Let’s face it. If you need to threaten an enemy from a middle range distance, clear a ton of jungle in a hurry or carmelize the top of a crème brûlée, there’s nothing better for the job than a flamethrower. It’s a gun that throws fire. As your head wraps around that awesome concept (just as it does on a daily basis when you daydream about owning one), consider this beautiful instrument of destruction’s place in film. Sure, Bellflower comes out this week (and should energize you to convert daydreaming into action), but there’s a storied history here to uncover, and a future that’s assured to be bright enough to demand protective gear. Here are just a handful of movies that put the flamethrower on the burnt pedestal it deserves to sit upon.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who I’ve always referred to as “that guy who made 28 Weeks Later” is set to get a new nickname. Soon, I just may be referring to him as “that guy who remade The Crow”. Relativity has been trying to get a remake of The Crow going for a few years now, probably because the sequels and the TV series were all such huge smash hits.  At one point Blade director Stephen Norrington was attached to make it happen; but now this is happening instead. The most recent version of the script was notable as having been written by Nick Cave, but there will reportedly be a new writer coming on to work with Fresnadillo on rewrites, so it’s impossible to say how much of Cave’s version of the script will make it on screen, if any.

Next up in our 31 Days of Horror feature is the notable British infected flick, 28 Days Later, and its sequel.

For the record, it is quite alright if your first thought is ‘who the hell is Paul Andrew Williams?’