Best Horror Films
arthur pringle
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I have a big weakness for late night horror films. If I see a horror film in the television listings I haven't heard of I'll almost always have a look. I watched a Korean horror film called R-Point the other night and found myself watching something called Alien Abduction: The Mcpherson Tape at the weekend which was a Blair Witch style thing about a family of (obvious and rubbish) actors who were supposedly kidnapped by aliens. I thought The Last Broadcast was a much better film than The Blair Witch Project but I'm going off at a tangent. A couple of hours later there was a power cut in my street and I was (just for a second!) slightly creeped out by the sudden darkness because I'd watched a spooky film earlier. What are your favourite horror films? (The more obscure the better). My list includes:
George A Romero's Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of The Dead/Day Of The Dead
An inexplicable zombie epidemic means the end of the world as we know it. Nihilistic horror laced with satire.
Tales From The Crypt
The best of the Amicus compendium films. Joan Collins is menaced by an escaped lunatic dressed as Father Christmas and Major Rogers takes over Elmridge Home For The Blind.
The Whicker Man
Edward Woodwood is a repressed Police Sargent sent to a remote Scottish Island to investigate a child's disappearance. He soon realises that everyone there is completely barmy and under the spell of spooky cult leader Christopher Lee. Britt Eklund's finest hour (with the help of a...er...stunt-double).
Asylum
More campy Amicus compendium fun with 1970's fashions. Robert Powell travels to an asylum for the insane and has to work out which of the inmates is the Doctor who used to help run the place.
George A Romero's Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of The Dead/Day Of The Dead
An inexplicable zombie epidemic means the end of the world as we know it. Nihilistic horror laced with satire.
Tales From The Crypt
The best of the Amicus compendium films. Joan Collins is menaced by an escaped lunatic dressed as Father Christmas and Major Rogers takes over Elmridge Home For The Blind.
The Whicker Man
Edward Woodwood is a repressed Police Sargent sent to a remote Scottish Island to investigate a child's disappearance. He soon realises that everyone there is completely barmy and under the spell of spooky cult leader Christopher Lee. Britt Eklund's finest hour (with the help of a...er...stunt-double).
Asylum
More campy Amicus compendium fun with 1970's fashions. Robert Powell travels to an asylum for the insane and has to work out which of the inmates is the Doctor who used to help run the place.
Comments
Roger Moore 1927-2017
There are too many to list (especially when I'm supposed to be working instead of posting) but a few that jump immediately to mind are:
The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Phibes Rises Again and Theater of Blood (all three starring Vincent Price).
Spirits of the Dead; three tales of Edgar Allan Poe directed by Roger Vadim (Metzegerstein with a young, Barbarella-like Jane Fonda), Louis Malle (a great version of William Wilson starring Alan Delon), and Federico Fellini (Toby Dammit, loosely based on the satirical Never Bet The Devil Your Head).
Most of the Hammer Dracula flicks with Christopher Lee (and Brides of Dracula as well). Dracula Has Risen From His Grave is probably my favorite.
The 1978 Great Performances version of Dracula with Louis Jourdan as the titular Count.
Just about anything by Mario Bava from the 1960's (Baron Blood comes to mind).
As far as more recent fare; there are three movies by John Carpenter I like: The Fog (the 1980 version with B-Movie goddess Adrienne Barbeau), The Thing (based on John W. Campbell's classic sci-fi short story Who Goes There) and In The Mouth of Madness, Carpenter's homage to H.P. Lovecraft.
Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining is another good one, but very different from the novel in some fundamental ways. I still get creeped out everytime I see those little twin girls, the tidal wave of blood coming out of the elevator, and the kid riding his big wheel across the hotel floor.
There are more, so many, many more. But that'll do for a start.
Another honorable mention is the 70s Italian horror who really originated the bloodfest genre with films like Seven Doors Of Death & Suspiria.
I haven't been rattled at American horror since I was a kid.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I like, moody, eerie, atmospheric stuff of a supernatural bent. I especially love ghost-haunted house stories. Setting aside the old classics of yesteryear, here are a few of my favorites from the last 30 years or so, in no particular order:
1) The Exorcist: Still holds up, I think, after all these years.
2) The Omen (the original; haven't seen remake)and its sequels: Ditto
3) The Changeling: If you don't sh** your pants at the ball scene, you're not wearing any. George C. Scott is terrific
4) The Others: Exceedingly clever, with the performance that should have won Nicole Kidman her Oscar; it suffered for having followed "The Sixth Sense," but it's a better movie, IMHO.
5) The Shining: Jack gives us twice the thrills with half the make-up.
6) Lady in White: Pretty decent ghost story
7) The Sixth Sense: As I said, not as good as "The Others," but still damn good
BTW - are we considering all scary movies horror movies or are we talking slasher flicks.
All scary/spooky films. A lot of scary stuff doesn't feature any gore whatsoever. The old b/w Twilight Zone episodes can still be creepy to this day. H.P Lovecraft never actually showed you what was behind the door but his stories were unique and atmospheric. The original compendium film Dead Of Night was made in 1945 and is still spooky. The original The Haunting is another film that builds tension more through suggestion than anything you actually see.
Psycho still holds up well. And it does feature John Gavin who was actually James Bond for a while.
Salem's Lot: Tobe Hooper directed a made for TV version back around 1980; that one still scares me to this day.
Night Gallery: The TV show was very hit or miss (and more miss than hit) but the pilot movie had three good stories including one with Roddy McDowall and Ossie Davis about a mysterious painting that comes to life.
Twilight Zone: That old show is a classic and two episodes really stand out for me. Horror at 20,000 Feet with William Shatner (they didn't call him the male Fay Wray for nothing) and The Howling Man with John Carradine, about a group of monks who actually manage to capture the devil and an unwitting soul who ends up in their midst.
The Night Stalker: The old TV show with Darren McGavin is one of my favorites. It only lasted one season (plus two TV movies) but Karl Kolchak took on everything from vampires to Mayan mummies to succubi.
There are a few more movies that come to mind as well:
The Night Flyer: A movie by New Line Cinema starring Miguel Ferrer and based on Stephen King's novella of the same name about a vampire who goes flying around small airports in a single engine plane. Very faithful to the book and really really scary.
The Ninth Gate: Book detective Johnny Depp goes in search of the devil.
Fall of the House of Usher: Roger Corman's first and arguably best adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Very creepy sets and a great ending.
Demon Seed: Supercomputer Proteus (chillingly voiced by Robert Vaughn) decides it wants to conceive a child and recruits an unwilling Julie Christie to be its host. The last line in the last scene is shocking.
I STRONGLY AGREE with this one. I was so punked out when I saw this picture that my cousin used to scrape on my bedroom window to get a rise out of me.
Another sequence that punked me as a kid. That damn painting.
Not scary but boy, has this show got some legs. Serling was a genius.
I used to beg my grandmother if I could watch this show when it aired on Fridays. There was nothing quite like it at that time. The remake series sucked big time.
I haven't seen the movie, but I do enjoy Koontz's books. Is it far off from the novel?
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Here are a few of my favorites:
The Invisible Man and it's sequel,The Invisible Man Returns.These each feature clever dialogue spoken by two wonderful actors whose voices are immediately recognizable:Claude Rains and Vincent Price.
Black Sunday/Mask of the Demon-One of Mario Bava's most famous films and one of the best vampire films ever made.
Most of the Hammer cycle,particularly The Horror of Dracula,The Curse of the Werewolf and The Curse of Frankenstein.I also like Count Kronos-Vampire Hunter.
The Devil Rides Out.
The Howling.
The Univited and it's sequel, The Unseen.Very impressive ghost stories.
The Universal Horror series,notably Frankenstein,The Bride of Frankenstein,The Wolf Man and The Mummy.And I still enjoy that studio's monster rallies such as House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula which featured all of their famous characters.Call me a heretic but I prefer John Carradine's version of Count Dracula over that of Bela Lugosi.
The Night Stalker.It's sequel The Night Strangler, is almost as good--it's certainly as effective in it's own way.
Brotherhood of the Wolf.This movie has practically everything any horror fan might ever want to see:Horrendous crimes,beautiful women in various stages of undress,bold adventurers and armed soldiers,American Indian warriors,mysterious and extremely deadly beings lurking deep in the forests and kung fu.Set in the 18th century and loosely based upon actual events in French history.Beautifully photographed with especially imaginative editing, and well acted by everyone involved.
The Exorcist-I saw this one the week it debuted in theaters.Probably very tame by todays's standards, but even after having read the novel beforehand, it still made me jump.
Rosemary's Baby-Another big horror movie made from a bestselling novel.Again,possibly a quaint period piece compared to some of today's more explicit horror films, but like The Exorcist,still pretty potent(IMO,anyway).
I'm with Harry on The Others.An excellent horror film with a superb performance by Nicole Kidman.And in a similar vein, there's The Turn of the Screw,featuring the equally versatile Deborah Kerr excellent once again.
Psycho-the original.
The Haunting--not the big remake but the black and white original directed by Robert Wise.Subtle suspense and terror as opposed to the later film's interesting but more obvious approach.
The Haunting of Hill House.In the general vein of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting but based upon Richard Matheson's terrific novel and featuring an oustanding performance by Pamela Franklin.
Dead of Night(1945)
Alien and Aliens.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers(original)and Village of the Damned.Also the British film The Unearthly Stranger.
House of Dark Shadows.The only horror film ever made that's based upon a popular soap opera(Dark Shadows).Stars most of the series' cast in a big production written and directed by DS creator Dan Curtis.Moody and frightening.No need to be familiar with the tv show beforehand.
Dr.X--A mad doctor runs amuck in beautiful three-strip technicolor.Featuring Lionel Atwill and the lovely (pre-King Kong)Fay Wray.
Mystery of the Wax Museum-again,with Lionel Atwill and the pre-Kong Fay Wray.This was later remade as House of Wax with Vincent Price in the Atwill role.Both films are worth a peek--especially the excellent original version which has sometimes gone forgotten.
There are many more--these are just some that spring to mind at the present time.
I remember when I was in college, a friend of mine used to work in a funeral home. He made the mistake of watching Salem's Lot while he was looking after the "guests". A few well timed phone calls completed the effect. :v
I never read any of Koontz's books so I can't say; Demon Seed just might be the perfect one for me to start off with.
If you do get it, don't watch it with your son though, there are some pretty explicit nude scenes and it. The movie was recently remastered and released on DVD, as were the Night Stalker movies and TV show.
This is basically the one and only original horror movie. I don't watch a ton of "horror" movies, but I do like dramas and thrillers. I'd rather see Se7en or something similar than a Halloween slasher. As recent horror movies go, I liked the twisting and turning plot of the first Saw movie.
I also rather appreciated Young Frankenstein.
Anyhoo, the best Dracula is clearly Christopher Lee
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Regardless of your abrupt dismissal of Carradine,I like him anyway.And I like Lee too--even Gary Oldman in the latter portions of the mainly abominable Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula(Dracula NEVER looked like a little old woman as he does in an early portion of this movie.It's much too pretentious--Japanese gowns in Transylvania?-- and derivative to be accurately called the work of Bram Stoker.For example,there's no love story between Dracula and Mina--the Count loves no one.This element was lifted without a by-your- leave from the Dan Curtis TV production starring Jack Palance that Richard Matheson scripted.It didn't have any place there either.It'd be influenced by the 1920s Peggy Webling stage play).
But Lugosi never impressed me.Much too stagey,much too hammy and although he was Hungarian, that doesn't make him right for the role.I know that he learned his lines phonetically and probably did the best he could in the circumstances but that's not enough.He wasn't even the first choice to play the Count for Universal--that was Ian Keith.I think Lugosi was considerably better as Bela the gypsy in The Wolf Man and in Ninotchka.I'm a much greater fan of the Stoker novel than I am of the unfortunate Peggy Webling stage play Lugosi starred in which has influenced generations of versions of Dracula and sadly bears scant resemblance to Stoker's masterpiece.It's not like making the theatrical interpretation of Sherlock Holmes a bald,overweight cockney police inspector with a fondness for cigars and jokes.Only the name survives.
No one's really gotten Dracula right yet although there are brief moments in El Conde Dracula where it does seem right--and yes,Lee(who actually LOOKS like Vlad Tepes in this,as did Carradine in his two earlier turns as the Count) gives a splendid performance.Sadly,he's the only cast member to really do so.The excellent Herbert Lom has a hard time making sense of his terrible dialogue.You want ham?Check out Klaus Kinski's turn as Renfield in this film--there's ham..At any rate,Lee's said this film contains his favorite rendition of the character--including his more famous but greatly simplified Dracula for Hammer,which eventually devolved into little more than him staring into a camera and moaning,but that was the writers' fault--not Lee's which he's always been quick to point out.
Is this the one with Herbert Lom as Van Helsing?
As I mentioned before, if you want to see a really faithful adaptation, check out the Great Performances/PBS version with Louis Jourdan as Dracula and Frank Finlay as Van Helsing. Some of the interior scenes look like they were shot on tape but overall the production values and acting are quite good. Many scenes were shot verbatim right from the book. And there's no romantic melodrama bullsh*t; Dracula is a vile, unclean monster. Period.
I've seen it Tony.Most of it's very good indeed(about 80% of Stoker's novel), although keeping Jourdan looking the same age throughout defeats the entire purpose of the story.The Count grows progressively younger as events move forward.And the Count always has a large moustache--he's not a clean-shaven matinee idol.Aside from Jourdan's apparent miscasting(he could've used old age makeup at first),it's a fine film.Finlay is especially good as Van Helsing.This is the kind of thing Christopher Lee would've shone in and been the Dracula he always said he wanted to make.Why Coppola didn't take more material--and his lead-- from this production is beyond me.It would have greatly improved his movie and also been truer to Stoker.
And yes--El Conde Dracula is the movie with Lom as Van Helsing and features an incredibly hammy Klaus Kinski as Renfield.In fact,in direct comparison, Kinski makes Dwight Frye look like the greatest actor to ever underplay a role.
I'm remembering more and more of El Conde Dracula now. I seem to recall Van Helsing inexplicably suffering a heart attack while at his desk and Dracula being dispatched by having his coffin burned. Christopher Lee was very good and gave it all he had (I even remember him quoting some lines directly from the book), but the rest of the cast was just too bizarre for me to be taken seriously. I'd read somewhere that Vincent Price was originally cast as Van Helsing and that was one of the reasons Lee signed on. Sadly, that bit of casting obviously fell through.
Phantasm series
Angus Scrimm travels from town to town robbing graves. He is chased by an ice-cream man and has deadly metallic spheres under his control. The what the **** is going on factor is part of the fun.
Alien and An American Werewolf In London
Both scared the life out of me when I watched them on video growing up.
Hammer House Of Horror/Suspense tv
Still fun with some good twists.
Some Voices
Veteran British character actor Daniel Craig dips his toe tentatively into the waters of a comedy/drama. Watching the sullen, I mean serious, Mr Craig try and be a bit whacky made for a harrowing experience.
I did like The Pit and the Pendulum with Vincent Price, especially the finale, but sadly I am not well versed in horror...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
For me,
Black Sunday - With Barbara Steele, directed by the maestro of Italian horror. Mario Bava. 'Nuff said.
Black Sabbath - Another Bava effort, this one's an anthology. The "Drop of Water" segment is one of the scariest shorts ever
Castle Of Blood - More Steele action, Edgar Allan Poe and a newspaper critic concoct a deadly wager.
Nightmare Castle and The Ghost - Black and white, eerie castles and demonic organ music. And the mistress of horror.
The Shining - Twin little girls encounter Danny and his big wheel. A bear gives head, and that damn room number 237. Scared the living p*ss out of me.
The Prophecy - One great scare scene with a Roswell style alien peering around the corner at Christopher Walken.
White Zombie - Bela Lugosi's eviliest role ever.
To be continued
The story before it about the mom who uses satanic means to summon her dead son back to life was great, too. When he finally comes down those stairs and you actually see his face made me jolt when I was little and causing me to sleep with the light on that night.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Any Twilight Zone Fans here. The episode where the business woman's at a late night bus depot and encounters her alter self. I swear, when I saw that for the first time it scared the lights on.
I almost forgot, Poltergeist - Another clown under the bed.
El Conde Dracula is a terrible movie brightened only by Lee's heroic attempt at creating a definitive Dracula.He looks exactly right at the start of the film-looking very much like the pictures of The Impaler.And from what I've read,Lee's apologised for this movie.It certainly wasn't what he'd initially signed on for--having been mislead into thinking this would be a major motion picture with a screenplay closely modeled on Stoker's novel.But despite it's many flaws,Lee made an effort to resemble the literary Dracula and as you noted,even put some dialogue from the novel into his onscreen speeches.The excellent Lom was wasted and so was everyone else.
I like Jourdan but contend that his Dracula film would've been greatly improved if he'd been made up to look more like the character does in the novel.An amazing youthful looking man for nearly all of his life,Jourdan could have easily pulled off the reverse aging described in the book.Maybe it was in his contract that he always remain immediately recognizable.If that was the case,then it was a bad decision.Dracula needs a moustache and to be freed of the omnipresent opera cape.The cape comes from the inept(IMO)play Peggy Webling wrote and doesn't belong as a permanent part of the monster's wardrobe.He doesn't wear a uniform,after all.
This was a problem for the Jack Palance Dracula movie as well.First the love story,and then the clean-shaven never-aging vampire with the opera cape.All holdovers from the Webling play and as about as accurate a rendition of Dracula as an overweight cigar-smoking,joke-cracking cockney police officer would have been as the official dramatic image for Sherlock Holmes.:o
And no--by mentioning an overweight Holmes I'm not directly or even indirectly referencing Sherlock's smarter brother Mycroft or Sherlock's reputed son by Irene Adler,Nero Wolfe.
I'm with you on that but I can top it:
"Going my way?" Remember the episode where the hitchhiker is following that woman(Inger Stevens) cross-country? Chilling.
Here's another that some of you may recall...the film before there was a Stephen King's SHINING: BURNT OFFERINGS. I read the Robert Marasco book years ago and although the film doesn't quite match the literary version's sense of depth, it was memorable scare nonetheless.
Anthony James is still very creepy in this as the chauffeur. My son hates it when I play this movie on account of him.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Big time Twilight Zone fan here. There were a lot of scary episodes that still hold up today: Horror at 20,000 Feet, The Howling Man, Eye of the Beholder, Room for One More, To Serve Man and Masks immediately spring to mind and are all gems.
As near as I can tell, Dan Curtis' rendition of Dracula with Palance was just a thinly veiled adaptation of Barnabas Collins' arc from Dark Shadows, right down to the music-box. Frank Langella's Dracula was similarly flawed, turning the Count into a tragic, romantic figure.
Another horror movie that I enjoy is The Mephisto Waltz with Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Curt Jurgens and Barbara Parkins. Alda is a little out of place as a struggling concert pianist but there are some great chills to be had and Bissett and Parkins both look stunning.
Here's a 90s horror film that didn't suck.
Rupert Everett in The Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore) A very well made and atmospheric production.
That little creature was only out done for me by the house of little creatiures in Don't be Afraid of The Dark. Scared the BLEEP out of me. Of course that didn't stop me from scaring my sister by hissing her name in the dark like the creatures did to poor Kim Darby. B-)
I prefer my horror psychological rather than gory and most have them have already been named-- Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, The Excorcist, Demon Seed, The Haunting, Ghost Story (1981).
Oh and abominable is the word for Coppolas Dracula-- well that and laughable. The entire film is so goofy it makes me howl. Oldman's hairdos are reason enough to howl but add in the love story with Winona that involves shared petting of a dog and it's a scream. Ah romance, nothing like watching a guy eat a baby to turn you on! It's also quite a coup to have a film where Anthony Hopkin's performance is even more cringeworthy than Keanu Reeves but this movie accomplishes it!
My favorite Dracula is George Hamilton from Love at First Bite
MBE
My feelings exactly; it was entertaining for what it was and Langella put his heart into it. It just wasn't Dracula.
And Anna Falchi made for one hot undead mama.
I loved that movie. George Hamilton, Richard Benjamin and Dick Shawn were all hilarious and Arte Johnson made for a very funny (and very creepy) Renfield. Lots of great one liners in that one
The Halloween series (up to and including H20). Classic set of horror films, though the dire fifth and sixth installments I can appreciate only because of the presence of Pleasence! Halloween III: Season of the Witch is, I feel, rather underrated. Allowing it to stand alone, not as part of the Halloween franchise, you begin to appreciate it for what it is. One of it's highlights is the classic, much-loved British actor Dan O'Herlihy - who makes a good villain. Halloween H20 displayed that the series could survive without Pleasence - and it was the most successful of all the films in the series to date - and one of the best (once again, with several references to Psycho, one of which includes the presence of Janet Leigh).
Gremlins (1984) was actually surprisingly successful. It's a pretty impressive horror, which was released when I was just one year old. When I first saw Gremlins, the film scared me a lot -- though this must have been when I was about four. There are numerous comic touches to the film; but usually the jokes are rather morbid - such as an old lady climbing into a chair lift (which has been tampered with by a gremlin) and shooting up the stairs at about a hundered miles per hour, and smashing through her window, landing in the middle of the road. But a great watch nonetheless.
Jaws (1975), my second favourite film of all time. If you don't like this film, there's something wrong with you.
The Witches (1990), based on the Roald Dahl novel, was not hugely successful despite a cast including Angelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson. It failed to find a target audience: far too dark for children, whilst adults wrote it off as a kids adventure. The film has a very creepy and uneasy atmosphere throughout, with some chilling sequences. Wonderfully put together though - and under appreciated - I recommend it.
The Critters series (1986 - 1994). Though you may as well forget all three sequels, the original Critters film can be enjoyed. It has a decent cast including Dee Wallace and M Emmet Walsh, and even a good musical score from David Newman. The whole film sets up well and is creppy right from the start, but it shortly becomes a horror/comedy. Only certain people would enjoy this one, but I know I certainly do!
Stephen King's IT (1990). A real gem of a TV movie, which scared the hell out of most of my friends when I showed it to them. I know it scared me lifeless when I was young. Everyone is a little wary of clowns, but having Tim Curry play one is just plain evil. If this, a film featuring a clown which has sharp teeth, lives in the sewer and eats children does not give you nightmares - little will!
Alien + Aliens (1979, 1986). Absolute classics, which most of you have seen.
Saw (2004)
Another film I consider to be a modern masterpiece. Well written and directed on the tightest schedule and the most restricting budget. It packs a real punch, with one of the most shocking twists I have yet seen in a film.
The Grudge (2004)
No film has scared my friends more than this one. I have noticed that you either find this film absolutely terrifying or you don't find it scary at all. My girlfriend began watching it with me, and was so scared that she actually BIT me! She then got my jacket, through it over herself and played Solitaire on her phone until the film was over. Another of my friends said he couldn't take a shower without keeping one eye open just incase. The film didn't scare me to THAT extent, but I admit that I found it extremely freaky.
I also like the Romero zombie movies, the Scream trilogy, The Hills Have Eyes, Cujo, and many more.
That's one of my brother's favorites at well, he picked up the DVD a few months ago.