s not just a look. You also get the (admittedly somewhat controversial) re-imagining of the Borg from a faceless collective to a collective subordinated to a single dominant mind (i.e. the queen). Nonetheless, Alice Krige absolutely nails it,and you’ll get no complaint from me about this retcon. First Contact represented not just the modernization of the Borg–which would carry over into Voyager–but it represented a modernization of the whole franchise in terms of an intentional visual differentiation from the television show. We get the new grey uniforms, new artificial eyes for Geordi, and most importantly a new ship–the spectacular and sleek looking Enterprise-E. As for the plot, the Borg initiate their second attempt at assimilating Earth. After being initially kept out of the fight due to his prior assimilation by the Borg, it eventually falls to Picard and crew to save the day. After thwarting their invasion attempt, the crew must follow the surviving Borg back in time to the mid-21st century to prevent a Borg disruption of the past–specifically preventing formal first contact between humans and extraterrestrials. While that sounds straightforward, the film operates on two physical levels–on Earth in the post-apocalyptic mid-21st century, and on the ship in orbit as the surviving Borg also attempt to take over the ship–with our cast divided between these two locations. It’s a complicated thing to balance, but the film does it well. And a big part of that is due to the absolute standout performances by Patrick Stewart (of course) and James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane. I don’t have the length here to delve into everything that’s worth mentioning about this movie. There are so many great character moments, subplots, and tie-ins that all work. We get Picard’s brief description of the postcapitalist economy of the Federation. We get the exploration of Picard’s personal vendetta against the Borg through the analogy of Moby Dick. We get humor throughout the film, and even horror elements, yet the film balances all of the tones very well. You also get great little shout outs to the other contemporaneous shows: to Deep Space Nine with the appearance of the Defiant, and to Voyager with Robert Picardo appearing as the Emergency Medical Hologram, as well as an appearance by Ethan Phillips though not playing his Voyager character of Neelix.”