Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Casablanca (1942)




CASABLANCA
Michael Curtiz
1942 • 102 Minutes • 1.37:1 • United States
Black & White • English • Warner Bros.

 Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Writers: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch based on Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett, Joan Alison
Producer: Hal B. Wallis
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson

Awards & Honors

 Academy Awards
Winner: Best Picture
Winner: Best Director - Michael Curtiz
Winner: Best Writing, Screenplay - Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role - Humphrey Bogart
Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Claude Rains
Nominee: Best Cinematography, Black & White - Arthur Edeson
Nominee: Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Max Steiner
Nominee: Best Film Editing - Owen Marks

The Essential Films
#1 - 100 Greatest Films of All Time
#8 - 100 Greatest Movie Heroes: Rick Blaine
#1 - 100 Greatest Movie Love Stories
The 50 Best "Best Picture" Winners

National Film Preservation Board
Included in National Film Registry in 1989


Here's looking at you, kid.


(THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Casablanca is the greatest film of all time. End of argument.  End of article.

Oh, you want more? OK, fine...

It's hard to believe that the film many consider to be the best of all time (with apologies to Citizen Kane and The Godfather) started with the humblest of beginnings. Originally, the film was a play. An unproduced play at that, titled Everybody Comes to Rick's.  The rights to the play were bought by Hal Wallis at Warner Bros. and filming began in May of 1942, using standard Warner Bros. contract players. No one, including the actors, ever thought the film would amount to much.  The film's script wasn't even ready when production began, forcing the film to be shot in sequence.

The plot follows Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an exiled American, who runs a seedy nightclub in World War II-era Casablanca in Morocco.  All he cares about is booze and money and he "sticks his neck out for no one."  When Nazi officials arrive at his casino, they want his cooperation in capturing a freedom fighter that escaped one of their concentration camps.  Blaine has no plans on interfering, but when the escapee enters the bar on one fateful night, he is shocked to see his old lover enter as well… a woman that left him years ago as the Nazis occupied Paris.  Of all the gin joints in all the world… why’d she have to walk into his?

If you’re a movie aficionado, then they don’t get much better than Casablanca. On the top of many “All Time” movie lists, in this writer’s opinion this is the greatest film ever made.  You owe to yourself to watch this film as it is an American and cinematic classic.

Rick is one of the coolest characters ever written.  The man was James Bond before there was a James Bond.  He is certainly the template for every leading man ever since and he was played with such excellent ability by the late, great Humphrey Bogart… one of the coolest actor’s ever.  Blaine can smooth talk his way out of any situation, he can charm any woman he wants and he can take care of business when it needs taken care of.  He looks cool no matter what he wears… whether it’s a tuxedo or a trenchcoat, Bogart/Blaine wear it with style.  He is one of the quintessential male icons.  Blaine's story arc is brilliant. He must choose between love and virtue: his love for the woman who broke his heart or helping her husband escape the Nazis and continue the fight against the spreading evil of the Third Reich.  Blaine's character goes through a series of emotions throughout the film, from the cool and detached club owner to the bitter and heartbroken man who is confronted with the woman who broke his heart and finally to one of the more selfless heroes in screen history. His last  act (and final speech!) in the film absolves his sins, gives him closure and he becomes a hero.

Ingrid Bergman is second-billed as Ilsa Lund, Blaine's former lover and Lazlo's wife.  Never has a woman looked so beautiful and desirable on-screen before or since.  While Arthur Edeson's
camerawork is gorgeous, it doesn't take a master to make Bergman look as good as she does in this film.  Bergman is more than just looks, though. Her performance as Ilsa is brilliant.  It's difficult to play a character like Ilsa who is a montage of conflicting emotions. At first the audience is meant to sympathize with Rick, after all Ilsa left him standing in the rain with a funny look on his face.  But on the surface you understand why Rick fell in love with her, her beauty is unparalleled.  However, as the story is revealed the audience starts to understand why Ilsa left Rick and she pulls at your heartstrings. She truly is in love with both of these men. Torn between the love of her life and the man who helped her forget that man when she thought he was dead.  Her eyes practically swim with tears when she listens to Sam play "As Time Goes By."  Her desperation and frustration with Rick in later scenes when he refuses to help her are also brilliantly played. She is finally forced to sleep with Rick (well, it was 1942, so it wasn't explicity shown... but that's what was clearly implied) so that she can save Victor, and the audience can forgive her. She is doing it out love... for both men.

Paul Henreid's supporting turn as Victor Lazlo is a difficult role and unfortunately often ignored or underrated.  After all, the audience has been won over by the wonderful portrayal of Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, how can anyone measure up.  Even when we first meet him onscreen, he seems ordinary. Handsome, sure, but seemingly unremarkable.  Later in the film, when Ilsa describes how she fell in love with him, it helps his image, but it's not until he defiantly leads the house band at the club in a stirring rendition of "La Marseillaise" in a room full of Nazis that you finally see it. THAT's why she loves him. This man is a leader. This man is a hero.  That's the man she fell in love with. And suddenly, you understand Ilsa's conflict.

The other major role in the film belongs to Claude Rains as the scheming Captain Renault.  Renault is a weasel, brown-nosing the invading Nazis even though he happens to be in neutral territory.  Renault wins money at Rick's casino without gambling, spends his evenings drinking and arranges exit visas for young women in exchange for (implied) sexual favors.  Rains as an actor is clearly enjoying portraying this man with seemingly little morality, but in the final moments he chooses heroism over cowardice. In a movie that has so many beautiful story arcs, it still manages to find time to give Renault a satisfying arc for the audience.

As mentioned above, the film is filled with contemporary Warner Bros. contract players. Sidney Greenstreet appears in a smaller role as the owner of a rival club to Rick's Cafe Americain, while Peter Lorre brings his nervous twitchiness to the sniveling stooge known as Ugarte.  Veteran German actor Conrad Veidt brings his understated villainy to the film's main antagonist, Major Strasser. And of course Dooley Wilson (who eagle-eyed viewers may notice can not play the piano to save his life) shines as Sam, Rick's closest companion and club singer. Wilson's rendition of "As Time Goes By" will go down as one of the most famous musical moments in film history.


The Epsteins wrote the majority of the screenplay but were called away to work on the Why We Fight  series after the  Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Howard Koch took up the reins and worked on the script until they returned.  Despite this, the screenplay is one of the most perfect pieces of cinematic writing ever produced. Even if you never seen this film, you KNOW all the lines.  ”Here’s looking at you kid;” “We’ll always have Paris.”  ”This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”  Plus many others.  This is one of the most quotable movies ever made.  And forget the dialogue for a minute (as amazing as it is.)  This is also one of the most perfectly structured stories ever written.  Blaine appears to be hard and cold, but the rejection of Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) all those years ago leaves him a broken and emotionally scared man.  Ilsa is the gorgeous but mysterious ex-lover that has come back into Rick’s life, what is her ultimate agenda?  Victor Laszlo escaped a concentration camp and is leading a resistance against the Nazis… a true hero, but do you want him to end up with Ilsa or do you want it to be Rick?  Everything comes to a head in the climax and it’s one of the most memorable scenes in film history.

Despite it being adapted from an unproduced screenplay, the fact that screenplay was still not ready in time for production, production delays, the stars not believing the film to be anything extraordinary, Humphrey Bogart attempting his first romantic lead and solid (but unremarkable) box office business, Casablanca went on to win 3 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), top "Best Film" lists even 70 years later, was responsible one of the most memorable movie songs ever and featured some of the most quoatable movie dialogue of all time delivered by some of the greatest actors of all time... Casablanca exceeded every expectation.

When it comes down to it, if you claim to love movies and you’ve never seen Casablanca… well, you’re just cheating yourself.

Play it, Sam.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)


NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND
Hayao Miyazaki
1984 • 116 Minutes • 1.85:1 • Japan
Color • Japanese • Toei

Voice Cast (Japanese): Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda, Gorô Naya, Ichirô Nagai, Kôhei Miyauchi, Jôji Yanami
Voice Cast (English): Mark Hamill, Shia LaBeouf, Alison Lohman, Edward James Olmos, Chris Sarandon, Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki based on his comic
Producer: Isao Takahata

Every one of us relies on water from the wells, because mankind has polluted all the lakes and rivers. but do you know why the well water is pure? It's because the trees of the wastelands purify it! And you plan to burn the trees down? You must not burn down the toxic jungle! You should have left the giant warrior beneath the earth!

One thousand years in the future, the Earth has been destroyed in what has become known as the Seven Days of Fire.  The apocalyptic event created "the Toxic Jungle," teeming with mutated insects (known as Ohmu) that the surrounding kingdoms fear.  One of these kingdoms, the Valley of the Wind, is home to Princess Nausicaä, a peace-loving young girl who is at one with all creatures.  The worlds resources are limited and the kingdom of Tolmekia invades the Valley of the Wind in an attempt to unite and destroy the Ohmu and the Toxic Jungle by raising a monstrous creature from the past. It is up to Nausicaä to negotiate peace between the kingdoms and prevent disaster.

Hayao Miyazaki has often been referred to as the Japanese Walt Disney, due to his popularity in the world of Japanese animation.  Depending on whether or not you agree with the statement, there is no denying Miyazaki's artistry as a filmmaker nor his influence in the world of animation.  With films like Nausicaä, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, he emotionally invests the audience with his beautiful animation and imagery as well as his strong, three-dimensional leading characters.  You don't just watch a Miyazki film. You fall in love with it.  It is rare when a director's body of work is so good, that one is never disappointed when examining his filmography.  

Miyazaki excels at world building. Nausicaä offers up a world using several different sci-fi/fantasy
elements. It's a post-apocalyptic story set centuries in the future, yet it's also a fairy tale featuring kingdoms and princesses. It's a thrilling adventure and also a coming of age story. It's an anti-war story with an environmentalist message (a theme Miyazaki fans are not unfamiliar with).  Above all, the film's ultimate message of compassion is the most relevant. When the film is over, you are truly moved.

It's hard to imagine, watching this film in 2013, that the film is almost three decades old and yet it looks more sophisticated and visually stunning than most CG-created films released today.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with modern animation (some of the best animated features like Toy Story and WALL•E have been brought to life inside a computer), there is just something to be said for traditional hand-drawn animation. Especially when it looks as gorgeous as this film does.  

Beware Warriors of the Wind. Shortly after the film's Japanese release, it was recut and dubbed by English-speaking actors and released as Warriors of the Wind.  The film's storyline was altered and the peaceful message of hope and compassion was lost. Disney has since distributed a proper, uncut release on DVD and Blu-Ray with a new English dubbing.  Rent or buy this version!

Nausicaä is an essential animation classic that still resonates 30 years after its initial release and looks better than most modern CG animated films.  A beautiful movie for all ages.

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Battle of Midway (1942)


THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
John Ford
1942 • 18 Minutes • 1.37:1 • United States
Color • English • United States War Activity Committee 

 Voice Cast: Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell
Writers: Dudley Nichols & James Kevin McGuinness
Producer: John Ford
Cinematography: John Ford & Jack MacKenzie & Kenneth M. Pier

Awards & Honors

 Academy Awards
Best Documentary


During World War II, propaganda films were prevalent on all sides of the conflict. The Battle of Midway is a collection of footage shot from the legendary real-life battle and edited together to tell the "story" of the fight.  Included in story is narration by Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, where Darwell plays the role of a woman from Ohio, recognizing one of the soldiers in the footage. Fonda goes on to explain how important this GI is to the war effort and how proud everyone at home should be of him. Donald Crisp provides bookend narration of the battle's importance and the climax of the documentary is 16 MM footage (shot by the enlisted Ford himself) of the ongoing battle.  Ford's captured the action purely by chance as the battle broke out while he was en route to the island.  The film (as well as its Academy Award win) are pure American propaganda, but an important piece of film history.

Watch the Academy Award winning documentary, The Battle of Midway, in its entirety below.

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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Island of Lost Souls (1932)


ISLAND OF LOST SOULS
Erle C. Kenton
1932 • 70 Minutes • 1.37:1 • United States
Black & White • English • Paramount

Cast: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Kathleen Burke
Screenplay: Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie based on the novel by H.G. Wells
Cinematography: Karl Struss



Mr. Parker, do you know what it means to feel like God?

THIS ENTRY CONTAINS SPOILERS

Island of Lost Souls is the first, and best, cinematic interpretation of HG Wells' classic 1896 novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau. The film was remade several times, notably in 1977 with Burt Lancaster in the title role and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando headlining in an infamously notorious adaptation.  The story follows the shipwrecked Edward Parker who finds himself on a mysterious uncharted island. Parker soon learns that the island is owned Dr. Moreau, a twisted geneticist who has created half-men, half-beasts for his own amusement and desire to play God. Parker is disgusted by Moreau's lack of humanity and desperately wants to return home, while also conflicted about leaving the "beast men" to be tortured at the hands of their sick creator.  The climax of the film sees a revolt against Moreau in one of Horror cinema's more memorable scenes.


Charles Laughton is the star of the picture here, as the villainous Dr. Moreau.  Laughton at the time was an A-list actor, not far from winning his Academy Award for The Private Life of Henry VIII, so perhaps it is strange to see him in what could be considered a "B-Movie."  However, Laughton's penchant for chewing scenery works to the film's benefit as Dr. Moreau is truly one of the screen's most despicable villains. Like most good villains, Moreau's character does't know he's evil... he's following his own path of righteousness. As the creator of these half-men/half-animals, he sees himself as their just and powerful God. The inhabitants fear him and his House of Pain, the laboratory where he performs his hideous experiments.  When they finally revolt and kill Moreau, they are really killing God. While the film is excellent as is, it would have been fascinating to see the filmmakers tackle the aftermath of the decision of a group of beings killing their creator.



While tame by today's standards, the film was considered graphic in nature in 1932. In fact, the film was banned several times in the United Kingdom, specifically for scenes of the vivisection of the beast men. It was also not very well-received by Wells himself, who objected to the horror elements overshadowing the intent of his story, which was the cruelty to animals and moral responsibility. 

However, the film has been very influential in horror circles, especially in the world of make-up effects.  The film was ahead of its tim in terms of monster make-up, and even 80 years later, the effects remain at a high standard.  Bela Lugosi, in particular, is completely unrecognizable in his role as the "Sayer of Law."

Island of Lost Souls is an essential sci-fi/horror classic with ahead-of-its-time make-up effects and a deliciously twisted movie villain.  

You made us... things! Not men! Not beasts! Part man... part beast! Things!

Watch the complete film below:



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100 Essential Horror Films - 2013 Edition

Happy Halloween! It's time, once again, for what has become an annual tradition: The 2013 edition of the 100 Essential Horror Films.  You can check out our previous lists here and here.  Unlike the previous years, this will not be a countdown, rather we present the list in alphabetical order.  Some films have been dropped off the list to make room for some new classics and rediscovered scares. Did your favorite make the list? Which films remained? Which films were... axed from the list? From madmen to monsters... psychos to serial killers... ghosts to Ghostbusters... so, please read, comment and share!


28 DAYS LATER
Danny Boyle
2002

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston
Screenplay: Alex Garland

A man wakes up from a coma to find London completely deserted, only to soon realize its former population is infected with a zombie-like virus.

Plans are pointless. Staying alive's as good as it gets.


ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
Charles Barton 
1948 

Cast:  Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Cheney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange
Screenplay:  Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant

The legendary comedy duo star as two freight handlers who have a wild night with Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster.

- You don't understand. Every night when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf.
- You and twenty million other guys.

ALIEN
Ridley Scott
1979

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm
Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon

After receiving a distress signal from a distant planet, the crew of the Nostromo quickly find themselves stalked by a monstrous alien creature.

You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility... I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality... I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies.

ALIENS
James Cameron
1986

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn
Screenplay: James Cameron, David Giler

Ripley is sent back to the planet from the original film, which has now been colonized, with a team of marines to investigate why contact has been lost. They discover the planet is now overrun with nightmarish creatures.

They mostly come out at night... mostly.


Mary Harron
2000

Cast:  Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto, Willem DeFoe
Screenplay:  Mary Harron & Guinevere Turner based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis

A character study on the twisted life of Wall Street broker Patrick Bateman, who in reality is a murderous sociopath who kills women in his spare time.

I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood.


AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
John Landis
1981

Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Screenplay: John Landis

Two American college students hiking in England are attacked by a werewolf. The lone survivor of the attack begins to show symptoms of turning into a werewolf himself while at the same time being haunted by his recently deceased companion.

- What murders?
- Haven't you heard? Last night... six of 'em. All in different parts of the city, all mutilated. He must be a real right maniac, this fella.


ARMY OF DARKNESS
Sam Raimi
1992

Cast:  Bruce Campbell, Embetz Davis, Marcus Gilbert
Screenplay:  Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi

After surviving an horrifying night in a haunted cabin in the woods, Ash is transported back in time to deal with evil monsters in medieval times.

Hail to the king, baby.


ATTACK THE BLOCK
Joe Cornish
2011 

Cast:  John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail
Screenplay:  Joe Cornish

A London street gang fights off an alien invasion.

This is too much madness to explain in one text!


AUDITION
Takashi Miike
1999

Cast:  Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina
Writers:  Ryû Murakami (novel), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)

A man holds open auditions to look for a new wife, but he gets more than he bargains for from the woman he eventually chooses.

This wire can cut through meat and bone easily.


THE BIRDS
Alfred Hitchcock
1963

Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette
Screenplay:  Evan Hunter

Melanie Daniels is a wealthy California socialite who is romantically pursuing Mitch Brenner by following him to his small coastal hometown. Soon here romantic pursuits are overshadowed by bizarre occurrences involving the local bird population. The occurrences turn deadly as the birds turn increasingly murderous.

Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're the cause of all of this. I think you're evil. EVIL!


THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
1999

Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
Screenplay: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

The found footage of three film students that went missing while filming a documentary about a local myth, The Blair Witch.

I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm scared to open them! We're gonna die out here!


BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
Francis Ford Coppola
1992

Cast:  Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins
Screenplay:  James V. Hart based on the novel by Bram Stoker

Francis Ford Coppola's take on the most famous vampire story of all time.

Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds... true love?


BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
James Whale
1935

Cast:  Boris Karloff, Elsa Lancaster, Colin Clive
Screenplay:  William Hurlbut based on works by Mary Shelley

The insane Dr. Pretorious convinces Dr. Frankenstein to build another creature, this time a female mate as a companion to his first, tragic monster.

To a new world of gods and monsters!


THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
Drew Goddard
2012

Cast:  Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth and Anna Hutchison
Screenplay:  Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon

A group of teenagers go vacationing in a remote cabin in the woods, but soon a series of sinister events begin to occur. Sound like a familiar premise? Think again.

There is a greater good, and for that you must be sacrificed. Forgive us... and let us end it quickly.


THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
Robert Wiene
1920

Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Screenplay: Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer

Cesare, a somnambulist controlled by the demented Dr. Caligari, makes deadly predictions that come to pass.

You fools, this man is plotting our doom! We die at dawn! He is Caligari!


CANDYMAN
Bernard Rose
1992

Cast:  Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd
Screenplay:  Bernard Rose

A grad student researching urban legends accidentally summons a monstrous supernatural presence known as The Candyman.

I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom! Without these things, I am nothing. So now, I must shed innocent blood. COME WITH ME!


CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Herk Harvey
1962

Cast:  Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger
Screenplay:  John Clifford

After surviving a near-fatal car accident, Mary is strangely drawn to a nightmarish abandoned carnival.

I don't belong in the world.


CARRIE
Brian DePalma
1976

Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Screenplay:  Lawrence D. Cohen based on the Stephen King novel

A group of vicious teenagers play a prank on an outcast with strange supernatural powers... with disastrous consequences.

They're all going to laugh at you.


CAT PEOPLE
Jacques Tourneur
1942

Cast:  Simone Simon, Tom Conway and Kent Smith 
Screenplay:  Dewitt Bodeen

A Serbian woman fears that she is cursed and will turn into a cat creature if she is intimate with a man and after a series of attacks that point to an animal mauling, she begins to suspect the curse is true.

You can fool everybody, but laudie dearie me, you can't fool a cat. They seem to know who's not right.


THE CONJURING
James Wan
2013

 Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston
Screenplay: Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes

Ed and Lorraine Warren, a pair of paranormal researchers, investigate the strange happenings that have been terrorizing a family.  Part haunted house film, part exorcism film. One of the most legitimately scary films of all time.

Want to play a game of hide and clap?
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
Jack Arnold
1954

Cast:  Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
Screenplay:  Harry Essex

A group of scientists attempt to capture a prehistoric beast that lurks in the depths of the Amazon River.

We didn't come here to fight monsters, we're not equipped for it.


THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Terence Fischer
1957

Cast:  Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee
Screenplay:  Jimmy Sangster based on the work of Mary Shelley

Hammer Horror takes a stab at Mary Shelley's classic tale of a driven scientist who builds a creature and intends to bring him to life.

Let's let our friend here rest in peace... while he can.


DAWN OF THE DEAD
George Romero
1978

Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
Screenplay: George A. Romero

A group of survivors hole up in a Philadelphia shopping mall as the zombie outbreak spreads throughout the country.

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth.


DEAD ALIVE
Peter Jackson
1992

Cast:  Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver and Elizabeth Moody
Screenplay:  Stephen Sinclair, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson

A bite from a Sumatran rat monkey causes on old woman to become a flesh eating zombie, quickly turning an entire town into the undead... with much hilarity and hijinks.

The devil's among us!


DEAD RINGERS
David Cronenberg
1988

Cast: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske
Screenplay: David Cronenberg, Norman Snider from the book "Twins" by Bari Wood, Jack Geasland

Jeremy Irons stars as twin gynecologists who take advantage that no one can tell the apart. When their relationship is strained over a woman, the twins start making some fatal (and disgusting) mistakes.

I've often thought that there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies.


Dario Argento
1975

Cast:  David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Meril, Eros Pagni
Screenplay:  Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi

When a psychic is murdered, a reporter and a musician attempt to track him down while also being pursued by the bloodthirsty killer himself.

Gianna! Gianna! There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me


Henri-Georges Clouzot
1955

Cast:  Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Screenplay:  Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi

A wife and a mistress conspire to murder the sadistic philanderer they have in common. After his death strange occurrences begin to haunt the killers.

Die, darling! Die and do it quickly!


DON'T LOOK NOW
Nicolas Roeg
1973

Cast: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and Hilary Mason
Writers: Daphne Du Maurier (story), Allan Scott (screenplay)

After suffering the death of their daughter, a married couple meets a psychic in Venice with an ominous message from the beyond.

Christine is dead. She is dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!


DRACULA
Tod Browning
1931

Cast:  Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye
Screenplay:  Garrett Fort based on the book by Bram Stoker

The most famous film adaptation of Bram Stoker's famous story of the nefarious Count Dracula terrorizing the young Mina.

Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.

DRAG ME TO HELL
Sam Raimi
2009

Cast:  Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier
Screenplay:  Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi

After evicting an old gypsy woman from her home, a bank loan officer is becomes the victim of a deadly curse.

You'd be surprised what you'll be willing to do, when the Lamia comes for you.


DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Rouben Mamoulian
1931

Stars: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart
Writers: Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay), Percy Heath (screenplay), Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal morality tale of good and evil, bolstered by an epic dual performance from Frederic March.

Oh, God. This I did not intend. I saw a light but did not know where it was headed. I have tresspassed on your domain. I've gone further than man should go. Forgive me. Help me!


EVENT HORIZON
Paul W.S. Anderson
1997

Cast:  Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan
Writer:  Phillip Eisner

A rescue crew is dispatched to the spaceship Event Horizon, which was lost inside a black hole, only to reappear. The crew soon learns that something came back with it.

You can't leave. She won't let you.


THE EVIL DEAD
Sam Raimi
1981

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor
Screenplay: Sam Raimi

A group of friends vacation in a secluded cabin in the woods, only to mistaken unleash body-possessing demons from ancient book.

Look at her eyes. Look at her eyes! For God's sake, what happened to her eyes?


EVIL DEAD II
Sam Raimi
1987

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Screenplay: Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel

A remake of his original classic, Sam Raimi brings tons of laughs as well as buckets of blood and guts as Ash and his friends once again attempt to survive a night in the infamous cabin.

Dead by dawn! Dead by dawn!


THE EXORCIST
William Friedkin
1973

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
Screenplay: William Peter Blatty

Arguably the greatest horror film of all time, The Exorcist presents the story of Reagan MacNeill, an innocent little girl who is possessed by a demon, possibly THE devil himself, and the two priests who are determined to save her everlasting soul.

Be gone...from this creature of God! Be gone! In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!


EYES WITHOUT A FACE
Georges Franju
1960

Cast:  Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli and Juliette Mayniel
Screenplay:  Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Jean Redon, Claude Sautet

A brilliant, but mad, surgeon kidnaps young women so he can peel their faces off and graft them onto his horribly disfigured daughter.

Smile. Not too much.


THE FLY
David Cronenberg
1986

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
Writers: George Langelaan (short story), Charles Edward Pogue (screenplay)

While experimenting with a teleportation machine he invented, a scientist starts undergoing a disgusting transformation thanks to an insect that inadvertently sabotages the equipment.

No. Be afraid. Be very afraid.


FRANKENSTEIN
James Whale
1931

Cast:  Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff
Screenplay:  Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh

The most well-known adaptation of Mary Shelley's immortal work.  Dr. Henry Frankenstein believes he can give life to dead flesh and creates a man to prove his theory, instead he gives birth to a monster.

Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!  Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!


Tod Browning
1932

Cast:  Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Rosco Ates, Henry Victor
Screenplay:  Clarence Aaron Robbins

A melodramatic tale of love, deceit, treachery and murder... all taking place in the backdrop of a traveling circus freak show.  Hans the dwarf has just inherited a fortune from his father, when suddenly the beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra takes an interest in him.  Together with the strong man Hercules, Cleopatra hatches a plan to marry Hans and kill him to inherit the money.  The other circus freaks see right through the evil trapeze artist... and they wish to make her one of them, permanently. 

We accept you, one of us! Gooble Gobble!


FRIDAY THE 13th 
Sean S. Cunningham
1980

Cast:  Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Kevin Bacon
Screenplay:  Victor Miller

Years after the tragic drowning of a child, Camp Crystal Lake re-opens for business.  Soon afterwards an unknown stalker begins killing camp counselors in grisly fashion.

You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday...



1985
Tom Holland

Cast:  Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowell, William Ragsdale
Screenplay:  Tom Holland

Teenager Charlie Brewster is just your average everyday kid with a big love for old cheesy horror movies. When new neighbor Jerry Dandridge moves in next door, Charlie starts to suspect that there is something very strange about him. After doing a little spying, he realizes that Jerry is actually a vampire. No one believes him, of course, and he’s forced to go to the one man who he thinks can help him: Peter Vincent, the host of a local TV show, “Fright Night.” Vincent refuses, trying to tell Charlie that he’s just an actor, but after getting laid off by the TV station he does the job for money. Only Charlie, Peter and the annoying side kick “Evil” Ed bite off more than they can chew.

- You're gonna get yours someday.
- Oh, yeah. When? When I'm bit by a vampire? There are no such things as vampires, fruitcake!


GHOSTBUSTERS
Ivan Reitman
1984

Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rik Moranis, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton
Screenplay: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis

More laughs than scares, the classic 80s film depicts a group of PHDs in paranormal research who get kicked out of their university and start a lucrative business where they track down can and capture the evil spirits that are haunting New York City.

- Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon... what've you got left?
- Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.


GODZILLA
Ishirô Honda
1954

Cast: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata and Akira Takarada
Screenplay: Ishirô Honda, Shigeru Kayama

Godzilla, a giant fire-breathing mutant lizard created by Nuclear testing, wreaks havoc and terror across Japan. What can stop this dinosaur beast?

I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.


HALLOWEEN
John Carpenter
1978

Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Screenplay: John Carpenter, Debra Hill

The godfather of slasher films.  As a boy, Michael Myers was institutionalized after the brutal murder of his sister on Halloween.  On the anniversary of her death many years later, Myers escapes the hospital and returns to his childhood neighborhood to stalk an innocent babysitter.

- A man wouldn't do that.
- This isn't a man.


THE HAUNTING
Robert Wise
1963

Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom and Richard Johnson
Screenplay: Nelson Gidding based on the novel by Shirley Jackson

Hill House is a mansion with nearly a century's worth of death and tragedy. Dr. Markaway wishes to spend a few weeks in the house to determine if the house is as haunted as the legend says, he brings along a few people inlcuding the heir to the house and a psychic.  They soon experience supernatural manifestations and are driven to sanity's breaking point.

Can't you feel it? It's alive... watching.


HORROR OF DRACULA
Terence Fisher
1958

Cast:  Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough
Screenplay:  Jimmy Sangster based on the work of Bram Stoker

Hammer Horror's adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel.  Peter Cushing famously portrays Van Helsing pitted against the bloodthirsty and terrifying Count Dracula, played by Christohper Lee in probably the second most famous portrayal (after Lugosi) in cinema history.

Since the death of Jonathan Harker Count Dracula the propagator of this unspeakable evil has disappeared he must found and destroyed!


THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
Ti West
2009

Cast: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov
Screenplay: Ti West

Heavily inspired by 1980s horror films, The House of the Devil tells the story of a college student who takes a strange babysitting job to make ends meet. Slowly she realizes the family is harboring a horrifying secret.


HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
William Castle
1959

Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
Screenplay: Robb White

An eccentric millionaire offers a large cash prize to a group of people who agree to be locked inside a house with a spooky reputation.

Only the ghosts in this house are glad we're here.


Jack Clayton
1961

Cast:  Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins
Screenplay:  William Archibald, Truman Capote

Miss Giddens has been hired as a governess to take care of a pair of orphaned siblings: Flora and Miles. Giddens has complete independence to care for and raise the children as she sees fit, but soon after her arrival strange occurrences begin.  First coming to believe the house may be haunted, her fears grow until she suspects the children themselves are possessed by the spirits of the former masters of the house.  Giddens refuses to abandon the children and hopes to literally save their souls.

But above anything else... I love the children


INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Don Siegel
1956

Cast: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates
Screenplay: Daniel Mainwaring

A man realizes that the people in his small town are being replaced by emotionless aliens that hatch from pods.  A classic sci-fi/horror mash-up with social commentary on the Communist issues of the time.

They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next...!


THE INVISIBLE MAN
James Whale
1933

Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan
Screenplay: R.C. Sherriff based on the work of HG Wells

After finding a formula to make himself invisible, a scientist becomes murderously insane. The film was revolutionary in its use of special effects.

I knew you'd come for me, Flora. I wanted to come back to you... my darling. I failed. I meddled in things that man must leave alone.


Earl C. Kenton
1932

Cast: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Kathleen Burke
Screenplay: Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie based on the novel by H.G. Wells

Island of Lost Souls is the first, and best, cinematic interpretation of HG Wells' classic 1896 novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau. The film was remade several times, notably in 1977 with Burt Lancaster in the title role and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando headlining in an infamously notorious adaptation.  The story follows the shipwrecked Edward Parker who finds himself on a mysterious uncharted island. Parker soon learns that the island is owned Dr. Moreau, a twisted geneticist who has created half-men, half-beasts for his own amusement and desire to play God. Parker is disgusted by Moreau's lack of humanity and desperately wants to return home, while also conflicted about leaving the "beast men" to be tortured at the hands of their sick creator.  The climax of the film sees a revolt against Moreau in one of Horror cinema's more memorable scenes.

Mr. Parker, do you know what it means to feel like God?


JACOB'S LADDER
Adrian Lyne
1990

Cast:  Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello
Screenplay:  Bruce Joel Rubin

A Vietnam War veteran struggles as he mourns the loss of his daughter. He suffers a psychotic breakdown and can't tell if the horrifying imagery he is consistently encountering is real or hallucinations.

See. According to this, you're already dead.


JAWS
Steven Spielberg
1975

Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Screenplay: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb

Chief Martin Brody is tasked with hunting down and killing a shark that has been terrorizing the vacation goers in the beach town of Amity. Joining him on the expedition are veteran shark hunter Quint and Matt Hooper, a marine biologist. 

You're going to need a bigger boat. 


KING KONG
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
1933

Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot
Screenplay:  James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose

A film crew travels to a remote island where they find a gigantic ape creature known as Kong. After managing to capture the beast, they bring it back to the United States as part of an attraction, but Kong breaks free of his bonds and unleashes destruction in New York City.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld. He was a king and a god in the world he knew, but now he comes to civilization merely a captive - a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World.


Tomas Alfredson
2008

Cast: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Screenplay: John Ajvide Lindqvist

Oskar is a friendless little boy that is constantly bullied at school. One day he meets a strange little girl, and the two develop a sweet friendship. The twist: She’s a vampire.

- But... Are you old?
- I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.


THE LOST BOYS
Joel Schumacher
1987

Cast:  Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Keifer Sutherland
Screenplay:  Janice Fischer, James Jeremias, Jeffrey Boam

Two boys and their single working mother move to a seemingly normal California town, where nothing seems out of the ordinary. One of the brothers begins hanging out with a bad element, and he soon realizes his new friends are a horde of vampires.

Look at your reflection in the mirror. You're a creature of the night Michael, just like out of a comic book! You're a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!


MISERY
Rob Reiner
1990

Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Screenplay:  William Goldman based on the novel by Stephen King

A famous author of romantic fiction has a near-fatal car accident in the secluded mountain town where he likes to finish his books only to be rescued by a psychotically obsessive fan. Kathy Bates delivers one of the scariest villains on screen which earned her an Academy Award.

And don't even think about anybody coming for you. Not the doctors, not your agent, not your family. 'Cause I never called them. Nobody knows you're here. And you better hope nothing happens to me. Because if I die... you die.


THE MUMMY
Karl Freund
1932

Cast:  Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners
Screenplay:  John L. Balderston

Not the big budget blockbuster from the 90s, this is the original Universal monster movie.  Imhotep is a resurrected living mummy who wishes to abduct a young woman whom he believes is his ancient lover reincarnated in the present day.

Anck-es-en-Amon, my love has lasted longer than the temples of our gods. No man ever suffered as I did for you.


NEAR DARK
Kathryn Bigelow
1987

Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Screenplay: Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Red

Caleb is a young farm boy that falls for the beautiful and mysterious Mae.  When Caleb realizes Mae is a vampire, Caleb reluctantly joins her traveling "family" of bloodsuckers.  Watch for scene stealing performances from Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton.

Howdy. I'm gonna separate your head from your shoulders. Hope you don't mind none.


NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
George Romero
1968

Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman
Screenplay: John A. Russo, George A. Romero

The one that started it all. A group of strangers hide in a farmhouse to escape the flesh-eating walking corpses that have mysteriously been re-animated. A MUST-WATCH for fans of zombie films, and an easy watch as the film is in the public domain.  Interesting trivia: The zombies are never actually referred to as "zombies," and more often than not are just called "those things!"

They're coming to get you, Barbara.


A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Wes Craven
1984

Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Screenplay: Wes Craven

The movie that introduced the world to one of the most iconic screen villains of all time with knives for fingers: Freddy Krueger. After a group of parents burn him alive and kill him, Krueger returns as a supernatural invader of dreams to seek revenge on their children. If you die in the nightmare, you die in real life.  Robert Englund's performance is legendary as he slices and dices teenagers in new and imaginative ways.  Also look out for an early performance by the one and only Johnny Depp.

I probably could have saved her if I'd have moved sooner. But I thought it was just another nightmare, like the one I had the night before. There was... there was this guy; he had knives for fingers.


NOSFERATU
F.W. Murnau
1922

Screenplay: Henrik Galeen loosely based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Alexander Granach, Georg H. Schnell

Henrik Galeen’s story of Nosferatu is loosely based (read: ripped off) from Bram Stoker’s original novel Dracula.  At the time of production, Bram Stoker’s estate had not given permission to Murnau to shoot the film, so they worked around it by changing names and a few events… but it’s essentially the same story.  A real estate agent visits the reclusive Count Orlock in Germany to sell him some, but notices a series of unusual events surrounding his visit.  Sound familiar?

Is this your wife? What a lovely throat.


THE OMEN
Richard Donner
1976

Cast: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens
Screenplay: David Seltzer

After his biological is stillborn, an American ambassador adopts another boy to take his place. To his horror, clues begin to point to the fact that little Damien may in fact be the actual Antichrist.  A late-career home run for Gregory Peck with an appropriately creepy soundtrack from Jerry Goldsmith.

Look at me, Damien! It's all for you.
THE OTHERS
2001
Alejandro Amenábar

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan
Screenplay: Alejandro Amenábar

A recently widowed woman, raising two very sick photosensitive children, becomes increasingly convinced that her house is haunted. The servants at the house seem to know more than they are letting on. A classic ghost story supported by a strong lead performance from Kidman.

The intruders are leaving, but others will come. Sometimes we'll sense them. Other times, we won't.


PAN'S LABYRINTH
Guillermo del Toro
2006

Cast: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López
Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro

More dark fairy tale than pure horror, the Spanish film still delivers plenty of scares.  Set in fascist Spain, it is the story of the quiet and bookish Ophelia who moves in with her new stepfather in the countryside, the sadistic Captain Vidal. In an effort to distance herself from his cruelty, she escapes into her own imagination where she meets mythical creatures and dangerous beasts. But it's all in her head... isn't it?

Ofelia! Magic does not exist. Not for you, me or anyone else.


PARANORMAN
Chris Butler, Sam Fell
2012

Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Screenplay: Chris Butler

Kid-friendly horror! Norman Babcock is your typical misunderstood, quiet little boy... except that he can see and talk to ghosts.When a curse on his small town awakens the undead, Norman takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups in this family horror adventure.

Not believing in an afterlife is like not believing in astrology.


PEEPING TOM
Michael Powell
1960

Cast: Carl Boehm, Anna Masse, Moira Shearer
Screenplay: Leo Marks

Released the same year as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, this shocking serial killer thriller is not to be missed. An unassuming young man stalks the streets of London, killing young women while he films there deaths. A film way ahead of its time.

Do you know what the most frightening thing in the world is? It's fear.


THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Rupert Julian
1925

Cast:  Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Based on the Novel by: Gaston Leroux

The most famous adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel (no, we're not counting the musical from 2004.)   Lon Chaney, the man of 1000 faces, sports one of his most ghastly and ghoulish disguises in this story of a disfigured composer living under a theater who falls in love with a beautiful opera singer.  

If I am the Phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so... If I shall be saved, it will be because your love redeems me.


THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Albert Lewin
1945

Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury
Screenplay: Albert Lewin based on the novel by Oscar Wilde

One of the most beautifully shot movies ever made (in fact it won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography), The Picture of Dorian Gray adapts the famous novel by Oscar Wilde. Dorian Gray is a corrupt young man that seems to keep his youthful looks no matter how much he ages, yet he keeps a magic portrait of himself that gets uglier and more ghoulish the more sins he commits.

If only it was the picture who was to grow old, and I remain young. There's nothing in the world I wouldn't give for that. Yes, I would give even my soul for it.


POLTERGEIST
Tobe Hooper
1982

Cast: JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson
Screenplay: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor

A family is tormented by a multitude of ghosts and supernatural scares. They come find out that the house was built on an Indian burial ground and the ghosts of the past are coming back for revenge.  One of the scariest movies of the 1980s.

They're heeeere.


PREDATOR
John McTiernan
1987

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Jesse Ventura
Screenplay: Jim Thomas, John Thomas

One of the great monster movies. Another sci-fi/action/horror classic from the 80s.  Only this time Arnold isn't the hunter, he's the hunted.  Arnold and a squadron of tough guy commandos  navigate through an unforgiving jungle as an unseen threat takes them out one-by-one.  Finally only Arnold is left standing to defend himself from this stalker from the stars.

Anna, this thing is hunting us. All of us. You know that?


Alfred Hitchcock
1960

Cast:  Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam
Screenplay:  Joseph Stefano based on the novel by Robert Bloch

Everything you have read, seen or heard about this film is probably true.  Unfortunately the "twist" ending has been parodied to death (no pun intended) and it, along with its iconic score, is part of the American pop culture landscape.  However, if you have never seen Psycho, then you owe yourself a good scare.  Psycho is a horror film without monsters, ghosts or gore, yet it will never cease to terrify audiences. 

It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?


RE-ANIMATOR
Stuart Gordon
1985

Cast:  Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton
Screenplay:  Dennis Paoli, William Norris, Stuart Gordon based on works by HP Lovecraft

While the story resembles a modern-day Frankenstein, Re-Animator is actually an adaptation of horror fiction legend HP Lovecraft's work.  A med student becomes involved in a series of bizarre experiments involving reanimating dead tissue when oddball scientist Herbert West arrives on campus. The film's mixture of slapstick and dark comedy combined with gory horror has elevated it to cult status among horror aficionados.

- You killed him!
- No, I did not. I gave him life.  


[REC]
Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
2007

Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza and Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Screenplay: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

A television journalist doing an special interest piece on emergency workers follows them to a call in the middle of the night to a dark apartment complex. Soon after they arrive, people start dying and the government quarantines the building, locking everyone inside. One of the last great "found footage" films before the genre became over saturated and it is also legitimately frightening.  

It's nearly 2 A.M. and we're still sealed in this building that we came to with the firemen earlier this evening, to assist an elderly woman who later attacked a policeman and a fireman. They're both in critical condition. The police won't let us leave and are giving us no explanations.


REPULSION
Roman Polanski
1965

Cast:  Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry and John Fraser
Screenplay:  Roman Polanski Gérard Brach

Carol, left alone in the apartment while her sister goes on vacation, slowly starts being haunted by her past. But is it a literal haunting of evil spirits? Or is it all in her head? One of the great psychological thrillers featuring a phenomenal performance by Catherine Deneuve.

I must get this crack mended.


THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
Dan O'Bannon
1985

Cast: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Matthews, Beverly Randolph, John Philbin, Linnea Quigley
Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon, from a story by Rudy Ricci, Russell Streiner from the book by John A. Russo

Both a meta exploration of and an unofficial sequel to Night of the Living Dead, two clueless medical supply employees unwittingly spill a batch of chemicals that leads to a new zombie outbreak that caused the original event. However, these zombies are smarter and have the ability speak (mostly "Braiiins!")  Return is definitely about laughs as much as it is about horror, but still keeps the cynicism of the original Romero classic.

- I thought you said if we destroyed the brain, it'd die!
- It worked in the movie!
- Well, it ain't working now, Frank!
- You mean the movie lied?


RINGU
Hideo Nakata
1998

Cast: Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani and Yûko Takeuchi
Writers: Hiroshi Takahashi (screenplay), Kôji Suzuki (novel)

Reiko researching a "cursed" video tape that purportedly kills anyone who watches it. When she discovers that her niece dies of a sudden heart attack with a ghoulish horrified expression froze on her face, she begins an investigation that leads her to a dark and tragic explanation as to what the "ring" in the videotape means. Later remade as a big budget Hollywood release starring Naomi Campbell, Ringu is an iconic Japanese horror film.

Ryuji? When it's time for me to die... Stay with me.


Roman Polanski
1968

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Screenplay: Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Ira Levin about a young couple by the names Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse who move into an old apartment building with a mysterious history.  Shortly after moving into the apartment, their elderly next door neighbors, The Castevets, quickly make friends with Woodhouse’s and Guy begins to spend an inordinate amount of time with the older couple.  After one of the residents suddenly and mysteriously dies, Rosemary begins to have wild dreams and hallucinations, followed shortly by a pregnancy.  While normally a time of great joy in a young couple’s life, Rosemary becomes increasingly nervous and perhaps paranoid of the Castevets unhealthy obsession with her unborn child.

He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!


SCREAM
Wes Craven
1996

Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson

The town of Woodsboro is being terrorized by a killer in a grim reaper costume that is killing of local teenagers. If the story sounds familiar, it's because Scream simultaneously satirizes and pays homage to the slasher movies of the 1980s. In a very meta way, the film points out the "rules" of a horror movie and follows them to the letter on-screen.  One of the most clever and fun films on this list.

There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.


SE7EN
David Fincher
1995

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Gwenyth Platrow
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker

One of the great serial killer mysteries of all time, trumped only by the reigning champion, The Silence of the Lambs (but we'll get to that later.) Se7en sees rookie Detective Mills and retiring Detective Somerset team up to solve the baffling mystery of a serial killers who chooses his victims based on the seven deadly sins: Greed, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Envy.  Each murder more grisly than the last, the killer stays one step ahead of the investigators all the way until the shockingly disturbing final scene.

This isn't going to have a happy ending.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Edgar Wright
2004

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Screenplay: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

The comedy of co-writer/actor Simon Pegg, actor Nick Frost and co-writer/director Edgar Wright hit it big not only in their native UK, but also struck a chord with American audiences as well.  Shaun is a loveable loser just trying to win back his girlfriend... in the middle of a zombie outbreak. The film packs plenty of zombie fun as well as laughs that play up to Pegg and Frost's comedic talents, but also satirizes the zombie genre.  It's not all fun and games, however, as the stakes are plenty high and the characters are in real danger, and in the middle of all the gore and laughs, you may find yourself legitimately touched by the human drama on screen.  

We take Pete's car, we drive over to Mum's, we go in, take care of Philip - "I'm so sorry, Philip" - then we grab Mum, we go over to Liz's place, hole up, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over.


Stanley Kubrick
1980

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson based on the novel by Stephen King

Jack Torrance is a struggling, alcoholic writer that takes a job as a caretaker for the Overlook hotel during the winter season.  He feels that the isolation and solitude will help him get over his writer's block while also making a little money, taking along his wife and his psychic son to keep him company.  Soon the hotel is snowed in by a massive snowstorm and Jack's frustrations and the hotel's haunted past slowly starts to drive Jack into a murderous psychotic state.

I'm sorry to differ with you sir, but YOU are the caretaker. You've always been the caretaker. I should know sir - I've always been here.


THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Jonathan Demme
1991

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Screenplay:  Ted Tally

The greatest serial killer movie of all time.  The film has everything: Scares? Check. A great villain? Actually, TWO great villains. Double check. A sympathetic hero? Check. A phenomenal story? Check.  The Silence of the Lambs is so good, it was the first, and so far only horror film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture (three others have been nominated: The Exorcist, Jaws and The Sixth Sense.) Not just that, but it hit a grand slam with awards for Director, Actress (Foster), Actor (Hopkins) and Writing.  Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a fledgling FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill." She thinks she can get some information from his former confidant, psychiatrist/cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter spends his sessions with Clarice analyzing her and playing a chess game of wills, meanwhile the clock ticks away on if the feds will over catch up with Bill.  Hopkins appears in the film on screen a total of sixteen, but his presence is so overwhelming that he must be considered one of the greatest villains of all time.  In fact, he is.

- If you didn't kill him, then who did, sir?
- Who can say. Best thing for him, really. His therapy was going nowhere.

M. Night Shyamalan
1999

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan

Before Shyamalan started relying too much on his gimmicks, this is the film that started it all. Creepy, chilling and suspenseful, this is a great film to watch this Halloween season. Still one of the greatest twist endings of all time. And if you're the last person in the world that DOESN'T know the ending, stop what you're doing and watch this movie now before someone inadvertently ruins it for you.

- I see dead people.
- In your dreams? While you're awake? Dead people like, in graves? In coffins?
- Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead.
- How often do you see them?
- All the time. They're everywhere.

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
Rowland V. Lee
1939

Cast:  Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
Screenplay:  Wyllis Cooper

Basil Rathbone plays Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (which, by the way, is a great name), one of the heirs of the original Dr. Frankenstein, who comes back to his roots only to discover his father's creature is still alive.  Wolf awakens the creature from his slumber, but the monster is being controlled by a revenge-crazed Ygor.  Karloff returns as The Monser with his Universal Horror compatriot, Bela Lugosi, playing the role of Ygor. Throw in Basil Rathbone, famous at the time for his Sherlock Holmes, and you've got a great monster movie.

My son, herein lies my faiths, my beliefs and my unfoldments. A complete diary of my experiments, charts and secret formulas. In short, the sum total of my knowledge, such as it is. Perhaps you will regard my work with ridicule or even with a distaste. If so, destroy these records. But if you like me burn with the irresistable desire to penetrate the unknown, carry on. The path is cruel and torturous, carry on. I put secret after truth, you will be hated, blasphemed and condemned. You have inherited the fortune of the Frankensteins, I trust you will not inherit their fate.


SUSPIRIA 
Dario Argento
1977

Cast:  Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Screenplay:  Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi based on the book by Thomas De Quincey

A new ballet dancer arrives at her school, but she begins to experience strange, and often seemingly supernatural, occurrences almost immediately after she arrives. After a few mysterious deaths, she begins to suspect the school is a front for something far more sinister.  Definitely a weird film by the acclaimed Dario Argento, but nonetheless fascinating. His direction leaves you unsettled as does the hauntingly creepy musical score by the band Goblin.

You wanted to kill me! You wanted to kill me! What are you gonna do now, huh? Now death is coming for you! You wanted to kill Helena Markos! Hell is behind that door! You're going to meet death now... the LIVING DEAD!


THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Tobe Hooper
1974

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger
Screenplay: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror masterpiece. It spends a good deal of time building the atmosphere of the film... right from the beginning you know things are not going to turn out well. And not just because you know it's a horror movie, but because unlike most slasher films, the audience can actually feel fear for these soon-to-be victims.  When Leatherface first makes his shocking appearance in the film, it's terrifying, but it gets taken to 11 during the "dinner" sequence where Marilyn Burns is the guest of honor for a dinner of cannibals. The scene is incredibly unsettling to watch and probably one of the most memorable in horror cinema.  

The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare. The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.


THEM!
Gordon Douglas
1954

Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon
Writers: Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (adaptation)

Sci-fi/horror goodness from the 50s! The world was afraid of nuclear weapons and the affects of radiation. What better way to play on their fears than a movie about giant insects rampaging across humanity?  Extensive atomic tests in the deserts of New Mexico cause regular ants to mutate into gigantic monsters. How can they be stopped? Nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects, the real star of the Effects bunch was the eerie sound effects that the giant ants emit before an attack.  Less scary in 2013 than in 1954, but a whole lot of fun to watch.

No. We haven't seen the end of them. We've only had a close view of the beginning of what may be the end of us.


THEY LIVE
John Carpenter
1988

Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
Screenplay: John Carpenter

John Carpenter's brilliant satire about American consumerism and politics. Roddy Piper stars as a nameless drifter, just looking for a job in the recession-filled 1980s, when he stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses allow him to see the world from a new perspective. With the glasses on he can see alien conquerors in disguise as humans and subliminal commands hidden in advertisements and products. His quest is simple: destroy as many aliens as he can and expose the truth to the world.

We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.

THE THING
John Carpenter
1982

Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David
Screenplay: Bill Lancaster

Another John Carpenter classic. This remake of the 1950s classic, The Thing from Another World (more on that in a moment), keeps the action in a frozen landscape, but changes the monster to ramp up the gore and scares. The alien in this film can take the shape of anything it comes into contact with, leading to a "who can you trust" atmosphere to the blood and guts.  The film was ahead of its time as far as practical special effects... remember CGI did not exist in 1982, which makes this film even more impressive.  The Thing features one of the great horror movie endings that keeps you guessing even after the credits roll.

So, how do we know who's human? If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me?

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
1951

Cast: Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James Young
Screenplay: Charles Lederer based on the story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr.

Scientists and Air Force officials in a remote arctic base discover a spaceship and its pilot frozen in ice. They take the frozen alien back to the base, where he thaws and begins a murderous rampage throughout its corridors.  The alien is depicted as 7 foot tall "man" with a Frankenstein-like face.  The filmmakers didn't believe the make up looked effective in close-ups, so they shot the creature in wide angles, which gave the film the added effect of making him seem more inhuman.  Truly one of the best science fiction creature features of the era.

Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!

TRICK 'R TREAT
Michael Dougherty
2007

Cast:  Anna Paquin, Bryan Cox, Dylan Baker
Screenplay:  Michael Dougherty

Michael Dougherty wrote and directed this fun horror anthology of four interwoven stories that all take place on Halloween night:  A principal turned serial killer choosing trick 'r treaters as victims; a sweet college girl who's looking for someone special for her "first time;" a woman who hates Halloween with a passion; and a group of teenagers pull a prank with lethal consequences. All these stories are tied together by the cryptic appearance of a Trick 'r Treater with a burlap sack over his unnaturally large head who may hold the scariest secret of all the stories...

 Eight jack-o-lanterns, eight victims. So we're gonna place these jack-o-lanterns down by the lake as an offering to those who died.

TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL
Eli Craig
2010 

Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Screenplay:  Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson

Two bumbling rednecks by a cabin in the woods, and on their way to their new vacation spot, run into a pack of teenagers on whom they live a bad first impression. The teenagers mistakenly believe that poor Tucker and Dale are homicidal maniacs in the vein of Jason Voorhees.  A series of gory (and hilarious) deaths occur as the teenagers pick themselves off one-by-one through their own stupidity, confirming Tucker and Dale's guilt to the survivors.  An exceptionally fun parody of the slasher films of the 80s.

Don't be sorry, it's my fault. I should have known if a guy like me talked to a girl like you, somebody would end up dead


VAMPYR
Carl Theodor Dreyer
1932

Cast: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko
Screenplay: Christen Jul, Carl Theodor Dreyer based on a book by Sheridan Le Fanu

Allen Gray, a young man obsessed with the supernatural, travels to a remote countryside castle. He begins to experience strange occurrences like a shadow with a life its own and a grim reaper-esque figure tolling bells. When a young woman begins to suffer from anemia, the evidence points to something more sinister.  If anyone ever claims horror isn't "high art," then show them this Dreyer masterpiece.  Art House Horror at its finest.


THE VANISHING
George Sluizer
1988

Cast: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets and Johanna ter Steege 
Screenplay: Tim Krabbé (novel), Tim Krabbé (screenplay)

Rex and Saskia are on a road trip when they stop at a busy rest area. However, Saskia never returns to the car and Rex begins to fear the worst has happened to his girlfriend. After questioning everyone in the rest area, he realizes that Saskia has been abducted. As time goes by, Rex never abandons his search for her and eventually tracks down the man he believes kidnapped her. Rex turns out to be correct... but he wishes he hadn't been.  One of the most disturbing endings of all time.

Sometimes I imagine she's alive. Somewhere far away. She's very happy. And then, I have to make a choice. Either I let her go on living and never know, or I let her die and find out what happened. So... I let her die.


THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Byron Haskin
1953

Cast:  Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne
Screenplay: Barré Lyndon based on the novel by HG Wells

Perhaps HG Wells' most famous work was finally adapted to the big screen in 1953. It was first adapted infamously as a radio play by Orson Welles, and caused widespread, in fact. So much so that studios wanted capitlize on the publicity and have Orson adapt it as his first feature film... Welles decided to make Citizen Kane instead. Fast forward to 1953 when this sci-fi classic was released in theaters. Martians land on Earth and launch an unprovoked attack on Earth. Nothing seems to be able to stop the invaders, not guns, not tanks, not even atomic bombs. How will Earth survive? While it may seem dated today, the film did win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

They seem to murder everything that moves.


THE WICKER MAN
Robin Hardy
1973

Cast: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento
Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer

The original, not the remake (that film is just.... awful.)  Police Sergeant Howie travels to a secluded Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. When he arrives, no one in the town claims to have even heard of her and Howie soon suspects a conspiracy is at play. He's right, of course, but he has no idea how twisted and evil the conspiracy turns out to be.  The story is smart and engaging and leads you to the unexpected ending.  Edward Woodward's delivery as he finally discovers what is to be his ultimate fate is one of the most convincing portrayals of fear on film.

That is good, for believing what you do, we confer upon you a rare gift, these days - a martyr's death.


THE WOLF MAN
George Waggner
1941

Cast: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi
Screenplay: Curt Siodmak

Another classic Universal Monster movie that has influenced many werewolf movies that followed.  Lon Chaney Jr. stars as Larry Talbot, a man who returns to his European homeland for his brother's funeral, only to be attacked the wolf creature of folklore.  Gypsies warn him that he himself will turn into a wolf, and their warnings come true. Talbot terrorizes the countryside as a werewolf, and upon transforming into a human again, retains vague memories of the slaughter and an urge to kill.  How will he break the curse of the wolf before he kills again?

It isn't a wolf... it's a werewolf!


ZOMBIELAND
Ruben Fleischer
2009

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson
Screenplay: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

In this horror/comedy, the zombie apocalypse is already in full swing.  Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), an unlikely survivor on his way to find his family in Ohio, the gun-toting bad ass, Talahassee, who's on his quest to find the last Twinkie, and Little Rock and Wichita, a pair of con artists trying to reach an amusement park band together on a road trip across zombified America.  There's plenty of gore and laughs along the way as Columbus narrates the different rules to surviving Zombieland such as always make sure a zombie is dead with the "Double Tap" and always, always "Wear your seatbelt."  Look out for one of the funniest cameos in horror cinema.

So until next time, remember: Cardio, seat belts, and this really has nothing to do with anything, but a little sunscreen never hurt anybody. I'm Columbus, Ohio from Zombieland, saying good night.


That's the list! Enjoy it! Share it!  Until next year... Happy Halloween!
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