1997: Best/Favorite Horror Films of Each Year

This is the eighth 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, 1997 was another good year in horror, and was actually the most difficult year thus far for me to narrow my horror selections down to only six films. And as per usual, there are always some obvious choices for each year that horror fans would expect to see on here, as these films are known and regularly make appearances on best of the decade lists. I definitely include some of those, but I also try to include some smaller or cult films that I particularly enjoy. Given that these are my picks, of course they all come recommended. I also bent my own rules again 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. Importantly, three of the tangential bonus films for this year are mystery thrillers. Apparently 1997 was the year for that as there were several great ones. Unlike some of the previous years, I could not come up with any overarching themes or through lines connecting these six horror entries. They represent a range of horror subgenres as well as a range of film production budgets, but I thoroughly enjoy all six of them. As I said, this was a competitive year and there were a couple of movies that I almost feel bad about not being able to include, but hey they did not make the cut.

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, 1995, and 1996 are available, so check those out as well.

Winner: Cube

MPAA Rating: R

Cube is one of those movies that is difficult to talk about because when you simply say what this movie is about it does not sound like much. For example, the movie is about a small group of strangers that wake up in a cubical room with no memory of how they got there or even why they are there. They learn that they are trapped in a maze of sorts within a giant cubical structure where some of the identical rooms are equipped with booby traps. They must navigate the cube, avoiding the traps, and managing each other’s personalities to attempt to survive as long as possible and hopefully learn who is behind this mystery. I understand if that might not sound like an interesting or compelling film to some people, but the film is greater than the sum of its parts, is executed masterfully, and it really ends up being one of the best horror films of the decade.

Director Vincenzo Natali and the actors are able to take advantage of the unique sets and production design and find some real dramatic tension in both the mystery of the cube itself as well as in the strain, paranoia, and claustrophobia that the characters experience which leads them to distrust each other. While Cube is technically a low budget horror film, it makes the most of its budget in the wonderful production design of the cube and the various traps, as well as in assembling a good ensemble of lesser-known Canadian actors. If you are a science fiction fan, then two of those faces should stick out to you. Nicole de Boer would go on the following year (1998-1999) to join the main cast for the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Ezri Dax. David Hewlett would go on to make a name for himself within the Stargate universe, appearing as Dr. Rodney McKay in the main cast of Stargate: Atlantis as well as appearances in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Universe.

While Cube was certainly not the game changing box office phenomenon that Scream was the previous year, nonetheless it is one of the most unique and engaging horror films of the decade. And then throw on top of it that it was a science fiction type of horror, which the 1990s decade is not known for producing, and it is all the more noteworthy. While the cult success of Cube would inspire a sequel, a prequel, and a remake, Cube is not exactly considered one of the big horror franchises. But again, its cult status is deserved, and it truly is the best sci-fi horror film of the entire 1990s decade. The only real competition Cube would have for that title would come from say Jurassic Park, but I will let you readers debate that.

Honorable Mention: Scream 2

MPAA Rating: R

You regular readers will of course remember that the first Scream film was our winner for best horror film of the year last time for 1996. While Scream 2 is the film that memorably gave us the line and reminder that “sequels suck“, it ends up being the exception to its own rule and is one of the few horror sequels that is actually worth watching. While it certainly does not top the original in quality, despite what the critics over at Rotten Tomatoes tell you, it is definitely the best of the Scream sequels of which there are somehow now four of them with a fifth sequel on the way.

The strength of Scream 2 is that it manages to both replicate many of the strengths of the original while also breaking new ground in its satirical subject, thus keeping the story feeling fresh. The first film satirized the standard tropes of slasher films. However, Scream 2 extends the satire and here satirizes the derivative nature of sequels and the standard tropes that go along with horror sequels. As for the plot, in Scream 2, someone conducts a series of copycat murders that initially seem to follow the pattern of the Woodsboro murders that were the events of the first Scream film. There is also a film-within-a-film component to Scream 2 as the events of the Woodsboro murders were written up as a book by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox’s character) which is then adapted into a film that is eloquently called Stab. The first of the copycat murders actually occurs at a theatrical screening of this Stab film. Thus, someone is attempting to make a real-life sequel to the Woodsboro murders against the backdrop of a Hollywood film capitalizing on the ‘real-life’ Woodsboro murders of the original film. Thus, the sequel delves back even further into this terrain of the blurring of or questioning the relationship between real violence and theatrical violence. Because it is a sequel, it tackles this material from a different angle, but arguably does so as wonderfully and fruitfully as the original.

It is truly amazing that everyone involved was able to crank out another Scream film literally almost exactly one year after the original, and that it is this good. This is compounded by the fact that screenwriter Kevin Williamson was in demand after the success of the original, and actually also wrote the screenplay for the other big teen slasher this same year, I Know What You Did Last Summer. And following the mantra of sequels to always go bigger, Scream 2 features an even larger cast of recognizable actors including our four survivors from the original Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox, as well as the likes of Laurie Metcalf, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O’Connell, Timothy Olyphant, Liev Schreiber, David Warner, Omar Epps, Jada Pinkett Smith, Portia de Rossi, Joshua Jackson, Tori Spelling, Luke Wilson, and Heather Graham. While Scream 2 is another masterfully executed film by director Wes Craven, it is also a treat for the eyes just to see all of these recognizable faces in the same movie.

Honorable Mention: Wishmaster

MPAA Rating: R

You could distill this film down into a single sentence and say it is an evil genie movie that kills people by granting them darker and essentially Monkey’s Paw style interpretations of their wishes. While that is certainly true, that mere statement does not capture the totality of what makes this film work as horror and be a lot of fun to watch at the same time. The practical effects in this film are truly top notch. The film was directed by Robert Kurtzman whose background was actually in special effects, makeup, and creature design, and it shows. In lesser hands, the effects in this type of movie could come off as silly, but everything looks good in this one. Andrew Divoff provides a truly standout performance as our Djinn (evil genie) character. He is one of those actors that shows up as a minor character in many things, but he never got big. In that way, this is actually one of the things that I love about these quality smaller horror movies, especially the ones that become cult classics like Wishmaster. You can have a prolific small-time actor get the chance to truly be the star of a movie and do a great job at it. What is also fun about Wishmaster is the number of cameos and small character roles by well-known figures in horror cinema. Perhaps my three favorites of these appearances are Kane Hodder (who played Jason Voorhees in many films), Tony Todd (the Candyman himself), and Robert Englund (who of course is Freddy Krueger). While they obviously all play different characters in Wishmaster, it is fun to see the Djinn symbolically take down Jason, Candyman, and Freddy. While more of a cult classic than a big box office success, Wishmaster did spawn three sequels in 1999, 2001, and 2002. This is one of those movies where I do not make any grand claims about it being a cinematic masterpiece. Instead, Wishmaster is a fun and solid cult movie that is worth checking out if you have not seen it or worth revisiting if it has been a while.

Honorable Mention: The Devil’s Advocate

MPAA Rating: R

The Devil’s Advocate is one of those movies that is, as that ‘best movie you never saw’ clip says, a genuinely quality and prestige horror film with big name actors that got largely overlooked at the time. Nowadays there are people, like me of course, that consider it an underappreciated gem of 1990s horror. But given how big of names Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves are (and were back then), and that it has positive reviews from critics, this film should have been massively successful at the box office and should be more popular than it is now. The Devil’s Advocate was based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Andrew Neiderman. The film was notably directed by Taylor Hackford who has created a number of quality films over the years. His sublime Stephen King adaptation, Dolores Clairborne, was in the tangential bonus section on our 1995 list. And his football movie, Everybody’s All-American, was on our 1980s football movie list.

As for our plot, Keanu Reeves stars as Kevin Lomax, a rising star trial lawyer in Florida, who is recruited by a big New York City based law firm, headed by Al Pacino’s John Milton. While Lomax and his wife Mary Ann (played by Charlize Theron) love the massive salary, huge apartment, and life in the big city, they also grow increasingly wary of the reality that the law firm is involved with and legally represents all of the scum of New York City and beyond, and in particular the corrupt and nefarious white-collar elements. Mary Ann begins seeing demonic images in the people associated with the firm, and Kevin becomes increasingly seduced by the work and fantasizes about one of his coworkers (played by Connie Neilson). I do not want to give too much away for those that have not seen it, as there are many twists and turns along the way, but it is eventually revealed (and no spoiler because it is in the trailer) that Pacino’s character is a version of Satan. The title of the film is thus a play on the dual meaning of devil’s advocate. There is the conventional idiomatic meaning of one who intentionally argues against a popular or conventional view. But there is also the literal meaning in the context of Lomax being the devil’s lawyer and working for a law firm that represents and defends some of the worst scum in the world.

As I said up top, the acting performances are strong, the plot is both intriguing and engaging, and this film is truly an underappreciated gem of a horror legal drama that should have gotten so much more attention, popularity, and commercial success than it did.

Honorable Mention: Kiss the Girls

MPAA Rating: R

It is difficult to put into words, but I was so happy when I realized that I would have the space to include this film. While Kiss the Girls is definitely another of films that is a spiritual sequel or successor to The Silence of the Lambs, it was actually one of the first films of this type that I ever saw, and it remains one of my favorites of this type. The film is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by James Patterson. It is the first of the films featuring the Alex Cross detective character, but Kiss the Girls was the second book in the series. The first book in the series was the 1993 novel Along Came a Spider which would later be adapted into a film in 2001 (also starring Morgan Freeman) but as a sequel to this Kiss the Girls film. I understand if that sounds confusing, but that is what happens when film studios do not adapt a popular book series in order. Nonetheless, I have read the Kiss the Girls book and have of course seen the film numerous times over the years, and I love and recommend them both.

As for the plot, Washington D.C. detective Alex Cross (played by Morgan Freeman) goes to Durham, North Carolina to assist police there when he learns that his niece (who was attending university there) was abducted by a serial killer. While he is assisting in the investigation, another woman is abducted from her home, but she (played by Ashley Judd) is able to escape our mysterious serial rapist-killer. She assists the police to try to identity the location where the women are being held as Alex Cross tries to create and refine his psychological profile of the serial rapist-killer who likes to go by the name Casanova.

I am not going to spoil everything, but this film has some great and unexpected developments and reveals along the way that I still love even when I know they are coming. Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd are of course great in our two lead roles. But we also get a pretty solid supporting ensemble cast including the likes of Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Bill Nunn, Jay O. Sanders, and Brian Cox. Kiss the Girls is often overlooked in this subgenre of serial killer movies, but as I said it is one of my favorites and I definitely recommend both the film and the book.

Honorable Mention: The Night Flier

MPAA Rating: R

The Night Flier was one of these movies that crept up on me and ended up being a lot better than I was expecting. I had heard that this one was pretty good, especially within the context of 1990s Stephen King adaptations, but that also is not necessarily saying much. Sure, there are some truly great Stephen King adaptations from the decade including 1990’s Misery, 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption, 1995’s Dolores Claiborne, and 1999’s The Green Mile, and all of those were featured on our best of Stephen King film series. Those are your quality and prestige films that had major studio backing and thus also major studio talent and budgets. The 1990s also saw a lot of low budget King adaptations and most of them are quite awful. There are a few exceptions though. The Night Flier falls into that same category as what I said before about Needful Things on the 1993 list of one of these lower budget and lesser-known King adaptations that ends up being a lot better than you expect it to be (and perhaps even better than it should be).

The Night Flier is based on King’s short story of the same name that was originally published in 1988 but was republished in his 1993 Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection. For the plot, the story is about a vampiric creature that flies at night in a small private plane to distant or remote airfields and feeds on whoever is there. The events sound sensational and because of that the news story about these murders gets picked up by a tabloid (think National Enquirer) and one of their cynical veteran reporters gets assigned the job of pursuing the story. Our tabloid reporter, named Richard Dees (played wonderfully by Miguel Ferrer), goes from skeptic to believer as he follows the trail of our vampiric killer and talks to various witnesses and family members of the deceased.

The Night Flier feels like a low budget movie and is exactly what it is. Though it was actually produced for theatrical release, it did air on HBO before it was released theatrically in the United States, leading many people to think of it as a television movie. However, as a horror film, the story is actually interesting, the film is generally effective in what it aims to do, and Miguel Ferrer is great in the lead. Miguel Ferrer’s standout lead performance here falls into that same category that I said above for Andrew Divoff for Wishmaster. Someone that is a lesser-known actor and primarily a character actor finally gets a lead role and does a great job with it. Here is a hot take or an unpopular opinion for you readers: I actually like this one, The Night Flier, better than Salem’s Lot when it comes to King vampire stories. And again, The Night Flier is one of those King adaptations that gets overlooked because it was lower budget, did not have the major studio backing, and is not one of the prestige type of movies that seeks to draw attention from Academy Awards crowd. So definitely give The Night Flier a chance if you have not seen it.

Tangential Bonus 1: The Game

MPAA Rating: R

In terms of its genre classification, I would say that The Game is a mystery dramatic thriller. That combination of the mystery and thriller elements means that this film often sits at the precipice of horror but never actually crosses over into actually being a horror movie. The Game is another fantastic movie by director David Fincher. His previous film, Seven, was our horror movie of the year back on the 1995 list. Fincher has created so many great movies over the years, and The Game is another one. In The Game, a wealthy man named Nicholas Van Orton (played by Michael Douglas) is given the gift of a ‘game’ by his younger brother (played by Sean Penn) for his birthday to be put on by this mysterious company known as Consumer Recreation Services. As Nicholas’ life progresses and the more he tries to dig into and investigate this company, the more they appear to be a fraud or a front for some potentially criminal conspiracy. Likewise, the more he tries to investigate them, the more his own life unravels and the more he is aggressively and violently targeted by Consumer Recreation Services. As you can imagine with a mystery thriller, there are many twists and turns along the way. But in true Fincher fashion, the twist at the end is the biggest and most shocking. As I said, this is another great David Fincher film featuring a great cast.

Tangential Bonus 2: Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos)

MPAA Rating: R

Okay, so you all remember how much I liked Thesis (Tesis) from back on the 1996 horror list? Well, Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos) is the second film written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar, and I think it is probably even better than his previous entry, the aforementioned Thesis (Tesis). Genre classification is difficult on this one as it touches on and incorporates so many elements, including science fiction, surrealism, romantic drama, psychological thriller, and of course it pushes all of those toward the extreme so that it borders on horror. Open Your Eyes received the American remake treatment in the form of 2001’s Vanilla Sky. So, if you have seen that, then you will be familiar with the plot. However, not to sound like an overeducated and pretentious film snob, but as is the case with so many other American remakes, the original foreign (Spanish language) film is superior in pretty much every way. Actors Eduardo Noriega and Fele Martinez, who also appeared in Thesis (Tesis) return here to work with Amenabar and they are both great once again. They are joined by the rising star that was Penelope Cruz as the love interest, who would amusingly play the same role in Vanilla Sky. I loved all three of the mystery thrillers that are here in this tangential bonus section, but Open Your Eyes might actually be my favorite. It is that good on every level.

Tangential Bonus 3: Breakdown

MPAA Rating: R

I totally did not know going into these 1997 films that 1997 truly was the year for the intense mystery thriller. Breakdown leans more into the action vein than the other two entries mentioned above, but it is no less of a great mystery thriller. The premise of this film is that a married couple is driving across the country. After having a near collision with a pickup truck and getting into an argument with the driver at a nearby gas station, the two set out again on their journey only for their car to break down after a few miles. A tractor-trailer driver sees them and their car on the side of the road and stops to help. They coordinate that the husband Jeff (played by Kurt Russel) will stay and try to fix the car, while the wife Amy (played by Kathleen Qunilan) will go with the trucker (played by J.T. Walsh) to the next diner and call for help. Jeff eventually figures out that the driver of the pickup truck sabotaged the car, and he is able to fix it and drive it up to diner. However, when he gets there, his wife is not there, and no one has even seen or heard of her. Jeff treks out again and is able to locate the trucker who insists that he has never seen Jeff or Amy before. From there, the plot continues to thicken as Jeff tries to unravel the mystery of the disappearance and abduction of his wife along with the conspiracy of everyone pretending to not know anything about it. Overall, Breakdown is solid filmmaking, solid mystery action thriller storytelling, and solid acting.

Tangential Bonus 4: Starship Troopers

MPAA Rating: R

Given that every YouTube channel on the planet has come out with their re-evaluation of this movie in the past ten years on how great this movie is, it is difficult to say anything new about the wonder that is Starship Troopers. At the time in the late 1990s, this film was derided by film critics and even many cinemagoers as a bad and dumb action movie. However, when you have a director like Paul Verhoeven you would hope that critics would put a little bit more thought into what a film actually is and what the story it is telling actually is. Fortunately, in the past ten years or so, Starship Troopers has gone through a dramatic critical re-evaluation and is now regarded as another brilliant satirical film on the level of his previous RoboCop from ten years earlier in 1987. Starship Troopers is a science fiction action-war movie, but it also contains some truly brilliant layers of satire as a fascist propaganda film for this future human society in their war against these large alien insects. The acting is not great, but from the perspective of this as a satire and propaganda film, the acting actually works for the film and fits once you immerse yourself in it. The visual effects, especially the creature and blood and guts effects, are also genuinely standout and still hold up now 25 years later. The film was actually nominated for the Academy Award for best visual effects, so definitely appreciate the film on that level. Starship Troopers is a brilliant and well-made movie that was ahead of its time and only within the past decade has it gotten the appreciation that it deserves.