What makes for a good horror flick? Well, it’s obviously got to be scary. You want some good gore. Ideally, it’s nice to mix in some humor, either obvious or subtle. A decent plot is preferred, though not always necessary. The best ones usually have an unique visual twist, a strong look, or vision, that separates it from the pack. Usually though, the best horror films have bucket loads of all this and more, which unfortunately makes them hard to digest for the mainstream movie-going public. For every hit like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, there’s a Dog Soldiers or Sessions 9 you’ve likely never heard of. For every Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street, there’s a Basket Case or Brain Damage. And for many heralded blockbuster directors like Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), there are a slew of early horror films like Dead-Alive and Evil Dead they birthed that helped put them on the map. Below is a list of 10 great, underrated, underappreciated horror films (in no particular order) that were not hit movies, but deserve your attention nonetheless and pack a mighty punch.

Evil Dead 2
(1987)
Years before he became an A-List director by helming the Spider-Man franchise, Sam Raimi directed the Evil Dead trilogy, a series beloved by horror buffs around the world. While never bonafied hits, these over-the-top flicks made Bruce Campbell a B-movie superstar, garnered Raimi a massive cult following and vaulted these flicks to the top of every true horror aficionado’s Top 5 list. However, the films also spawned some heated debates. Most everyone agrees the schlocky Army of Darkness is the weakest, people will go toe-to-toe over which if the first two is the best. The original is clearly the more scary, freaky, fright-fest and the gore is much more horrifying -- man, that pencil in the ankle twist gets me every time. Yet for my money, the second one is the better all-around film. More of a remake than a sequel, Evil Dead 2 is scary, gory, funny as hell, and is a terrific example of indie filmmaking at it’s tightest and most meticulous. Having just been a second unit director on frequent collaborator’s the Cohen brothers on Raising Arizona, Raimi took a similar approach, crafting a non-stop rollercoaster ride of a film, where plot takes a backseat to thrill ride momentum and Three Stooges-inspired physicality. Quite frankly, this is one of the niftiest films every made as far as I’m concerned, with narrowly a second to catch your breath between fights and laughs.

Dead-Alive
(1992)
Before Peter Jackson helmed the massive Lord of the Rings trilogy, he made two very original, very offbeat, very gory horror movies, Bad Taste and Dead-Alive. While goo-fest Bad taste is more style over substance, good ideas with so-so execution, Dead-Alive works as both a smart slapstick comedy and gut-munching zombie flick. Be warned, this movie is not for the easily grossed out. I have seen ‘em all, and even I had trouble sitting though the lawn mower scene, but for every gallon of blood (and there are many…and limbs, and heads, and ears…) there is a gallon of gut laughs. It’s one man against an army of monkey-infected walking corpses in this intense runaway train of a film and Jackson makes it all look glorious and Technicolor, so that every exposed ribcage glistens with freshness. Best line come from a friendly priest:  "I kick ass for the Lord!"

Sessions 9
(2001)
Who would of thought that between TV gigs, redhead David Caruso would star in a low-key, but quite impressive psychological horror thriller. And Sessions 9 is indeed all that and more. We follow an asbestos removal crew into an abandoned insane asylum that may or may not be haunted. The movie has a claustrophobic feel to it as much of it takes place in near darkness between the walls and ceiling as the crew chokes and wheezes while asbestos partials fall around them. So no matter what happens next, the viewers are always consumed with uneasiness by the poison in the air. Then when bodies start turning up….

Basket Case
(1982)
Frank Henenlotter’s classic tale of Duane Bradley and his telepathic Siamese twin, Belial, a misshapen mutant attached to his side is sick, twisted, sad and hilarious. Belial may just be a mutated head, two big arms and hands, and a scrunched-up, partial spine, but he steals the movie with his witty retorts and rude banter. Filmed in the streets of seedy New York in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, the film has the same grittiness as Taxi Driver and Hardcore, albeit with a horror slant and a ridiculous plot. But, man oh man, for all of it’s silliness, I dare you to find a creepier, more f-ed up movie than this.

Dog Soldiers
(2002)
Dog Soldiers is a werewolf movie of a different kind. Set during a training mission in the middle of the forest, a squadron of British soldiers come across a pack of werewolf and fight for their lives in a cabin in the woods. Scary, smart, and funny (like all good horror movies should be), this tight little film serves up just the right amount of blood, yet is propelled by a good scipt, solid characters, and lots of genuine dramtic tension. Plus, a little pet doggie gets to chew on a soldiers intestines at one point, which always makes for some good movie magic!

Return of the Living Dead
(1985)
Punk rock zombies. That’s really about all you need to say to sum up this zombie comedy, or zomb-edy, as I like to say. Though generically named, and having nothing to do with the George Romero classic, this campy classic has a lot going for it. There’s great character actor James Karen and his comedic tour de force as Frank. There’s scream queen Linnea Quigley’s naked dance of the dead on the car hood. There’s plenty of brain eating zombie-fu. There’s the immortal line “Send more paramedics,” spoken by a corpse munching on a paramedic. Plus, the soundtrack kicks ass and features The Cramps, Roky Erickson, The Flesheaters, T.S.O.L., 45 Grave and Stacy Q’s terrific pre-solo career band, SSQ.

Susperia
(1977)
With a tagline like “The Only Thing More Terrifying Than The Last 12 Minutes Of This Film Are The First 92,” you know you’re in for something scary. You will not be let down. Director Dario Argento is one messed up puppy. His films are amongst the most disturbing Italy has to offer. A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school, only to discover the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization. Steeped in rich solo, haunting images and lots of close-ups of eyeballs, Susperia is sort of like Rosemary’s Baby on acid, without the baby element. It’s shocking, surreal and unnerving, all of which make it a slept-on classic.

Brain Damage
(1988)
Frank Henenlotter’s second weird New York splatter flick, Brain Damage is an anti-drug comedy disguised as mind-melting, surreal horror acid trip. The films stars Aylmer, a penis-shaped worm-like parasite that attaches itself to a young man named Brian and gains control of him. Aylmer sinks his hooks into Brian's neck, secreting a strange hallucinogenic blue liquid that gives his brain a jolt of psychedelic madness, making him easily swayable by Aylmer. Soon enough, he talks Brian into finding him victims from whom Aylmer kills and sucks out their brains. Oh yeah, Aylmer sings, and tells jokes and argues that it’s okay to kill people, as long as Brian isn't directly involved. So there you go.

Waxwork
(1988)
Who woulda thunk Gremlins star Zach Galligan could have starred in such a relentlessly gory horror flick? Well, he did and it rocks… in a cheesy, dumb kinda way. As dopey as it is fright-filled, Waxwork tells the story of a group of teens invited to a private midnight showing of a mysterious wax museum, only to discover that if they cross the velvet rope of an exhibit, they are thrust its the world. So if you bend in to touch the Dracula exhibit, you are surrounded by vampires. If you want a closer look at the Marquis de Sade, you are soon be flogged and sexually pummeled. Werewolves, Jack the Ripper, and so on. Co-starring the great Deborah Foreman, she of Valley Girl fame, and featuring the best vampire devouring scenes this side of Andy Warhol’s Dracula, Waxwork is a B-movie schlock masterpiece.

Mute Witness
(1994)
Talk about feeling helpless. Cute little Billy Hughes is a mute makeup artist working on a horror film being shot in Moscow. It’s bad enough she gets locked in the studio after hours, but she stumbles on two men shooting a porno film after hours. Soon, however, the sex turns to murder as she realize it’s a snuff film and she just witnessed a brutal murder. First, she has to escape the studio unseen by the killers, but then she must convince authorities of what she's seen with no evidence. Plot twists abound, with the first half feeling like a good old fashioned slasher flick, and the second half opening up to a wider, shadowy conspiracy. Tense, taut and full of surprises, this one’s a winner.

Other honorable mentions include Shallow Grave, Cemetery Man, Nightwatch, Phantasm 2, and the soon-to-be underrated classic Shaun of the Dead.

Tune into Electric Playground on September 26, 2004 at 10:30pm ET / 7:30pm PT to learn about horror video games.