10. Frankenstein (1931)
My favorite Universal monster film. There, I've said it. There's not much I can say about a film so revered that hasn't already been said. But the reason I love it so much is that I can identify with the monster. Everyone probably can in their own way. Pushed to be something that he wasn't, so much expected of him, yet misguided and anxious only for people to accept him the way he was, despite knowing he was an abomination. Boris Karloff as the monster said so much just with his eyes and mannerisms, he didn't even need to speak to convey that message. The fact that Mary Shelley wrote the book when she was a mere 19 years old just blows my mind - so far ahead of her time! It's a beautiful film, too...the gorgeous sets, including Dr Frankenstein's laboratory, are a sight to behold particularly for such an early time in film. And Colin Clive as the unhinged but brilliant scientist who steals bodies from their graves with his hunchback assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) brings to mind many an evil man who desires more than he should, and really should just leave well enough alone. But the fact that he proceeds with his experiments despite the immoral and corrupt ramifications just goes to show that greed and the desire for fame and/or fortune always brings out the worst in mankind, often times with irreparable results - and it's still happening today, nearly 90 years later.
9. The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, 1974)
It's only in the last several years that I have come to really love this film. It's my favorite "zombie" film. George (Ray Lovelock) is off for the weekend on his Norton motorcycle when he stops to gas up and Edna (Cristina Galbó) rams his bike with her car, unintentionally but puts it out of commission nonetheless. To make up for it, she tells him they can ride together and he can use her car while his bike is being fixed. Traveling through the English countryside they stop to seek out directions and George sees some men using some kind of equipment that uses ultrasonic radiation to kill insects on crops. Obviously that sounds like an awful idea and of course it is, as soon the dead are rising and George and Edna are smack in the middle of it. The dialogue is campy, the blood is too red and film is somewhat dated but quite honestly it does raise the question as to what we are doing to the world with all our chemicals and treatments and what might happen if things go awry. George and Edna are likeable leads and the gore factor is ratcheted up as the film goes on and the zombies get hungrier. Just a damn fun film!!
8. Ghost Story (1981)
'Four
old men and a secret' should be the alternate name for this chiller.
From Peter Straub's amazing novel comes the story of John, Ricky, Sears
and Edward....a quartet of college pals that meet an enigmatic beauty
and spend a summer charming her. Until something awful happens. The
repercussions of the tragedy that unfolds are so malevolent, so vengeful
that words can't quite do it. The novel is very much my favorite book,
and the movie, while not completely faithful, still packs a frightening
punch with loads of disturbing imagery! And that house!!! So much love! Starring some of Hollywood's
finest older leading men - Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman
and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Alice Krige as Eva/Alma still haunts my
dreams. 7. The Changeling (1980)
Years have not aged this fantastic ghost story starring George C. Scott as John Russell, a man grappling with the tragic death of his wife and daughter in a horrific accident. A famous composer, John moves across the country in order to take a teaching job and try to resume some semblance of a life He rents an old mansion from the local historical society, makes friends with Claire (played by Scott's wife, Trish Van Devere) and gets to work on finishing a composition he's been working on. Soon though, hes awakened by loud banging noises during the night, which escalate to the point that a seance is held in which they discover a young boy was killed in the house. Everything about The Changeling is stellar - the acting, the musical score, the house itself...it's just that good! Scott's portrayal of a desperate man's agonizing mourning for his family is heart-breaking. And though this one has every haunted house gimmick known to man, they make it work - it's never cheesy and always legitimately frightening. Loud, inexplicable noises, pianos playing by themselves, disembodied voices, a creepy attic with a child-size wheelchair - all these things combine to bring fear into your very soul. This one just got a fantastic BluRay release so if you haven't seen it yet, now's the time. Truly one of the best of its kind.
6. The Thing (1982)
You know how I feel about remakes, I've made it abundantly clear several times. But when they are done right and it's time for one, I'm on board. A remake of 1951's The Thing From Another World, John Carpenter's The Thing is in my opinion perhaps the best of his work. With top-notch practical special effects by genius Rob Bottin and a stellar cast, it's a harrowing showcase of fear. Frequent Carpenter collaborator Kurt Russell as MacReady is just the icing on the cake, with his snide remarks yet excellent leadership skills when everything starts falling apart. As researchers literally at the end of the earth, the Antarctic team finds themselves fighting the unknown...an organism that literally has the capability to attack unsuspecting victims and morph into an exact replica of them, so the question remains....who is the thing? Everything about this film is terrifying - the isolation...the fear of the unknown...the thought that someone might not be who they say they are...it's an action-packed, straight-up thrill ride, one I've taken over and over again!5. Alien (1979)
I
mentioned previously that sci-fi isn't my favorite--(even though The
X-Files is my favorite TV show- I prefer the stand alone horror
episodes.) That said, I LOVE ALIEN. To me, it's just the finest sci-fi
horror film in existence. Sure, there are some who say Aliens is the
better movie, but they'd be wrong. Ridley Scott's effective and brutal
Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver as fierce heroine Ripley, is full of
suspense and laden with terror. The Xenomorph creature is an astounding
work of art conceived by H.R. Giger and the story by Dan O'Bannon is
what nightmares are made of. Immediately claustrophobic due to the whole
of the film taking place in space, mostly on the commercial towing ship
Nostromo, the sense of helplessness permeates the whole two hour
running time. There's nowhere to run when you're stuck in space. Ripley
is an excellent character, a welcome female presence in a mostly
masculine crew. She's got guts and runs on pure adrenaline by the film's
end. She's a role model and a formidable adversary for the relentless
alien. For pure shock factor, Alien is bar none, particularly in that
famous chest-burster scene.
The
last thirty minutes are a edge of your seat uncomfortable fright-fest
in which you'll believe every word of the tagline: In space, no one can
hear you scream.
4. Friday the 13th (1980)
Oh Friday the 13th, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Warning: SPOILERS!
I
love your campiness (pun intended). I love your heroine, Alice and her
mad drawing skills. I love Crazy Ralph and the fact that you all
actually ARE, in fact, doomed. I love that you play strip monopoly. I
love that Bing Crosby's son is a hottie and can play a mean guitar. I
love that sexy Brenda wears a granny gown. I love that Jack and Marcie
have sex with Dead Ned above them. I love that poor Annie doesn't like
to call children kids because it sounds like little goats. I love that
when Mrs Voorhees finally gets a chance to kill Alice she slaps her up
and pushes her face in the dirt instead. I love that Steve's Jeep won't
pull that tiny trailer and that he only leaves Sally a 75 cent tip at
the diner, even though she flirts with him like crazy. I love that
Marcie has dreams about little bloody rivers and can fix a faulty
faucet. I love that Jack puts it all out there in his Speedo at the
docks. I love that Alice and Bill don't run for their lives after they
find the bloody ax in the bed. I love that Mrs Voorhees hands still
clench their fingers after she loses her head.
What I don't love? The fact that they killed that snake. 😐
4 comments:
I loved this list--I added a bunch of films to my Netflix queue!
Thank you very much! I hope you find some new favorites!!
Happy birthday and congratulations on blogging for as long as you have. Good movie choices there.
Great list. I see quite a number that I should watch again.
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