Movie Recommendations for Halloween

[scottb]

Hey good people--

Every year around Halloween we get a bunch of spooky movies (we don't have kids.) I love a good horror/suspense flick, but they're getting harder to find so I wanted to solicit your recommendations.

My only real requirements are:

1. Suspense>gore--I don't mind shock, but I despise when splatter is a substitute for building tension...or good writing...or characters I give a #%$& about. So basically I love Hitchcock and probably won't be getting Saw XV anytime soon.

2. Not too dated unless it's really worth it--Psycho was worth it. But otherwise it makes it harder to lose myself in the flick when it's too old.

3. TV/Cable shows are okay too.

Here are some of my favorites that aren't as popular:

The Ring
Session 9
The Ninth Gate
Splinter
old episodes of Twilight Zone + Outer Limits (I know, I'm contradicting myself.)

Fire away, and thanks.

 

[Monkeydad]

The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

[ShaveAddict]

The new Rob Zombie Halloween movie.

 

[Brodirt]

28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, with the sequel being the superior of the two believe it or not.

Seven is also top notch.

 

[kwk285]

The best scary movie that I remember watching as a kid was Alien. There was a lot of build up then as soon as the alien appeared the scene was over. I find less gore works better in making a scary movie.

 

[FreezerBurns]

The Strangers
Deliverance
Sleepy Hollow
Rose Red

 

[mmack66]

The Haunting, 1963 version.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I usually try to pick some kind of a theme and follow that for a while. In the past I've done John Carpenter movies, indie vampire movies (Nadja, Habit, The Addiction--this was a good collection), Silent Horror, The Howling franchise (awful yet good), J-Horror, Universal Horror, Hammer, etc. This year, I think that we're going to watch all of the Phantasm episodes that I can find.

 

[professorchaos]

How about "Wolf Creek?" It was wicked in the theater.

 

[TonyH]

Rosemary's Baby, An American Werewolf in London, Phantasm (Awfully good), Let the Right One In.

 

[gaseousclay]

Rosemary's Baby, An American Werewolf in London, Phantasm (Awfully good), Let the Right One In.

+1.

John Carpenter's The Thing or Cronenberg's The Fly are classics

 

[mretzloff]

If you like Hitchcock, get The Birds. That and Psycho are about the only "old" movies I can watch.

 

[praetorian2000]

i'll second rob zombie's halloween
and add
night of the hunter
it's from 1955 with robert mitchum and shelly winters. very suspenseful

 

[scottb]

thanks all, keep 'em coming.

I agree that Strangers + the 28 Days movies were great. Wolf Creek might be too much "torture porn" for me, I don't want just cruelty.

 

[Black Adder]

I'd recommend Pumpkinhead. Pretty good story, and the monster was really cool.... one of Stan Winston's early creations. The sequel, Pumpkinhead 2, stunk. But if you want to see a grown up Punky Brewster try her hand at acting, go for it.

Don

 

[SiBurning]

Most anything I recommend you'd consider dated. My collection goes back to 1913, and is mostly 1982 and earlier. Anyway, this is something I wrote for a friend, and keep around for when people ask.

My personal recommendation for your Halloween pleasure is Dark City, assuming you like a little Sci-Fi with your noir. While Kwaidan doesn't quite match your list, it's my #1 recommendation for everyone. The Others (2001) is also a good choice.

-------------------------------------
Here's a few horror films worth watching.
To make this an interesting sample, I chose some less well known films and ignored most of the popular classics.

I checked Netflix, and the following are not available:
Wicker Man (they only have the short version, which you don't want)
The Vampire Lovers (This is available on the MGM Midnite Movies double feature with Countess Dracula)
Queen of Blood (not essential anyway)
The Haunted Palace

The following alternate titles are used on netflix
"Terror in Space" is called "Planet of the Vampires"
"The Black Cat" is in "The Bela Lugosi Collection: Murders in Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven"
"The Devil Doll" is one of the disks in "Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection"

random classics ------------------------------------------------------------
Freaks (1932) [Warner]
Real, live circus freaks.

M (1931) (Dir. Fritz Lang) (Peter Lorre) [criterion]
Peter Lorre is an accused child molester/murderer.
That it's in German, only makes it better.
It's quite disturbing for its time.
If you're a Peter Lorre fan, this is a must see. He's great in it, and speaking his native language.
Otherwise, it might seem old fashioned and stuffy.

The Old Dark House (1932) (Kino) Karloff
The quintessential old dark house movie.
Of course, like any good haunted house movie, nothing much happens until...
Enough said.

Wicker Man (1973) Lee
Pagan sacrifice of the burning man.
Watch one the longer versions--at least 97 minutes. Skip the shorter 88 minute versions.
In the shorter versions, the pacing is off, and some important story background is missing.

Dark City (1998)
Dark, moody film noir, with a horror theme.
The real beauty of this movie is that the film noir--with its dark atmoshpere, odd camera angles, and two-dimensional characters
--is actually part of the plot.
The matrix stole the core theme, and mixed in The Karate Kid to make the popular hit which pales in comparison to this gem,
but that's already giving away too much of the plot.
Do yourself a favor when you watch this. Turn the sound off until the guy wakes up in the bathtub.
People complained that they were confused in the first half hour, so the studios dubbed in a spoiler at the beginning.
And, Oh, boy! it totally ruins the movie.
Film noir means it's a mystery. You're NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW what's happening up front.

kinky -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Whip and the Body (1963) (Dir. bava) (Christopher) Lee (aka. La Frusta e il corpo; Son of Satan; Night Is the Phantom; The Body and the Whip)
Start with S&M, necrophilia, and psychosis.
Add great music, pacing, and atmoshpere.
Then top it off with Mario Bava's artful camera work, and what Christopher Lee considers his own best performance.

Cat People (1942) (Prod. Val Lewton)
Sexy and subtley kinky or at least suggestive. About all you could get away with under the Hollywood production code at the time.
She turns into a leopard. Or does she only think she does?
More of a mystery that a true horror film.

vampires ---------------------------------------------------------
Nosferatu (1922) (Dir. Murnau) [have Kino: Image is cropped better, Kino is sharper]
This is more a series of German impressionist paintings that move a bit than a movie that flows with action.
It's arguably the best atmosphere of any horror movie, partly because it's done in the period where the art movement was still fairly current.
Either way, Max Schreck does one of the creepiest vampires ever.
It's also one of the better told of the Dracula movies that follow the book.

Vampyr (1932) (Dir. Dreyer) [image, Carl Theodor Dreyer series; Masters of Cinema]
My personal favorite vampire movie.
Slow and illogical, with stupid camera tricks, and a dumb ending.
It's all about mood, and it sure is moody.

Black Sunday (1960) (aka. La Maschera del demonio; Mask of the Demon) (barbara steele) (Dir. Mario Bava)
The classic that brought horror master status to both Barbara Steele and Mario Bava.
Great camera work for a very dark movie.
I don't know if I love this movie more for the camera work, atmoshpere, story, or the eerily beautiful Barbara Steele.
Maybe it's the combination that makes it all work.

Shadow Of The Vampire (2003)
A film about Murnau's filming of Nosferatu in 1922. The twist is Murnau found a real vampire.
Willem Dafoe gives a fabulous performance of a vampire pretending to be an actor playing a vampire.
Aside from the fun of watching them film some famous scenes from the original Nosferatu, there are some delicious
off screen bits, including Schreck, the vampire, having "dinner" and getting drunk, as well as the tension
between Schreck and Murnau, who's the only one who knows that this vampire is for real.
Watch this only after you've seen the original 1922 Nosferatu.

Daughters of Darkness (1971) (aka. Les Lèvres rouges)
Kinky, lesbian art film that only loosely qualifies as a vampire story. Definitely not your typical horror.
One of my all time favorites.
It's kinky, moody, and creepy.

The Vampire Lovers (1970) (Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing) [MGM Midnite Movies with Countess Dracula]
Typical decent Hammer flick.
A vampiress and her mother scheme to convert young women.
Another lesbian vampire film, this one safe for the production code.

zombies & things ------------------------------------------------------------
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) (Werner Kraus) [kino]
Caligari has Cesare the somnambulist perform his evil deeds.
See it for the bizarre, twisted scenery.
It has a lot to offer, including action, a good story, plot twists, and a creepy atmosphere.

White Zombie (1932) Bela Lugosi [Roan, pd: Horror Classics]
Often cited as the oldest extant pure zombie movie.
It's definitely dated, decidedly low budget, and has other serious flaws, including poor camera work which suffers more for not being the best of prints.
The story also leaves something to be desired.
So why watch it?
Mostly for Bela Lugosi's diabolic dialogue--he's the best megalomaniac in classic horror.
Also for silly firsts like a crow and candle dripping scene.
Finally, it really is the oldest available movie that's worth watching which actually refers to the controlled creatures as zombies.
Most of the other zombie movies borrow from it, even in modern times.

The Plague of the Zombies (1966) Hammer [UK-Studio Canal/Optimum, UK-Studio Canal Plus/Warner Home Video]
Hammer's only zombie flick.

Queen of Blood (1966) (aka. Planet of Blood) Rathbone
The crew finds a green zombie woman in outer space and brings her home to earth.
Rathbone only has a small part.

Terror in Space (1965) (aka. Terrore nello spazio; Demon Planet; Planet of Blood; Planet of the Vampires; The Haunted Planet; The Planet of Terror) (Dir. bava)
Another vampires in space movie.
They take over the human astronauts and come home to earth.
Gorgeous camera work, typical of Mario Bava.

Ghosts ---------------------------------------------------------------
The Innocents (1961)
Classic early gothic. Two children are possessed by ghosts. Or is it all just in the governess' head?
Best movie version of The Turn of the Screw (by Henry James).

Kwaidan (1964) (aka. Kaidan)
Four shorts of traditional Japanese ghost stories. All fables, really.
These are gorgeous looking shorts, moody, symbolic, and slow, which fits these traditional stories.
Subtitled. Best to watch these when you're in the mood for a few slow, classy, and moving stories,
and have the patience to read the dialog.
Well worth the effort.

The Others (2001)
A woman lives alone in a big dark house with her two children and the servants.
Only they're not quite alone in the house.
To complicate matters, the children are highly sensitive to light, and must be kept in the dark at all times.
When the husband comes home from the war, things come to a head.
A very classy film, snobby as any shown on Masterpiece Theater, and as well made.

The Inquisition ---------------------------------------------------------
Witchfinder General (1968) (aka. The Conqueror Worm) (Vincent Price) [Tigon Collection]
Vincent Price as the power mad witch hunter.

Mark of the Devil (1970) (aka. Austria 1700; Brenn, Hexe, brenn; Burn, Witch, Burn; Hexen; Mark of the Devil; Satan) (Herbert Lom)
Grungier than Witchfinder General.

cannibals -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cannibal Ferox (1981) (Dir. Umberto Lenzi)
Researchers looking for cannibals in the jungle find some.
The cannibals play with their food before eating.
It all looks pretty real--if any movie can make you cringe, this is the one.
Unfortunately, that's all there is to recommend this movie.

Other good movies ----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Black Cat (1934) (Karloff, Lugosi) (Bela Lugosi Collection)
If it had nothing else to offer, the tension between Karloff & Lugosi beneath a civil surface makes this worth watching.

The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)
A plodding psychological thriller.
A woman's car breaks down, and she finds herself captive in a strange house.
The demented Doctor Caligari is relentless and cruel in extracting her deepest sexual secrets and fears.
He says she'll be free to leave only after satisfying Caligari's vicarious fascination.

Flavia the Heretic (1974) (aka. Flavia, la monaca musulmana)
Forced to live as a nun, Flavia flees, but is captured and tortured.
Flavia then leads a bloody rebellion.
From the jacket:
"Call Flavia the Heretic what you will... a bold statement on feminism and female independence
or just one of the goriest films ever made."
You definitely want the uncensored 101 minute version.

My favorite Roger Corman ---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Haunted Palace (1963) (Price) [MGM Midnite Movies with Tower of London]
My favorite music of any horror film.
This is a loose adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
The story holds up quite well (the tiny core of the Lovecraft story that's still there), but sometimes I just listen to this movie.

The Terror (1963) Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson [pd: Horror Classics, DVision, Digiview) Karloff, Nicholson
Not many people like this movie. It's probably for Corman fans only.
Roger Corman had the set and actors for 2 additional days after completing The Raven,
and the movie may have gone through 5 writers over those 2 days.
The inconsistency definitely shows.
The saving grace is Karloff's performace as the self-tormented baron.
For me, the mood and performances are enough to move this to the top of my personal favorites.

Tomb of Ligeia, The (1964) Price [MGM Midnite Movies]
My favorite Vincent Price movie.
It's a faithful adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story.
Elizabeth Shepherd plays both the Lady Ligeia and the Lady Rowena--the tormented Verden Fell's first and second wives.
Her strong performance elevates this film well beyond the typical Roger Corman cheese.
Vincent Price also gives a convincing performance.
The story is almost verbatim from Poe.
The acting, sets, and story all come together to make this one of Roger Corman's best.

fun movies -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Devil Doll (The Witch of Timbuctoo) (1936) Lionel Barrymore [Legends of Horror]
This is really more of an old fashioned drama about an innocent man clearing his name.
It's quite a lot of fun for a stuffy old movie, which it definitely is.
Barrymore cross dresses as an old lady and delivers tiny mechanical dolls.
Except, they're not dolls at all.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Price [MGM Midnite Movies]
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) (Price, Cushing) [MGM Midnite Movies]
Vincent Price is the anti-hero that takes revenge on the doctors that failed to save the life of his dead wife.
Watch this for the creative and hilarious ways he murders people.
In Abominable, he kills 10 people--one for each of the 10 plagues of Egypt.
In Rises, he's off to Egypt for the secret of eternal life for him and his bride.
My favorite is the plague of frogs at the masquerade ball while party music plays in the background.
Dig those crazy clockwork musicians. And his assistant Vulnavia is just out of this world.


Lovecraft picks ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dagon (2001)
Based on H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth
It's almost impossible to find a film that portays the real horror of Lovecraft.
Maybe he relies too much on indiscribable things best left to the imagination.
The language of his own stories betrays the difficulty.
Translating it to a visual medium can only reduce the impact of cyclopian geometries and unimaginable horrors
he strains so hard to describe.
This film is no exception.
The ridiculous costumes don't help. The ending is almost more comic than frightening.
Still, it's more faithful to the original story than most Lovecraft adaptations.
This is not the best Lovecraft film adaptation, by far, but of the films that don't completely lose the spirit
of the story, this one may be the most accessible to those not famiiar with Lovecraft.

Re-Animator (1985) is just too sanitized for its own good,
From Beyond (1986) is also sanitized almost into parody.

The Shunned House (2003) is much better, but is too confused and confusing in the way it weaves in and out of
several Lovecraft stories to craft the destinations in the story arc, which is based on yet another Lovecraft tale.
The chosen platform--a reporter interested in some old tale and his disinterested girlfriend tagging along--are
just too weak to carry it.

The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
A silent film made by The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, this is by far the best Lovecraft-based film available.
It's the only one that even remotely conveys the true spirit of Lovecraft.
Although made in 2005, it's a silent film, that tries hard to look like it was made in 1926
when Lovecraft wrote the story. It even comes with scratches and dust spots.
For Lovecraft fans, this is a long awaited gem.
For others, there's a couple of problems.
The main problem is there was too small a budget for the monster.
While the society did a great job of dealing with the low budget elsewhere--the
low budget shows in spades, but a lot of it is hidden in blackness, blurr, and behind scratches--
the climax with the cheesy beast has very little impact.
There's only so much you can do with a rocking platform and a few buckets of water.
Also, the acting is pretty poor throughout the film.
Lastly, it's hard to get a modern audience to sit through a silent movie.
While it's the best effort to date to bring the spirit of Lovecraft to film, he still suffers from
the difficulty that his material--even in written form--is too highly dependent on the imagination
to create those impossible to describe, unimaginable horrors.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Ru4scuba?]

The Haunting, 1963 version.

OMG who are you??? I thought I was the only one who thought this movie was terrifying when I was a kid!!!

Who can forget the bulging, creaking door?

The first time I watched this, I watched it at the advice of my dad with a buddy of mine...we were freaked out for days....and it was an old black and white during the years of Halloween Michael Myers, Friday the 13th and Freddy Kreuger.

You can still terrify someone without showing what their insides look like (ie SAW or Hostel)

That said...I will admit I am a John Carpenter fan. The Thing was fantastic and is a true classic!

 

[Legion]

How about "Wolf Creek?" It was wicked in the theater.

Wolf Creek was a horror movie??? In Australia we thought it was a comedy!


What about the Japanese version of The Grudge? That movie is creepy as @#%$!!!

 

[Leche]

Amityville Horror; New one was pretty good to. Ryan Renolds and James Brolin are eerily similar.

 

[scottb]

between wolf creek, crocs, great whites, funnel web spiders, taipan snakes, box jellyfish, stonefish and redbacks.....how is anyone in Australia still alive?