Crazy B-Movies Reign Supreme At The Hudson Horror Show

This past Saturday was a nice, pleasant day. The sun was shining, it was a comfortable 70 degrees, there wasn't a cloud in the sky... and I spent all of it indoors, with a group of other weirdos getting ready to sit down and watch six movies in a row in which I was guaranteed to see people getting dismembered, tortured, terrorized, violently attacked, and eaten by piranhas. It was awesome.

The Hudson Horror Show took place this past weekend at the Silver Cinema in the South Hills plaza in Poughkeepsie. I go to this theater from time to time, but I haven't seen it this crowded since back when it was part of the South Hills Mall. This was the fifteenth Hudson Horror Show since it started back in 2010, but it was the first one that I went to. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge movie geek, especially when it comes to horror, so an event like this happening right in my backyard is something I should have already gone to by now.

But enough about me! Let's talk about the movies, which were a great mix of obscure titles, underrated gems, and total oddballs.

Movie #1 - Frankenhooker (1990)

If you've never seen Frankenhooker, you can probably guess what it's about just based on the title. I mean, it tells you everything you need to know. It's goofy, it's often hilarious, and features more bodies exploding than I could count. It's a perfect "Drunkenly watch with your roommates at two in the morning" kind of movie.

Movie #2 - Slaughterhouse (1987)

A slasher about an old man and his son killing the people who are trying to take the family slaughterhouse away from them. Slow to start, but it builds toward the end and becomes totally bonkers.

Movie #3 - The Mystery Movie

This is the movie they didn't announce ahead of time, and they made it very clear that we can't post online about it afterwards. Sorry! I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting tickets for the next one. I will say that it was awesome, and if you see me in person, I'll tell you what movie it was.

Movie #4 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

One of the better Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, and a perfect kind of '80s cheese. There's some classic Freddy Krueger moments here and a ton of creativity with the dream sequences. The twist at the end makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but man, this movie is fun.

Movie #5 - The Hidden (1987)

Less of a horror movie and more of a sci-fi crime thriller, The Hidden was my favorite movie of the bunch. Starring a pre-Twin Peaks Kyle MacLachlan, this movie delivers an insane concept and executes it well. It's intense and yet often silly at the same time, and I highly recommend it.

Movie #6 - Piranha (1978)

I have been trying to find this movie forever - I'm a big fan of director Joe Dante, and a big fan of the remake Piranha 3D. But the original film is actually somewhat difficult to track down - it's not available to stream anywhere, and you can't even get it through a Netflix disc plan. So when I found out this was screening at the Horror Show, that's when I bought my ticket. And it did not disappoint. Plus, I was able to win a DVD copy of this film thanks to my vast knowledge of Piranha 3D (which I always knew would come in handy someday), so now I can relive the magic over and over again.

It was a great lineup of movies, and I'm hoping to go to the next Hudson Horror Show, which should be in about six months. Nothing's announced yet, but I'll be checking HudsonHorror.com waiting to hear some new info. And if they need suggestions, than boy do I have some ideas...