The Djinn

First appearance: Wishmaster (1997)

In ancient Persia, a whole lot of nastiness explodes. Turns out the Djinn is trying to kill a bunch of people in order to let his people back into our reality. A wizard traps him in a fire opal which is in turn entombed in a statue. Fast forward to 1997 Robert England and his assistant, Ted Raimi, are accepting delivery of this statute for Mr. England's museum or something. Turns out one of the dock workers is a drunk. Through his drunkenness the statute crushes Ted and breaks open releasing the Djinn Djewel, thus initiating a series of events leading to the release of the Djinn! Can he be stopped before he manages to do what ever it is he's gotta do to release the rest of he people into our dimension! You wish  there was a way to stop him!

A surprisingly fun movie featuring a bunch of horror movie cameos, some pretty cool deaths and a monster with a ridiculous weakness! I think the Djinn is my favourite of the wish-based monsters that showed up in the 80s-90s, this includes The Leprechaun, to a certain extent the Cenobites and the Gate II version of the little minion things. They changed the look of the Djinn in the sequel but I didn't like it as much as this armoured version of the guy. I was also surprised to learn that there were actually four Wishmaster movies. Since Andrew Divoff is not the Djinn in those I don't think there's anything to recommend anyone see either of them. Especially if the pattern of how to defeat the Wishmaster in the first two flicks is any indication of how the series continues.
Also there seems to be some debate as to if Chriss "The MindFreak"Angel had anything to do with directing the third one, or if it was just a typo since the director of the fourth one was Chris "I'm not Chriss 'The MindFreak' Angel" Angel, who was not a Los Vegas magician. Co-incidence? MINDFREAK
If you're too young to remember going to video stores you may not have seen this beauty so here's the trailer:

Max Renn

First appearance: Videodrome (1983)

Since I've been mixed up with the whole BODY/MIND/CHANGE POD (PERSONAL–ON–DEMAND) thing I've been revisiting the works of David Cronenberg. Videodrome's a really weird movie. Really weird.

Its the touching tale of a guy who works for a TV station looking for new programming to keep people watching the channel. He stumbles across a TV signal broadcasting a show called VIDEODROME. Since the show seems to just be about torture murder and sex he figures it would be perfect for the Canadian TV station he works at. Unfortunately after watching the show he finds he's beginning to experience a bunch of weird things. First he's having violent hallucinations next he starts developing a weird rash on his stomach. What could it all mean and how is it linked to the intercepted TV signal? And how was he on a talk show with a man who had been dead for a year?

Sadako

First appearance: Ringu (1998)

A weird psychic girl gets her revenge through a cursed video tape. Watching the tape means you'll die in seven days. Why does she want to kill you? It has something to do with being thrown in a well where she died. Certain aspects of the plot are similar to the amaing "The Changling" (1980).

Remade in the U.S. into a stylish yet boring movie. 

Winslow Leach

First appearance: The Phantom of the Paradise (1975)

Weird combination of Phantom of the Opera and Faust with a rock n roll beat. The most popular movie in Winnipeg when it was originally released.

There's been rumors of a stage version being produced for Broadway. I would love to see that.

Tarman

First appearance: Return of the Living Dead (1985)

A couple of boobs working at a medical supply company accidentally break open a military issue container containing one of the corpses from the military experiment that was the inspiration for George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Based on a true story.

This is probably my favorite zombie movie, although when I first saw it I hated it. I was firmly in the shambling, flesh eating zombie camp at the time. I thought it was really dumb that these zombies could talk and only wanted to eat brains. Over the years it grew on me. I think it's because of the how well the combination of horror and comedy work. I'd say this and American Werewolf in London are the best examples of horror comedies. The scares work and the laughs work and neither gets in the way of the other.
It's also interesting to note that the whole pop-culture "zombies say 'Brrraaaiiinnnsss'" thing is directly inspired by this movie. Up until RotLD zombies were mute, shambling corpses.

Tobonga

First appearance: From Hell It Came (1957)

Nuclear radiation turns a prince who was executed when he was wrongly accused of murder and buried in a hollow tree stump into a revenge seeking walking tree known as a Tobonga. The Tobonga goes on a rampage killing everyone who gets in his way including the guy who actually committed the murder. Can anyone get close enough to drive the knife protruding from the monsters chest all the way through the monster's heart thus killing it?

I don't think there's enough monsters nowadays that are the result of radiation and revenge.

Robert, the tire

First appearance: Rubber (2010)

Seriously, this is a movie about a sentient, telekinetic, tire who also happens to be a serial killer.

why? no reason.