Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Traumatized by his tour of duty in Vietnam, a New York postal worker (Tim Robbins) desperately tries to keep his grip on his sanity. But that line between reality and delusion deepens with fast and furious speed. Demons chase him.

Wild visions haunt him. Images of his dead young son (Macaulay Culkin) drive him crazy. He looks to God's signs to save him in this taut story. But that heavenly ladder that supposedly leads to ecstasy brings Jacob an on-going hit of hellish torments.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." That grisly line, combined with Anthony Hopkin's cold-blooded gaze, made Dr. Hannibal Lecter one of Hollywood's most terrifying monsters.

He's a cat-and-mouse psycho knows it all: the name of perfume FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) wears, how to cook up a friend who's come to dinner. And while this loquacious serial killer appears on screen for less than 20 minutes, what's cooked up between him and Starling creeps audiences out long after this movie's over.

Braindead (1992)

Serving up some of the best brain splatter money can buy, director Peter Jackson fills this low-budget blood bath with gore galore. A lonely momma's boy named Lionel falls for the woman of his dreams. But his love life suddenly bites after a poisonous Sumatran rat monkey chomps on mommy dearest and infects her with a zombie-making disease. 

Rising from the grave as a powerful, bloodthirsty zombie, this overprotective mum makes everybody she bites into an army of the undead.  Maybe Norman Bate's mom made his life hell. But "Braindead's" big, bad mother deserves a taxidermist's touch just as much.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

In this sensuous remake, Francis Ford Coppola serves up a cinematographic feast audiences can sink their teeth into. Staring Gary Oldman in the role that made Bela Lugosi famous in 1931, this '90s vampire is as tender as he is terrifying, making love to a woman (aka Winona Ryder) as passionately as he rips opens infants and bleeds them dry.

He's romantic, haunting and exacts revenge for his beloved's death with impressive masculinity. Yes, Oldman does for the dapper count what Colin Firth did for the dour Darcy in "Bridget Jones Diary." Raise the stakes and breathe some sexy new life into them old boy's bones.

Candyman (1992)

Written by horror master Clive Barker, this '90s pick gives terrifying new meaning to writing a thesis. A student (Virginia Madsen) investigates an urban tale about the mysterious "candyman" for her paper. Exploring parts of town where the murderous, one-armed apparition has been spotted, she ignores warnings to abandon her mission.

Defiantly she calls out the "candyman's" name five times as she looks into a mirror - the secret formula for summoning this undead psycho. What follows next is a killing spree that racks up bodies faster than Imelda Marcos can shop for shoes.

A summer spent on a military bases goes horribly wrong for teenager Marti Malone (Gabrielle Anwar). Thinking that she'll hang out with hot young soldiers as her father inspects toxic products, her dating hopes are dashed when she learns aliens are cloning humans on the base and invading Earth.

In fact, as fears about AIDS and nuclear war raged on in America, this spine-chilling flick offered the perfect solution for this decade's woes: blame the aliens.

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Based on Anne Rice's bestselling novel, this '90s gem has it all: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and centuries of debauchery that allows one dastardly vampire to nail his bloodsucking ways.  Yet eternal undeadness has it down side, as one young journalist discovers. 

After interviewing a tragic a plantation owner from 18th century New Orleans (Pitt), his despicable tales leaves this dope begging to join the vampire ranks. The moral of this bit of moody eye candy? Be careful what you wish for.

Director John Carpenter serves up some delicious creeps in this '90s gem. A hack horror writer disappears upon the release of his new novel. But no one - not even his adoring fans - seems to care if he's alive or dead. Only one investigator tries to find the missing, and as he sets off on his grisly journey he discovers that everything evil from the absent author's pages suddenly comes to life.

The horrifying creatures he's concocted. The phantom town he lives in. Carpenter points a finger at our lack of humanity and our love of being titillated.  But as the film's fictional fans read on and blood-curdling words affect their reason, Carpenter showcases the real killer in the '90s:  the power of words.

Mischievous '90s teens get a moral lesson in this horror hit: big, bad secrets can haunt you in a bloodbath of ways. Four newly-minted teen grads head home after some Fourth of July partying. With college careers and great futures ahead of them, their promising plans are suddenly put in peril after they run down a fisherman and dump his dead body into the ocean. 

The four pals make a pact, like any desperate, selfish, entitled '90s teens would, to keep the secret and save their futures.  But the body count suddenly goes up after a letter arrives and let's them all know their miserable deed didn't go unnoticed.