Subgenre Sampler
Rental > Horror > Science Slip: 48 Films to Rent
- Reunion (2020)
- Dir. Jake Mahaffy
Feat. Julia Ormond, Emma Draper, John Bach…
- Beautifully–lensed NZ horror shot in a grand old mansion in Lower Hutt, following an academic studying black magic (Emma Draper, DAFFODILS) who…
- Antiviral (2012)
- Dir. Brandon Cronenberg
Feat. Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith…
- Brandon Cronenberg has made an object lesson in intelligent low budget horror. In the near future, our obsession with celebrity will have become so…
- Crazies, The (2010)
- Dir. Breck Eisner
Feat. Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell
- George Romero's low budget classic gets a flashy, though ultimately needless makeover angled at the Iraq war set, with Radha Mitchell and Timothy…
- Splice (2009)
- Dir. Vincenzo Natali
Feat. Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley
- The director of cult hit CUBE ups the ante in hybrid horror with this story of geneticists who, after recombining DNA from different species, give…
- Planet Terror (2007)
- Dir. Robert Rodriguez
Feat. Rose McGowan, Freddy RodrÃguez, Josh Brolin…
- Robert Rodriguez's half – and quite possibly, the better half – of the "Grindhouse" double bill (with Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF),…
- Black Sheep (2006)
- Dir. Jonathan King
Feat. Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney…
- A slick splatter–comedy in the Kiwi tradition of BAD TASTE, about a herd of rabid, flesh–eating sheep run amok in rural New…
- Subject Two (2006)
- Dir. Phillip Chidel
Feat. Christian Oliver, Dean Stapleton
- Indie 'mad science' thriller in which a doctor invents a resurrection formula and tests it by killing and reviving a 'volunteer' med student many…
- Godsend (2004)
- Dir. Nick Hamm
Feat. Robert De Niro, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
- An age–old horror conceit grafted onto the topical 'genetic cloning' debate, with Kinnear and Romijn–Stamos playing a couple who agree to…
- Anatomie (2000)
- Dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky
Feat. Franke Potente
- Franke Potente (RUN LOLA RUN) stars as a bright medical student at an elite college who discovers her fellow freshmen and women are turning up as…
- Carrie 2: The Rage (1999)
- Dir. Katt Shea
Feat. Emily Bergl
- The secondary school system gets another dousing in pigs–blood in this less–sequel–more–remake of the Brian DePalma original…
- Relic, The (1997)
- Dir. Peter Hyams
Feat. Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore
- A dormant microbe mutates and runs amok! ALIEN–in–a–museum is the concept for this well regarded B–picture that spends most…
- Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. John Hurt, Raul Julia, Bridget Fonda
- John Hurt stars as a 21st century scientist who is thrown back to 19th century England, where Frankenstein's creature and other famous Brits run…
- Brain Dead (1989)
- Dir. Adam Simon
Feat. Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton, Bud Cort
- Long unreleased in New Zealand (which possibly explains why Peter Jackson also claimed the title), this arrives a bit of a lost gem from the halcyon…
- Juvenatrix (1988)
- Dir. Brian Thomas Jones
Feat. Vivian Lanko, John Mackay, James Hogue
- Aging woman commissions 'youth serum', with horrible side–effects. True 80s schlock.
- Monkey Shines (1988)
- Dir. George Romero
Feat. Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil
- A first–rate thriller about an invalid who loses control over his pet monkey that has been subjected to cerebral experiments. Intelligent…
- Fly, The (1986)
- Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis
- Cronenberg's most accessible work is an ingenious re–working of the 1958 film that works as well for its contemporary audience as the original…
- From Beyond (1986)
- Dir. Stuart Gordon
Feat. Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree
- The director of RE–ANIMATOR interprets another great H.P. Lovecraft story as a kinky, effects–laden romp about monsters unleashed from a…
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- Dir. George Romero
Feat. Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato
- Apocalyptic paranoia looms in an underground shelter for a few survivors in a world overrun with zombies. Conclusion to the 'Dead' trilogy builds a…
- Re-Animator (1985)
- Dir. Stuart Gordon
Feat. Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton
- Essential splatter comedy takes gore levels to a (then) new extreme. Rebel science student Herbert West invents a serum that brings the dead back to…
- Stuff, The (1985)
- Dir. Larry Cohen
Feat. Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris
- Witty consumerist parable from low–budget maestro Larry Cohen about a new dessert product, which turns out to be lethal. Call it…
- Dead Zone, The (1983)
- Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Brooke Adams…
- A dynamite thriller based on one of Stephen King's best stories. Christopher Walken plays a clairvoyant, who after helping police with homicide…
- Death Warmed Up (1983)
- Dir. David Blyth
Feat. Michael Hurst
- Hell–bent on exacting revenge on a loony scientist, Michael Hurst leads his friends to a secret island where toxic abominations run riot. This…
- Hand, The (1981)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Michael Caine
- Michael Caine stars in this early Oliver Stone mess (still suffering from shell–shock?) as a cartoonist whose severed hand goes about murdering…
- Rabid (1977)
- Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Marilyn Chambers
- Early David Cronenberg nasty starring '70s porn queen, Marilyn Chambers, who she develops an insatiable thirst for human blood after a motorcycle…
- Squirm (1976)
- Dir. Jeff Lieberman
Feat. Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy
- A storm–toppled powerline drives large (and vicious) sandworms out the surrounding swamp–waters, terrifying the local populace in this…
- Crazies, The (1975)
- Dir. George Romero
Feat. Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones
- Underrated low–budgeter about germ warfare, a personal favourite of Romero's. Fast–paced editing creates some real excitement.
- Asphyx, The (Horror of Death) (1973)
- Dir. Peter Newbrook
Feat. Robert Stephens, Robert Powell
- Promising 'Victorian' horror set around experiments by a scientist (Stephens) into capturing the 'asphyx' (soul) of a dying person and gaining a…
- Sssssss (1973)
- Dir. Bernard L. Kowalski
Feat. Strother Martin, Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies
- Despite the campy name, this is a surprisingly slow–burning, creepy throwback to 50's creature–features concerning a mad scientist who…
- Doomwatch (1972)
- Dir. Peter Sasdy
Feat. Ian Bannen, George Sanders
- Based on the British TV–series, Ian Bannen investigates the effects of an oil spill on an isolated Cornish community. Ecological themes to the…
- Scream and Scream Again (1969)
- Dir. Gordon Hessler
Feat. Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee
- Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee all turn in for this Hammer mad–doctor–creates–super–being yarn.
- Sorcerers, The (1967)
- Dir. Michael Reeves
Feat. Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy…
- An aging couple conduct secret experiments in vicarious mind–control, living out perverse scenarios through young and unwitting victims.…
- Curse of the Fly (1965)
- Dir. Don Sharp
Feat. Brian Donlevy, George Baker, Burt Kwouk
- Second sequel to the original 1958 THE FLY, sans Vincent Price, but with touches of genuine gothic atmosphere and some creepy mutants. The tale of a…
- Nightmare Castle (The Faceless Monster, The Night of the Doomed) (1965)
- Dir. Mario Caiano
Feat. Barbara Steele, Paul Muller
- Atmospheric gothic horror, with below–par Italian stylings and a dual role for cult actress Barbara Steele.
Playing a pair of sisters,…
- Devil Doll (1964)
- Dir. Lindsay Shonteff
Feat. Bryant Halliday, William Sylvester
- A hypno–ventriloquist attempts to transfer a woman's soul into a dummy. Ghoulish sleeper is sure to keep fans of low–budget chillers wide…
- Twice Told Tales (1963)
- Dir. Sidney Salkow
Feat. Vincent Price, Sebastian Cabot, Beverly Garland
- Triptych of horrors drawn from the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ham actor extraordinaire Vincent Price is in ripping form here.
- Brain, The (1962)
- Dir. Freddie Francis
Feat. Anne Heywood, Peter Van Eyck, Bernard Lee…
- A well–meaning doctor keeps alive the brain of a sadistic millionaire who gradually compels him to carry out his evil requests. Well directed…
- Awful Dr. Awloff, The (1961)
- Dir. Jess Franco
Feat. Howard Vernon
- Deranged doctor Howard Vernon collects skin–grafts for his disfigured daughter, in a Spanish makeover of Franju's 'Eyes Without A Face'. A…
- Wasp Woman, The (1960)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Susan Cabot, Michael Mark
- A glamorous but ageing cosmetic executive develops an age–retarding serum, but her lust for youth and wealth is besieged by ugly…
- Manster, The (1959)
- Dir. George P. Breakson
Feat. Peter Dyneley
- An American correspondent in Japan becomes an unwitting human guinea pig while trying to get the scoop on the work of a reclusive scientist. His…
- Tingler, The (1959)
- Dir. William Castle
Feat. Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman
- B–movie classic in which mad doctor Vincent Price conjures the 'physical form of fear itself', and lets the damned thing run amok! With bizzaro…
- Fly, The (1958)
- Dir. Kurt Neumann
Feat. David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price
- Classic B–movie is a hammy horror tale of an obsessed scientist who unwittingly turns himself into a freak of nature.
- Revenge Of Frankenstein (1958)
- Dir. Terence Fisher
Feat. Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn…
- One of the best in the series of six Frankenstein films made by Hammer, with Peter Cushing reprising one of his signature roles as Baron Frank. …
- Indestructible Man (1956)
- Dir. Jack Pollexfen
Feat. Lon Jr. Chaney
- Homicidal maniac Lon Chaney Jnr is revived, post–execution, by a mad scientist, before going on a revenge–spree. Interesting entry for…
- Body Snatcher, The (1945)
- Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
- Quietly creepy Val Lewton production with Boris Karloff as a sinister grave robber who provides bodies for medical research and then blackmails the…
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- Dir. James Whale
Feat. Boris Karloff
- Boris Karloff meets his match when mad Dr. Frank builds his forlorn monster a mate. Sequel to FRANKENSTEIN is possibly the best horror of the '30s…
- Island of Lost Souls (1933)
- Dir. Erle C. Kenton
Feat. Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen…
- First screen version of H.G. Wells' fascinating novel features the delightfully loony Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau, the exiled scientist obsessed…
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
- Dir. Rouben Mamoulian
Feat. Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins
- Lurid and expressionistic 30s version of Stevenson's novel, and still the best, with Fredric March (who won an Oscar) as the idealist Doctor who…
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
- Dir. John S. Robertson
Feat. John Barrymore, Charles Lane, Brandon Hurst…
- The first of many adaptations is this unsettling silent version of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella about a charitable scientist whose…