Beauty and the Beast (1986)
Gorgeously produced fantasy series about a lionhearted man-beast named Vincent (Ron Perlman) and his relationship to beautiful New York district attorney Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton). While the show's themes attracted legions of hopeless romantics, there's plenty here for genre fans to sink their teeth into, including Perlman, who went on to star in Alien: Resurrection and the Hellboy movies; monster-maker Rick Baker's impressive make-up effects; and a jaw-dropping creepy 1980's New York, a place crawling with enough freaks, psychos and evil to fill dozens of horror movies.
Monster
In post-war Germany, Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese surgeon, disregards hospital protocol and saves the life of a young boy instead of tending to a prominent politician who suffered a stroke. The politician dies, sending Tenma's social standing into a tailspin. But then the little boy whose life Tenma saved disappears… and the physicians at the hospital begin dying in mysterious ways. Think you've got it figured out? Not so fast. This intricately plotted, exquisitely rendered Japanese series is an example of manga at its very best, and wraps its multilayered characters in a mystery that warrants repeated viewings. Based on the graphic novel by Naoki Urasawa. Directed by Masayuki Kojima.
The Hunger (1997)
First, a little history: in 1983, Tony Scott directed the vampire film The Hunger, starring David Bowie and Susan Sarandon. In 1997, Scott's production company released this horrific anthology series, hosted by Bowie and Terence Stamp, which echoes the movie's erotic tone and features stories about vampires and other creatures of the night.
Supernatural Science (1999)
Jonathan Pryce hosts this intriguing look at some of the world's greatest supernatural mysteries. Using techniques of modern science, as well as interviews with eyewitnesses and experts in their field, the series examines topics that defy logical explanation, including ESP, spontaneous human combustion, reincarnation, the existence of extraterrestrial life and the lost city of Atlantis.
MILLENNIUM The Series
We miss Y2K. The horror stories of financial markets collapsing, power grids failing and, doggone it, how would we survive if the clock on our VCR stopped working? "Millennium" plays the doomsday bug like a concert violinist, plucking our paranoia strings with tales of supernatural serial killers and apocalyptic visions, as seen through the eyes of forensic profiler Frank Black. The show was created by Chris Carter, who produced "The X-Files." With Lance Henriksen and Terry O'Quinn.
Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996)
Okay, first of all, this series has nothing to do with the movie Poltergeist or its sequels. So if you're hoping for little Carol Ann to shout "they're here," it ain't happening. The series launched as a two-hour pilot, which told the story of Rachel Corrigan (Helen Shaver), a psychiatrist who's impregnated by a malevolent spirit during a trip to Ireland. Her ordeal puts her in contact with The Legacy, a group of San Francisco-based paranormal investigators trying to save the world from supernatural evil. Rachel ends up joining the group and, well, who you gonna call?
Twilight Zone (1985)
The granddaddy of horror anthologies gets a colorful mid-1980's makeover, attracting talent like Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in front of the camera, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and J. Michael Straczynski behind. While the show had enormously big shoes to fill (namely, those of writer Rod Serling), it produced some highly-regarded stories of its own, including Nightcrawlers, Profile in Silverand Dead Run.
