Best Horror Fan Films

This is what horror fan films are all about. Jason, Leatherface, Michael Myers, and Pinhead all beating the Hell out of Freddy Krueger in their respective environments while he repeatedly insults them with zingers only fans will appreciate. It's exactly the kind of thing that can only be done by a filmmaker willing to do it for free.

You don't really need to see the first The Nightmare Ends on Halloween to understand what's going on, though you easily can if you wish. The plot's pretty simple. After losing to Jason in Freddy Vs. Jason, Krueger tries to talk Michael Myers into killing teens for him. He refuses, and the two fight. The other guys don't show up until the very end, so part two is definitely the one you want. It's awesome.

The "vs" concept is popular with horror fans because it's fun to see how one horror titan stands up to another in combat. Hollywood rarely makes them, however, so the task is left completely up to the fans. Luckily, some of them nail it.

Jason Vs. Leatherface works for lots of reasons. For one, it starts off with Jason killing Leatherface's prey just to be an antagonizing jerk. Leatherface's surprisingly ample weaponry is an additional highlight. It's also wonderful that Leatherface appears to grow tired through the course of the fight and that every time Jason punches his chest, it sounds like his ribs are breaking. The only part that rings false in this fan film is Jason's victory yell near the end. Other than that, it's aces.

Hellraiser: No More Souls is about as legit as a fan film can get. It was made by Gary Tunnicliffe, the man partly resonsible for the real Hellraiser series' make up effects. And more than all the horror franchises out there, you'd need a good make up guy to ape Hellraiser.

Pinhead isn't played by Doug Bradley, but he's still pretty good. The short has an intriguing concept as well. Everyone on earth is now dead, so Pinhead pines away in hell, monologuing like he were King Lear or something. Out of sheer boredom, he calls some cenobites to torture him to death. It's easily among the best horror fan films out there.

While some call Gus Van Sant's shot for shot remake of Psycho the biggest fan film ever made, Psycho 5 robs it from being the best, at least as far as Psycho fan films go. Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, and William H. Macy simply can't compete with a cast of earnest children, especially when it comes to the kid playing Norman Bates. This is not only a fun and charming fan film, but it's likely the cutest thing you'll ever see. It also manages to include the other Psycho films in the plot, making it a true sequel. This one's seriously not to be missed.

There's already a Scream 4, but this fan film was uploaded before the real film was released and provides an alternative opening for those who couldn't wait. 

The short film manages to capture the Scream aesthetic pretty well, from the meta writing down to Ghostface's hard to mimic voice. The film's director, Joshua Chislett, has also dabbled in fan films for Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play. He says he's planning to make a full length Scream 5 which might be worth looking forward to if this great short is any indication.

There are many Saw fan films, but this one manages to copy the series best from a script standpoint. It also has two surprisingly gory traps, given that this was clearly made by teenagers and couldn't have cost much. 

You can laugh at the acne-covered teens trying desperately to pass for adults, or you can marvel at the amazing amount of time and effort that must have gone into the editing of this thing. Either way, you're guaranteed a bit of fun while watching this Saw fan film.

Despite falling victim to the usual trappings of other Friday the 13th fan films (bad special effects, unconvincing blood, an amateur Jason costume) this one succeeds thanks to its characters, most of whom have funny lines delivered by capable actors. More than in some of the real Friday the 13th movies, you kind of care who lives and who dies. The film may not look great, but its humor sees it through. Even better, the opening features Baghead Jason, which is always a plus.

The whole thing's only about forty minutes long. Make sure you wait for the ultra-touching finale. Unless you're a homicidal zombie, it will bring a tear to your eye.

Freddy Vs. Ghostbusters is more comedy than horror film, but that's okay. So are most Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

The film is essentially a remake of Ghostbusters with Freddy as the main villain instead of Gozer. It has decent jokes and slightly less decent acting, but the gore is okay. The Fredy bits are especially good. When he kills a stoner, for instance, he takes a bong hit out of his head. Make sure to watch past the end credits.

It's rare to find someone willing to spend years of their life making a VHS horror fan film. It's even more rare when that film is a sequel to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, probably the most hated Halloween entry there is.

And yet someone did it. The Death of Michael Myers is a feature length sequel picking up exactly where Curse of Michael Myers left off. That takes guts, especially when your Loomis is wearing a wrinkled bald wig that doesn't even cover all his hair. Luckily the film has enough charm and gusto to not let something so trivial slow it down.

What's the funniest moment of this extremely well-made fan film? Is it when Jigsaw calls Ghostface "Mr. Scream"? Is it Ghostface's light Latino accent? Or is it when Ghostface goes full on Rambo to take out Jigsaw's men?

It may not be scary, but when it comes to horror mascots duking it out, maybe comedy is the appropriate tone to take. Regardless, this hilarious horror fan film is one of the best for body count and blood splatters alone.