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Happy Halloween everyone!
As I am undergoing oral surgery today (really, what won’t I do for the perfect Halloween costume?) and will have some time to kill on the couch as I recover, I thought it was the perfect moment to kick off a new Film 101 series on classic horror.
I always say I don’t really like horror, but, truth be told, I haven’t seen a lot of it, especially not the classics that everyone seems to know and love. So, although I’ve been meaning to take on the western for ages, I’ve decided to look in the mirror for inspiration and spend the post-Halloween sugar rush pondering the horror film. Though I have long loved the holiday, this is the first time I have looked at this most ancient of film genres seriously.
In fact, horror is one of the earliest film genres, with depictions of supernatural forces dating back to the early silent period. However, until the 1930s, these films relied more on mystery and the macabre rather than living, breathing monsters: a gothic atmosphere rather than ghosts and ghouls. Often, these early horror films were literary adaptations: Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, and various stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The 1930s would see the golden age of the “movie monster” with Universal Pictures leading the charge with stars Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff.
Following World War II, we enter a bit of a dry spell when it comes to horror. I guess that event was horrific enough that we didn’t need movie monsters anymore. In the 1950s, with the dawn of the atomic age, we start to see a merging of horror with science fiction: Godzilla, or Gojira, being the classic example. While ghosts and ghouls still lurk in the shadows, monsters are often represented by aliens or created by advanced technology. Eventually, from the 1960s onward, these supernatural and extraterrestrial forces give way to the more mundane (but no less terrifying) madmen, psychopaths, and serial killers of the modern world. Though lately the supernatural seems to be making quite a comeback.
Regardless of exact subject matter, what all these films do is play on the primal fears of the audience: what repulses us, what scares us, what gives us nightmares. Almost all focus on a central character or action that seems to violate the laws of nature, using low-key lighting, shadows, heavy make-up, and special effects to surprise and/or shock the viewer.
I’ll be watching these films chronologically, going from the 1920s to the early 1960s and trying to hit as many major titles as I can for that period. I’m not yet sure if I’ll be writing them up chronologically or based on theme, but look for about one post per week through November.
In the meantime, do you have a favorite classic horror film? Do you have a regular selection you like to watch for Halloween? Let me know in the comments below.
ETA: For the next post in this Classic Horror series, see Horror I: The Silent Scream.
Sly Wit 
I’m a huge Val Lewton fan and have his box set. I tend to break his output into the Dreamy Early Stuff (Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie, Leopard Man, Seventh Victim, Curse of the Cat People) and the Boris Karloff films (The Body Snatcher, Bedlam, Isle of the Dead). But every one of his RKO movies is absolutely worth watching.
Speaking of the 40s I did just pick up the classic ghost story The Uninvited and it’s gorgeous. Really beautiful and eerie.
There’s great stuff in the pre-code era for horror. Island of Lost Souls (based on Island of Dr. Moreau) is a work that kind of spikes through pop culture (“Are we not men?” House of Pain et al.)
Among the silents, I think that Lon Chaney Sr.’s films are so bent. Check out The Unknown with the young Joan Crawford.
The British horror film Curse of the Demon from the 50s was directed by Val Lewton’s best director, Jacques Tourneur. Great mood and again has echoes through pop culture.
You know the movies I favor through the early sixties (The Haunting, Eyes Without A Face, The Innocents, Blood and Roses). My favorite Hammer is also from that era: The Brides of Dracula.
There are some great almost surreal horror movies from the 70s. Check out Valerie And Her Week of Wonders. Not the usual fare and similar in some ways to the Angela Carter adaptation The Company of Wolves.
I have a lot of those on my list. I may want to borrow THE BODY SNATCHER, that’s one I couldn’t get from the library or find streaming anywhere.
I have a lot of thoughts about this (surprise!).
Forty years of horror movies is a lot to chew on in just over a month, and stopping before the 70s and the first half of the 80s leaves out some very important films and trends. If you’re going in chronological order, you’ll obviously start w/ Cabinet of DR. Caligari, Nosferatu, and Phantom of the Opera. Take a detour and see three more of Lon Cheney’s films: The Monster, The Unknown and Laugh, Clown, Laugh. They aren’t horror, but rather horrific melodramas that were influential and Cheney is really amazing. Same thing for Fritz Lang’s “M.”
Some favorites, and what I would consider “must-sees,” mostly in chronological order:
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula
Black Sabbath
Mad Love
Freaks
Cat People (both versions)
The Beast with Five Fingers
House of Wax
Eyes Without A Face
Psycho
It’s Alive
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
Carnival of Souls
Blood Feast
13 Ghosts (original)
Spider Baby
The Baby
Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Rosemary’s Baby
The Tenant
The Fly (Cronenberg version)
Dead Ringers
Near Dark
The Exorcist
Alien & Aliens
The Shining
Reanimator
Jaws (yes, this is a horror movie)
Willard (original)
What’s the Matter with Helen?
Tales From the Crypt (1972)
Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein (or Dracula)
The Legend of Hell House (70s version)
Frenzy
Black Christmas (70s)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Texas Chainsaw Massacre II
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (first reboot)
The Hills Have Eyes (original and reboot)
The Omen
The Omen III
Sisters
Last House on the Left
Maniac
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Thing (Carpenter version)
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
28 Days Later
Martyrs (one of the most disturbing horror movies I’ve ever seen)
Night of the Demons
House of 1000 Corpses
When A Stranger Calls
Halloween
Magic
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (70s)
Phantasm
Fade to Black
Terror Train
Evil Dead Part II
Ghost Story
Basketcase
Videodrome
Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street III
Carrie
Demons
The Bad Seed (original)
Fright Night
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Angel Heart
Dolls
Hellraiser
Hellraiser II
The Stepfather (original from 80s)
Child’s Play
Misery
Body Parts
The People Under the Stairs
Scream
Audition
Stir of Echoes
Ginger Snaps
Cabin Fever
Saw (I – V)
Hostel
Hostel II
Dog Soldiers
Let the Right One In (Swedish version)
High Tension
The Devil’s Rejects
Wolf Creek
American Mary
Red State
Rec
VHS
30 Days of Night
Insidious
The Purge
World War Z
Inside
hardcore:
Who Can Kill a Child
A Serbian Film
Human Centipede II
Battle Royale
See, this is why I limited the time frame! Luckily many of the older ones are short. Though unfortunately hard to get on either Netflix or Hulu streaming. I have about 25 movies from the library right now. I’m assuming I’ll do a Part II next October to get into some of the more recent stuff (which more problematic for me since I don’t like gore).
BTW, the reason I may not be so into horror is that I saw It’s Alive as a child at my local 99c theater. Don’t know how we got in. I still remember being terrified on hearing a baby crying next door when I got back from that one. May have scarred me for life.
Yes, It’s Alive was really disturbing. I think there’s a remake!