HDC Presents: 100 Years of Horror

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As the lists continue to pour in for the 40s, let's start our summation for the first period of this era - the 1890s to the 1920s.

Total number of lists received = 9.


IN THE CUT

Nosferatu (1922) - 9
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) - 9
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) - 9

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) - 8
Faust (1926) - 8
Frankenstein (1910) - 8
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) - 8

The Cat and the Canary (1927) - 7
The Golem (1920) - 7
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - 7

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) - 6
London After Midnight (1927) - 6

The Bat (1926) - 5
The Man Who Laughs (1928) - 5
The Phantom Carriage (1921) - 5
Un Chien Andalou (1929, Short) - 5
West Of Zanzibar (1928) - 5


DEBATABLE

The Monkey's Paw (1923) - 4
Waxworks (1924) - 4

Bluebeard (1901, Short) - 3
Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - 3 (backed by fortunato, seconded by Fearonsarms)
The Golem (1915) - 3
The Hands of Orlac (1924) - 3
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1922) - 3
The Lodger (1927) - 3
The Lost World (1925) - 3


MINORITY

A Page of Madness (1926) - 2 (backed by fortunato, seconded by neverending)
Dante's Inferno (1911) - 2 (backed by Fearonsarms)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, Sheldon Lewis) - 2
The 400 Tricks of the Devil (1906, Short) - 2 (backed by Straker)
The Monster (1925) - 2
The Penalty (1920) - 2
The Student of Prague (1913) - 2
The Terror (1928) - 2
The Unknown (1927) - 2
The Wizard (1927) - 2

A Blind bargain (1922) - The Ugly Duchess
Der Januskopf (1920) - neverending
Destiny (1921) - roshiq
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912, Short) - The Villain
Eerie Tales (1919) - Fearonsarms
House of Horror (1929) - hammerfan
Salome (1923) - Fearonsarms
The Dark Mirror (1920) - The Ugly Duchess
The Haunted Castle (1921) - fortunato
The Headless Horseman (1922) - The Villain
The Man Who Cheated Life (1926) - roshiq
The Sealed Room (1909) - Straker
The Unholy Night (1929) - The Ugly Duchess
Wolf Blood (1925) - Chronogrl


17 films have made it in, by a vote percentage of over 50%.

We need to select 3 more films from the other two sections (preferably from the DEBATABLE section), and 6 Honorable Mentions from the rest.

I have posted the names of the HDC-ians who sent in their unique choices, i.e., those which got only 1 vote, and that vote was theirs only.

Please post your reasons for choosing your unique films, your backing for the MINORITY & DEBATABLE selections, and why you feel your chosen ones should be included in the 3 remaining spots and/or the 6 Honorable Mentions for this first period of horror.

OR

If everyone is in agreement, we can toss in the two films with 4 votes into the final selection. That way we end up with 19 films, and need to select ONE from the rest.

So, go ahead. Post your views.

[fortunato]

La manoir du diable deserves inclusion by virtue of that fact that it's generally considered to be the first horror film. While it was made to be goofy and playful rather than frightening, it still contains many aspects of what would become part of the language of horror cinema--Gothic castle, bats, ghouls, ghosts, as well as some early special effects--all in one 3+ minute short.

[Fearonsarms]

Originally Posted by fortunato

La manoir du diable deserves inclusion by virtue of that fact that it's generally considered to be the first horror film. While it was made to be goofy and playful rather than frightening, it still contains many aspects of what would become part of the language of horror cinema--Gothic castle, bats, ghouls, ghosts, as well as some early special effects--all in one 3+ minute short.

Seconded :)

[Fearonsarms]

Dante's Inferno (1911) Deserves inclusion because not only the first full length horror from Italy but because it successfully adapted the first on-screen vision of hell adapted from Dante's writings. Though it's more like a series of set pieces than a cohesive movie, it impressively portrays in graphic detail the many torments to be inflicted on it's residents. Inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream. This gives the whole nightmare an atmosphere that is relentlessly unique and otherworldly that will still send a shiver down the spine of the viewer.

[Straker]

The Sealed Room: Kinda plays out more like a melodrama, loosely based on The Cask of Amontillado. Nice early example of gothic cinema. Pretty well edited for the time, which keeps the drama/ tension flowing which in itself is a pretty awesome achivement considering there are only a handful of static shots across the 11 minuites run time. Its quite dark for the time and the tension builds nicely and its all well put together. Great movie from a great director, check it out here if you have a spare 10mins:



OK, now do I think its worthy of one of the final spots? I'm not so sure looking at the competition... The Student of Prague is amazing and I expected to see that in the final cut without debate, along with Waxworks. The Golem, not a huge fan but totally expected to see it in the final cut.

Skimming through the list though if I had to get behind just one film to make the final cut that is looking like its going to fall short, it would totally be 400 Tricks of the Devil George Melies deserves a spot on the final cut and could easily have two or three in there. 400 tricks is my personal favourite, but Le Manoir du Diable is equally deserving. Either way I really think he needs a little love as a genuine pioneer of visual effects which plays such a huge role in the horror genre.

Please check it out:

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All excellent arguments. Edited the list accordingly.

Please check it again.

[fortunato]

Holy cow! I just realized A Page of Madness is up for debate.

Okay, so this one really deserves a spot. It's one of the first films, as far as I know, to use a "pure cinema" approach to exploring the subjectivity of madness, creating expressive visual poetry of a distorted and frightening world. With surreal imagery and experimental editing techniques, A Page of Madness is a haunting, insane masterpiece, surely unique in not only its time, but even to this day. I strongly encourage anyone not familiar with the film to watch it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zud4gj9FYzU

Unfortunately a lo-res copy of a terrible transfer, but even still it's hypnotizing.
It would really be a shame for such an incredible, singular film to be excluded from the list.

I know Roshiq will back me on this one!

[neverending]

I'll vote for A Page of Madness as well.

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Done .

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Still waiting for some more entries from the 40s, and backings for the 20s period.

Feel free to chip in with your thoughts, folks.