It’s October 1st, officially the beginning of Halloween season (in my mind at least). It’s time for me to dig into my stash of horror movies and settle in with a blanket, popcorn and hot chocolate.
My tastes run more creepy than slashy. I usually get bored by slasher movies, with a few exceptions. Among my favorites:
The Others
The Shining
Halloween (yes, it’s a slasher, but it keeps that feeling of menace without falling back on too much screaming and hacking)
An American Werewolf in London
The Ring (American version)
Shaun of the Dead
The Thing (80s remake)
I like ghosts, werewolves and zombies best. Vampires can be good, but the Cullens haven’t done much to help the cause.
Oh, and I’m always up for a good B-movie. I have The Blob and Them! on my Netflix queue. And I love MST3K.
So, what’re your favorites? What are some that I should add to my don’t miss list for this year?
Then try the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Unlike later slasher movies, whose directors seem to feel obliged to space the murders as regularly as porn directors space cumshots, in TCM the film is half-over before the first bit of bloodshed on-screen; it’s all buildup and atmosphere until then.
May I suggest you see if you can find a copy of The Other from 1972, which I remember as a sublimely creepy film, and which features the rarely-seen Uta Hagen and a very young and lovely Diana Muldaur.
If you like “more creepy than slashy,” try the B&W classics The Haunting and Curse of the Demon (a/k/a Night of the Demon), which not only avoid onscreen violence, but carefully cultivate ambiguity as to whether there is anything supernatural going on or not. Also, Rosemary’s Baby.
Nothing supernatural, but Link is another example of a creepy suspenseful film with all the implied violence off-camera. (Probably because they used real apes in the filming and you can’t train an ape to pretend to tear somebody’s arms off.)
Ape away! I’m starting with Halloween tonight, since it’s on my shelf. Then I may have to hit the video store for tomorrow, cuz you guys have given me lots of good ideas already.
For some hardcore badass vampires, watch John Carpenter’s Vampires. Opinions vary, but I like it a lot.
The two Jeepers Creepers movies are fun B-movies.
Sam Raimi’s recent horror movie Drag Me To Hell will be out on DVD in a couple of weeks and it’s great! (in an over-the-top, comical kind of way)
A somewhat forgotten and underrated movie from the early 90’s: Warlock. Julian Sands is really great and evil in the title role. It’s been forever since I’ve seen it, but I remember thinking it was very cool.
One of my favorites is rarely mentioned: Phantasm. It’s way low budget, and it shows, but some of the acting ain’t bad and it is as creepy as many movies with ten times the budget.
I’m re-posting this from a previous thread. Hope you don’t mind.
70s movies are my forte, but I adore horror in general. So let me recommend some really good (hopefully you’ll think so) atmospheric ones that you might not have seen. If these don’t whet your whistle, just holler and I’ll dig up some more recent fare.
[ul]
[li]The original Black Christmas is pretty creepy, with one of the coolest early “freeze frame” who dunnit shots there is.[/li][li]Not sure if you’d think this was too violent, but Last House on the Left is what Saw and Hostel wish they could’ve been if a real plot were used. The infamous scene (you’ll know it when you see it) is truly chilling.[/li][li]Burnt Offeringshad a twist back in the day that was pretty unexpected and a very delightful Oliver Reed.[/li][li]I liked the idea behind Communion / Alice, Sweet Alice, but the execution lacks a bit to be desired. Might be interesting enough to you to check out.[/li][li]There’s so many good things about The Mephisto Waltz, there too numerous too mention. My only drawback was the cheesy ending, but I can forgive any movie that used that Shatner mask on a dog… long before Halloween. [/li][li]The giallo Don’t Torture a Duckling. If you can handle strong horror themes involving children then this is a true gem.[/li][li]Same thing can be said for Who Can Kill a Child? / Island of the Damned. As a teenager, I was freaked out by Children of the Corn. I had no freakin’ idea man. :)[/li][li]Love, love, love Tourist Trap! Now you gotta get past Chuck Connors in the dual role, but the rest is a blueprint on the slasher genre that was then exploding.[/li][li]Not quite that scary, but a terrific take on the old Hansel and Gretal fairy tale is Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?. This movie would be perfect for a remake, if only they could find someone fitting to do it justice. I dunno, like [/li][li]For a WTF moment or more, I’ll second The Other. Uta Hagen was delicious and there are no kids weirder than those from this particular decade. < shudder >[/li][li]And I’ve got to own The Little Girl that Lived Down the Lane. Almost all (Sheen was too campy, but at least he was pretty hot) were Oscar-caliber performances and if this movie doesn’t make you sad and horrified at this same time, I have not done my job. [/li][/ul]
Halloween - The original Carpenter one. The others don’t exist.
Salem’s Lot - mother of god that movie scared the p! out of me! I still remember being 12 years old begging my mother to let me sleep with her after watching it!
I’ll second The Ring and The Grudgefor creepy Japanese remakes, but if you aren’t averse to subtitles I would recommend **A Tale of Two Sisters **which is actually Korean. Whenever we have these threads I always have to come in an recommend it. It’s creepy as hell but also thoughtful, sad and beautiful to see and hear.
Burnt Offeringsis a must see every Halloween and if your gonna watch 70s style horror you’d better include Trilogy of Terror.
Some other recommendations:
The Skeleton Key
Angel Heart
Session 9
Ghost Story
Yeah, but once the blood starts flowing, something else amps up- a lot of annoying noise. She’s screaming & the family is cackling & I just got pissed off at the whole bunce of them. The buildup till then, however, especially the shots of the desecrated graveyard is DAMN creepy.
I have some affection for the first TCM II, in which the each member of the family is actually a developed character, the hero is Dennis Hopper as a Texas Ranger out to avenge his nephew (the wheelchair-bound boy in the first movie), and tension, gore & humor are all well-combined.
Besides the classic Universal, Hammer & API (Corman/Poe/Price) films,
Tod Browning’s Freaks
the B&W Carnival of Souls
Similar to the above is the theological horror film Soul Survivors
the original The Wicker Man
If you can find it or someone shows it- the complete NBC miniseries The Dark Secret of Harvet Home (an American ‘Wicker Man’)
Also, if you can find it, a 1970s TV film- Crowhaven Farm
Of the classic Universal, Hammer & API (Corman/Poe/Price) films, these REALLY stand out-
Universal:
Bride of Frankenstein
The Mummy
The WolfMan
The first half of Lugosi’s Dracula
Frankenstein Meets the WolfMan
Hammer:
Horror of Dracula
Curse of Frankenstein
Brides of Dracula
API:
House of Usher
Masque of the Red Death
Tales of Terror
The Dunwich Horror
The Haunted Palace (Lovecraft’s Charles Dexter Ward)
From 1973, two very different but very effective TV-versions of Frankenstein-
Dan Curtis’s Frankenstein starring Bo Svenson
Frankenstein: The True Story
John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness fits the OP’s requirements perfectly, I think. Creepy as hell, not much gore, and he got a great performances out the Simon & Simon guy and Alice Cooper.
And I’ll second Angle Heart because it’s one of my favorite movies. Way creepy, but also lots of gore (though it’s all very realistic, not over-the-top gore like you see in the Saw and Hostel-type films).
I also have a soft spot for the Universal monsters - Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy. I usually watch all of them right around Halloween.
