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Post by James on May 14, 2018 20:56:56 GMT
You should absolutely do that, man. I'm surprised for a horror fan like you has never seen Psycho. I never saw the Bates Motel series, though. I know, surprising a Horror fan like myself has yet to see Psycho. There's quite a few other famous Horror films I've yet to see like The Omen and Rosemary's Baby as well. Yep, I saw both those. Then again, I never saw the original Dead trilogy (Night, Dawn, Day) or many of the Universal/Hammer monster films, aside from the 1931 Dracula.
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Post by Neon Maniac on May 15, 2018 2:13:52 GMT
I know, surprising a Horror fan like myself has yet to see Psycho. There's quite a few other famous Horror films I've yet to see like The Omen and Rosemary's Baby as well. Yep, I saw both those. Then again, I never saw the original Dead trilogy (Night, Dawn, Day) or many of the Universal/Hammer monster films, aside from the 1931 Dracula. Night Of The Living Dead is definitely a major one to have missed. It's likely dated to many these days, but I can see how back in 1968 it shook up cinema in a big way.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 20, 2018 20:51:01 GMT
Some more…
Hammer
Dracula: Brides of Dracula, 1960 Though it doesn’t actually have Dracula in it (!), this movie is entertaining and colorful, with some great atmosphere and a far quicker pace than the slow-as-molasses Horror of Dracula ’58. As always, Peter Cushing is excellent, giving real pathos and character to an underwritten but heroic Van Helsing; and director Terence Fisher manages a genuine fairy-tale atmosphere, commonly cited but, in reality, infrequently seen for Hammer. Exciting climax (later borrowed by Tim Burton for Sleepy Hollow, 1999). Runner-up: Scars of Dracula.
Frankenstein: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, 1969 Where Brides of Dracula works because of its mood and atmosphere, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed succeeds in spite of those factors; indeed, for a Gothic horror story it’s not particularly Gothic—far more of a character-study, but an excellent one with Cushing’s monstrous Dr. Frankenstein as a proto-Hannibal Lecter. Performances are masterly all-round, and there’s a magnificent Hitchcockian suspense sequence in the garden. (Hitchcock apparently praised Fisher’s work on a suspense flick called So Late at the Fair that I have yet to see.) From a pure filmmaking perspective, the best of Hammer’s Gothic horrors. Runner-up: The Revenge of Frankenstein.
Mummy: The Mummy, 1959 The best of the Hammer Mummy series but not particularly good in its own right—no real atmosphere and not a particularly terrifying mummy, and not even as good as the ’99 version, a fun Indiana Jones knockoff. At least Lee’s Mummy looks impressive. (I haven’t seen Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, Seth Holt’s last picture, which is also supposed to be good.)
Other Gothic Horrors: The Kiss of the Vampire, 1963 Better in concept than in execution, but the concept is fascinating—especially Clifford Evans’s hard-drinking anti-Van Helsing. Several sequences should have been milked for more, and the pacing is too slow, but there are many great ideas—and the masked ball (shadows of Roger Vadim’s excellent Et mourir de plaisir!) makes up for the negative qualities. It also inspired The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), one of Polanski’s most wholly satisfying works. Runners-up: The Gorgon, The Plague of the Zombies, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde.
Psychological Thrillers: Scream of Fear, 1961 A masterpiece—by far the best film the Hammer company ever produced. Brilliantly directed by Seth Holt, a true auteur (and one of British cinema’s finest Hitchcockians) despite having only seven pictures to his name. Exciting, surprising, devious—this one’s great.
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Post by Neon Maniac on May 21, 2018 7:20:48 GMT
Some more… Hammer Dracula: Brides of Dracula, 1960 Thought it doesn’t actually have Dracula in it (!), this movie is entertaining and colorful, with some great atmosphere and a far quicker pace than the slow-as-molasses Horror of Dracula ’58. As always, Peter Cushing is excellent, giving real pathos and character to an underwritten but heroic Van Helsing; and director Terence Fisher manages a genuine fairy-tale atmosphere, commonly cited but, in reality, infrequently seen for Hammer. Exciting climax (later borrowed by Tim Burton for Sleepy Hollow, 1999). Runner-up: Scars of Dracula. Frankenstein: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, 1969 Where Brides of Dracula works because of its mood and atmosphere, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed succeeds in spite of those factors; indeed, for a Gothic horror story it’s not particularly Gothic—far more of a character-study, but an excellent one with Cushing’s monstrous Dr. Frankenstein as a proto-Hannibal Lecter. Performances are masterly all-round, and there’s a magnificent Hitchcockian suspense sequence in the garden. (Hitchcock apparently praised Fisher’s work on an early suspense flick called So Late at the Fair that I have yet to see.) From a pure filmmaking perspective, the best of Hammer’s Gothic horrors. Runner-up: The Revenge of Frankenstein. Mummy: The Mummy, 1959 The best of the Hammer Mummy series but not particularly good in its own right—no real atmosphere and not a particularly terrifying mummy, and not even as good as the ’99 version, a fun Indiana Jones knockoff. At least Lee’s Mummy looks impressive. (I haven’t seen Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, Seth Holt’s last picture, which is also supposed to be good.) Other Gothic Horrors: The Kiss of the Vampire, 1963 Better in concept than in execution, but the concept is fascinating—especially Clifford Evans’s hard-drinking anti-Van Helsing. Several sequences should have been milked for more, and the pacing is too slow, but there are many great ideas—and the masked ball (shadows of Roger Vadim’s excellent Et mourir de plaisir!) makes up for the negative qualities. It also inspired The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), one of Polanski’s most wholly satisfying works. Runners-up: The Gorgon, The Plague of the Zombies, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Psychological Thrillers: Scream of Fear, 1961 A masterpiece—by far the best film the Hammer company ever produced. Brilliantly directed by Seth Holt, a true auteur (and one of British cinema’s finest Hitchcockians) despite having only seven pictures to his name. Exciting, surprising, devious—this one’s great.
Good post. This actually make me want to check the Hammer films out soon. I don't think I've seen any since the mid-to-late 90s at least, when the Sci-Fi Channel showed them back then.
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Post by Neon Maniac on May 23, 2018 22:41:03 GMT
It was posted about recently in a couple of the other threads on this topic, but Carrie is another series I remembered. The 1976 original is definitely the best one, although I actually do rather like and enjoy The Rage: Carrie 2 quite a bit.
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Post by Neon Maniac on May 26, 2018 5:18:40 GMT
Not sure if Jurassic Park would count as Horror, I sort of consider the series Horror-y in a way. In any event, the original is very easily the best by a landslide.
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Post by Neon Maniac on Jun 13, 2018 20:35:05 GMT
Giving this a little bump
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Post by Neon Maniac on Jan 30, 2019 22:29:15 GMT
The newest Halloween was excellent but John Carpenter's original is still the best and always will be.
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Post by Grabthar's Hammer on Jun 2, 2019 2:44:23 GMT
Friday The 13th - Part II Halloween - Original A Nightmare On Elm Street - New Nightmare Saw - Original Scream - Original Evil Dead - Original Alien - Aliens Predator - The Predator Hellraiser - Original Child's Play - Bride of Chucky The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Original Final Destination - Original The Conjuring - Annabelle: Creation The Purge - Anarchy
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