…and this is a 
Happy Halloween!
Category: Entertainment
Posted on: October 31, 2008 11:54 AM, by PZ Myers
It's Halloween, and I'm on my way to Toronto, where I'll be spending a most unhallowed evening giving a talk. The one thing I regret about this is that I won't be indulging in my favorite guilty pleasure for this time of year: watching an old horror movie or two. I'll just reminisce here for a few minutes over my favorites. Don't expect profundity, I admit up front that my taste is indiscriminate.
All of the Hammer films — I happened to hit adolescence just as there was this renaissance of British horror, so these caught me at an impressionable age.
The Abominable Dr Phibes. Vincent Price at his cheesiest. Vincent was splendid in lots of movies: The House of Wax, House of Usher, Witchfinder General, The Raven. And The Raven starred Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff as well!
Cat People, both the Val Lewton original and the remake with Nastassja Kinski. It's one of those movies that tangled sex and horror together wonderfully.
Speaking of sex and horror…The Lair of the White Worm. Amanda Donohoe is my kind of woman.
The Wicker Man. Not the awful recent remake, but the creepy one with Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee.
Quatermass and the Pit aka Five Million Years to Earth. Who cares that it had cheap special effects — intelligent writing always wins out.
Cheesy Japanese rubber suit flicks. These are ridiculous and weird, which is the appeal. I can snarf 'em down like popcorn.
Mad scientist movies, for some unfathomable reason, appeal deeply to me. From Colin Clive tho Jeffrey Combs, if it's got a deranged maniac with a gift for violating the laws of god and man, I will identify.
There are a few movies that can only be described as surreal which are wonderfully disquieting: Eraserhead and Tetsuo come to mind.
I haven't been too impressed with more modern horror — grisly gore just bores me — but one recent movie that I thought was well done was El Orfanato. If I were staying home tonight, that's the one I'd be watching while handing out candy to the kiddies at the door.
Your turn.
Comments
Posted by: I am so wise | October 31, 2008 12:03 PM
The scariest movie I've ever seen is the film of the 2001 Inauguration followed its sequal- The 2004 Inauguration.
Posted by: Josh West | October 31, 2008 12:05 PM
If you haven't seen 'The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra', you are doing yourself a disservice.
Posted by: Saddlebred | October 31, 2008 12:06 PM
Does anyone know why PT and AtBC are down? I hope it is just Reed doing some routine maintenance and not something worse =S.
Posted by: Cappy | October 31, 2008 12:07 PM
Scary: The Shining.
Freaky: Zardoz.
Scary/Funny (a hard thing to pull off): The Frighteners.
Politically Scary: Bob Roberts.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT, OM | October 31, 2008 12:09 PM
Jesus Camp.
I know it's a big time movie but The Shining the scariest movie aver made.
Posted by: SPFS | October 31, 2008 12:09 PM
The Haunting - 1963, dir. Robert Wise (NOT the atrocious remake with Catherine Zeta Jones!)
Excellent ghost story, very creepy,
Posted by: JStein | October 31, 2008 12:11 PM
Jesus Camp is a good one. I'm going to sit down and watch it again with some of my Evangelical friends next week.
What about Young Frankestein? Now that's a classic. It's in black and white and everything. Peter Boyle and Gene Wilder, both geniuses.
Posted by: rs | October 31, 2008 12:12 PM
Wow, you mentioned Tetsuo. How about a sewer screw?
Posted by: G Barnett | October 31, 2008 12:12 PM
John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" -- Cameo by Alice Cooper
"Pan's Labyrinth" -- brilliant, dark and creepy.
Posted by: Kobra | October 31, 2008 12:13 PM
The only new horror movie that doesn't suck is Silent Hill.
If you want to laugh your ass off at poor production quality, I also recommend Satan's Little Helper.
Posted by: Patricia | October 31, 2008 12:13 PM
Oh goody! Cheesy horror movies, even those scare ME, but I do like Wicker Man.
When I was a kid The Blob, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Fly and Godzilla (original) made me hide my face in a pillow.
Don't watch The Wizard of Oz, those damned monkey's will give you nightmares!
Posted by: Chris Hughes | October 31, 2008 12:14 PM
Vincent Price in Masque Of The Red Death...
I love the scene in The Raven where Peter Lorre, who apart from his head is a human-sized raven at the time, is led down the stone steps into a typical horror film dungeon, and as he looks around at the effects department cob-webs he mutters 'Hard place to keep clean, huh?'
Posted by: drew | October 31, 2008 12:15 PM
I'm sure you saw this, but here's an octopus who thinks for himself...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3328480/Otto-the-octopus-wrecks-havoc.html
Posted by: MikeM | October 31, 2008 12:17 PM
ANYTHING involving Ed Wood. Plan 9 is the best, though.
Posted by: Steverino | October 31, 2008 12:19 PM
"Halloween"....the first. Lots of suspense with out all the gore.
Posted by: t fife | October 31, 2008 12:19 PM
"Curse of the Demon" . . . hands down the best. It was based on the M.R. James story "Casting the Runes."
Posted by: steven pirie-shepherd | October 31, 2008 12:22 PM
Halloween watching with movies I possess
1. the original Nosferatu
2. The cabinet of Dr Caligari (original)
3. Quatermass and the Pit
4. The Horror of Dracula (Lee and Cushing)
5. Frankenstein created woman (Cushing)
6. The wicker man (original)
Movies I need to buy soon
1. Vampyr (1932 version)
2. Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein (Karloff versions)
3. Countess Dracula (Ingrid Pitt, hubba hubba)
Posted by: DaveG | October 31, 2008 12:22 PM
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, TV miniseries.
The ending, while not a conventional horror trope, was spooky and sad.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077399/
Posted by: MikeM | October 31, 2008 12:23 PM
Kobra, you really liked Silent Hill?
That one made me laugh. Hard.
Sorry.
The scene with the blind zombies, who were ready to go at the slightest provocation down in the -48th level, was pretty hilarious.
And barbed wire. What was with the barbed wire?
Posted by: Nick Gotts | October 31, 2008 12:23 PM
Scary/funny: almost as brilliant as "Young Frankenstein", Polanski's "Dance of the Vampires" (may have been called "The Fearless Vampire killers" in USA). Favourite scene: a potential victim brandishes a cross at an approaching vampire, who responds, in a strong Jewish accent: "Boy, have you got the wrong vampire!".
Posted by: Raynfala | October 31, 2008 12:25 PM
The Ring
Seriously!
No other recent horror film freaked me out quite like this one.
Posted by: t fife | October 31, 2008 12:26 PM
I do have to add that the thing with the eyes on his hands in "Pan's Labyrinth" is the best monster in movie history.
Posted by: Bmeissner | October 31, 2008 12:26 PM
One of the scariest of the classic sort is The Haunting, the original, not the remake. But probably the single best horror movie of all time is, for reasons I can never fathom, found in the Comedy section of most DVD places. It's Brazil. Only saw it once and don't think I could ever watch it again. *shudder*
Posted by: Nick Gotts | October 31, 2008 12:26 PM
Oh yes, The Wicker Man! The godbot cop deservedly meets a horrible fate!
Posted by: Masks of Eris | October 31, 2008 12:28 PM
Bad Taste and Evil Dead plus sequels.
Never watched much horror so don't have much to choose from.
Posted by: Megathieron | October 31, 2008 12:28 PM
Young Frankenstein was awesome, but I have a soft spot for the Critters movies...
Posted by: MikeM | October 31, 2008 12:31 PM
I'm pretty sure I won't be watching Cape Fear with my 11-year old tonight.
Posted by: Raynfala | October 31, 2008 12:33 PM
Oh yeah, another interesting one is Cube.
Despite the deserved (?) flames for playing it fast-and-loose with the math bits, it's still a very watchable movie.
I still have nightmares about the trap in the opening sequence...
Posted by: Keenacat | October 31, 2008 12:37 PM
Oooooh, "The Wicker Man"...
I have to admit I only saw the remake-thing, but it was kinda unexpected...
________!!!Spoiler!!!_______
Read only if you already saw the film!
There usually is some escaping at the end of horror films, but this one... It was like... Ok guys, it was all kinda creepy and stuff. Now where is the cavalry to save this poor guy? Hey, they just lit up that thing. Now, there must be anyone out there to rescue him. Didn't he send a letter to anyone or called someone? Ok, there is some serious burning going on, there must be some helicopter or something rescuing him... Well.. Erm...
I don't remember having seen a lot of horror films with this kind of anticlimax.
_____End of Spoiler______
Have you seen "House of the 1000 Corpses" by Rob Zombie, by the way? We ran into it on an otherwise booooring night on TV and the titel was so much of a stereotype, we had to watch it. We didn't expect anything and were quite surprised. It's really gory and stuff, a nice treat if you do not expect something extraordinary.
Posted by: PeteFord | October 31, 2008 12:37 PM
Just saw The Ruins (unrated edition) a few days ago. One short scene made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - without spoilers, I'll just say: "Flowers. Cellphone." 'Nuff said.
Posted by: Milton | October 31, 2008 12:37 PM
"Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". Nothing like JC fighting lesbian vampires using kung fu moves. With a mexican-wrestler sidekick!
Posted by: Scott D. | October 31, 2008 12:38 PM
The Orphanage is the best scary movie I've seen recently, and Pan's Labyrinth was pretty creepy and very good.
Posted by: Patricia | October 31, 2008 12:38 PM
Add more cheese... Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. *snerk*
Posted by: alchemist | October 31, 2008 12:38 PM
Guillermo del toro has done a bunch of creepy ghost stories, but not really scary: The Devil's Backbone I liked.
He also produced "The Orphanage" which I thought was fantastic. Be ready for spanish subtitles.
Oh, and anything with zombies or alien people:
Cell (book, not a movie yet), Night of the Living Dead, The Thing, The Signal, Pulse etc
Posted by: Duncan | October 31, 2008 12:38 PM
My picks would be
Legend of Hell House
Re-Animator
Lair of the White Worm
a new film and it's hard to find called
Let the Right One In
Posted by: Bill From Mn | October 31, 2008 12:41 PM
Tonight I'll be watching John Carpenter's The Thing and the Exorcist. Despite my atheism and non-belief of all things supernatural, my imagination enjoys all things supernatural and this movie scares the crap out of me as a good story.
I also love zombie flicks and time permitting I may pop in the new Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later.
Posted by: Architeuthis | October 31, 2008 12:42 PM
Definitely Prince of Darkness... one of the best ever.
The Exorcist (original)
In the Mouth of Madness (great lovecraftian horror cheese with Sam Neil)
and I'm gonna be playing "Dead Space" on my Xbox 360. Probably one of the best survival horror games i've ever played next to the game "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth". Scary as hell.
And my halloween outfit is "Joe the Plumber: I'm just an average bald white guy trying to make it in this world.. ask me about my foreign policy"
happy halloween everyone!
Posted by: Greg Peterson | October 31, 2008 12:43 PM
Fans of El Orfanato would probably also like "The Devil's Backbone."
It's criminal that there's no decent DVD of Ken Russell's "The Devils," based on Aldous Huxley's "The Devils of Loudun." Now that's some creepy shit.
And I know it got pretty roundly panned, but I'm a Romero loyalist, so I'm going to plug "Diary of the Dead," although I suppose the best zombie movie in recent years is probably "28 Days Later."
For mad scientists, might I recommend "Expelled." There was a chilling scene that seemed to promote knitting.
Posted by: CrypticLife | October 31, 2008 12:46 PM
No Asian horror fans here?
The Ring (original Japanese version): anyone who watches a particular creepy video dies after 7 days,
Shutter: a couple runs into someone on the road, and then finds a ghost showing up in their pictures
The Haunted Apartments: A father and daughter move into an apartment complex only to find ghost(s) have set up rules so that no one can move out until someone else moves in
(I didn't really like The Eye, and didn't see Grudge), or Audition was a bit torture-fetishistic for my taste.
In monster horror, the first two Alien movies were the last good ones I saw.
Nicholas Cage had a wonderfully ambiguous vampire movie.
Posted by: Don | October 31, 2008 12:47 PM
Years ago the BBC used to do adaptations of MR James stories at christmas. Whistle and I'll come to you, my lad was cracking.
Posted by: Emmet Caulfield | October 31, 2008 12:49 PM
I absolutely love 30's/40's horror flicks, of the Lugosi and Karloff type, hilarious stuff, and I'd watch any the Hammer, Price, Lee, Cushing type stuff for it's camp kitsch amusement value. Once you know about "Corman's Law" (Corman supposedly said that you should always "show a little tit every 10 minutes"), it makes watching his flicks of that time quite funny too. Not only do they have the kitsch value, but the periodic titillation scenes are so regular that you can set your watch by them. It's really quite funny.
I remember finding The Exorcist and Poltergeist pretty scary when I first saw them as a child, but I've found that my amusement at gob-smacking stupidity (going to investigate the cellar where a half dozen of your buddies have been eaten rather than getting the fuck out of the house) has worn very thin, and I now find the odd horror flicks that I see irritating in their formulaic banality.
Since you mention Eraserhead, I found it unbearably tedious and irritating; it's one of a handful of films I absolutely hate: a complete waste of celluloid.
Posted by: CrypticLife | October 31, 2008 12:50 PM
Oh, I'd forgotten 28 Days Later.
Hmm, gotta find a movie my 8-year old can watch, but which I'll still enjoy. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Hairy Doctor Professor | October 31, 2008 12:52 PM
"The Thing" (both the original 1950's version and the Kurt Russell version), **any** of the Karloff/Lugosi/Chaney (not Cheney - too scary) classics, **any** of the Godzilla-eats-Tokyo, and most of the low-budget B&W monster/scifi/lost-world/stop-motion flicks (such as The Mole People and The Valley of Gwangi). I have a sneaking admiration for one of George Pal's worst, too: Atlantis, The Lost Continent.
Posted by: Keenacat | October 31, 2008 12:53 PM
@ CrypticLife:
Recently I saw one of those asian things involving some girls getting creepy vids of their own deaths on their cell phones. I thing I got the last five minutes of something that might have been the second part of this film some days later.
Maybe you have an idea what film it was?
Posted by: Ted Dahlberg | October 31, 2008 12:54 PM
Ooh, this thread reminded me that I've been meaning to watch The Thing and Prince of Darkness for ages (I've seen neither before). I'll be doing that tonight. Hmm, and perhaps Big Trouble in Little China, which I maintain is one of the masterpieces of modern cinema.
Posted by: Don | October 31, 2008 12:54 PM
Currently on UK's Channel 4 is the excellent Dead Set. The contestants in the Big Brother house are unaware that the outside world is in the midst of a zombie apocolypse.
http://www.e4.com/deadset/
Posted by: John | October 31, 2008 12:55 PM
One of the most unsettling traditional ghost stories is Whistle and I'll Come to You, made in 1968 for the BBC. Black and white. Minimal special effects. Shows what intelligent writing, fine acting, and visionary directing can do. Absolutely spinechilling.
Easier to find is The Vanishing - the Dutch original, not the Hollyweird remake. If you don't know it, has the most disturbing final scene of any film I've seen.
Posted by: Keenacat | October 31, 2008 12:55 PM
I "think", of course. Or at least I hope so.
Posted by: Craig | October 31, 2008 12:55 PM
One of my favorites, and it's regularly overlooked:
John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.
One of the last great truly haunting gore films:
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Posted by: MarkW | October 31, 2008 12:57 PM
I knew there was a reason I read your blog PZ. You're a man with taste.Posted by: xymbionicx | October 31, 2008 12:59 PM
OoooH spooky films OK :-
Eraserhead yea this is 1 totally WIERD film
The ring (japanese version)
Audition (japanese version)
Quatermass and the pit as u say some dodgy special effects but excellent acting and the plot actually hangs together (Nigel Kneale)
Tetsuo (first one in B&W)
Carrie
The omen
Posted by: Brian | October 31, 2008 1:01 PM
I'll just do this bullet-point style in no particular order:
-An American Werewolf in London. I still get goosebumps hearing that howl.
-The Howling. Watching Eddie the Mangler turn into an utterly convincing werewolf (after pulling out part of his brain through the bullet hole in his forehead!) was outstanding.
-Trilogy of Terror. Specifically, the last part of the movie in which a 12" tall Zuni fetish doll comes to life and terrorizes a lone woman in her apartment.
-Army of Darkness. Perhaps one of the best horror/comedy movies in a long time. Why?:
Ash - "Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store".
Demon - "Who the hell are you?!?"
Ash - "The name's Ash. (Cocks shotgun single-handedly) Housewares."
-ReAnimator. C'mon. Barbara Crampton naked on a table? Over the top gore? What's not to love?
Posted by: Kobra | October 31, 2008 1:04 PM
@19: Silent Hill isn't exactly terrifying, but I thought it was an okay movie. Not as good as it could have been, though.
Posted by: Zeno | October 31, 2008 1:06 PM
When it comes to horror movies, I have always been a big sissy. I don't enjoy being frightened "for fun" and my imagination is just too vivid for my rational mind to say "calm down, you big baby" and have it work. Like Patricia (#11), I used to find even Godzilla movies scary when I was a kid. Yeah, rubber-suit monsters were terrifying!
And I hate splatter movies and avoid them like the plague.
I have, however, a real appreciation for The Wicker Man. That is one compelling piece of film, full of sharp writing and foreboding atmosphere, all done without gore and evisceration. Not that it's gentle, however. Christopher Lee is in his element and has one of the best lines ever: "A Christian should wecome the opportunity to be a martyr for his faith."
Posted by: Dianne | October 31, 2008 1:06 PM
Hmm, gotta find a movie my 8-year old can watch, but which I'll still enjoy. Any suggestions?
Spirited Away. It's only technically a ghost story (the ghost is a minor character) but it's one of these stories (quasi-spoiler alert!)that's scary to adults because they imagine what might happen but not so scary to kids who trust the structure of the story and know it's going to work out all right in the end.
Posted by: foxfire | October 31, 2008 1:07 PM
So, no Rocky fans here? How can you seriously forget The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Or the first Exorcist or the first Hellraiser?
Ah Quatermass! Gots the Pit and I still like the just plain Quatermass (Huffity Puffity) best. That and the Brit TV version of the Hitchhiker's Guide (orange towel!)
Anyway, Happy Halloween fellow "godless" people.
P.S. Wanna read a real scary story, try the Old Testament sans all the annoying begets.
Posted by: Steve8282 | October 31, 2008 1:07 PM
Let the right ones in
Is the best film I have seen this year but be ready for Swedish subtitles.
Posted by: uberd00b | October 31, 2008 1:09 PM
The Signalman by Charles Dickens. The BBC production is fantastic. An eery scary period ghost story. Actually scary, as opposed to these modern horrors where you see the monster within the first 10 minutes (boo!).
Posted by: Moggie | October 31, 2008 1:09 PM
What's really scary is that I thought we'd already done this thread. Spooky!
Posted by: GregW | October 31, 2008 1:10 PM
Serpent and the Rainbow
Wizard of Oz (as a child, those flying monkeys scared the crap outta me)
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Young Frankenstein
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (in glorious black and white although I will settle on the 1970s remake)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (I thought it was stylistically well done. Too bad that Keanu Reeves made it out alive though)
Posted by: JPBrowning | October 31, 2008 1:12 PM
First post here, but long time reader and I had to throw my 2 cents in on this one.
Event Horizon
Not really sure what the world's idea of this movie is, but most people I know loved the movie. Crazy sci-fi freaky flick. Love it!
Posted by: Alverant | October 31, 2008 1:16 PM
I'm either going to watch Rocky Horror Picture show or an MST3K episode with a horror theme
Posted by: Architeuthis | October 31, 2008 1:20 PM
@craig nice to see another fan of that movie... really underrated, really creepy and really good.
@JPBrowning: oh yeah, event horizon... one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies second of course to Alien.
my friends and I are planning a horror video game night:
Dead Space
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners
Silent Hill
The Darkness
He's got a 60+ inch hi-def projection screen and we plan on scaring the hell out of each other... should be fun!
Posted by: Artoo45 | October 31, 2008 1:21 PM
Kwaidan. Interminably slow, but creepy Japanese ghost stories. The Long Black Hair is my favorite.
Posted by: Gregory Kusnick | October 31, 2008 1:21 PM
Monster House is a good recent animated haunted-house story.
Posted by: CrypticLife | October 31, 2008 1:21 PM
Keenacat@44
You probably saw "One Missed Call" (Japanese title Chakushin Ari) http://www.sarudama.com/japanese_movies/chakushin_ari.shtml
I haven't seen it, but Miike is a great director.
Posted by: Tom | October 31, 2008 1:28 PM
To Greg Peterson #38 - I've wanted to see The Devils ever since a girlfriend said she was physically sick while watching it - and she was no softee.
Another vote here for the Wicker Man - the original of course! Not many people know that it's a musical (of sorts). Very atmospheric and very erotic. Worth climbing a mountain to watch, if only for the Britt Eckland 'next room' scene. Phew!
Posted by: Paul Lundgren | October 31, 2008 1:29 PM
Someone already picked Pan's Labyrinth, so I'll go with Dark City. Jennifer Connelly is MY kinda woman. Oh la la... (Sorry, ERV)
Posted by: Darrell E | October 31, 2008 1:29 PM
I haven't seen many horror films in years because my wife is not a fan. The one horror movie that stands out in my mind is "It's Alive," from the early to mid '70s. That one warped me. I was about 10 years old and had to sneak into the theatre to see it. Messed me up for weeks. It would be interesting to see it again. At my current age it would probably be more like comedy than horror.
Not sure this is horror, but it was pretty disturbing. One evening my (then) future wife and her girlfriend wanted to rent a sexy movie for the evening. They came home with a movie titled "The Rapture." It was not what they thought it would be.
Posted by: Ryan F Stello | October 31, 2008 1:29 PM
If freaky situations is more your thing than repetitive monster flicks, I highly recommend The Descent: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/
Posted by: DaveH | October 31, 2008 1:33 PM
Sorry OT but I haven't laughed so much in weeks!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm
On topic: Anyone remember "Zoltan, Hound of Satan"? Devil puppies!
Posted by: Dave Wisker | October 31, 2008 1:34 PM
One of my favorite Japanese scary films was "Attack of the Mushroom People"
Posted by: Keenacat | October 31, 2008 1:35 PM
Thanks a lot, CrypticLife. I am sure this is the film, I remember the girls name "Yumi". I will get it somewhere and watch the whole thing, since the parts I've already seen were pretty nice and unsettling.
Posted by: Abby Normal | October 31, 2008 1:38 PM
Tonight I'll be watching:
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, I've heard people say there's another version, but I refuse to believe it.)
A Bucket of Blood (not gory despite the name)
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
And if I'm still awake after that, Teenage Catgirls In Heat (Troma humor/horror)
I also want to second (or third) Cube, one of my all-time favorites.
Posted by: HumanisticJones | October 31, 2008 1:39 PM
-ReAnimator - great sort of film with cheesy effects and over the top acting ("You couldn't call, or write a note."
"I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know. And what would a note say, Dan? 'Cat dead; details later'?")
-Juon: infinitely better than The Grudge. The independent stories that cross each other only to cause the horror afflicting one character to spread to the next was just amazing.
-The Thing: because nothing says Halloween like a defibrillation scene resulting in a man losing both his arms as the head of the body sprouts spider legs to crawl away.
-Wizards: not so much scary but with all the people dressed up as fantasy creatures, I was inspired to watch it again last year on Halloween. There's something to be said for Elves, Faeries and a good wizard fighting the army of goblins, trolls, orcs, cyborgs, and mutants lead by an evil wizard and his use of old Hitler speeches to inspire them to evil.
Posted by: Valis | October 31, 2008 1:48 PM
Lots of good movies mentioned here, but my personal favourite is Clive Barker's Lord Of Illusions.
Posted by: the pro from dover | October 31, 2008 1:50 PM
All of Ray Harryhausen's stop action black and whites, Creatue from the Black lagoon, Them. Worst ever?- Blair Witch Project. The movie equivalent of Fannie and Freddie.
Posted by: AtlLiberal | October 31, 2008 1:51 PM
For sheer cinematic style and beauty I'd have to vote for "The Cell" as one of my all-time favorites. Here's a link if you're not familiar with this film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209958/
Posted by: Craig | October 31, 2008 1:51 PM
I watched Midnight Meat Train recently, based on the Clive Barker short story. Not bad. It had some annoying modern "look at all the gore I can do" moments, but other than those (not too many) it was genuinely creepy.
Other Clive Barker gems:
Hellraiser
Candyman (tho Clive didnt direct it)
Posted by: spgreenlaw | October 31, 2008 1:54 PM
Oh man, I haven't seen Eraserhead in ages. I think Samhain is a good occasion for another viewing.
Also, I am totally doing a mst3k monster movie marathon while I hand out candy. You want cheesy monsters? Joel/Mike and the bots are the best place to turn.
Posted by: Gary | October 31, 2008 1:54 PM
Rocky Horror.........?
Tis' just a jump to the left.
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution | October 31, 2008 1:56 PM
I still have a soft spot for "Poltergeist"... not the sequels... the sequels never happened. You hear me? Never. Happened.
The scene with the toy clown on the boy's bed still gives me the creepies just thinking about it.
That, and I remember being a kid, watching The Omen (the original, bot that horrible recent remake) late at night with my friends and being scared shitless...
Posted by: nkb | October 31, 2008 1:58 PM
The Birds, by Hitchcock, freaked me out as a kid. The only horror flick I ever saw that gave me nightmares.
Someone mentioned Dance of the Vampires - excellent, and very funny.
Someone also mentioned Army of Darkness with Bruce Campbell. Outstanding!
Posted by: Sean McCorkle | October 31, 2008 2:03 PM
Since you're allowing sci-fi horror (i.e. the most excellent Quatermass),
I like these end-of the world stories - cerebral and moody IMHO
and these oldies
Posted by: Rick R | October 31, 2008 2:04 PM
"Quatermass and the Pit aka Five Million Years to Earth. Who cares that it had cheap special effects -- intelligent writing always wins out."
Great movie!
I'll also go with "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" from 1978. Changing the story from rural setting to urban was brilliant.
"The Exorcist". Not just great horror, but one of the best movies ever made, period. Make sure you see the original 1973 version, and not the 2000 director's cut. The redo kind of unravels a lot of what made the original such a model of how to make a horror film without being the least bit cheap and cheesy.
Ah, the 70's.
Posted by: Patricia | October 31, 2008 2:06 PM
Has anyone seen that new Johnny Depp slasher/musical? I usually will watch anything with him in it, but this one is reportedly really bloody.
Damned if I can think of the title of it!
Posted by: mojoandy | October 31, 2008 2:06 PM
"Bride of Frankenstein". Seriously, it's a good movie, and better than the first. The line "Gods and Monsters" is in there, inspiring the title of the biopic (also good).
"The Changeling" (the one with George C. Scott). That bathtub.. that wheelchair. Eek.
Posted by: spgreenlaw | October 31, 2008 2:10 PM
Patricia,
I believe you are thinking of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It's a lot of fun, and while there is a lot of blood, I still think its something the more squeamish amongst us (I would include myself in that number... the sight of real blood makes me go dizzy) can enjoy. Some of the singing leaves something to be desired, but the visuals and the story line are wonderful.
Posted by: gazza | October 31, 2008 2:11 PM
I'm convinced that if you see any one of the classic horror films outlined here in the right situation that it converts easily from horror to comedy.
I remember seeing The Exorcist back in the 70's when it was state of the art horror (on-screen projectile puking with green slime and masturbation!). But it was with a student audience - so as the exorcism reached a climax ("the power of christ commands, the power of christ commands", etc, or something similar) some guy pipes up "all together now, 1, 2, 3....". From that point everything horrible became a laughfest.
There's a narrow dividing line between film horror and comedy.
Posted by: Stephen Llewellyn | October 31, 2008 2:12 PM
Quatermass !! I remember that in its original iteration as a television series in England - back in the old black-and-white screen days, 1959. There had been two previous series, the first was The Quatermass Experiment and then Quatermass II.
Posted by: dave | October 31, 2008 2:13 PM
""Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". Nothing like JC fighting lesbian vampires using kung fu moves. With a mexican-wrestler sidekick!"
Amen to that. Especially since it's a musical and the penultimate dance number is entitled "Everybody Gets Laid Tonight!"
Oh, and the evil kung fu atheists rule!
Posted by: Graculus | October 31, 2008 2:21 PM
Chronos. I'm not even sure it's horror, although the plot reads like it should be, it isn't shot as a horror flick. And it's excellent.
Anything from John Carpenter.
Nomads. Based on a Chelsea Quinn Yarbro tale.
The Others. A fairly good ghost story.
The 80's remake of The Blob. Far, far better than the original.
Dusk Til Dawn. Who doesn't love Mexican vampires?
Posted by: Mikey M | October 31, 2008 2:21 PM
"Mr. Sardonicus"
The original "Alien."
And, speaking of Hammer babes, let us not forget Stephanie Beacham.
Posted by: Logicel | October 31, 2008 2:28 PM
Not exactly horror, but very classy Halloween fare, Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace. Hilarious and creepy, plus my mouth watered at the old aunties shoving whole, freshly home-baked pies through their kitchen window for the trick and treaters!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic_and_Old_Lace_(film)
Posted by: ggab | October 31, 2008 2:28 PM
The Exorcist -Amazing movie.
The Orphanage was good.
The Ring -American verion
Dark Waters -This one was super creepy but it absolutely has to be the Japanese version.
The Thing - One of my all time favorite films period.
Great funny horror? Cemetary man. Fantastic film.
I hate torture porn, so I haven't seen any of the "Saw" films or "The Passion of The Christ".
Posted by: HumanisticJones | October 31, 2008 2:31 PM
#31 and #90,
Ah good old JC:VH, that movie still rocks. Got to love such lines as
"The power of Christ Impales You!" - tagline for the movie
"Oh, God loves them. They get so much done in a day, don't you think? " - Virgin Mary on Lesbians
And the inclusion of Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata as Jesus' sidekick was just awesome. That reminds me. Any of the old Santo fights a movie monster films are good for some campy Halloween fun. How can you go wrong with a title like "Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo"