In Other Words...It's Horrific Quiz

Answer: Candyman

Based on the short story, "The Forbidden", by Clive Barker, "Candyman" was first shown in theaters in 1992. Starring Tony Todd as the titular Candyman himself and Virginia Madsen, the film tripled its budget in ticket sales and soon beat "Hellraiser" as Barker's most profitable film venture. In the film, Helen, a student completing her thesis on urban legends, tracks down the story of the 'Candyman', known for appearing and murdering those who say his name into a mirror five times.

When she travels to the Chicago neighbourhood of Cabrini-Green, and gets involved with the gangs and families living there, she soon finds that some urban legends are more than real.

Answer: Dead Silence

Written and directed by the creators of the original "Saw" film, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, "Dead Silence" showed up in theaters in 2007. While it wasn't a successful venture, it was a stylistic horror film with ambition. Tapping into peoples' inner fears of old women and ventriloquist dummies, the film travels to the town of Raven's Fair where the protagonist must determine the truth behind the curse of Mary Shaw, which he feels had a hand in killing his wife.

The movie starred Ryan Kwanten and Donnie Wahlberg (also in "Saw II"). James Wan later directed the Kevin Bacon film "Death Sentence".

Answer: Let the Right One In

Most North Americans couldn't care less for overseas horror films, but "Let the Right One In" was one of the most critically-renowned films released in 2008, for its approach to the vampire genre. In a time when "Twilight" has shaped the image of these blood-sucking creatures, "Let the Right One In" (based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist) revisits classic vampire tropes in Sweden, where a young boy named Oskar meets Eli, a vampire girl who lives nearby.

The two find themselves falling in love with each other, despite her condition.

The movie was originally meant to be submitted as Sweden's entry to the Academy Awards, but it was withdrawn at the last moment. The director of "Cloverfield" picked up the American rights to the film to remake under the title "Let Me In" in 2010.

Answer: Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi's 2009 return to the genre he became known for with the "Evil Dead" series was highly-anticipated, and with good reason. "Drag Me to Hell", released in May 2009, was regarded quite well critically and made a fair amount in the box office too, and as a PG-13 horror film! Despite the over-the-top grotesque imagery in the film (characteristic of his earlier works), the movie was a staple of the horror scene in its year of release. Starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long, the movie follows a woman who becomes cursed by a gypsy, after rejecting a mortgage extension on her house. Now, a spirit known as the Lamia is set to take her to Hell after three days, and she must go to great lengths to stop it from doing so.

Answer: House of Wax

The original 1953 version of "House of Wax", starring Vincent Price, was notorious for its submission to the first wave of 3D cinema. The second "House of Wax" was notorious for its graphic killing of Paris Hilton (which she, herself promoted). Both films follow a group of travelers, who come across either an out-of-the-way town containing a wax museum, or a major museum in a big city.

In the second film, when they realize that not only is the whole town made of wax, but there are actually people under the sculptures, they start to get a bad feeling about their predicament. Paris Hilton won a Razzie Award for her role in the remake.

Answer: Scream

A popular 1990's franchise satirizing the horror genre and its conventions, "Scream" first appeared in 1996. Written and directed by Wes Craven (known for "A Nightmare on Elm Street") the film starred Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox(-Arquette) and David Arquette (among others) and made oodles of money in box office receipts.

A trilogy was made with the original cast and it earned over a half-billion in receipts. All three films make fun of teen horrors and slasher flicks released around the same time and, despite the fact that many of the characters are clearly aware of their predicament and the consequences, they fall prey to the same schemes they know by heart from the movies.

Answer: A Tale of Two Sisters

Korean fare from 2003, "A Tale of Two Sisters" got the remake treatment in 2009 when it was picked up by Dreamworks to become "The Uninvited" (also the name of an unrelated Korean horror film). Both films are centered on a family of two sisters and their father.

When a stepmother enters the picture (played in the remake by Elizabeth Banks) the situation gets kind of creepy as they unveil information about her that they thought to be impossible. Although reviewed better than most Korean remakes in the States, it still received mixed to low review scores despite pulling in forty million in the box office.

Answer: My Bloody Valentine

Filmed in Canada in 1981, "My Bloody Valentine" follows a killer dressed as a miner running rampant in the town of Valentine Bluffs (irony). The original, a cult classic, was notable for cutting nearly ten minutes of gore from its original film. "My Bloody Valentine 3D", starring Jensen Ackles, was released in 2009 and it became one of the first films in the 3D revival. Distributed by Lionsgate, the film earned nearly $100,000,000 in its box office run, becoming one of the year's first profitable horror films.

The remake was made by Patrick Lussier who also directed "Dracula 2000".

Answer: Paranormal Activity

Directed by Oren Peli and released for theaters in 2009, "Paranormal Activity" became the last major horror film of the 2000s. Starting out in around twenty theaters, the film was backed by an immense support group, which claimed one million demands online.

As a result, the film saw wide release in October 2009 and earned nearly $150,000,000 in its run. Since the budget for the film was under $20,000, it became the most profitable film ever released. Filmed entirely on handheld camera and having a main cast of two people, "Paranormal Activity" follows a couple from California as they deal with a poltergeist of sorts in their house. On Halloween, the film beat "Saw VI" in the box office, becoming the first film to beat the "Saw" franchise at this time in five years.

Answer: Mirrors

Directed and written by Alexandre Aja in 2008, "Mirrors" stars Kiefer Sutherland as a security guard for an old, burned-out department store. When he discovers that there are otherwordly inhabitants in the store's covered mirrors, he realizes that they're beginning to fall off of the reflection and into his own life.

This clever horror film doubled its budget in profits and took a step back from the gore of Aja's earlier works ("The Hills Have Eyes" remake, for example). Aja also wrote the script for "P2" and directed the visceral French horror film "Haute Tension".