"If this world is ruled by demons and monsters we may as well give up right now."
In which I list my favorite horror movies.
Well, here it is, October. If Halloween is not such a rustic, unostentatious phenomenon anymore thanks to costume stores that sell “sexy Xenomorph” costumes, crass, excessively gory “Haunted Woods/House/Hospital” type attractions, “Trunk or Treat” events held mostly in response to the urban legend of “razor blades and drugs in candy”, and of course those lovely slasher films that people seem to be fascinated by, it does still evoke a certain affection for someone like me, who grew up reading folklore books and watching horror movies on television, not to mention going trick or treating a few times. So, like most media obsessives, I do have my favorite supernatural-themed (not sci-fi, giant monster-type, that’s a whole ‘nother list) films that have left an indelible impression on me, and here are ten, in no particular order other than what I thought of them.
CURSE/NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)
As you’re most likely aware, this was originally titled Night of the Demon, but the producer had it changed to Curse of the Demon in the US to avoid confusion with the recently released Night of the Iguana. I think if Hitchcock had ever decided to do a movie about witchcraft, it would have been a lot like this, and I think some scenes in Hitch films like The Birds may have been inspired by this film. Dana Andrews is a professor named John Holden, a skeptic debunker of the supernatural, in England for a conference; when he arrives he finds one his colleagues has died under very mysterious circumstances and while investigating at the behest of the colleague’s daughter, he runs afoul of cult leader and warlock Julian Karswell, played with jovial malevolence by Niall McGinnis. A demon is summoned by planting a parchment strip with runes drawn on it; it summons a giant demon who in turn murders the unfortunate possessor. Karswell slips Holden one of these horrible lottery tickets, and the game is afoot. Incredibly dark in places and gothic looking in that way that only 1950s British cinema can be, and it has one very tense and exciting finale with at least one moment that makes me gasp a little even though I’ve seen this film a hundred times. The actual demon, which the director (Jacques Tournier) and screenwriter (Charles Bennett) did not want in the film, spoils the mood a little by being such an obvious puppet but when you’re deep into this one, it’s easily overlooked.
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER aka ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY (1941)
This one is worth watching for the bravura performance of Walter Huston as Mr. Scratch aka, yep, the Devil in this story of sin and redemption in early post-Revolutionary War America, and the New England area in particular. Hard luck farmer Jabez Stone sells his soul to the Devil in return for prosperity and riches, but when he finds out the true nature of the deal he’s made, his long suffering wife and redoubtable mother petition Daniel Webster to represent Jabez as he tries to get out of the contract and save his soul. Top billed Edward Arnold is fine as Webster, if a bit ostentatious, and unfortunately James Craig, the actor that plays Stone, is a bit of a lug (a real Jethro Bodine type) and a poor actor to boot, but he doesn’t really mess things up too much thanks to Huston, whose fiesty Scratch is mesmerizing to watch and elevates everyone and everything. The gorgeous Simone Simon has a minor role with major impact as “Belle”, a literal nanny from Hell. Like Curse of the Demon above, much of the film is dark, moody and atmospheric (especially in the climactic “courtroom” scene) but it’s also full of quaint, old-fashioned charm. The studio did the film no favors when it came to promotion; searching for a poster turns up a lot of artwork that de-emphasizes the supernatural aspects in favor of an approach which makes the movie look like a scandalous melodrama. Weird. But I love this movie.
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
Pretty sure most of you know this one well; it’s one of those “visual flypaper” films that I can sit and watch anytime, anyplace. There’s too much wry, bemused humor in this to consider it a straight up horror movie, but director James Whale keeps the stakes grounded in reality and thus ensures that we care about what we see onscreen. A masterpiece of both horror and black comedy. Especially noteworthy to me is Ernest Thesiger as Henry Frankenstein’s old mentor Doctor Praetorius; Thesiger’s prissy malevolence and monomania is matched by his bone dry sense of humor. Colin Clive is back as hapless Henry Frankenstein, 30s staple Una O’Connor is on hand to do her shrill biddy schtick, Dwight Frye once again is a not so bright lab assistant to Praetorius, Elsa Lanchester, lovely as always, as the hissing Bride as well as a Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in the opening scene, and of course Boris Karloff as the monster, this time scarred from burns and capable of limited speech, but poignant as always. I hate to say it, but it’s really hard for me to watch Bride now and not be reminded of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944, filmed in 1941)
Not a horror pic per se but it is set in autumn in suburban New York and just reeks with atmosphere, so I have always considered it a Halloween pic even though there’s nothing supernatural or horrific about it. Lifelong bachelor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant, mugging outrageously), marries his neighbor and fiance Elaine Harper (a never more radiant Priscilla Lane) on the down low because he’s made his name as an author of books with a decidedly anti-marriage slant and he doesn’t want the word to get out. While he waits for her to pack for their honeymoon, he checks in on his aunts who raised him, and, as they say, complications ensue. This one, while mostly played for laughs, has a creepy black and white atmosphere to it that really enhances the proceedings. Raymond Massey plays Mortimer’s long lost and homicidal brother, a role that Boris Karloff played onstage- the running joke is that all his facial reconstruction work (courtesy of his drunken associate Peter Lorre) makes everyone remark that he looks like Karloff. The play was still doing good business when this movie was made in 1941, so it sat on the shelf until the play’s run was complete.
THE BLACK CAT (1934)
Karloff vs. Lugosi in a weird art deco mansion that also doubles as a devil worship temple. Psychiatrist Bela (who has a fear of cats, hence the title) has beef with Satanist Boris that dates back to the Great War, and his climactic revenge is memorable. This is one strange movie but it may be Lugosi’s finest overall moment in film, and Karloff is at the top of his game as well. “Superstitious…perhaps. Baloney…perhaps not.”
THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)
Christopher Lee made his name playing Dracula (we’ll get to one of those movies later) for Hammer Films, of course, but he did a lot of other projects for the studio, including a turn in this one as a good guy of sorts, an investigator of the supernatural and combatant of evil- Nicholas, the Duc de Richleau. Rocky Horror’s “narrator”, Charles Gray, is on hand as the evil devil worship cult leader who plagues a family in contemporary England. The special effects are all over the place… budget limitations, no doubt, and some are convincing, others not so much. I really liked Lee as this character, and wish he’d done more films as the Duc.
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)
This one has captivated me since I first saw it on the CBS Late Movie back in the mid-70s. It walks a thin line between black comedy and horror, all done in that dry, one eyebrow cocked British fashion. It has a feel similar to the Avengers TV show. Set in an approximate early 20s timespace, at the height of the Art Deco movement, concert organist and Doctor of Music & Theology Anton Phibes’s wife Victoria falls ill and has to have emergency surgery… on the way to the hospital, Phibes is involved in a horrible car accident and is presumed dead. Victoria dies on the table. However, Phibes didn’t really die, he survived, horribly burned and disfigured, and plans revenge on the team of surgeons who failed to save her. And, since he’s a Theologist, he decides to murder them all in ways based on the plagues that Moses inflicted on Egypt, which creates a number of very elaborate death traps, realized imaginatively by director Robert Fuest, Vincent Price as Phibes, and a cast full of well known British actors of the day including Terry-Thomas. This film hits me in a number of sweet spots, and I can usually watch it anytime.
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)
Christopher Lee played a lot of roles for Hammer Studios in the 60s and 70s, but the one he was most famous for was, of course, Count Dracula. This one was the third in the series, and Hammer was already trying to see how far they could push the envelope narrative wise, and this movie is often just nuts, with that bright red gore that was a Hammer trademark by then and a lot of, well, progressive ideas about vampire lore- for example, Drac gets staked about midway through this one, but because the staker is an atheist and refuses to pray as he does so, the Count pulls the stake back out and proceeds to wreak havoc. This one also has a really interesting character in Monsignor Ernst Mueller, who manages to hike up the mountain to Drac’s castle and perform an exorcism, then tacks a big gold cross to the front door. Meanwhile, a priest that accompanied Mueller who was too afraid to go all the way up falls, hits his head, and the blood from his wound trickles down to Drac, who was conveniently frozen in ice below him. The Count, who revives completely after the Monsignor has already gone back down the mountain, is understandably pissed at this turn of events, and swears vengeance on the Monsignor and his family. The exciting Horror of Dracula and its sequel Dracula: Prince of Darkness were a bit more traditional, but this one (another one I first saw on the CBS Late Movie) ups the ante for fun. The promotion in England was a bit more serious and traditional; the American poster (above) has always made me laugh so I present it to you.
THE LADY IN WHITE (1988)
The most recent film on my list, and for a while this one showed a lot on HBO. It’s a murder mystery with a supernatural tale going on in the background, and it’s very faithful visually to the time period. I remember this one fondly, and haven’t seen it in a long time… I need to remedy that soon.
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)
Vincent Price and Roger Corman did several adaptations of Poe stories in the early 1960s, but this 1964 film seems to be the most meticulously structured and creative of all of them. Vincent Price is the callous Prince Prospero, who invites the all the nobles of the area to shelter at his castle while the plague ravages the countryside. Jane Asher, at the time Paul McCartney’s girlfriend, is a peasant girl Prospero takes a shine to. Elements of Satanism are worked in throughout, and a scene in which Price and Asher walk through a series of rooms set in a different color each, and it’s visually striking. Combined with an awesome ending, complete with a post-climactic scene with mysterious robed figures representing the plague, also in different colors each, there’s enough going on to engage the eye as well as the mind.