Answer: The Final Terror
This film, directed by Andrew Davis, went through many other titles before finally settling on 'The Final Terror'. Some of those titles are 'Creeper', 'Bump in the Night', and 'Three Blind Mice'.
From Quiz: Horror Films from the '80s: 1983
Answer: Terror Train
"Terror Train" involved a reunion of students on a train who were getting killed one by one in revenge for a prank that was played years earlier. Magician David Copperfield played the magician who was hired to entertain, and he was a suspect. He also did many of the visual effects in the movie.
From Quiz: World of Weird Horror: 1980
Answer: Alone in the Dark
There is a power outage in New Jersey, and unfortunately four mental patients are able to escape through the electric doors of the mental hospital. They make their way to Dan Potter's house. Potter is their new doctor, whom they hold a grudge against for something they think he did. One of the taglines for this film is "When the lights go out the terror begins."
From Quiz: Horror Films from the '80s: 1982
Answer: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Not following the typical numbering convention of the series (you know, sequential), "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" was billed as an aside to the story, instead following a Latin American family following similar hauntings to those seen in the earlier movies. What followed was a trip through several key moments, all tied to the paranormal activities experienced by Katie and Kristi and the coven of witches seemingly responsible (as seen in the third and fourth films). The film earned more than $90,000,000, on par with the others in the series, and was written and directed by series mainstay Christopher B. Landon. Original creator Oren Peli produced.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2014
Answer: V/H/S 2
After 2012's surprise cult hit "V/H/S" hit the horror scene, bringing five newer directorial talents to the forefront with video-tape-themed horror shorts, online horror community Bloody Disgusting created a second film in the franchise, released under their own studio, The Collective. This film followed the same premise wherein a framing narrative facilitated the viewing of several horrifying scenarios. This second film featured the directors of "The Blair Witch Project", "You're Next", and "Hobo With a Shotgun" amongst others.
Why didn't you see it? Due to a limited release, the film failed to take in much of a draw in the box office. Unlike the first "V/H/S", it did not make as extensive a film festival circuit before getting released on VOD, DVD and...yes...VHS.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2013
Answer: Evil Dead
"Evil Dead" is, of course, based off of Sam Raimi's original cult classic "The Evil Dead", which was released in 1981 and starred Bruce Campbell. While reports of a new film in said series ("Army of Darkness 2") had been circulating for years, the remake finally broke ground and was released in 2013. Directed by Uruguayan Fede Alvarez, it ended up earning nearly $100,000,000 in the box office by pitting five new hapless cabin-dwellers against possessions and fiendish devils from Hell. Unsurprisingly, it was exceedingly gory (just like the original) and was better-received by critics than most movies of a similar ilk.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2013
Answer: Silent Scream
Barbara Steele plays the role of Victoria, who is the daughter of Mrs. Engels. She is kept hidden in the attic and is mute due to a lobotomy gone wrong. She is psychotic as well, and is a shameful family secret. The police are sent to investigate the mansion after one of the students is found murdered. The tagline for this film is "Terror so sudden there is no time to scream."
From Quiz: The Best of '80s Horror Films!
Answer: V/H/S
"V/H/S", appearing at Sundance in 2012, became a quick favourite in the horror world because of its approach to the anthology subgenre. The film followed a group of thieves searching an apparently-not-abandoned house for a single VHS tape ("which they'd know when they saw it"). They found more than one and decided to start watching them only to find more horrors than they'd expected.
The movie was filmed entirely on handy-cam; six different directors filmed the different vignettes (including Ti West, Adam Wingard, and Radio Silence).
Why didn't you see it? After a limited run in festivals and on VOD services, it ended up finding its way to (heh) video. It was popular enough to warrant a sequel greenlight.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2012
Answer: Sinister
Directed by Scott Derrickson (also known for "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"), "Sinister" starred Hawke as true crime writer Ellison Oswalt. Moving into an alleged murder house with his unknowing family, he ended up unearthing a box of home videos in the attic and unleashing an ages-old curse. As he struggled to write his new book he ended up putting his family in danger.
"Sinister" was highly-praised by critics for its unflinching approach to horror. Due to strong sound editing and fairly creepy sequences, it ended up successful in the box office earning $41,000,000 on a budget of $3,000,000.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2012
Answer: Quarantine 2
"Quarantine 2" takes a completely different spin from its Spanish source material, the "REC" series, which is contained within a single apartment building in its first two installments. While the first U.S. remake, "Quarantine", follows this approach, "Terminal" brings the infection to an airport and has a plane-full of people deal with the consequences of a virus that turns its victims into ravenous killers.
You probably didn't see this one because it didn't get a theatrical release-- at least not a wide one. It went straight-to-DVD in most areas, unlike its Spanish counterpart, "REC 2", which finally saw its home video release in the U.S. in the same year.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2011
Answer: The Crazies
Although "The Crazies" premiered in third at the box office upon its February release, it took in over $50,000,000 and received critical praise, a surprising feat for any horror remake. Like Romero's original version, "The Crazies" involved a small US town coming into contact with a contamination of sorts transforming its quiet residents into crazy creatures. A small group of survivors tries to escape as the army is called in to quarantine the area.
Breck Eisner originally directed the box office failure "Sahara" back in 2005 but seems to have turned it around. Eisner's only other explicitly-horror work was for the first episode of NBC's horror anthology "Fear Itself". "The Crazies" starred Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, and Danielle Panabaker, all of whom are no strangers to the genre.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2010
Answer: Pontypool
Based on a novel by Tony Burgess, known as "Pontypool Changes Everything", this film was set almost entirely in a church basement, as a radio personality, known as Grant Mazzy, performed his early morning show for the townspeople and surrounding area. During this whiteout, a breaking story, involving rioting in the small town began to materialize, cutting into the day's events. Soon, an infection began to spread - it took a while before anyone realized its source: key words in the English language. The director dubbed the infected individuals as 'conversationalists' in interviews. "Pontypool" received a small, limited release, which is probably why you didn't see it. Nonetheless, its 'out there' subject matter was unique and the performances and themes within caught attention from critics, who highly enjoyed the film. You didn't see this one because it rarely appeared anywhere. DVDs were scarce after release and it appeared in a very small limited release in major cities.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2009
Answer: The Fourth Kind
Released in early November 2009 (the same week as Richard Kelly's "The Box"), "The Fourth Kind" is a film based on supposedly true events in Nome, Alaska. Cutting between actual documentary footage from sessions with Dr. Abigail Tyler's patients, sessions between herself and the director, Olatunde Osunsanmi, and between actual narrative (in which the doctor is played by Jovovich), the film investigated 'The Fourth Kind' of alien encounter: abduction. The film doubled its budget bringing in $20,000,000 overall. Regardless, it didn't do too well with the critics. "The Box", on the other hand, was more successful with critics but couldn't recoup half its budget, only taking in $15,000,000.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2009
Answer: Cloverfield
Released with an intricate viral marketing scheme, "Cloverfield" was a unique film in many aspects. With all the hype (including a mysterious image of the Statue of Liberty without its head) and the shakey-cam methods used by the cast (which we'll see in many...many...many more films this year), "Cloverfield" became the first horror/sci-fi hit of the year, reaching No 1 in the box office and garnering over $170,000,000.
The film centers around video camera footage, recovered by the U.S. Government after an alien attack on New York City. The events depicted in the film are filmed by a small group of people who trek across the under-siege city to save their friend. What they realize, however, is that the dangers are all around them, and the city is no longer safe.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2008
Answer: Buffalo Bill
Because he skins his victims. Probably the best horror movie of the '90s.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1990s
Answer: The Exorcist
Recently re-released to theaters. Still the scariest.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1970s
Answer: Psycho
This question is like when you know what the 100 dollar answer on Jeopardy will be when the category is revealed.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1960s
Answer: The Thing From Another World
Arguably the best sci-fi movie of the 50's. John Carpenter made a gory remake in 1982.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1950s
Answer: Claude Rains
'The Invisible Man' himself
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1940s
Answer: M
'Mad Love' is a 1935 Lorre film, with Colin Clive; 'Murder', Hitchcock, 1930; 'The Mad Genius', John Barrymore and Karloff, 1931.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1930s
Answer: Don't Open Till Christmas
An unstable maniac goes around stalking and murdering Santas on the streets of London in this '80s slasher. Director Edmund Purdom plays the role of Inspector Ian Harris. This film is chock full of gruesome death scenes, which makes it stay true to the slasher genre.
From Quiz: Horror Films from the '80s: 1984
Answer: Lou
Nick was about to walk on stage to be crowned king of the prom, but Lou grabbed him and tied him up. Lou walked out there, unaware that Alex was planning to attack Nick with an ax. Alex's twin sister had died years earlier because of a prank played by Nick and his friends. Kim (Jamie Lee Curtis) was Alex's older sister, who was with Nick at the prom.
From Quiz: World of Weird Horror: 1980
Answer: Blood Song
The movie title makes sense when you consider that the killer carries a wooden flute with him that he plays before he murders someone. The alternate title to this film is called 'Dream Slayer'. The tagline is "When he whistles this tune...The time for killing begins."
From Quiz: Horror Films from the '80s: 1982
Answer: As Above, So Below
Searching for what was, essentially, the Philosopher's Stone, a young academic headed deep into the underground of Paris in this 2014 film from "Devil" and "Quarantine" director John Dowdle. What she and her group ended up discovering was a pathway straight to Hell, bringing forth their repressed fears and dragging them into the underworld with their handicams in tow. The movie did quite well in the theatre grossing more than seven times its $5,000,000 budget. The film, actually filmed in the catacombs themselves, ended up being panned for being boring and lackluster.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2014
Answer: Case 39
"Case 39" was about an overworked social worker, Emily, played by Renee Zellweger. When she was ordered to investigate the parents of Lilith, brilliantly played by Jodelle Ferland, at her home, she was horrified to see that her parents had put their daughter in the oven and taped it up with duct tape. What followed was a nightmare situation, where people started dying horrible deaths and it seemed that Lilith was responsible.
From Quiz: Name the Horror Movie
Answer: The Last Exorcism Part II
Why didn't you see "The Last Exorcism Part II"? Well, despite theatrical release and backing from horror director Eli Roth (as was given to the last one, which was a mockumentary-style success in 2010), this second venture with Nell, the possessed contortionist farmgirl, was not a popular movie. Although it earned $15,000,000 in the box office, it's meager compared to the $67,000,000 earned by the original. Once again, Nell needed to deal with the obvious demon problem in which she was once again possessed by Satan or something like it (it's actually a demon named Abalam).
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2013
Answer: The Purge
Starring Ethan Hawke (who was in "Sinister" the year before) and Lena Headey (of "Game of Thrones" fame), this movie set in the future hypothesized that we would all live in an idyllic society in which crime would never exist because on one night of the year a 'purge' would occur in which everyone would be allowed to kill anyone else without repercussion. When one family sealed themselves off they got more than they bargained for. The movie, directed by James DeMonaco, earned nearly $90,000,000 in the box office and earned a fair bit of attention with summer audiences.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2013
Answer: Too Scared to Scream
A New York detective named Alex Dinardo is sent to investigate the violent murders taking place in the complex, and has his sights set on trapping the doorman who is suspicious of committing the heinous crimes. Director Tony Lo Bianco is known for starring in several films which include 'The Honeymoon Killers'(1970), 'The French Connection'(1971), and 'Mafia!'(1998) to name a few. Mike Conners and Anne Archer are among the numerous stars in 'Too Scared to Scream', which also goes by the title 'The Doorman'.
From Quiz: The Best of '80s Horror Films!
Answer: The ABCs of Death
Another anthology from horror's best and brightest independent directors, the film didn't have a singular plot -- instead, twenty-six different letters of the alphabet were handed out, at random, to the participants and they were asked to put their own spin on it. While some of these were hit-and-miss, the general appeal was there -- as much as it could be with only a few minutes per letter. Directors included Ti West, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Jake West, and Nacho Vigalondo.
Why didn't you see it? The movie appeared late in the year at the Toronto International Film Festival and was slated for wider release in 2013. Much like "V/H/S" before it, it would see an earlier light of day on VOD release.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2012
Answer: Paranormal Activity 4
Another in the series of found-footage films made on a pittance, "Paranormal Activity 4" added another $100,000,000 to the growing total generated by the series; the first, as many would recall, was the top-earning independent film ever made upon its release. In this installment, the viewer picked up a few years after the events of the second film; Katie and Robbie (previously known as Hunter) moved into a new house and their neighbours filmed the weird occurrences (erm...I mean paranormal activities) as they went on. The movie was produced by the original director, Oren Peli, while it was filmed by "Catfish" and "Paranormal Activity 3" directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2012
Answer: Atrocious
"Atrocious" is yet another from the cinema-verite school of horror filmmaking, in which the director utilizes nothing more than handheld cameras to evoke the terror onscreen. In this case, the handy-cams are placed into the hands of two siblings who, along with their parents, head to a cabin in the woods (next to a maze!) and investigate an urban legend. As it turns out, some urban legends have some truth to them.
You probably missed this one. Why? Well, for one thing, it only showed in a few festivals outside of Spain (Sitges). When it finally came time to distribute it in North America, distribution was handled by 'Bloody Disgusting Selects', a label associated with the horror website of the same name. They were also responsible for the release of "Yellowbrickroad".
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2011
Answer: Fright Night 3D
The original "Fright Night", made by Tom Holland (director of "Child's Play") in 1985, was a surprise success, earning almost $25,000,000 and becoming one of the top-grossing horror movies of its year. The sequel, taking in over $35,000,000, starred Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell (as the vampire, Jerry), and Toni Collette. Surprisingly, the movie did well with critics.
The movie involves a teenager who has a vampire move in next door. As his friends and neighbours slowly become vampires themselves, he tries to side with a famous vampire hunter in order to do away with the evils right outside his doorstep.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2011
Answer: YellowBrickRoad
Even rare to find amongst horror fans, "YellowBrickRoad" found its way into the SlamDance Film Festival early in the year. The movie followed a group of people looking to determine what happened when a townful of people headed up the 'Yellow Brick Road' in a forest in New Hampshire and never came back. What they found was much more unexpected and visceral than they expected. You would've been unlikely to see this one since it only appeared in a few different film festivals; there was no limited release for the film in 2010 despite relatively good reviews.
From Quiz: Horror Films You Didn't See in 2010
Answer: The Last Exorcism
A minister known for performing exorcisms, real or fake, on many people over the years, a man named Cotton Marcus (played by Fabian) found himself coming face to face with a girl possessed by the Devil in this 2010 film. Anticipated to be as graphic as Eli Roth's earlier work, "Cotton" was renamed "The Last Exorcism" as it approached an August release. Although it featured a single shaky-cam style characteristic of "The Blair Witch Project" and "Quarantine", the film was well-received by critics and viewers alike. The movie opened at #2 in the box office and earned nearly $60,000,000 overall.
Director Daniel Stamm made his international release debut with this film, having released a single independent film, "A Necessary Death", in 2008.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2010
Answer: The Last House on the Left
After almost forty years, "The Last House on the Left" was remade by director Dennis Illadis and starred Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn. Receiving relatively mediocre reviews, the film took in just under $50,000,000 in the box office. The film followed a family whose daughter nearly gets killed and left for dead by a group of criminals. The criminals sought shelter at her family's house, and when she returned home on the verge of death they found a way to exact their revenge. Though Wes Craven produced the 2009 remake, he wrote and directed the original in his film debut. His other works, "The Hills Have Eyes" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street", were remade by Alexandre Aja in 2006 and Samuel Bayer in 2010 respectively.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2009
Answer: Diary of the Dead
Displaying the same 'shakey-cam' techniques seen in "Cloverfield" earlier in the year, "Diary of the Dead" was another installation in the '...of the Dead' series of zombie horror films directed by George A. Romero (famous for his work in "Night of the Living Dead").
This film centers around a group of individuals who band together during a zombie outbreak and make their way to a safehouse/mansion to escape the terror and carnage. The film is also a social commentary, taking a modern twist and forcing it into the movie's ultimate message.
Althought the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival the year before, it gained a small release in 2008 in exclusive theatres, gaining back its ten million dollar budget.
From Quiz: Horror Films of 2008
Answer: Stab
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1990s
Answer: Jaws
Of course it's 'Jaws'.
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1970s
Answer: The Birds
Tippi Hedren played Melanie Daniels in the 1963 horror movie - where the birds began to attack the movie's characters. It's difficult to find trivia that's not instantly recognizable for Hitch's SECOND most terrifying movie. You HAVE to be good when this movie is second!
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1960s
Answer: Steve McQueen
This film is the perfect 'teenagers try to save the town from the monster but the adults don't believe them' story. (Teenagers? McQueen was about 30 at the time.)
From Quiz: Horror Movies 1950s
