A Dozen Of My Favorite Love Stories In Horror

Even though I've been happily married for years (24 today, truth be told!), I realize things don't always work out the way you want them to.  And that goes double for horror movie loves.  Many weekend trips to the cabin or the lake end in tragic, ridiculously awful ways.  Nonetheless, I love a good love story.  So here are some of my favorite love stories in horror:

EDEN LAKE

Anywhere, anytime - if Michael Fassbender asked me to marry him, it wouldn't really matter that the circumstances were as dire as it gets, with a gang of rowdy, murderous delinquents hunting them down.  Mortally wounded yet still wanting to make hie intentions clear and make sure his girlfriend knows he loves her, even if it's for a short time.  A real tearjerker.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

 Nothing says I love you like a hot, soapy romp in the shower before the new romance takes a turn for the worst.  Most horror fans are quite familiar with the story of David (David Naughton) and Alex (Jenny Agutter), and their short-lived love affair that quite literally goes to the dogs.

THE VILLAGE

Perhaps my favorite love story in horror is this one.  At the very least it has the most heartfelt admission of mutual affection. While the film has kind of a cop-out ending, the blossoming love between Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) and Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) is - for lack of a better word - touching, and really well acted. Though their courtship is thwarted violently when a jealous "village idiot" stabs Lucius...love eventually wins out in the end

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)

Some people strike up a romance in the most unusual places.  But hey, why not during a zombie apocalypse? Michael (Jake Weber) and Ana (Sarah Polley) became close as their lives were continually placed in harm's way as zombies took over the planet.  Not a relationship that had a happy ending, but they shared some good times as long as they could! Cheers!

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

I don't know anyone that doesn't love the story of Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson). It's a compelling and beautiful tale of love and loyalty wrapped up in brilliant film-making.  Oskar loves Eli unconditionally, even if he eventually realizes that she is a monster in the truest sense of the word.  Eli rewards Oskar' devotion by helping him discover his hidden strengths, and together they show that love breaks all boundaries and barriers.

THIRST

Speaking of vampires, another of my favorite tales of love is the story of Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin) . Nothing is more forbidden than stealing a man's wife. Except, perhaps, being a priest who steals his friend's wife.  When Sang-hyun becomes a vampire in a bizarre twist of fate, he ends up in love with Tae-Ju, and their volatile yet irresistible relationship is as compelling as it is twisted!

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA

In the last of the vampire trifecta we've got going on, we can't forget one of the oldest tales of nosferatu. As the movie's tagline says: Love Never Dies.  Especially not if you have searched for centuries for your lost love. Being reunited feels so damn good, until blood and death enter the picture.  Sometimes, dead is better. Sometimes, it's just not. Vlad (Gary Oldman) and Mina (Winona Ryder) had everything going for them....(sigh).

CHRISTINE

Love doesn't always have to be between a man and a woman.  Or between two humans at all.  In Christine's case, no one ever loved her as completely as Arnie (Keith Gordon). Don't they make a wonderful couple?  Too bad all those shitters out there couldn't understand the total devotion these two had.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Contrary to Michael and Ana's love story above, Shaun (Simon Pegg)and Liz (Kate Ashfield) had been a couple long before zombies started moaning in the streets of London.  And though they had split up, common sense has them fighting for survival together amidst an ever-growing horde of the undead.  Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize just what and who is important in this world.

CREEPSHOW

Love is eternal. So is revenge. In the segment, 'Something to Tide You Over', we find Richard (Leslie Nielsen), a disgruntled millionaire, seeking revenge on the wife and friend that wronged him by carrying on an affair behind his back. Harry (Ted Danson) and Becky (Gaylen Ross) however, have a little revenge of their own in mind. They come back from their watery grave together to make Richard's life a soggy hell.

FROM HELL

What do you get when you are falling in love with a lady of the evening?  Besides a boat-load of good sex?
Trouble. Especially when she is the target of a crazed serial killer from 1888. Johnny Depp plays Inspector Abberline, who is in charge of the Jack the Ripper case and is quickly falling for Mary Kelly (Heather Graham).  While Mary is probably not the best choice in girlfriends, she has a heart of gold and her pride is in tact even as she turns tricks to keep herself afloat. Their heated embrace in the grimy alley of Whitechapel is a small piece of happiness in an otherwise bleak story.

THE EVIL DEAD

Ash and Linda steal a few moments of romance just prior to hell breaking loose here in The Evil Dead.  After giving her a necklace and pledging his love, she soon unfortunately becomes a Deadite and wants nothing more than to swallow his soul.  Not exactly the kind of dream date a guy hopes for after laying out some cash for a nice bauble. But his heartbreak when he is forced to kill zombie-Linda is palpable, even with the laughs the film can conjure.


                             HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!