Anthony Heald and Anthony Hopkins in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, 1991. Orion Pictures Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on Reddit Post a Comment Share on Whats App Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Print the Article Share on Tumblr The 1990s were a period of exploration for the horror genre, and there was no shortage of ideas. The genre moved away from the formulas of the 1980s and became stranger and more ambitious. With that ambition came a new crop of filmmakers and tried-and-true filmmakers reinventing themselves in bold new ways, who in turn brought in new audiences. When looking at horror movies from the '90s, it proved difficult to narrow down a list of the best. What started with a shortlist of 40 films, was pared down, painfully on my part, to a sweet sixteen. There are movies from the 1990s that I love that are absent. And there will be movies from the '90s that you love that will be absent too (though in true horror fashion, there's always room for a sequel). But in narrowing down this list, I reflected on the nature of the horror genre's ability to confront our reality, but also push filmmaking forward. Here are the best horror movies of the 1990s: Clearcut (1991) "You're gonna hang here with the crows and watch the Earth as it dies." Ryszard Bugajski's Canadian folk horror movie Clearcut is one of the best hidden gems of the '90s, regardless of genre. The late Graham Greene delivers one of his best performances as Arthur, an Indigenous activist who is fed up with the white man's destruction of Indian land. Arthur forces lawyer Peter Maguire (Ron Lea) to aid him in the kidnapping of a logging company head named Bud Rickets to exact revenge on the clearcutting of his land. What follows becomes a morally complicated consideration of ownership, violence, environmentalism, and the failings of pacifism. Peter finds himself caught between Arthur, who may be the trickster spirit, Wisakedjak, and Rickets, who refuses to acknowledge what he's taken from Indigenous people. With palpable tension and surprising moments of brutal bloodshed, Clearcut is an important cultural artifact that is just as relevant today as it was in '91 as the fight over land, and who can live on it, is determined by colonizers who are more than willing to separate humanity's connection to Earth for the right price. Habit (1995) Filmmaker Larry Fessenden became one of the most influential figures in contemporary indie horror with Habit, based on his 1982 short film of the same name. The New York City-set film follows Sam (Fessenden), a wild-eyed alcoholic artist struggling with the death of his father and a recent breakup. After meeting a mysterious woman, Anna (Meredith Snaider), at a Halloween party, a passionate romance becomes a sickness, and Sam begins to suspect that Anna is slowly killing him. Habit feels raw, real, and made with the kind of can-do spirit and lack of Hollywood artifice that's reminiscent of George A. Romero. There's also beauty in the film's consideration of loss and the human desire to reach out and find a kindred spirit in something, anything. Habit is Dracula, AIDS paranoia, and Gen X disillusionment all broken and bled together on the pavement. Nightbreed (1990) In Nightbreed, acclaimed author Clive Barker took us to Midian, where the monsters live. Following the success of his directorial debut Hellraiser (1987), Barker adapted another of his novellas, Cabal, which tells the story of Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer), a man plagued by terrible nightmares of murders and monsters. After being framed by his psychologist, and the actual serial killer, Dr. Phillip K. Decker (David Cronenberg), Boone is killed by the police and reborn in Midian as one of the Nightbreed, a nomadic clan of monsters hiding from humanity. Boone's girlfriend, Lori (Anne Bobby) looks for answers behind Boone's alleged actions and death, and crosses paths with Dr. Decker, who seeks Midian for his own ascension, leading to a war between humans and monsters. A treasure trove of some of the most wondrous creature effects ever put on screen, Barker explored monsters through the lens of otherness, not unlike the classic Universal monster movies. But he took it a step further and used Nightbreed as an allegory for the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community besieged by those who saw violence and oppression as normalcy, and his own feelings of otherness as a gay man. Intended to be the first part of a trilogy, Barker's Star Wars of horror, the film failed to connect with audiences after studio cuts. But Nightbreed became a cult classic, and the 2014 release of Barker's director's cut has had fans howling for more of the Nightbreed for over a decade. Ringu (1998) Image Credit: DreamWorks Home Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection In Hideo Nakata's Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki's 1991 novel of the same name, a reporter, Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima)