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The Blob (1958). This creature classic holds up well and was as enjoyable today as it must must have been terrifying to children of its day. The standouts attributes include a young Steve McQueen and a terrifyingly, shapeless gob of a monster whose terror is born of its gooey lack of form. With many classic horror flicks, as compared to today's plethora of CGI, it is difficult to imagine classic effects that can actually elicit fear. The Blob is likely an exception, at least for today's youngins that might stumble across it. More so, this classic creature might have been at its frightful best when off the screen and thereby engulfing one's imagination. The acting was fair, which is in perfect accord for such a marvelous low-budget classic. Where The Blob stands tall are in its two standout scenes, one of which utilizes the camera effectively to exacerbate the sense of terror that has been infused into this small town. The denouement is short and sweet, satisfying and true to the era. While maybe not a masterpiece by today's standards, instead its originality and execution have rightfully oozed purchase into the realm of true horror classics. Merci.
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"The Phantom Of The Opera" (1925)
-Lon Chaney Brilliant on all levels. One of the greats in horror cinema. A must see film for all fans of classic horror. |
Torture Garden (1967)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...reGarden67.jpg Loved the Piano & Poe story most. >>: B+ |
rodan
war of the gargantuas not of this earth attack of the crab monsters the projected man phantom of the opera (25/29 & 41) |
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Sounds like a week well spent. |
"I Eat Your Skin" (1964)
Plot: ( For lack of a better term?) Swinging '60's Writer Tom Harris, his agent and his agents wife arrive on a beautiful island in search of material on voodoo legends for his novel. He unfortunately stumbles onto the secret laboratory of a mad scientist who is experimenting on reversing the aging process and instead is turning the natives into bug eyed zombies Phantom's Review: One of the best of the worst. A crap classic on all levels. Bad acting, terrible FX, no scares and the humor falls as flat as a board. In other words...IT"S GREAT!! But only if your in the mood for cheese. Perfect for a bad movie night. . |
"Phantom Lady" (1944)
Plot: IMDB Unhappily married Scott Henderson spends the evening on a no-name basis with a hat-wearing woman he picked up in a bar. Returning home, he finds his wife strangled and becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Every effort to establish his alibi fails; oddly no one seems to remember seeing the phantom lady (or her hat). In prison, Scott gives up hope but his faithful secretary, "Kansas," doggedly follows evanescent clues through shadowy nocturnal streets. Phantom's Review: Well made little Film Noir. Good plot and acting. Suspenseful and atmospheric. Very entertaining. |
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...-face-gore.jpg Wow! I thought they would keep the fiends remain invisible throughout the movie; so I was pleasantly surprised at the last part when those creepy 'Mental Vampires' started to become visible on the screen. The accomplishment was far ahead of its time...the special effects, sound effects, gore & the design or outlook of those creatures were incredible! And that makes now certain that why a remake is on the way for Hollywood.:rolleyes: >>: A- |
I love that movie. Those things still scare me!
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The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...c/HOU1928a.jpg http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...c/HOU1928B.jpg http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...c/HOU1928C.jpg A pretty bleak, morbid & loose adaptation of Poe's House of Usher classic. The Gothic atmospheric settings worked wonderfully; inside the house...the interiors of the walls, the mirrors, the curtains and the painting...all conveyed like the inner world of Roderick...dank, gloomy and decaying. With such nightmarish great visuals the eerie & sad background scores also contributed brilliantly in this total surreal masterpiece from silent era French cinema. But you can't compare it with Roger Corman's version...cause in a cinematic point of view both are extraordinary achievement but completely different than each other as the way they treated the Usher story in their own terms & fashion. >>: A |
The Collector (1965). Every so often a film comes along whose originality threatens its placement in a genre proper. The Collector is one such beast. Not really a horror flick, it is more a creepy drama centering on the early years of a mentally unbalanced man.
The story is itself claustrophobic, and how such a simple premise could be magnified into a feature length film defies logic. For the most part this film enjoys a limited set and an even more limited number characters. It is the terrifying story of a forcefully contrived relationship and its repercussions. This awkward situation infuses itself into the meat of the story, allowing for a continual sense of dread even when things appear to be going well onscreen. It almost comes off as an accidental horror flick. The acting was phenomenal. With only two characters filling the screen for most all of its run time, these two never become tiresome, but instead almost ripen right before our eyes. Terrence Stamp excels as the creep, a man that seems fully transparent but whose character is from such a different planet that we can only sense the dread that is in store for those caught in his net. Samantha Eggar is likewise wonderful, herself trying every trick in her purse to remedy her dismal situation. Toward the film's end her frustration drives her to decisions that really cannot be helped but that will likely perpetuate her desperate plight. William Wyler's direction was spectacular. The whole production was held just askew enough to leave us perfectly discombobulated without feeling alienated. Awkward camera angles continually pull out the perturbed emotions that drives this story forward. The score was splendid as well. It more than set the mood, but almost applauded the twisted nature of the antagonist and his wiles. Even the end was a fresh surprise, its denouement leaving plenty of room for fertile imaginations to manifest scenarios even worse than that which was just survived, and all without unnecessary violence or gore. d |
Leech Woman. The movie was a little all all over the place in that they had tried to cream a to long story into a to short movie but all in all I liked it and I think it is a good film. If I am not mistaken this film was made in 1960.
The plot of Leech Woman is that you have a scientist who completely neglects his beautiful, older wife to find a way to reverse aging. One of his patients claim to be over 150 years old, the scientist and his wife go to Africa and learn that a woman's secret is powder from a particular flower mixed with human spinal fluids. The acting was good, and a costumes and sets where nice to. All in all I really liked this film. |
Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy. Been on a Karloff kick lately.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...JEKYLLHYDE.jpghttp://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...dhdc/Hyde3.jpghttp://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...dhdc/Hyde1.jpg oh, that's I think the creepiest makeover for Mr. Hyde ever portrayed in films. Loved it. >>: A- The Bloody Vampire (1962) http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...yvampire62.jpg This is one hell of a fun vampire flick from Mexico. :) >>: B+ |
I saw The Devil's Hand today, it is from 1960 something and was rather fun, a bit slow at times but definitely fun.
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Mr. Sardonicus.
One of Castle's best. He plays it straight all the way through and creates a really creepy atmosphere. Oskar Homolka is great as Sardonicus's servant. This could almost be a Hammer film, if it were in color. |
I am watching Frankenstein right now hah :)
..Not finished yet but I know how it ends.. |
Curse of the Demon.
A masterpiece, even in its truncated form. |
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Its been ages since I've seen that film but I don't remember 'a trip to Stonehenge' was this restored in the version you watched. But you're 100% correct - the film is a master piece. I really must buy it on DVD. It one of the few times where a film is better than the source material (though I love the James story too). I know Tourneur really didn't want the demon seen but I actually liked it and its design. The still of the demons face has really become a horror icon. |
I recently watched How To Make A Monster, Blood Of Dracula and The Killer Shrews.
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I like the demon as they show it from afar- all firey and smoking... but I have to admit the close-up is a bit cheesey. I'd love to see it as Tournier wanted it. Like The Haunting, the imagination could do wonders. |
"Dracula's Daughter" (1936)
-Gloria Holden Plot: IMDB Prof. Van Helsing is in danger of prosecution for the murder of Dracula...until a hypnotic woman steals the Count's body and cremates it. Bloodless corpses start appearing in London again, and Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska seeks the aid of Jeffrey Garth, psychiatrist, in freeing herself of a mysterious evil influence. The scene changes from foggy London back to that eerie road to the Borgo Pass... Phantom's Review: Lambert Hillyer's atmospheric sequel to 1931's "Dracula". a creepy, well ,made film. Heavy on atmosphere and style As far as sequels go, this ones a winner. |
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"Pursuit To Algiers" (1945)
-Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce Plot: IMDB Holmes is recruited to escort the heir to a European throne safely back to his homeland after his father's assassination. Phantom's Review: Decent entry in the Rathbone Universal Series. Good story and acting. Nothing great, but fun to watch. |
"War Of The Colossal Beast" (1958)
Plot: IMDB Glenn Manning, "The Amazing Colossal Man," believed dead after falling from the Hoover Dam, reemerges in rural Mexico, brain damaged, disfigured, and very hungry. Phantom's Review: Sequel to the classic(?) "The Amazing Colossal Man". Cheesy, silly and lots of fun. Perfect for a bad movie night. |
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The Story of Mankind
Not actually a horror movie- it's a light-hearted allegorical fantasy in which The Spirit of Mankind (Ronald Coleman in his last film) and Mr. Scratch argue the fate of humankind in a celestial courtroom. Vincent Price plays the debonair devil, Mr. Scratch, trying to prove mankind is ultimately evil, and he is in typically fine form. It's a perfect role for him. Other members of the cast- John Carradine as an Egyptian pharoh, Harpo Marx as Isaac Newton, Peter Lorre as Nero, Groucho Marx as a Pilgrim, Heddy Lamar as Joan of Arc, Agnes Moorhead as Queen Elisabeth and Dennis Hopper as Napoleon. Not really a great movie, but fun to watch for all the star cameos. Directed by Irwin Allen. |
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"Earth vs The Spider" (1958)
Plot: IMDB When a man doesn't come home one night his daughter and her boyfriend go out searching and encounter a giant spider in a cave near the man's wrecked car. Coming back with the Sheriff, the spider is seemingly killed by DDT spraying, and the body then hauled for storage in the high school gymnasium. However, a loud dose of rock music by a teenage garage band revives the arachnid and sends it rampaging through the town. Phantom's Review: Another Bert I. Gordon classic. Simple plot, cheesy FX, and barely there acting......in other words..IT"S GREAT!! Lord, how I love these 1950's giant monster movies. |
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He made some great Giant monster/animal/people films...I must do a rewatch of them. |
The Killer Shrews (1959)
Plot: IMDB On an isolated island, a small group of people are terrorized by giant voracious shrews in the midst of a hurricane. Phantom's Review: A.K.A....Dogs In Wigs. Hysterically funny, low budget monster movie. Bad FX, over acting and a barely there plot..in other words..IT"S GREAT!! If you love those silly 1950's movies( like I do) this one is for you |
Have watched Earth Vs The Spider and The Killer Shrews recently. Fun movies to watch!
Also have watched Roger Corman's Triple set recently released: Attack Of The Crab Monsters, Not Of This Earth & War Of The Satellites. Certainly not Academy Award material but still entertaining and enjoyable. |
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"Frankenstein" (1931)
-Boris Karloff There is absolutely nothing I can say about this film , that has not been said already. So I'll use the one word that describes it best...classic. |
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The Fallen Idol (1948)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...LLENIDOL48.jpg A very beautiful suspense drama from Carol Reed with excellent cinematography and screenplay. Just gave it a watch after reading it about on Totalfilm.com's list of 20 Awesome Obscure Movies. >>: A |
Just saw Nosferatu... I was really impressed. The whole silent thing is new for me but I think its something I can get into.
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