6 -
The Haunting (1963)
The pioneer of movies based on the haunted house premise,
The Haunting is regarded as a classic in the genre today. Dishing out genuinely creepy thrills and chills, with plenty of scares and suspense-charged sequences, this movie broke new grounds in the 60s with its strong script and brilliant presentation of it. The buildup of the atmosphere of the movie is excellent. The house itself is presented with a chilling emptiness, with its closed doors and deep, dark, unknown passageways. The viewers will feel fidgety and unnerved as the characters themselves are driven towards uneasiness, gripping all of them with a tense foreboding of evil.
The plotline is simple - a scientist comes across a house named Hill House, which is said to have been unlucky and haunted ever since it was built. He is determined to spend some time in the house, so that he could prove his theory about a house being really haunted. For his adventure, he invites a group of people who have had some experience with the unknown before, but only a handful of those decide to accompany him. And once night falls, the scares start, and its a long way till morning comes...
The characters are introduced with unique personalities each, which adds further to the tense atmosphere of the movie. The strong point of the movie is the apparent lack of any real visual scares, yet it excels in inspiring sheer horror in the audiences. The script is driven by the solid premise of the fear of the unknown, which is maintained from the beginning of the movie till the end. Its darn near impossible to sit through this movie and not feel even one moment of genuine fear, but the constant suspense of the eventual solution or a possible explanation makes this an edge-of-the-seat ride. Also there are twists in the plot which add subplots to the pace of the flick and make it more unpredictable, yet they add to the psyche of the movie, and fill it with total surrealness and gripping tension.
Excellent direction, a very strong script, and great performances create a masterful horror-filled atmosphere throughout this classic. The editing, soundtrack and cinematography are awesome, and make
The Haunting a milestone in the horror genre...often repeated, but never bettered.
7 -
Repulsion (1965)
Few films can capture the circumstances under which existence itself becomes terrifying. In the paranoid, silent realm of our nightmares, the last spoon in a drawer or a can of soup on an empty counter can become terrifying, sad or awe inspiring.
Repulsion is like
Evil Dead without the demon-zombies; trial after trial, act of violence after act of violence as life becomes a source of sheer horror.
Being a Holocaust survivor, Polanski knows that life, limb and sanity are harder to retain than people think they are, and that in many cases they are prizes to be earned and not things to be taken for granted.
Repulsion does not just show things that are frightening, it shows what it means to be frightened. Catherine Deneuve gives a transcendent performance in what I believe to be Roman Polanski' s best film. A must for students of atmospheric and psychological horror.
8 -
The Fearless Vampire Killers aka
Dance of the Vampires (1967)
A surreal, satirical classic. It's weird but I thought this actually delivered better and creepier vampires than a lot of the Hammer films that it spoofed! One of my favorites and a very glossy, expensive production. Great movie - odd ball characters ... terrific atmosphere ...
Not everyone is "tuned in" to this kind of humor. The extended no-punchline joke. It's also a very languid film...not a lot of action scenes. Like that whole thing at the inn at the start of the film--that's a very long section. But yes, it's a thing of atmosphere.
It's one of those great "WTF!??!" movies. Nothing set up at the beginning of a scene plays out the way you think it's going to. Movie constantly messes with the viewer's head. A comedy with a basically tragic ending. Pretty much about as clever and bizarre as you can get. And in the midst of all this supposed comedy, it actually DOES have a very creepy and disturbing quality.
9 -
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Rosemary's Baby came out right at the height of the counterculture revolution of the 60's, when change was viewed by many as not necessarily a good thing. The story deals with the idea that nobody is safe, no matter where you are. It brought evil into the mundane world of a New York apartment, and was portrayed as so subtle and isidious that it could invade not only your home, but your children. To many,
Rosemary's Baby actually inspired one of the greatest horror films of all time:
The Exorcist.
What makes the film even more creepy is that we never really know if the baby is the spawn of Satan, or if the mother was simply under hallucinatory delusions the entire time. A deep and insightful study of psychological and paranormal horror at it's heightened best.
10 -
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Night of the Living Dead is considered by some to be the ultimate in terror. And for good reason. It was new, refreshing, and shocking. It practically busted the doors to modern horror straight off of their hinges. Sure, American film seekers had seen zombies before, but never like this. Never had such an apocalyptic and horrifying race of creatures scared us so badly. There have, and will be, many great zombie movies since. But this will always remain the granddaddy of them all.
The Sultan of Shock. The Master of Macabre. The King of Carnage.
Night of the Living Dead.
Honorable Mentions:
The Innocents (1961)
Onibaba (1964)
Hour of the Wolf aka
Vargtimmen (1968)
Another week. Another decade. Till then...happy nostalgic memories!