Best of the Best: 9 Essential Jeff Burr Horror Movies

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is the third installment of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise. Burr wasn't the first choice for the film, but he made the film count in the series. The film stars Kate Hodge, William Butler, Ken Foree, Tom Hudson, and Viggo Mortensen in an early role. It even has an uncredited cameo by Caroline McWilliams as Vanita "Stretch" Brock, who appears as a reporter. With a good eye for casting and a strong feel for the concept, Burr made the first TCM movie that wasn't Tobe Hooper's and acquitted himself well.

From a Whisper to a Scream is a horror anthology film with five stories celebrated among devotees of terror films from the late 80s. It stars genre legends Vincent Price and Clu Gulager, was directed by Jeff Burr, and co-written by C. Courtney Joyner, Darin Scott, Burr, and Mike Malone. Elric Kane of the Colors of the Dark podcast remembers it fondly and is a big fan of the anthology, especially the Gulager segment called Stanley. The film's alternate title, The Offspring: They Were Born To Kill, allegedly inspired the punk band The Offspring's name. The film's cast included Rosalind Cash, Cameron Mitchell, Susan Tyrrell, and Martine Beswick. Exclusive: Goth Gig Goes to Hell in Vision Video's "In My Side"

Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy is the second film in the series, and rather than an uninspired retread, it's a devious and entertaining slasher. Burr brought more sly humor to the proceedings and layered plenty of gore and scares. The film was directed by Burr, written John Auerbach, and starred Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster, Caroline Williams, and Jonathan Brandis. It's a lot of fun for a Stepfather movie and my personal favorite of the sequels.

Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is the sequel to Stan Winston's film. Constantine Chachornia and Ivan Chachornia co-wrote the film. Tommy, the son of Pumpkinhead, was murdered when he was a boy by a pack of teenage "greasers." While the woman who cared for the boy plans to resurrect him as Pumpkinhead, a group of rowdy teens manage to bring him back first. One of those teens is the son of one who killed Tommy—the movie stars Andrew Robinson, Ami Dolenz, Soleil Moon Frye, and Linnea Quigley. Burr not only has a good eye for casting, but he was clearly able to attract name talents to his projects, which is another laudable skill for a director. Read more: DVD Reviews: Pumpkinhead II/Ghostwatcher II/Dark Harvest 2.

Reed Steiner and Dan Mazur wrote Night of the Scarecrow, which stars Elizabeth Barondes, Stephen Root, Bruce Glover, Gary Lockwood, John Hawkes, and Martine Beswick. It was, of course, directed by Jeff Burr. The film is about a town that makes a bargain with a warlock during a drought, and the warlock is trapped in the body of a scarecrow after the townspeople kill him. It has been described as a "wonderful, terribly underseen gem" by writer Erick Lorinc.

In the fourth entry in the Puppet Master franchise, Jeff Burr directed this direct-to-video sequel for Full Moon Pictures. You can see some of his framing in the photo used for this slide. He has a style, and it is evident when you look at enough of his work. It stars Gordon Currie, Chandra West, Jason Adams, and Teresa Hill. In the film, the puppets protect students from a group of demons. Burr said that this movie and Puppet Master 5 were the last two films of the series made with Paramount's backing and had a level of production value.

Straight into Darkness is a period war film set in World War II that veers into horror territory. Described as a horror war film, it ends as a "moving drama." Writer and podcaster Stephanie Crawford commented on social media encouraging viewers to find this film and another drama that Burr directed, Eddie Presley, because they are the films that represented him best as a filmmaker. The film has the usual exciting cast of actors who were name actors or would go on to be famous in the future, namely Ryan Francis, Scott MacDonald, Linda Thorson, James LeGros, Daniel Roebuck, and David Warner.

Devil's Den is an example of Burr's filmmaking that isn't part of a tentpole and is of more recent vintage. It has a good cast with Kelly Hu, Devon Sawa, and Ken Foree and critically has been judged as an enjoyable potboiler of a film. There's room for that in horror. It concerns a Satanic strip club where a group of friends make the mistake of entering it and then have to fight off demons and Satan himself. Burr has gone on the record about being unhappy with the results of several of his genre films due to producer or studio interference, but it seems like he always did his best whatever the situation. Read more: Review: Devil's Den.