Celebrating My 50th With 50 Favorites - Part 5 - THE TOP TEN

 Finally, my top ten have arrived.  Are any of these in your list of favorites too??

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. 😐

3. The Woman in Black (1989)

I've been championing this film for 25 years or longer.  I can't remember the first time I saw it but as soon as I did, I knew I had to own it. I had it on VHS first, and when DVD's began taking the world by storm, I purchased a bootleg copy from overseas and I'm not afraid to admit it. The novella by Susan Hill that it is adapted from is the best ghost story I may have ever read, and the only one that gave me legit chills when I read it. The story adapted for film changes a few minor details but involves Arthur Kidd (Adrian Rawlins), a lawyer who is assigned the task of closing the estate of one Mrs. Drablow, an eccentric old woman who lives on an isolated piece of land across a causeway that floods during high tide. Kidd attends the funeral of his client and notices a woman in black at the back of the church and later in the cemetery. Townsfolk seem terrified when he mentions it, and later he comes to know why after spending the night at the spooky Drablow house. By investigating the decedent's personal belongings, he learns of a horrific accident involving the mysterious woman in black and her relationship with the old woman. Vengeance is a great motivator, apparently even after death. This film is hard to come by, out of print for many years. It is available on YouTube, and though not a stellar copy it's still worth seeking out! 

2. Psycho (1960)

As previously mentioned, Psycho is very special to me, right up there with Jaws as far as movies I've seen the most. I can quote every line, I know every scene. I love Norman Bates, in all his quirky, psychotic glory.  John Gavin...be still my heart! And the sheer brilliance of killing off your marquee name in the first act of the film, well....that's brave....hats off to Hitchcock. Robert Bloch may have created the character of Norman, but Hitchcock perfected it and Anthony Perkins embodied it. Even people not familiar with the horror genre as a whole know Psycho. The shower scene....the fruit cellar...Mother and Norman's "close" relationship, there's so much to appreciate. It's one of my desert island films, because I'll never tire of it. And if you're sitting there thinking I'm nuts then we just can't be friends. 

1) Jaws (1975)

My favorite. The I-Ching of films for me. The be-all-end-all.  I don't think I've seen any movie as many times as Jaws.  I own multiple copies over many formats and yet if it is on television with commercials every five minutes I'm still unable to turn it off. As with Psycho, the book is good, the movie is superior.  All the characters, Brody (Roy Scheider ), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw) are strong and engaging in their own ways. John Williams' score is just legendary, the most recognizable two notes in music. Spielberg's direction jump-started a visionary, critically acclaimed career and with good reason! We're not just talking summer blockbuster here, we are talking about a film beloved by fans and critics alike. The simple plot of man vs. shark made millions of people afraid to go in the ocean. An impressive feat to be sure. Let's just say, if I could marry a film, this would be the one. My only one!

31 days, 31 faves: The Changeling

As is obvious from the amount of ghost stories I've had on this month's 'favorites' posts, I'm a rather big fan of a well told spooky tale. The Changeling (1981) - and no, not that Angelina Jolie movie! - is one such film. One of the best.

John Russell (George C. Scott) has recently moved from NYC to the outskirts of Seattle due to the untimely death of his wife and child in a freak accident he was unfortunate enough to witness. (And I really must mention that old George looks more like a grandfather in this movie than a father. The young girl is like, ten. The mother/wife no more than 30. George already looks 70. Weird. Just weird.)

He ends up renting a beautiful old manor house that has been owned by the local historical society yet unoccupied for the past twelve years.
That'd be your first clue.

He strikes up a friendship with Claire (Trish Van Devere), the woman from the historical society who showed him the house. They meet up again at the symphony, where one of the main benefactors, a state senator named Joseph Carmichael (Melvyn Douglas), is giving a speech about donations to keep the symphony going. Claire, and her mother who has tagged along, both don't think too much of Carmichael, all but calling him crooked.
The next day, when Claire brings some things over to the house that have been in storage, she helps him unpack, finding a ball that his daughter used to play with. One awkward moment later and Claire is dashing to leave, but ends up taking John with her out riding.
I smell a romance brewing here...

A music composer and professor, John soon sets about getting back to a symphony he'd been writing when weird things start to happen. Windows break for no reason. Doors open and close without being touched. But worst of all, John wakes several days in a row to a banging sound that would send me running for the hills. He voices his concerns to the handyman, who reassures him that old houses make strange noises.
Yeah, that makes it all okay.

When he goes to the historical society to ask if there's ever been any problems at the house, though Claire isn't able to tell him anything Mrs. Huxley, one of the heads of the board, complains to him that Claire rushed his paperwork through before consulting with everyone else, and that the house "isn't fit to live in", adding that "it doesn't want people." O....kay.

Finding that rather silly, John continues his search for answers (because he's still getting the regular banging noises and sometimes hears what sounds like voices). Snooping around a bit more, he finds a hidden attic door covered over with a bookcase. Upon breaking into the room by banging off the huge lock with a wrench (um...it's a rental, keep that in mind) he gains entry and finds a child's room, covered in cobwebs and dust. Stranger still is the music box he opens - it is playing the exact melody that John had "composed" earlier that week.
NOW it's time to get the hell out.

But NO, he brings Claire into the investigation. They research the house history but really can't find anything conclusive. Mrs. Huxley gives them the name of the family that lived in the house prior to 1920, but before they check into that, they head to the attic of the house and find an old child's wheelchair. Interest piqued, they head to the local library and discover a little girl was hit by a car and killed right outside the house. Naturally this takes him to the cemetery where she is buried, which brings back the horrible memories of his daughter's death. John feels the house is trying to reach out to him, because of the similarities between the death of the little girl Cora and his own daughter.

Even though Claire warns him to leave the house, we find John sitting in his library later, looking through an old photo album of his family. Suddenly, his daughter's ball comes bouncing down the steps and stops right outside the doorway of the library. Rattled, John takes the ball and drives out to a bridge outside of town where he promptly tosses the ball over the side.
Not five minutes after he returns, he hears some quiet laughter and the ball comes bouncing down the stairs yet again, and this time, John is downright terrified. Who wouldn't be?
Amazingly, he STILL doesn't leave. He next goes to consult a psychic researcher, who suggests they hold a seance at the house.

The night of the seance, the medium agrees something about the house is troubling. She does psychic handwriting while under her "trance" and though she isn't writing actual words or sentences, her scribbling becomes more and more frenzied as they go along. She seems to be able to speak to the ghost at the house, and the further she goes, she starts to actually write words, like yes or no. They ask if Cora is the one haunting the house but she writes no. (This woman is a human Ouija Board!) When she asks the spirit's name it writes Joseph.

This isn't the best news to get, considering they thought the ghost's name was Cora. The spirit continues to talk through the psychic, claiming it wants John to help him. When it seems like she's went a bit too far, apparently the ghost gets pissed, throwing the cone in the center of the table across the room to break a glass dish on the mantle.
And he STILL doesn't leave. Guess he's just too far gone now.

The next day he plays back the recording of the seance, only to hear a very quiet voice whispering the answers to the questions. Indeed the ghost admits his name is Joseph.
Now, more intrigued than anything else, John just can't let it go. When he hears Joseph whispering something about his father is the reason he died, and then something about a medal, John is shown a glimpse of the past in which an older man is drowning a young boy in a bathtub. The child, being held by his feet, continually bangs on the side of the cast iron tub (hence the banging sounds John had been hearing), until he finally dies. It is only then that the ghost mutters his last name. Carmichael. Just like the senator.

So at this point, John is barely able to contain his feelings of grief and is utterly overwhelmed at what he's discovered. He calls Claire, but as he's talking to her, he passes out (in fine dramatic fashion, I have to say!)
While most people should be heading off to the hospital, he seems to have recovered fairly quickly, as in the next scene we see Claire, overcome with sadness after having listened to the recordings herself. When John comes to her side to comfort her, she stares up the stairs with such a look of extreme fear you'd have thought Satan himself was standing there. Instead, it's the dirty old wheelchair they found in the attic. Quite a spooky moment.

The search and eventual discovery of the true mystery of the house and the ghost is as interesting and compelling as an Agatha Christie novel. There are some truly chilling moments in the movie, and just when you think you have things figured out, you don't.
I have no intention of giving away the ending, as I think everyone should see this film for themselves, as this one of the best ghost stories I think has ever been produced. So if that's you cup of tea, drink up - cause this is one fine film.