(2015)
Dir - Can Evrenol
Bordering on absurdisim due to its sheer opaque form of storytelling and comically repugnant, filth-coated gore, Can Evrenol's full-length expansion of his 2013 short of the same name Baskin is an impressive debut, as well as being a rare genre work in Turkish cinema. Independently financed and shot exclusively at night in Istanbul in an almost guerilla manner as to avoid the conservative government, the movie gleefully goes for squeamish surrealism, painting one of the most viscerally haunting depictions of the underworld in quite some time. It is no small feat for a horror movie to emerge in the 21st century that disturbs and alarms the viewer who has long become accustomed to on-screen boundary pushing, yet Evrenol accomplishes something assured, bizarre, and nightmarish here, suffocating everything with a deeply dread-fueled tone. The story may not hold up under a microscope, but this actually suites the "Twilight Zone from hell" agenda perfectly.
Bordering on absurdisim due to its sheer opaque form of storytelling and comically repugnant, filth-coated gore, Can Evrenol's full-length expansion of his 2013 short of the same name Baskin is an impressive debut, as well as being a rare genre work in Turkish cinema. Independently financed and shot exclusively at night in Istanbul in an almost guerilla manner as to avoid the conservative government, the movie gleefully goes for squeamish surrealism, painting one of the most viscerally haunting depictions of the underworld in quite some time. It is no small feat for a horror movie to emerge in the 21st century that disturbs and alarms the viewer who has long become accustomed to on-screen boundary pushing, yet Evrenol accomplishes something assured, bizarre, and nightmarish here, suffocating everything with a deeply dread-fueled tone. The story may not hold up under a microscope, but this actually suites the "Twilight Zone from hell" agenda perfectly.
(1980)
Dir - Raphaël Delpard
An oddity amongst low-budget French horror, Night of Death is one of two films in the genre from director Raphaël Delpard and it has a macabre sensibility that is equal parts creepy and humorous. Elderly homes make naturally unsettling locations where its occupants are allowed to behave in a curious manner that can be written off by the other characters because the mind goes south with age, but the situation that Isabelle Goguey's adorable and naive nurse stumbles into is much more sinister than the inhabitant's quirks let on. Some garish gore, a few splashes of nudity, an eerie and wonderful musical motif of Psycho-esque violin screeches and wailing vocals, plus the pasty old folks slowly walking towards the camera down the hallway all create an unsettling tone that keeps its tongue in cheek while basking in its weirdness.
(1980)
Dir- Peter Medak
One of numerous haunted house movies where the spirits of the dead are trying to point their living roommates in the direction to right the wrongs that resulted in their death, The Changeling is still successfully chilling even if it may not stand out as the most unique work of its kind. George C. Scott could not give a sub-par performance if he tried and he does predictably admirable work here as a grieving widower/composer whose newly rented abode features the ghost of a girl that likes to bounce her toy ball around, amongst doing other things. Peter Medak was the third directer attached, but he juggles the occasionally stagnant plot with a consistently serious tone. Things finally rev up in the last act, but though the film may be more concerned with navigating a conventionally dramatic terrain than going for hair-raising frights, it stands as a rightfully laudable adult horror film from an era with many to choose from.
(1985)
Dir - Lewis Teague
After the success of 1982's Creepshow, Stephen King delivers his second screenplay based off of his own published works, (plus one segment exclusive to the film itself), with the nearly as strong anthology offering Cat's Eye. Also a follow-up to another King adaptation in Cujo for director Lewis Teague, a ten year-old Drew Barrymore appears throughout and becomes the lead in the final "The General" story where a malevolent troll causes havoc in her bedroom. This was the only vignette that King penned specifically for the movie, with the opening two "Quitters Inc" and "The Ledge" stemming from his Night Shift collection and in turn being the more memorable ones here, featuring the usual unsettling concepts that the author was most prominent in concocting.
(2022)
Dir - Jordan Peele
After hosting and developing the 2020 revival of The Twilight Zone, Jordon Peele apparently had a sci-fi itch to scratch for his next full-length Nope; another ambitious genre hybrid and a more focused one than his previous film Us. Simultaneously taking on the Western genre at least aesthetically, it was shot on location at the Agua Dulce desert in Los Angeles and deals with man's misguided interference with nature and how that will inevitably come around to bite one in the ass. As the Haywood family tries to capture "the perfect shot" of a UFO that is hovering over their massively-acred horse ranch, they learn to manipulate instead of control what has no business being tamed; something that simultaneously addresses the exploitative and fame-seeking nature of the movie business. The alien design is unlike any other and is more akin to a morphing parachute than a conventional flying saucer. On that note, Peele's ideas remain quirky enough to give the movie a captivating edge over others from the modern era.
After hosting and developing the 2020 revival of The Twilight Zone, Jordon Peele apparently had a sci-fi itch to scratch for his next full-length Nope; another ambitious genre hybrid and a more focused one than his previous film Us. Simultaneously taking on the Western genre at least aesthetically, it was shot on location at the Agua Dulce desert in Los Angeles and deals with man's misguided interference with nature and how that will inevitably come around to bite one in the ass. As the Haywood family tries to capture "the perfect shot" of a UFO that is hovering over their massively-acred horse ranch, they learn to manipulate instead of control what has no business being tamed; something that simultaneously addresses the exploitative and fame-seeking nature of the movie business. The alien design is unlike any other and is more akin to a morphing parachute than a conventional flying saucer. On that note, Peele's ideas remain quirky enough to give the movie a captivating edge over others from the modern era.
(1986)
Dir -Jiří Barta
The first feature-length film from Czech stop motion animator Jiří Barta, The Pied Piper is a striking and ambitious look into mankind's destructive greed. Filming itself took a full year after the project was heavily researched and designed, creating a metallic and expressionistic style for the medieval German fairy tale to come to life. The sound design is occasionally humorous but also very otherworldly to match the exaggerated look of the Hamelin village. Save the Piper himself, a spectating fisherman, innocent maiden, and a baby, all of the other characters are animated in a grotesque fashion, speaking in aggressive gibberish as they bicker and gorge themselves while creating an infestation of rats in the process.
(1969)
Dir - Teruo Ishii
A film which helped pave the way for the pinky violent sub-genre of exploitation movies in Japan, Horrors of Malformed Men stands as the strongest and probably strangest from writer/director Teruo Ishii. A fusing of two different Edogawa Rampo stories, ("Strange Tale of Paranorma Island" and "The Demon of the Lonely Isle", respectfully), it has an episodic nature where the first half is a more straight-forward identity mystery and the second takes a disturbed trek through an island that is run by an insane man who wants to create a populous of more and more deformed people. Rampo's private eye character Kogoro Akechi eventually reveals himself with an extensive expository dialog dump, but it only enhances the depraved and bizarre nature of everything else, which is both visually and psychologically deranged.
(1985)
Dir - Toyoo Ashida
A influential work in OVA, Vampire Hunter D helped set the template for teenager/young adult male generated anime, specifically of the fantasy and horror variety. An adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi's first light novel featuring the character, both director Toyoo Ashida and that books' original illustrator Yoshitaka Amano collaborated on the visual style and character design which draws heavily from Hammer movies as well as exaggerated comic book aesthetics. Since the story is also set in the distant future, it is a unique pairing of Gothic horror, dark fantasy, and post apocalyptic motifs. The title character is the ultimate undead-slaying badass; a noble half-breed with none other than Count Dracula's blood enhancing his immortality. A stable of other one-note supporting good and bad guys duking it out over honor, revenge, and sheer blood-lust certainly adds to the fun as well.
(1944)
Dir - Lewis Allen
Dorothy Macardle's 1941 novel Uneasy Freehold was brought memorably to cinematic life as The Uninvited, one of Paramount's most enduring horror films from Hollywood's golden age. Narratively fueled by a less skeptical inclination towards the supernatural than is usually upheld in such movies, the characters here are instead genuinely compelled to uncover the enigma at hand, a mystery that is satisfyingly unveiled throughout. Though the presentation is almost whimsical in nature with a continuous musical score and several bouts of lighthearted humor, director Lewis Allen still manages to pull-off a handful of spooky moments and it is a solid and well-paced production overall that would help establish supernatural mystery motifs for decades to come.
(2008)
Dir - José Mojica Marins
Before checking out in 2020, José Mojica Marins got to resurrect his most famous creation Zé do Caixão in the wickedly ridiculous Embodiment of Evil. Though the Coffin Joe character always loomed large over both Marins' career and Brazilian exploitation cinema in general, this wraps up a trilogy that was left abandoned forty-one years earlier with 1967's This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. A pudgier, older, and more awkward Marins may be physically slower on the draw, but he has lost none of his rambling, blasphemous chutzpah and the torturous gore sequences are delightfully absurd. Equally silly and morally deplorable, fans of Brazil's first and best horror proprietor could not ask for better and even though Marins is no longer with us, he made sure that Coffin Joe spread his diabolical seed all over the place with one last hurrah.
(1968)
Dir- Hiroshi Matsuno
One of only two directorial efforts from Hiroshi Matsuno, The Living Skeleton is a memorable genre offering that melds practical effects-laden tokusatsu elements with supernatural horror. Set in the modern day, it adheres to the elementary concepts of the long-established kaidan stories where vengeful spirits seek redemption against their wrong-doers. Here, the stunningly beautiful Kikko Matsuoka plays identical twins, one of whom was executed along with an entire freighter ship's crew by money-hungry pirates. The spooky elements jive effectively with cheep and unintentionally silly set pieces, (those skeletons look one step bellow dollar bin Halloween decorations), plus there are twists and turns in the plot and best of all, the ending is equal parts ridiculous and chilling.
(1954)
Dir - Gordon Douglas
A well-constructed creature feature that helped kick-off the big bug boom of the 1950s as well as nature horror in general, Warner Bros. Them! pits mutated ants against a humanity whose nuclear bomb testing is to blame. This was the go-to origin for giant anything monster movies during the Cold War/post-World War II era and Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes' screenplay makes its point without sacrificing some tense moments and a more agreeable crop of human characters to get behind. It bypasses the common structure where the film is only interesting when the destructive special effects sequences are happening. Instead, everyone here from the local law enforcement to the top military officers and scientists immediately get on the same page with the threat so that the plot can follow a race against time structure, bypassing having everyone simply throw artillery at the over-sized ants until they can come up with something more effective.
(1986)
Dir - Lam Ngai Kai
One of many delirious offerings from Hong Kong director Lam Ngai Kai, The Seventh Curse answers the question of what an Indiana Jones movie would be like if it had witchcraft, kung fu, machine gun massacres, and a xenomorph vs a ghost baby Mortal Kombat-style throwdown in it. An adaptation of Ni Kuang's Dr. Yeun Series though featuring Chow Yun-fat as the occult expert Wisely from the author's Wisely Series of novels, (several of which have also been turned into movies), it is technically more of an action/adventure film. That said, it is front-loaded with bloody and macabre visuals, monsters, and silliness to go along with the the kicking, flipping, and arsenal-unloading mayhem. Things occasionally settle down to catch one's breath, but Lam thankfully does not let the mayhem linger too long with talky bits.
(1970)
Dir - Jaromil Jireš
Brimful of evocative and strange symbolism, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a partly exploitative and surreal entry in the Czech New Wave. Made under a heavy communist regime at the time and launched into production only a year after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, its anti-religious embracing of free love manifests with an incomprehensible narrative that was adapted from avant-garde writer Vítězslav Nezva's novel of the same name. The story weaves in incest, blossoming womanhood, and vampires by purely whimsical means with the music, scenery, and photography all being lush and stylized. There is even an odd beauty to the cloaked, blue-skinned, Nosferatu-esque undead, plus every scene that features a then thirteen year-old Jaroslava Schallerová in the lead finds her smiling and happily engaging in the bizarre fairy-tale.
(1963)
Dir - Sidney Salkow
A companion piece to American International Pictures and Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe series from the same time period, Twice-Told Tales finds United Artists adapting three works from Nathanial Hawthorne with star Vincent Price narrating and appearing in each one. Though it lacks Corman and cinematographer Floyd Crosby's eerie and Gothic color scheme and set design, Price is still in peak form as a series of unsympathetic characters who deal with an elixir of life, poisonous plants, and a family curse. Director Sidney Salkow keeps the pacing agreeable even within the two-hour running time and while this may not be as essential as the multitude of other seminal horror works that Price stared in during the 1960s, it is still an excellent one that is full of macabre charm.
(1971)
Dir - Roy Ward Baker
Hammer once again delivered a solid deviation of Robert Louis Stevenson's much adapted source material with Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. A gimmick film which is made clear by the title alone, it stars the production company's up and coming leading man Ralph Bates and Bond Girl Martine Beswick as the titular characters, the latter turning in a devilish and sexualized performance. There is plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor to Brian Clemens's script which plays with gender stereotypes as Jekyll and Hyde try to dominated each other in the same body while other characters of opposing sexes become infatuated with each of them. The story also manages to squeeze in the Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases for good measure. Made in an era when Hammer was pushing more exploitative boundaries, there is some brief nudity and a fair amount of pronounced gore to further differentiate it from the studio's older, notable Gothic works.
(1990)
Dir - Frank Marshall
Utilizing a fool-proof premise to generate maximum skin-crawls for most movie patrons, Arachnophobia is a lighthearted yet effective bit of nature horror. The first film produced for Disney subsidiary Hollywood Pictures and serving as the directorial debut for Frank Marshall, it has a comedic and family oriented tone that plays plenty of moments for laughs, most successfully that of John Goodman's bug exterminator character who parades around nonchalantly like he is the Michael Jordan of insect killers. Marshall knows how to use his eight-legged creatures for an almost unending series of gleefully uncomfortable set pieces where they almost and then finally do attach themselves to their victims while hiding inside a pair of slippers, a football helmet, or a bowl of popcorn.
(2021)
Dir - Perry Blackshear
Perry Blackshear's third independent spookshow When I Consume You continues his collaboration with a small stable of his regular actors, plus Libby Ewing in the lead which marks her first time working with the writer/director. It is a proper companion piece to his debut They Look Like People, once again examining the psychological torment felt by traumatized people who are living, (or trying to live), a modest life in an unforgiving urban landscape. The supernatural forces that both Ewing and her brother Evan Dumouchel have faced since childhood are plenty terrifying, toying with them to the point where they succumb to crippling depression that makes their "broken souls" that much more tasty. Blackshear's intense, hand-held camera work is challenging in one respect, but it also heightens the type of anxiety that his characters are facing against such crippling and malevolent odds.
(1979)
Dir - Lucio Fulci
The celebrated yet undeniably silly Zombi 2, (or just plain old Zombie amongst about six dozen other titles in various markets), is one of the more memorable works from Italy's most infamous gore hound Lucio Fulci. Much of the film's reputation hinges on its ridiculous aspects like unreasonably slow-moving undead, idiotic behavior from every character on screen, no universe rules being properly followed, and of course cinema's best and only underwater zombie vs. shark fight. Fulci keeps the illogical plotting and gross-out violence coming at an acceptable rate, which culminates in a particularly hilarious and nasty eye piercing scene that is almost as great as when Daniela Doria puked up all of her intestines in City of the Living Dead.
(1987)
Dir - Bruce Pittman
Though it was unfortunately lumped in with the banal slasher franchise Prom Night as a completely unrelated sequel, Bruce Pittman's Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is actually more of a Canadian Nightmare on Elm Street/Carrie/The Exorcist hybrid that is played as much for wacky high-jinks as it is for special effects-laden scares. It was originally its own beast called The Haunting of Hamilton High and besides the obvious influences from some of the genre's most popular entries, several of the characters are given horror director names just to hammer home the point. The movie itself hardly takes itself seriously though and is a solid and campy homage made in an era that was ripe for parody.
(1983)
Dir - John Landis/Steven Spielberg/Joe Dante/Geroge Miller
From a behind the scenes perspective, Twilight Zone: The Movie is easily one of the most controversial films ever made as it resulted in the death of actor Vic Morrow and two children who were working against safety regulations. Director John Landis took all of the heat, though criminal prosecutions ultimately alluded him. In any event, the resulting adaptation of four episodes from Rod Serling's iconic TV show, (plus one linking segment, also handled by Landis), is a solid anthology horror outing. Save for Steven Spielberg's harmless yet forgettably whimsical nostalgia romp "Kick the Can", all of the other stories are different levels of unsettling, bizarre, and in the case of George Miller's outstanding "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", gleefully terrifying. The latter has a ranting and raving, tour de force performances from John Lithgow and along with the William Shatner-stared original, represents enough triggering fuel for anyone who is skiddish about flying. Especially when they have a window seat.
(1964)
Dir - Terence Fisher
Hammer's go-to director Terence Fisher took a two year break from the famed British studio after the box office disappointment of their The Phantom of the Opera remake, returning in full for 1964's The Gorgon. Based off of a story submitted by a Canadian fan J. Llewellyn Divine, Fisher is once again joined by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee with screenwriter/director John Gilling and producer Anthony Nelson Keys providing the screenplay. Having exhausted the standard literary and pre-existing movie monsters, the shift loosely turns to Greek mythology here with a title creature that is effectively spooky even if her screen time is unfortunately (if even problematically), limited. As with the best Hammer productions though, the cast is first rate, the direction is cruising, and the entire presentation builds up to a satisfactory yet predictable conclusion.
(1975)
Dir- Dan Curtis
In the 1970s, no filmmaker was busier churning out horror vehicles to a television audience than Dan Curtis. He directed five films for the small screen in 1974 alone and the following year, his first of two such movies has arguably remained one of the most popular TV anthology and/or horror films ever made. Featuring three stories based off of the works of the even more prolific writer Richard Matheson, (he himself penning the teleplay for the legendary closer "Amilia"), Trilogy of Terror has Karen Black in each of the leads. Her performance was so good that she unwillingly became a scream queen afterwards. While the first two segments are adequate if not altogether memorable, the third is the one that every viewer never forgets. When it comes to laughably creepy Zuni fetish dolls chasing hysterical women around their own apartment, this is the be all end all right here.
(1971)
Dir - Corrado Farina
Vampires have been utilized in stories throughout the ages as a metaphor for a number of themes, yet this unassuming Italian film from director Corrado Farina is one of the only ones to liken ancient blood-suckers to the exploitation of technological advancement. The title They Have Changed Their Faces stems from a line from our protagonist Giuliano Disperati who confronts his mysterious, isolated, does-not-come-out-in-the-daytime boss named Giovani Nosferatu, (get it?), that his global corporate takeover scheme is merely a cover for vampiric activities. The end game is the same; to suck the life out of everyday consumers and get them to submit to the undead CEO's wide-range of products. Farina handles the slyly comedic story with a serious hand, creating a low-key and ominous mood that makes the on-the-nose commentary go down with a spoonful of Euro-gloom.
(1972)
Dir - Robert Fuest
Following the success of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, a sequel was naturally and quickly launched into production with director/co-screenwriter Robert Fuest back at the helm. The appropriately titled Dr. Phibes Rises Again is an equally camp-fueled endeavor and a more ridiculously illogical one at that. Why would the police proclaim that Phibes "always comes back" when this is in fact the very first and ONLY time that he ever came back? How did Phibes manage to stay hidden just underneath his demolished mansion with nobody discovering him? How did he never mention his plan before to seek the River of Life after peacefully joining his wife in the afterlife at the end of the first film? This latter point is made all the more perplexing due to the fact that Phibes has an entire complex prepared for him in Egypt and another endless stream of elaborate contraptions at his disposal to do away with unwanted parties. Who cares though when everything is so ghoulishly fun and Vincent Price is having the time of his life in the title role.
(2017)
Dir - Demián Rugna
The second full-length and the first to be exclusively horror related from Argentinian born writer/director Demián Rugna, Terrified, (Aterrados), is an appropriately hair-raising look into paranormal investigation. Told between a few timelines, it sets up a narrative that never settles on the expected protagonist, instead shifting the focus from one to the next as they often seem to vanish into some sinister realm. This keeps the viewer all the more on edge while otherworldly occurrences mount up, involving parallel dimensions, bodies coming back from the dead, and horrifying entities that are never given enough crystal clear screen time to properly decipher. There is no closure to be found for anyone expecting an answerable mystery, but for those who crave a nasty bit of the unexplained, this is ideal stuff.
(1981)
Dir - Ko Young-nam
The slow-burn, South Korean Suddenly at Midnight is an effective work in the horror genre that plays the psychological card prominently. With stylistic allusions to Italian giallos and narrative ones that utilizes the "hysterical woman that no one believes" cliche as well as Dan Curtis' seminal Trilogy of Terror segment "Amelia", director Ko Young-nam utilizes a unique, glass kaleidoscope effect for what could be either supernatural or hallucinogenic moments. The line is consistently blurred throughout and the story takes its time progressively introducing more otherworldly details that eventually send the housewife protagonist, (Kim Young-ae), over the edge. Thankfully, it all ultimately culminates in an ultra-creepy conclusion that is well worth the wait.
(1991)
Dir - Martin Campbell
A unique hybrid of Lovecraftian horror, comedy, and film noir, Cast a Deadly Spell fuses what should be opposing genres into an amusing end result. An HBO film from director Martin Campbell and screenwriter Joseph Dougherty, Fred Ward plays a private investigator with almost literally H.P. Lovecraft's full name, while Julianne Moore is the backstabbing dame, Clancy Brown the crooked ex partner, and David Warner the crazed and wealthy occult expert who needs to get his apocalypse-summoning hands on the Necronomicon. The most fun aspect to Dougherty's script is the concept. In this universe, magic is as common as bourbon in 1948 Los Angeles and is something almost every person regularly uses. With a hefty amount of gore and snappy, textbook, and hard-boiled dialog, (as well as living gargoyles, car gremlins, zombie gangster muscle, and various spells and charms), it is a sufficient hoot.
(2016)
Dir - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
For his first venture outside of his native Japan, filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivers the hauntingly romantic and still Daguerrotype; a chilling affair that ponders more than it explains. Set in and around the Paris suburbs and concerning a grief-stricken fashion photographer who takes on a new apprentice that happens to fall in love with his model daughter in the process, Kurosawa's steadfast, suffocatingly calm presentation strips out all of the melodrama and lets his characters and their complicated situation play out in a naturalistic manner that mirrors the amount of patience necessary to create the vintage photo process of the title. Here, it is not so much the images that haunt the men who capture them, but the hopeful memories that those images represent. Either psychological or supernatural, the tragedy that befalls both Tahar Rahim and Olivier Gourmet's troubled protagonists, (as well as Constance Rousseau whose picturesque beauty gets caught up in the muck), is all too real to bare when the ghosts of our loved ones are doomed to eventually reinforce the cruel and tangible world.
(1958)
Dir - Robert Day
Designed specifically for Boris Karloff by screenwriter Jan Read, The Haunted Strangler has a number of familiar elements from other horror films of the era, yet it is notable for being one of the actor's last physically demanding roles. Essentially a Jack the Ripper styled thriller set in Victorian era-London, with flirty can-can dancers and a wretched insane asylum, it also has a mysterious supernatural element where a surgical knife seems to possess those who wield it. Karloff begins as an admirably obsessed novelist, yet his temperamental urges come to the forefront even before he gets transformed into a Mr. Hyde-esque brute. Contorting his face in a comically grotesque manner and intensely lunging at his victims, it is a joy to see the the seventy-one year old actor totally letting loose and giving the macabre material his all.
(2004)
Dir - Park Chan-wook/Takashi Miike/Fruit Chan
Conceptually a sequel to 2002's anthology horror film Three, Three...Extremes is a rarity in that it improves upon its predecessor with an overall stronger collection of stories and creative contributors. Each segment is once again handled by a different filmmaker from a different East Asian country, with Park Chan-wook, Fruit Chan, and the laughably prolific Takashi Miike all on board. Chan's "Dumplings" would be expanded upon as a full-length the exact same year, yet it still works well enough here even if it is technically redundant in such a shortened form. Miike's "Box" is the most atmospherically creepy while Chan-wook steals the show with the disturbing and humorous torture porn parody "Cut".
(1982)
Dir - Chung Sun
One of the Shaw Brothers typically outrageous genre pairings of logic-defying kung fu and the macabre, Human Lanterns has violent, sexy, and colorful charm in spades. Though the plotting is rudamentary and at least seventy percent of the film is nothing more than people flipping around while wielding weapons, co-writer/director Chung Sun keeps up a kinetic pace that is benefited by striking set design and cinematography. The vibrant colors and bright red blood are right out of a Mario Bava movie and the period setting is equally decorative, which makes it seem unnaturally grandiose for the historical era. Lo Leigh's weird, cackling, jumping monkey skull man is memorably freaky as well, especially when he is also peeling off women's skin in gruesome detail.
(1967)
Dir - Harald Reinl
Released under a slew of other titles as was common for such Euro B-movie exports, the West German production Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel (The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism), from director Harald Reinl takes a stab at Gothic horror, with Christopher Lee appearing as an evil Count who needs to torture virgin women in order to use their blood for an immortal elixir. The story claims to be a based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum and does indeed feature such a device in action, but it has about as much to do with the source material as Roger Corman's version from seven years prior. Pure silliness from a narrative standpoint, the movie is front-loaded with fantastic and spooky imagery, including a haunted forest with dead bodies sticking out of trees and an underground lair with all sorts of unwholesome medieval contraptions.
(1979)
Dir - Paul Naschy
Another testament to the fact that Paul Naschy's best films usually did not involve werewolves, The Traveler stands as the Spanish Wolfman's most personal and pessimistic, yet also one that benefits from a gleefully humorous tone. It tells the tale of the Devil deciding to roam the countryside during the 16th century for shits and giggles, unabashedly corrupting all who he comes across, whether morally deserving or not. In the end, he discovers that mankind can be counted on to be crueler than even he is, but despite such a grim outlook for humanity which Naschy himself adhered to, the movie is full of memorable cruelty and hedonism that made deliberately controversial use out of Francisco Franco's conservative reign over Spain coming to an end just four years previously.
(1982)
Dir - David Winters
An oddball and meta take on exploitation movies with a command performance from Joe Spinell, The Last Horror Film is notable for being shot on location at the Cannes Film Festival without permits. Joined by his Maniac and Starcrash costar Caroline Munro who plays a fictionalized version of herself and the object of Spinell's obsession, the latter's schlubby New York City cab driver with delusions of filmmaking prowess is a pathetically hilarious character and one that the actor sinks his scenery-chewing fangs into. Winters' guerilla tactics are admirable and mirror those of his batshit wacky lead who is hellbent on making a film and putting his camera where it needs to be, come hell or high water. This predates many self-depreciating, movie-within-a-movies within the horror genre and it remains fascinating even as it deliberately spirals apart.
(1968)
Dir - Michael Reeves
For better or worse, the third and last film to be directed by Michael Reeves, Witchfinder General helped kickstart the often exploitative witch trial sub-genre, yet it stands as a much classier production than many that came in its wake. Reeves and star Vincent Price notoriously clashed throughout the entirely of the production as the former had written the project with friend Tom Baker, (no, not THAT Tom Baker), and had Donald Pleasence solely in mind for the lead. Financiers American International Pictures insisted that Price be involved instead and the veteran actor plays the notorious title character Matthew Hopkins against type, with all traces of scenery-chewing camp nowhere to be found. The story is far from historically accurate, (Hopkins was actually in his twenties during his zealous escapades and likely died from tuberculosis in his home), but as a brutal bit of gritty melodrama with Price in stupendous and serious form, this is a deservedly well-received entry.
(1971)
Dir - Peter Sasdy
Naturally, Hammer Film Productions would take on the legend of Elizabeth Báthory and integrate it into their Gothic horror roster. The resulting Countess Dracula was the second Hammer starring vehicle for Ingrid Pitt and though she was dubbed by Olive Gregg, she still turns in a scene-stealing performance. As the youth-obsessed aristocrat, Pitt is wonderfully ruthless in her determination, yet also pitiful and sexually alluring which makes her an intriguing if still one-note villainess. As Hungarian-born director Peter Sasdy's third time behind the lens for the company, he keeps the melodrama flowing while allowing for the occasional dirty joke and graphic bout of bloodshed. The movie never becomes too exploitative though and rides that classy yet camp-friendly vibe that the best of Hammer properties were able to do.
(1974)
Dir - Bob Clark
As a follow-up to the annoying and goofy Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Deathdream, (aka Dead of Night), was a vast improvement as well as a tonal shift for director Bob Clark. A simple yet effective riff on the monkey's paw legend, it is topical of its time in showcasing the unaccepting grief of parents who had lost their children in the senseless Vietnam war machine. Richard Backus comes back as a smirking and emotionally deprived shell of his former self and Clark does not play any of the torment that said Nam vet creates for laughs. Both John Carley and Lynn Carlin also appeared as a couple in John Cassavetes' Faces six years earlier and they turn in solid, moving performances as Backus' parents here. The film is crude and certainly on the low budget end of the spectrum, yet it is also creepy and impactful.
(1980)
Dir - Ken Russell
A quasi-return to horror elements for the persistently outrageous Ken Russell, Altered States was an adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's novel of the same name which in itself was based upon the psychedelic, drug-fueled sensory deprivation experiments that were conducted by counterculture scientist John C. Lilly in the 1950s and 60s. The film also serves as the debut for William Hurt, (and to a lesser extent, a five-year old Drew Barrymore), who does fantastic work as an overtly ambitious and narcissistic psychopathologist that is hell-bent on bridging the link between primordial and modern-day man. Russell, (as he is wont to do), uses such material to indulge in bombastic, trippy, and occasionally terrifying set pieces. The more ridiculous the story becomes, the more serious that all parties involved take everything. In this case though, such earnestness works wonders.
(1978)
Dir - Colin Eggleston
Possibly the best environmentalist horror film ever made, the Ozploitation thriller Long Weekend weaves its cautionary creepiness in a deadpan and restraint manner. Working television screenwriter Everett De Roche wrote the script quickly and without any experience in feature film work, more as a creative exercise than anything else, with director Colin Eggleston coming on board and giving the material a stark tone benefiting to the minimalist premise. Focusing exclusively on an unlikable, dysfunctional couple and letting almost every minute of the running time simmer in an uneasy dread as opposed to having any moments of obvious, propelling action was a bold move, as well as one that could have spelled disaster in a lesser filmmaker's hands. Here though, things manage to be suspenseful merely by ominous suggestion, where the more that our characters flippantly disrespect nature and hopelessly clash with one another, the more that unseen forces seem to close in on them.
(2017)
Dir - Jordan Peele
Actor/writer/sketch player Jordon Peele's directorial debut Get Out ended up being a career shift in more ways than one. The first in a so far steady stream of works in the horror genre, the film presents a series of untapped ideas and is tightly structured and increasingly suspenseful. Some loopy plot points and clashingly comedic tonal issues aside, (Peele's exclusive history in comedy would explain his insistence on including the latter), the central premise of African American oppression via mid to upper class white liberals utilizing a bizarre, cultish, mad scientist scheme is ingenious enough to carry the movie through. The top-notch performances and overall flawless production values help as well, even if Caleb Landry Jones is once again too cartoonishly creepy to take seriously.
(1980)
Dir - Kevin Conner
The ingenious redneck slasher parody Motel Hell by English director Kevin Conner has enough ghastly elements of its own to become more memorable than some of the low-brow works that it is sending up. The premise of a cannibalistic hillbilly couple goes right back to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre of course, yet much of the presentation here is played for campy laughs, with an against-type Rory Calhoun being just as disturbing as he is silly. Most impressive is how the movie melds such would-be clashing tones. Moments where still-living human heads are harvested in the ground like vegetables while Calhoun and Nancy Parsons cheerfully yokal around manage to have a macabre goofiness that still comes off as disturbing. A final chainsaw-wielding, pig-head-wearing showdown is a wickedly fun hoot as well.
(1973)
Dir - Richard Blackburn
The singular and only full-length directorial effort Lemora from Richard Blackburn is one of the 1970s strangest independent horror films. A coming of age story about impending womanhood and the repression from religion, society, and the sins of one's parents, it wears its amateuristic production values on its sleeve with embarrassing makeup designs and inconsistent performances. As is sometimes the case though, these technical shortcomings enhance the unnatural tone which is fueled by alluring atmosphere. Nearly the entire movie takes place at night time and is caked in eerie blue light, with bizarre animal noises, gospel singing, and sinister music coloring the soundtrack. Blackburn is thematically biting off more than he can chew here, but the results are uniquely realized.
Dir - Nobuo Nakagawa
(1959)
One of the most famous and frequently visited of all Japanese ghost stories was "Yotsuya Kaidan", here adapted as The Ghost of Yotsuya from Nanboku Tsuryura's kabuki play. Filmmaker Nobuo Nakagawa films it in his usual style which favors a slow and somber build-up that is eventually interjected with a barrage of supernatural hallucinations. A theme of perpetual vengeance plays through the entire movie, though it does not take on its spooky, ghostly form until over fifty minutes in. By that time though, the ruthless and deplorable actions of the samurai Tamiya and his criminal cohort Naosuke have made their inevitable comeuppance that much more enticing for the audience. Atmospherically, this is another low-key triumph for Nakagawa who fuses eerie music and haunting imagery in a way that emphasizes a type of otherworldly justice that is inescapable.
(1965)
Dir - Freddie Francis
Both the second Amicus horror film and the second of them to be directed by famed cinematographer Freddie Francis who already had a couple of Hammer productions under his belt, The Skull is mostly appreciated for its surreal, dialog-less, and twenty-five minute set piece near the finale where Peter Cushing's occult scholar and collector undergoes the full psychological torment of the Marquis de Sade's supernaturally-charged skull. There is plenty of other doom and gloom moments scattered around before that, with numerous familiar British horror faces making an appearance as well, not least of all Christopher Lee and Michael Gough who shared the screen with Cushing on numerous occasions. Robert Bloch would go on to work with Amicus on more of their horror efforts and his script here is both bare BONES, (nyuck nyuck), and ambiguous as far as the mysterious and deadly reach of it's title cranium is concerned.
(1979)
Dir - Stuart Rosenberg
Equally one of the most ridiculous and entertaining of all haunted house movies, The Amityville Horror also established a number of tropes still commonly utilized even outside of the plethora of unofficial, terrible, and absurd franchise installments, (Amityville Karen anyone?). Considering that author Jay Anston's source material was partially cobbled together from assessments by proven frauds Ed and Lorraine Warren and was admittingly fabricated by residents George and Kathleen Lutz in the first place, any "based on a true story" nonsense can be systematically thrown out the window. That said, the film itself wastes no time establishing its evil-for-the-sake-of-evil abode with an onslaught of increasingly over the top, supernatural occurrences to keep the popcorn munching in full swing. James Brolin is a hoot as the hot-tempered man of the house who becomes possessed by malevolence as he looses his mind, plus a past-his-prime Rod Steiger is unintentionally hammy in probably his most infamous role.
(1933)
Dir - Michael Curtiz
Significant as being the first film to be based off of Charles S. Belden's The Wax Works as well as the last Hollywood movie to use the two-color Technicolor process, Mystery of the Wax Museum is one of the more unique Pre-Code works in the mystery/horror genre. Reuniting director Michael Curtiz with lead actors Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray from their previous collaboration and similarly styled Doctor X, it has exceptional set design and cinematography with the primarily green color scheme and lack of a musical score providing a unearthly yet intimate atmosphere. Even though any audience member would be fully aware of what is going on before it is revealed, the snappy dialog and flowing direction from Curtiz helps to keep things captivating. Plus, Glenda Farrell steals the show as a sassy, wise-cracking reporter, one of several such roles that she made a career out of playing.
(1994)
Dir - John Carpenter
The third installment in John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy" and the only of his films to be Lovecraftian in nature, In the Mouth of Madness works its ridiculousness well. Carpenter was about to begin a lull in his last run towards retirement, (the one-two lackluster punch of his Village of the Damned remake and Escape from L.A. immediately proceeded this), but he went all out here with studio executive Michael De Luca's ambitious script. Upping the head-trips to the point where the narrative becomes as impenetrable as the tone is bombastic, Carpenter merrily serves up a mess of nightmarish nastiness, with heavy metal blaring on the soundtrack and Sam Neill screaming his way to insanity. For a movie about blurring the lines between fiction and reality and losing one's mind in the process, this is as effective and popcorn-munching of an example as there be.
(2018)
Dir - Jung Bum-shik
One of numerous web series-centered found footage films to come in the wake of YouTube, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum has the distinction of taking place at one of South Korea's most notorious actual locations, even if it was technically filmed at Busan's National Maritime High School. It is also arguably the finest such movie centered around a bunch of young adults who tempt the unholy forces with the sole motivation of maximizing ad revenue dollars for their streaming channel. Plot liberties eventually arise due to the premise's flimsy motivation, but co-writer/director Jun Bum-shik stages some of the freakiest moments in contemporary K-horror, focusing on ominous foreshadowing and excellent, pants-shitting performances from his eager cast. Formulaic in construction and not without its share of arbitrary ghost activity, the movie's strength lie in its details that bypass certain tropes while creatively exemplifying others.
(1932)
Dir - Tod Browning
As far as Pre-Code Hollywood goes, possibly no other movie was as notorious as Tod Browning's Freaks, a film that practically ended the director's commercial career. It is very much a culmination of the motifs that fueled some of Browning's other work, as his history as a carnival performer gave him a hands-on appreciation for such a lifestyle that was seen as positively disturbing to then contemporary film-goers. In fact even now, the movie still packs a punch in its utilization of non-actors with actual physical abnormalities and Browning's directive is never in cruelly sensationalizing their appearance. Instead, it unmistakably portrays the "normal" people as the monstrous ones, uncomfortably skewing the audience's inherent perceptions, especially with the memorable, bonkers, and unsettling finale.
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