My Favorite Low Budget Genre Films of This Decade

A wonderfully inventive, unpreditable, and amusing horror flick from writer/director Jet Eller. Set in rural North Carolina after a meteor crashes in the forest bringing with it some nasty (and very hungry) alien lifeforms, the story centers around an engaging group of good old boys who unexpectedly find themselves on the menu when guess what comes looking for dinner. Very well made and and surprisingly well acted. The only flaw is in its CGI aliens but the film's other virtues make that easy to overlook. A must see!
See the full review, "NIGHT FEEDERS--Good Ol' Boys In A Heap of Trouble!".

This Canadian import may not have the biggest budget of all the films on this list but it certainly looks as if it does, there is not one shred of low budget tackiness to be found anywhere. And better yet it boasts a talented cast in a sweet story about zombies who have been domesticated to do all those dirty or time consuming jobs that are beneath middle class suburban society . Set in what appears to be the idealized America of 1950's television, this film reads like a zombified episode of "Lassie" as it tells the heartwarming tale of a boy and his zombie, but it's really a subversive commentary on our treatment of immigrants as second class citizens or virtual slaves. Trust me, you'll hardly notice. It's a fun movie that saves its real violence for the last few minutes. Highly recommended.

I had intended this a Top Ten list and noticed at the last moment that I had a left over on my list. All the other films I'd jotted down had a comedic tone with one exception, this one, but I could hardly leave it out just because it didn't seem to fit with the others or because it made an uneven number, It"s far to good a film for that! So this is a Top Ten version of a Baker's Dozen--my bonus film. And there is absolutely nothing funny about Maurice Devereaux's look at religious cults, subways, and apocalypses but it is definitely NOT to be missed!
See the full review, "IS IT REALLY THE END OF THE LINE?".

The very epitome of low budget perfection! Canadian writer/director Maurice Devereaux anticipated the popularity of reality game shows and took them to their logical conclusion in the country where extremes are the norm--Japan! "Slashers" is a game show in which contestants literally fight their way through a maze of rooms against a group of armed maniacs--the survivors, if any get a huge cash prize. Tonight's episode features Americans for the first time. The gore is over the top, there's humor, unexpected twists, a little nudity with very large breasts (for a brief period and there is some justification), and everything else you could possibly ask for in a film. God bless you, Maurice Devereaux!
See the full review, ""Super Fine" Super Fun".

Satire comes to the horror genre as a lonely man accepts an invitation to the titular party. The group of avant garde artist wannabees who tossed the invitation into the wind are stupified that anyone would actually show up for something called a "murder party" and hilarity ensues as they argue about how best to dispatch their bound and gagged victim to make an artistic statement. Maybe not for everyone but a classic as far as I'm concerned. It also features the best performance by a cat ever recorded on film. Bravo, Puff Snooty!
See the full review, "Still Life as Performance Art".

A young man tries conjuring up a demon to rescue the girl he loves from hell. Originality oozes out of every frame of this wonderful flick.

Unquestionably one of the two or three best werewolf flix ever made.

There have been many attempts at capturing the magic of H.P. Lovecraft on film, few have succeeded. Perhaps it takes genre fans to do it up right because that's what happened here. The HPL Appreciation Society has produced one of the best versions of Lovecraft ever! Way to go! Its done in Black and White and as a silent film, just as if it had been made during HPL's lifetime.
See the full review, "When Cthulhu Calls You'd Better Answer!".

A great new take on the 1980's cliche of the fraternity initiation in the haunted house cliche. Funny, clever, a little boobage for the guys, and a nice cast that included Parry Shen for me, and Brad Dourif too. Writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky would have had another film on this list if I hadn't limited it to this decade, his film THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE must have served as the inspiration for SCREAM--and I'm being polite.
See the full review, ""I don't like computers and I hate video games."".

Who could not love this slightly vulgar movie in which an aged Elvis dying of penile cancer in a nursing home teams up with a black man (Ossie Davis) who thinks he's JFK to battle an ancient Egyptian mummy that's been killing off the home's residents? If this isn't for you how did you ever manage to get this far down my list?

Brillint pseudo-mockumentary of a young film maker covering the day to day life of a masked serial killer.

Another entry in the new redneck horror subgenre, and not a bad one at all. It seems a bit inspired by EVIL DEAD although it doesn't come up to that level. What we have here is zombies in Alabama which of course requires a zombie stripper scene as well as some humor and some totally unexpected male full frontal to start the whole thing off. Not bad at all the, uh, film that is.

Writer/Director Brett Piper gives us everything we need for the perfect low budget horror experience; comedy, check, and there is the required boobage but its not over done, Rob Monkiewicz and his muscles are there with a chainsaw doing a great impersonation of Bruce Campbell, and best of all Piper's trademark stop motion animated spiders are in attendence as well., dozens of them in all shapes and sizes. A good old fashioned 1950's style popcorn flick. Enjoy!
See the full review, "HERE KITTY, KITTY,KITTY".

A teen-aged science fiction fan has his novel ripped off by a famous author who's suffering from writer's block. Must be seen to be believed. Who can limit themselves to only 10, 12, or 13 films when there are gems like this lying around?