Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Horror Movies

This post is actually influenced by a conversation that Deadly Movies and I had a few nights ago about The Langoliers. There are a lot of people that really hate this movie and although I do admit that the film does have some shitty CGI and some questionable acting… it’s not that bad of a movie. Sure, some things don’t make sense and like always the writer knows everything but I consider that movie a guilty pleasure of mine. This is what today’s post will be about… guilty pleasures.

Now, keep in mind that there are a lot of movies that would be classified as ‘guilty pleasures’ however, most of them I do not feel guilty telling people that I enjoy them. Case in point: C.H.U.D., I am proud to say that I am a fan of that movie. With these movies, I don’t normally tell horror fans or movies buffs that I enjoy them because they are questionable.

5. Sleepwalkers – Oh the fond memories of watching this film when I was younger, of course back then I didn’t notice the painfully bad acting, shitty effects and weak plot but in some way… I still enjoy this movie. I mean, who does not like watching a group of renegade cats attack a mother and son or better yet, who does not like to watch a son have weird cat-like sex with his mom? It has ‘sick beyond all belief but I love it’ stamped all over it.

4. The Langoliers – As I stated before, even though the acting can be hammy, and the CGI is atrocious, and the plot can be worked on, and the time it takes them to understand everything is implausible, I still enjoyed this movie. It does have its moments and it does a great job with anticipating the arrival of the Langoliers. If you can get past all the problems with it, it’s actually a pretty decent movie. Also, you have to understand that it is a made-for-TV movie.

3. Skeeter – I hate mosquitoes and if the dialogue and acting is awful, this movie still freaks me out. I am not saying that I jump up in my seat and scream but I do get that tingling feeling down my back because giant mosquitoes make me uncomfortable. Hell, Jumanji did the same thing for me. Granted, the acting and dialogue isn’t the only thing wrong with this movie… the bug-vision effects are terrible, the gore is minimal and there are a lot of continuity errors but I can guarantee that if you hate insects you’ll hate this movie.

2. Shadow Builder – When I first saw this I had no idea Michael Rooker was in it and now that I know… it skyrocket to number 2 on my list. But that’s not the only reason why, this film has some pretty terrifying scenes in it and I think it’s one of the best small town horror movies on a budget. Also, an old man kills his wife with an axe then gets a telephone poll thrown on him… what more can you ask? It comes with really bad acting and some really bad CGI and even worse dialogue but the rest is pretty good. Not the best, mind you. It will always be embedded in my head when Satan tells a priest that, “God is a butcher boy.” That made me smile.

1. Ghost Ship – I liked this movie. Aside from maybe some really bad acting and a somewhat cliché storyline, I don’t know why people do not like this film. Maybe I am not seeing something and if I am not, please enlighten me. Though it didn’t really scare me in the theater or even now, it’s fairly entertaining and I find the beginning as well as some of the flashback sequences pretty thrilling. Granted, I have seen better ‘ghost ship’ movies but this one sticks out for some reason. There are some bad movies out there that are entertaining and enjoyable to watch, but they are still bad. Ghost Ship is a perfect example of this.

Honorable Mention: Virus

So there is my list. They are not your typical guilty pleasure horror flicks but they still, to me, are very entertaining movies. However, if I had a top 10 list you’d see way more guilty pleasures like Graduation Day or Street Trash on there.

Defending 'Ghost Ship'

From Blogger Pictures

So, after watching Ghost Ship, it came across my mind that there weren’t that many people that liked this movie… in fact, people hated this movie. I saw it in the theaters with my dumbass stepbrother and I am proud to say that I really enjoyed this movie, then and now. But I am here to defend this movie for what it is; a horror movie. Note: this is not a review of the movie.

From Blogger Pictures

1. This is a HORROR movie and I am sure there are several people that did get scared from this movie. If so, then this movie accomplished its goal to scare the audience. It’s a traditional ghost ship story but with a twist… not a plot twist but rather a content twist. Most ghost stories, the ghosts are bad and that’s what you are led to believe but that majority of the ghosts are good and only a few are bad. It’s a twist of sorts.

2. For a horror movie that looks like it focused all of it’s art direction the rusty design of the ship, it had good makeup and gore. I watched the ‘making of’ and I saw how much they spent on the make up and some of the ghosts looked pretty good. Take for example the Italian singer; they really did a good a job making her look old and corpsy. But what I can’t understand is why would a ghost age? The burnt corpse of Santos looks pretty real and very well done. The flashback scene when you see everybody get killed had great gory effects… though these effects are not in abundance it still delivers. Plus, don’t forget the infamous deck scene, which had great bloody effects.

3. Some people say the plot was uneven… what was uneven about it? Aside from continuity errors, the plot seemed fine. Hell, even the idea that the busboys and the butlers rebel in such a short time isn’t really that unfathomable. They didn’t seem like they had a real set plan but rather an all balls out attack. I don’t think there were any uneven parts of the plot. I don’t think continuity errors fall under plot development, that is a whole other category and sure, there is the fact that there are English words on an Italian boat but I think that’s only there to avoid subtitles… because, after all, it would look even weirder.

4. The acting in this movie was pretty good. I understand that the movie was trying to make you feel for the characters but it wasn’t successful, so the character development wasn’t as good but the acting wasn’t bad either. It was pretty good and I really wish Gabriel’s character had a bigger role. There were some sad points and I think the little girl did a fantastic acting job.

From Blogger Pictures

5. I really enjoyed the semi closure ending. As rare as horror movie have, the ending didn’t give closure the when all the ghosts were released from the ship to return to heaven… it really was kind of awe-inspiring and heartwarming. To see all of those poor innocent trapped souls finally released and they were all happy. It gives me shivers to see this old, dark, rusty boat sink while these bright ghosts swirl across it to heaven. Even when the antagonist says about the little girl makes me smile: ‘souls without sin are harder to control.’ Pretty much saying, that the little girl is the epitome of innocents.

6. If you don’t like this movie for any of the above reasons, then you have to like it for one of the opening scenes where the wire slices through all the people on the front deck of the boat. That is one of the best kill scenes in horror history.

From Blogger Pictures

Now, I am not saying that this movie is the best movie ever made, nor am I saying that this movie is one of the best ghost stories but for what it is, a simple little horror movie, it is worth it. It was a box office hit and I think that this movie deserves a chance.