Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.

This weekend, Jordan Peele brings his estimable skills at writing horror films to bear on a re-imagining of 1992 horror feature Candyman. Director Nia DaCosta takes the helm with Yahya-Abdul Mateen II (The Greatest Showman, Aquaman, The Trial of the Chicago 7) in the lead. 1990 horror was a bit of a strange conglomeration of post-80s horror continuations and forgettable original content. That said, Candyman was among the best of the original horror features that released in the 1990s. Below are my five favorite original horror films that came out in the 1990s.

Before I dig into my five favorites, let me highlight first the two films that didn’t make my final five, but which were considered for inclusion: Flatliners in 1990 and Jacob’s Ladder the same year. Then, although this is a list of original horror films, I wanted to highlight four superb films that were adaptations of novels: the 1990 TV miniseries of Stephen King’s It, the Kathy Bates Oscar winner Misery, Best Picture winner The Silence of the Lambs, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula from the visionary mind of Francis Ford Caoppola. Now, let’s get into my final five favorites.

Candyman (1992)

In the fading glow of the slasher craze of the 1980s, establishing a new horror villain was always going to be a challenge, and having a Black slasher was an even more fraught prospect. Director Bernard Rose, whose own 1980s output as both a film director and video helmer was inauspicious, still managed to latch onto a clever concept, adapting a Clive Barker short story into what has become a modern horror classic.

Starring future Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen, future film director Kasi Lemmons, and legendary character actor Tony Todd as the titular Candyman, the film built itself on the foundation of a former plantation slave and prominent white portrait artist who was brutally murdered for having a child with a white woman. That core concept along with a repudiation of the slums of Cabrini-Green in Chicago not only allowed this horror feature to thrive, but to do so with a socioeconomic and historic framework that doubled as a commentary on modern social justice.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Not quite what some people would suggest when discussing horror comedies, but Hocus Pocus features witches, sorcery, murder, curses, zombies, and more, all of which fit perfectly into the frightening genre even if the film was released by Disney and feels rather glossy. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy star as the trio of witches sentenced to execution for the 1693 murder of two children.

The Sanderson sisters are resurrected by a teenage boy (Omri Katz) who’s trying to impress the object of his affection (Vinessa Shaw) with his 8-year-old sister (Thora Birch) in tow. Filled with strong effects, terrific makeup work, and wonderful set and costume designs, the film might feel a bit juvenile in places, but it was ultimately a great deal of fun for audiences in 1993. The film has since achieved cult status and is in line for a new sequel almost thirty years after its initial release.

Scream (1996)

What could be considered the most important horror film of the 1990s, at least in terms of influence, Wes Craven once again redefined horror with his meta hit Scream. Starring a bunch of young actors playing characters who’ve grown up on the horror staples of the 1980s, some of which Craven himself was responsible for, the film brings the slasher genre bursting into the modern era. It was a tremendous work of genius and Craven earned a second feather in his illustrious cap after having also rejuvenated the genre previously with his A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Craven’s impressive film stars Neve Campbell, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kenedy, and Drew Barrymore as High School teens who are being stalked by a new killer in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California. Campbell takes the lead as she copes with the 1st anniversary of her mother’s death while once again being surrounded by violence. David Arquette plays a police deputy investigating the crime and Courtney Cox is the story-hungry reporter covering the events. Knowing the rules that existed for horror slashers in years past, the teens begin trying to save themselves when it becomes clear that they are being targeted indiscriminately and, even then, knowing the rules doesn’t always help.

Mimic (1997)

Taking his time after his Mexican Best Foreign Language Film nominee Cronos, director Guillermo del Toro made his second feature in English and turned heads with his horror feature Mimic. Long before his creature feature The Shape of Water stunned cineastes with its Best Picture Oscar win, Del Toro was playing around with horror concepts in fascinating ways. This film marks a turning point in his evolution as a director, which led to an estimable career as a genre filmmaker working at the heights of the industry.

Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam star as scientists attempting to combat a mysterious roach-borne disease that is killing the city’s children. After releasing a mutant crossbreed of a praying mantis and a termite to eradicate the cockroaches, the critters have evolved and begun hunting humans from their subway-based lair. A sometimes frightening, sometimes grotesque feature, it displayed a lot of the filmmaker’s promise. While it wasn’t a huge box office success, it has quietly amassed a respectable number of fans in the intervening years.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

As much as Craven’s Scream revitalized the horror genre in 1996, The Blair Witch Project redefined the scope and potential of the genre. Taking inspiration from its numerous predecessors, filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez took the supernatural horror genre in a new direction, establishing what is now collectively known as the found footage genre. In this film, three filmmakers get lost in the woods while researching a local legend of a witch who hunted and killed young children. The film is set in the aftermath of their fateful voyage into the forest as their bodies are never found, but their equipment is. What the audience sees is purportedly events that have already happened.

The film came out at a time when the internet was in its comparative infancy to the broad-ranging and ubiquitous nature it has since achieved. By creating a website that suggested the events of the film were actually a true story, outlining the legend in question, and profiling the filmmakers who disappeared, the viral nature of the website helped sell the film as a unique work of adaptive fiction. For those who knew about the advertising campaign, it was obvious what was going on, but like those who saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when it was released, the realism on display could cause even the most skeptical observer to think that perhaps everything they had witnessed was real.

Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to the film thanks to its creation of a much-maligned horror subgenre, but those who watched the film on its initial release remain impressed by its uniqueness and creative energy. While it might have a lot of elements that are distinctly and obviously taken from earlier films, there’s little question that the movie re-arranges those tropes into easily consumable and involving ways. It’s a film that must be experienced to be understood and if you can make it through to the end without being enveloped by its premise, then you might just have nerves of steel.