The Fog

Friday: Channel 6, 9.55pm
This early 80's horror was John Carpenter firmly in his prime. He followed up Halloween with this moody classic, then went on to direct other genre stalwarts Escape From New York and The Thing. He teams up with Jamie Lee Curtis once again, as a mysterious fog descends on a small western American town. When said fog catches up with folk, it has a few nasty surprises hidden within - in the shape of deceased pirates, hellbent on causing death and the likes. Carpenter is one of the greatest genre directors to hold a megaphone, and while he hasn't been as consistent as say Wes Craven, he's still made some of the most terrifying films of all time. The Fog is all about atmosphere and pacing excelling brilliantly in both. While hardly Carpenter's best effort, it is still leagues above the shite remake that starred Superman (from the telly). Christine is also on TV3 at 2.50am, right after A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.

Cabin Fever

Friday: E4, 10.35pm
This was the debut gorefest from writer/director Eli Roth and it's still his best film by a mile. Its tongue is firmly pressed against its cheek, as it manages to offer up a barrage of gratuitous sex and gore while still delivering on the laughs. A group of friends head to a small cabin in the woods, when a stranger appears on their doorstep with a disgusting skin virus that makes him look like he was dragged along a gravel-ridden road at high speed. Pretty soon, the gang contract the virus one-by-one and they're struggling to stay alive long enough to find help. While it's amateurish in parts, showing a director with an obvious lack of restraint, it's still great fun and never tries to be anything other than that. Pity the same can't be said for the muck Hostel films.

The Hills Have Eyes

Sunday: Channel 4, 10.00pm
This remake of the 1970's Wes Craven classic is easily one of the best we've seen so far - rivalling the excellent Dawn of the Dead for sheer balls. Young French director, Alexander Aja takes the helm, as a family embark on a road trip across the heartland of America that ends in tragedy. This is messed up stuff, but it's also extremely well handled by Aja, who shows respect to the original while rebooting it in startling fashion. The aforementioned eyes in the hills are a bunch of freakishly strong inbred hillbillies, who have lived in seclusion for years; feeding on human flesh whenever some poor folk made the mistake of wandering through their patch. A crowd pleasing final third a hugely enjoyable lead up make this one of the best horror films in years. If Aja hadn’t followed this up with the awful Mirrors, I'd be touting him as a possible saviour for the genre.