From gigantic city-smashing monsters to tiny toys in the service of Satan, these are the
best horror crossovers for a fun-filled movie night.
Ever since Freddy Kreuger's glove burst out of the ground at the end of "Jason Goes to
Hell '' to grab the infamous hockey mask, fans eagerly awaited their onscreen duel.
But it was a whole decade before the two horror icons shared the screen together.
Part of what made the matchup so enticing was how they would be pitted against each
other, with both of the fiends inhabiting completely different planes of existence.
As Jason hacked up horny teens in the real world, while Freddy hacked up horny teens
in their dreams.
Luckily, "Freddy vs. Jason" devised a way to bring them together that perfectly blends
the worlds of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th."
Freddy uses Jason as a means to return to his old job as a supernatural killer.
The two then go on a delightfully bloody competition to see who's the best at what they do.
What's great about this movie is that it does a terrific job paying tribute to the styles
of the original franchises.
Freddy's scenes embody the surrealistic dream logic that characterizes the "Nightmare" films,
while Jason's scenes capably recreate the suspense of his best kills from the "Friday" movies.
All of this leads up to a slasher clash for the ages that's filled with all of the brutal
slicing, dicing, and hacking that fans could want.
"Welcome to my nightmare."
Like "Freddy vs. Jason," fans were teased with the possibility of their beloved extraterrestrials
sharing the screen together years before the meeting took place.
The "Alien" films, up until that point, largely followed Ellen Ripley and her various clashes
with the xenomorph species across three films.
Meanwhile, the "Predator" franchise kicked off with the titular big game hunter from
space taking out a bunch of mercenaries before being served his just desserts by everyone's
favorite Austrian, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It was in 1990's "Predator 2," which took place in Los Angeles, wherein a xenomorph
skull is seen in a Predator ship, that audiences learned that the two franchises took place
in the same universe.
Fans finally got their wish granted in 2004 with "Alien vs. Predator," which follows a
group of researchers who get caught in a battle between the warring species in an ancient
pyramid in Antarctica.
"AvP" wasn't exactly embraced by fans or critics, but that was for the more watered-down PG-13 version.
Watch the unrated version, as it fleshes out the story a little more and features considerably
more action and extraterrestrial violence.
The practical effects and makeup design of the creatures are terrific, and the action
is also well-designed.
Shaky cameras and choppy editing were pretty popular in the early-2000s, making the clearly-defined
fight scenes a breath of fresh air.
In terms of wonderfully brutal extraterrestrial encounters, no other movie comes close to
matching the amount of slime and gore that spills from these creatures in "AvP."
Sadako Yamamura is the primary antagonist of the "Ring" franchise.
She is the spirit of a young girl with psychic powers who, because of her frightening abilities,
was thrown into a well to drown by her adoptive father.
Her malignant spirit then went on to haunt a videotape that results in the deaths of
anyone who watches it after seven days unless they share it with someone else.
Kayako is the main villain of the "Ju-On" series, a shy woman who, along with her son,
was brutally murdered by her husband, as he suspected she was cheating on him.
She now haunts the house where she was killed, tormenting anyone who moves in.
The obvious resemblance between the two Japanese ghosts — with their pale faces and long
jet-black hair — makes them obvious contenders for a big-screen showdown.
In "Sadako vs. Kayako," Sadako is again bedeviling anyone who watches her videotape.
When someone is struck with her curse, they hatch a plan to rid themselves of it by entering
the house where Kayako was killed and letting the two evil spirits duke it out over their victim.
It's a nutty plot, to be sure, and it does take a while to get to the big ghostly bout.
However, it's worth the wait, as there's no shortage of ghastly groans, dark mists, and
supernatural contortion on display.
While this film replaces much of the intensity of the previous installments with humor, that
only adds to the pulpy appeal.
The video rental stores of the 1980s and 1990s were packed with horror films that featured
micro monsters like the "Gremlins," "Ghoulies," and "Child's Play" movies.
Considering Full Moon Features was never afraid to cash in on a trend, they developed their
own series to follow suit, "Puppet Master" and "Demonic Toys."
These two film franchises might seem similar to one another, but they're actually quite different.
In "Puppet Master," the primary antagonists are evil puppets that kill people, while in
"Demonic Toys," the primary antagonists are evil toys that kill people.
See?
Different!
If you've been craving a movie about two groups of pint-sized dolls duking it out during the
holidays, then "Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys" is the Christmas movie for you.
This movie falls into the "so bad it's good" category and is definitely for cult movie
fans who can appreciate the sheer amount of weirdness it contains.
Beefing up this flick's B-movie credentials is the inclusion of Corey Feldman, who hams
it up as the loveable protagonist.
Though he is a little bit of a lunatic.
"I'm not a Lunatic!
Those people, they're the lunatics!
You see this bruise?
This is reality!
Baby Oopsie kicked my butt!"
For those not familiar with "Dollman," it was another attempt by Full Moon Features
to jump on the bandwagon of movies featuring tiny creatures running amok.
However, to differentiate themselves a bit from the rest of the pack, the "creature"
is actually tough-as-nails extraterrestrial cop Brick Bardo, who gets sent to Earth and
shrunk down to a mere 13 inches.
"I'd love to see a 13-inch man."
"Ha, ha, ha, you know what I mean."
Even though he's the size of a Barbie doll and is trapped on an unfamiliar planet, that
won't stop him from taking down a gang that's been terrorizing the Bronx.
Before the "Demonic Toys" faced off against the "Puppet Master," they first had to test
their mettle against "Dollman."
Here, Bardo teams up with another minuscule person - Nurse Ginger - to stop the demon
that possessed the toys from "Demonic Toys" from rising again, as it now seeks to become human.
Despite the fact that this film recycles a lot of footage from the previous installments
to pad out its already-short runtime, "Dollman vs. Demonic Toys" is a ton of cheesy fun.
Every cast member completely throws themselves into their respective roles, with their enthusiasm
more than making up for a paper-thin plot.
Audiences were treated to the grand return of Godzilla in his 2014 reboot, which positioned
him as less of a villain, and more of a protector of humans against other monsters.
This was followed by 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," which sees the titular titan
team up with Mothra and Rodan to take on King Ghidorah, further cementing his reputation
as a benevolent force of nature.
This film also tied into 2017's "Kong: Skull Island," wherein the U.S. government organization
Monarch sends a team of military personnel and other experts to a newly discovered island.
They're there to research giant primordial creatures, only to encounter too much of what
they were looking for in the form of the massive ape himself.
Following in the footsteps of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was only a matter of time before
Godzilla and King Kong met in a blockbuster whose budget was probably equal to the GDP
of a small country.
The plot is merely an excuse to get these two titans together, and boy does it work.
One of the great things about the film is the attention that's paid to the massiveness
of each monster, treating their fight more like a duel of gods than just a big lizard
and a big ape punching each other.
The true highlight is when they team up against Mechagodzilla, as it approaches "Avengers"
levels of fan service fulfillment.
The "Lake Placid" series kicked off with a fun first installment in 1999, which followed
the culinary adventures of an enormous crocodile that's been plaguing locals at Black Lake,
mostly by eating them.
Alongside these films were the similarly-styled "Anaconda" series, which saw dumb humans getting
munched on by giant anacondas.
What's better than a movie about an unnaturally large predator chomping on people like they
were gummy bears?
A movie about TWO unnaturally large predators chomping on people like gummy bears.
2015 finally saw everyone's favorite SyFy channel beasts take each other on in a toothy
free-for-all in "Lake Placid vs. Anaconda."
While not exactly "Citizen Kane," this crossover makes for a great Friday night viewing with
a hot pizza and a cold six-pack.
It does everything a movie about a giant crocodile fighting a giant snake should do, and its
B-movie credentials are boosted even further with the appearance of the horror movie icon,
Robert Englund, most famous for playing Freddy Kreuger.
"Dinocroc" and "Supergator" were produced by Roger Corman, who built much of his career
on making movies that shamelessly "borrow" elements from big-budget Hollywood blockbusters
and from other Roger Corman movies.
Both of these movies have pretty much the same plot: A giant crocodile-slash-alligator
is created through dubious scientific means, escapes from the lab, and eats a bunch of people.
In Corman's "Dinocroc vs. Supergator," the titular croc and gator bust out of their respective
research facilities and eat even more people.
"Dinocroc vs. Supergator" may not be Oscar-worthy, but it has a delightful simplicity that's
hard to resist.
On their own, "Dinocroc" and "Supergator" are just peanut butter and jelly, but it's
Corman's genius that realized this and put them together to make an uncomplicated, yet
wholly satisfying, sandwich of a movie.
Who can't get into a movie that forces its poor actors to scream bloody murder while
pretending to be chomped by a giant, poorly-animated lizard?
So much of the fun is derived from thinking about how the cast had to play low-grade material
as straight as possible.
The highlight of the film is the fiery climax between Dinocroc and Supergator that looks
like it was rendered on an Apple II.
All that being said, "Dinocroc vs. Supergator" is some of the best Friday night trash entertainment
you could possibly ask for.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were a popular comedy duo who first honed their chops doing
burlesque shows together in the 1930s in New York City.
They gained enough notoriety to move into the realm of radio, turning them into celebrities
in the 1940s.
Soon, Hollywood came knocking, and the two comedians appeared in movies, including "One
Night in the Tropics," "Keep 'Em Flying," and "Hit The Ice."
Even though Abbott and Costello were firmly in the comedy genre, they deserve a place
on this list for their meetings with various well-known horror icons.
Because of their relationship with Universal Studios, it wasn't long before someone had
the idea to pair the comedy duo with the studio's stable of monsters, and so "Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein" was released in 1948.
The film was so successful that it led to other crossovers, wherein they meet the Invisible
Man and the Mummy.
This first installment — which also featured Dracula and the Wolf Man — is arguably the
best of these crossovers, as it struck the perfect balance of horror and comedy.
"Meet Frankenstein" takes its monsters seriously, while keeping the gags suitably riotous.
"C'mon!
Put your shoulder to the door and hold it tight!"
"We're barricaded!
He can't get in here!
Aaaah!"
The two contrasting elements accentuate one another, whereas further installments downplayed
the seriousness of the monsters, functioning more like comedy movies with a goofy monster
in them.
Here it is, folks, the original crossover movie, and like many of the other titles on
this list, it's every bit as contrived as you might think.
Still, this is fan service, not Shakespeare.
Seeing these two titans of horror share the same screen must've blown minds back in 1943,
and despite its silliness, it remains quite watchable today.
The Wolf Man is resurrected when a couple of grave robbers accidentally open up his
crypt on a full moon.
After causing some trouble, the Wolf Man reverts to his human form as Larry Talbot and is admitted
to a hospital.
Talbot eventually escapes and stumbles upon the doctor's previous creation chilling in
some ice, he decides to set the creature free, only for him to later wreak havoc in tan Eastern
European village.
The climactic showdown between the titular monsters is suitably grand, and the high production
values lend a surprising amount of atmosphere to the film.
Lon Chaney Jr. is charming as ever as Larry Talbot-slash-the Wolf Man, and Bela Lugosi
does an admirable job following in the footsteps of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster.