Hello, my frightful friends. As most any one who knows me will tell you, I have an appreciation for a good horror movie, but an even deeper appreciation for the bad ones. So, if you are looking for some flicks to rent and watch but don’t want any thing to heavy but just some good laughable flicks that were made as intentional horror films (and with some of these that’ll be hard to swallow) then this is a good list for you.  It is with utmost pleasure that I have collected these B movies for you to enjoy.  For those of you who are more serious minded in your horror, I’ll post later entries for you. But first on with the camp.

5) The Evil Dead (original) – This cult classic has been viewed by a large number of you, I’m sure, but still this campy classic has been a staple in my Halloween line-up for years. This film was a first time effort by then unknowns Sam (Spiderman trilogy) Raimi, Robert (co-founder of Ghost House Pictures) Tapert, and Bruce Campbell. Two wonderful moments of camp: monsters dissolve into creamed corn (budget constraints, I get it.) and tree rape, the most famous scene in the movie, not that it isn’t well done but the concept is still kind of comical. But that’s #5 on my list. On a small tangent, I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Campbell a few yrs back (and yes he’s still working) and he has, to date, been the nicest celebrity I’ve ever met.
4) Feast – The most recent of the films. This was a Project Greenlight production that aired on Bravo. This is a gore-drenched film with monsters that have super libidos, and lots of teeth. I don’t want to give too much away about this because not knowing much about it made it that much better to watch the first time (and I cried from laughing so hard). This film starts with a dude getting his head eaten, places tongue firmly in cheek and runs with it. Why is this campy you ask, without giving too much away let me just say: Monster Humping.
3) Puppet Master – A run down hotel is supposedly haunted; a small group of paranormal investigators go in and discover it is actually stringless puppets. Old man Toulon must be behind it (if only it were so simple but this isn’t Scooby Doo). Toulon died in ’39 and someone has learned his way to give life to objects. The puppets wreak havoc on the investigators until the truth behind their resurrection is made clear. It may not sound campy but 1 it’s direct to video from 89 and 2 killer puppets in a hotel.
2) Night of the Lepus – I think the best way to introduce this film is to quote from the actual film: “Ladies and gentlemen, a herd of killer rabbits is headed this way.” That’s right, giant, killer, man-eating rabbits are roaming the plains of the midwest devouring entire towns as they travel by night. Two great things about this. The rabbits are obviously shot on miniatures, and 2) the actors are never in the same shot as the rabbits. Also, there’s nothing like a cute fuzzy bunny with bright red stage blood smeared on its face as it smiles. It’s cute. So watch this movie and discover the horror of cute.

The horror! THE HORROR!

1) Plan 9 from Outer Space – Universally known as the worst film ever made, and if you watch it you’ll see why. This was Bela Lugosi’s final film appearance, he died early in production and Ed Wood (the most famous bad director of all time) had his chiropractor stand in for Lugosi (covering up his face with a cape and playing Lugosi from the eyes up, despite the uncanny resemblance it’s obvious to tell who is and isn’t Lugosi). Some people even ask why Plan 9, it’s simple the first 8 failed and they decided that if they used 3 zombies they could take over the earth easier. Also, any film with the words “from Outer Space” at the end of the title must be acknowledged as a bad film, but most likely laughably campy.

“I’ve got to tell you, this is the shoddiest cemetery I’ve ever been in.”

There are numerous campy greats out there, but these are my recommendations for you. The Honorable mentions go to: Re-animator, Frogs (despite the fact that the frogs don’t actually do anything), and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (that’s right). Please enjoy and tell me what some of your favorite campy classics are.