ok lets all shit our pants to something old: pre-2006 horror film thread

Anyone ever saw this followup show after Tales From The Darkside? Completely new to me. Just saw the box set (72 episodes) for sale. I'd assume it is at the same level of the previous show.

I watched it when it was originally on. My memory is that it was slightly goofier than Darkside and that's why I gave it up. And I was their target audience. That said, there must be a few gems in there.

A few. A LOT of crap.

Those Rollin films are great. May see if I can get over to Fopp tomorrow.

Night Of The Hunted was there too. Quite a lot of Redemption/Salvation label films were there but I have no idea what kind of quality they are.
They had Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders on the label but Second Run put out a better DVD version.

NUDE VAMPIRE

Experiments on a vampire girl, a slightly science fictionish approach. Colourful fashions. Some mansions. Ritualistic cult parties for the rich. A son discovering his father is corrupt.

Good: a disordered messy soundtrack. Some decent images. The approach seems quite fresh compared against horror films of the time.

Bad: lots of scenes are quite clumsy and weak, especially the one with the twin girls being knocked downstairs. The visuals aren't as stylistically consistent as you'd expect from Rollin. One of the main male characters dresses laughably when he probably should have looked more powerful. Quite a few of the costumes look poor, there are some interesting fashions but few are pulled off very well.

I'm sure this was among the top recommended Rollin films but I found it mostly weak.

I was looking at my DVD collection to remind myself which Rollin films I had seen. I still have Shiver Of The Vampires but I must have got rid of Fascination. I keep having the feeling I've saw another one but maybe not.
I wonder why I got rid of Fascination but kept quite a few weaker films.

Nude Vampire DVD had quite a long interview with Rollin, mostly going over the basics, nothing too surprising.
Very little of his prose fiction has been translated but apparently some of it was quite weird. I often wonder how different directors would be when they have the freedom of words.

THE IRON ROSE

A boy and a girl meet at a party, go to the train station and run around massive old trains, then get lost in a graveyard at night. They can't find their way out, getting quite scared but then the girl finds her inner goth and doesn't want to leave, starts dancing, making poems and having visions.

The pleasure of the film is the stunning sexy cuteness of Francoise Pascal and the graveyard wandering that dominates the film. There's surprisingly little nudity (most nudity taking place in a beach vision), perhaps they were wary of getting into trouble but that doesn't explain what looks like proper graveyard vandalism in some scenes.
I quite liked it but I think it needed something more. Wish there was less of the douchey guy and more of the girl's visions. She mostly describes things and seems to imagine herself on a beach but I think there needed to be more ways to convey the other world she is talking about.

I've heard this divides fans but quite a few claim it is his best film (I think Kim Newman was of that opinion). It was even more of a passion project to Rollin than his usual films and he prepared himself for a flop but I think the response was worse than he expected.

For reasons I cannot fathom, I am the hugest fan of The Iron Rose. Its vibe is just perfect.

i made a rollin poll a few yrs back - un poll de jean rollin

I'm so tempted to buy that Monsters set now that it's available, even knowing that it's perhaps a little on the subpar side.

Universal has recently released a box set of what appears to be all of their OG monster movies (I think it's basically a repackaging of their old Legacy Collections). Any thoughts on what the hit/miss ratio is on these? I'm sure the sequels all pale in comparison to the originals but I'm curious nonetheless.

It pains me to say that I think the photo/stills books dedicated to Universal Monsters are better than the films for the most part, because just like Hammer, I totally adore the style. I presume we are talking about the sound era from 30s-40s-50s? I like the silent Phantom Of The Opera with Chaney Sr, even if it is way too long.

I'd warn any newbies buying these in bulk to not get their hopes too high. Despite being a huge studio with some solid contributors, all these films (even the best ones) feel slapped together to some extent. You can tell that a lot of the cast and crew really don't care. It really shows that they were churning these out.
However great some scenes look (and all of the ones I've seen do have something nice to look at), there is rarely a feeling of concentrated effort across a whole film. Many feature comic relief scenes that don't sit very well with the rest of the film.

From what I can remember...

DRACULA
Some cool sets, Lugosi and Frye are enjoyable but otherwise there isn't much going on. The Spanish version is widely considered better but I've yet to see that.

FRANKENSTEIN
More than anything Karloff looks incredible. Good sets. Fairly enjoyable but even as short as it is, it would benefit from a shorter length. Karloff looks better in this film but I actually like the two sequels better.

MUMMY
It's pretty questionable that Dracula is considered a classic but this is honestly the worst famous horror classic I know of. The closeup image of Karloff's hypnotic eyes and him in the mummy costume look amazing but all that only lasts for a mere minute. Two screencaptures of this film is all you need. Avoid!

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
An impressive smokey dark aesthetic but not much else.

OLD DARK HOUSE
Pretty good. This actually has some creepy moments and atmosphere. Karloff is really cool in this.

INVISIBLE MAN
It's okay.

BLACK CAT and THE RAVEN
I get these two mixed up. They were the start of a series of films that teamed up Karloff and Lugosi, usually as enemies. Also the start of many films that taken a Poe title but had little or nothing to do with the writer. Neither film made much of an impression.
I can't remember which but one of these films has an impressive image of a dead woman preserved beautifully with her long hair dreamily standing up.

WEREWOLF OF LONDON
This is often considered better than the Chaney Jr film but I wasn't much into it. It's fine.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
The crowning jewel of this bunch. It feels more like a fairy tale comedy with horror imagery than a normal horror film. Great character designs. Some great looking scenes. Two stunningly good looking actresses. The bit with the blind hermit genuinely made me cry. There are minor weaknesses but this film has a beating heart that the others don't.
Very much recommended.

DRACULA'S DAUGHTER
Really poor. Don't believe people who claim this is neglected. Prime example of actors not caring: some characters start with attempts at Scottish accents but clearly aren't trying very hard, only to drop the accents completely later on.

INVISIBLE RAY
One of the dullest ones. I actually bought this to see Frances Drake but she's barely in it. It starts out fairly gothic but just slides into this boring science fiction in a hot country.

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
I love Karloff's costume in this with the bear skin top. Lugosi's Igor is very amusing. Good set designs. It feels pretty creaky and far too long but the positives I mentioned made a good enough impression to make it worthwhile for me.

WOLF MAN
Fairly watchable.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943)
A rosy cheeked colourful musical. Barely anything horror about it. I don't remember anything good about it.

SON OF DRACULA
Some good looking bayou scenes and it seems genuinely interested in having a plot but I still found it very boring.

HOUSE OF DRACULA
Cartoony mish-mash, corny b-movie approach. This is the point where I feel it was very much aimed at children. Getting Close to the Abbott and Costello stuff. Okay-ish.
I have seen one Abott and Costello monster film a very long time ago but I don't remember it well enough to review.

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
Awesome costume, cool swimming scenes but otherwise very dull.

So at the end of this list Bride Of Frankenstein is sadly the only one I'd call a good solid film.

Check out the lists under each decade, there's way more than you'd think.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Monsters
I'm amazed how many I've never heard of let alone seen screenshots of. I'd imagine they are mostly pretty bad but I'd hope all the ones with good images have been extensively screencaptured (hope I'll see all these images someday, probably a tumblr somewhere).
I'd still like to see Black Castle and Tower Of London someday in the unlikely event I exhaust all other priorities. If there is ever a huge boxed set beyond the core films for super cheap I'd probably go for it.

Here is a bunch of notables that are pretty much same as the Universal films...

FREAKS
Whether this is sincere and heartfelt or grossly exploitative has been debated a lot. I think it's a mixture of both things. It's unique and enjoyable, worth seeing.

MAD LOVE
Peter Lorre is really good in this. This is where I discovered the aforementioned beautiful Frances Drake. Pretty decent.

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE
Very slapped together but for classic horror imagery it's good. Some cool looking characters. The trailer has part of a scene not included in the film that suggests the story was being written as they went along.

WHITE ZOMBIE
Mostly dull but has some good moments. The stiff paralysed looking voodoo zombies are quite memorable.

I see the the boxed set is 30 films. Mostly prioritising the most monstery films. I really wouldn't call that complete when so many important ones are left out.

"A collection of all 30 Universal Classic Monster films from 1931 – 1956 with a 48-Page collectible Book and hours of bonus features including Behind the Scenes Documentaries, the 1931 Spanish Version of Dracula, Featurettes of Boris Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Jack Pierce, 13 Expert Feature Commentaries, Archival Footage, Production Photographs, Theatrical Trailers and much more!
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Invisible Woman (1940)
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Mummy's Ghost (1942)
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
Invisible Agent (1942)
Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Son of Dracula (1943)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)
She-Wolf of London (1946)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
Revenge of the Creature (1955)
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)"

Wow, thanks for the much more comprehensive answer than I expected! My interest in seeing these movies has been steeping since the Legacy Series (which, for those who don't know, were themed collections of, for instance, all of the Universal Frankenstein movies) went OOP and became inaccessibly high priced. I'm sure there's waaaay more chaff than wheat in that set, but it's enticing.

virtually all that stuff is available streaming somewhere

virtually all that stuff is available streaming somewhere isn't it?

urk, shitty internet connection.

Old Dark House is probably the best thing that isn't in the boxed set.

Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco by Stephen Thrower. 336 pages. Strange Attractor Press (November 20, 2014)

Tempted to get this. I don't think I want his Fulci book anymore because I've seen most of the Fulci I want but since Franco's filmography is so enormous and Thrower is covering them all exhaustively, it's pretty enticing.

Also..
Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies, 1956-1984. By Cathal Tohill & Pete Tombs. 272 pages. St. Martin's Griffin (September 15, 1995).
"European cinema has always excelled when it comes to "bad" movies. When continental moviemakers combined horror with sex, they unleashed a tidal wave of celluloid strangeness that lasted nearly thirty years. From sexy thrillers to pulp surrealism, from decadent erotica to blood-soaked vampire epics, nothing could go too far. Immoral Tales tells the fascinating story of this unique period, peeking into the kaleidoscope of visceral horror, maverick directors, and erotic invention."

Surprised more people weren't compelled to say what they think of the Universal horror films.

LIPS OF BLOOD

A man is nostalgic for a night 20 years ago when he was a boy briefly meeting a mysterious young woman who offered him a place to sleep. He feels unfulfilled and clings to the hope of someday meeting her again. The girl starts appearing to him in visions that guide him to her. Some people are trying to stop him but there are also vampire girls trying to help him.

I quite enjoyed this but I think it deserved to be a much better film. It has a good core, I really love the idea of a vague but treasured memory coming back to someone and finding their desires through dreamily supernatural ways.
If there is a Rollin written prose version of this, it seems more enticing than The Iron Rose text, because the film doesn't manage to get across the feelings and ideas properly.

As is often in 70s-80s vampire films, the sight of the vampires baring their teeth looks a bit ridiculous. Quite a lot of scenes are awkward and clumsy and it really needed to be consistently poetic and ethereal.
There's a scene with a severed head and although it makes sense later, they shouldn't have clearly shown how fake it was, they easily could have shown the back of the head.

Along with the quest of dreamy nostalgic yearning and the solid soundtrack, there is enough nocturnal wanderings among good locations (mostly ruins) with silent vampire girls in billowing drapes to make this one of the better Rollin films.

If this was much better looking and far more confidently made it would be one of my favourite films.

Lips Of Blood is a fantastic title. I look forward to seeing Faces Of Skin and Torsos Of Viscera.

Yeah, Rollin's titles often seem interchangeable and too non-specific and I'm sure people get the titles mixed up often.

GRAPES OF DEATH

Aside from the voodoo zombie films this has to be the most atypical zombie film I've seen (I'm sure there are plenty more offbeat ones though). The disease does decay people's flesh but the only other symptom seems to be unpredictable effects on their sanity.

What makes this film worthwhile is the impressive country landscapes and crumbling village in the grassy rocky hills. The weird and striking cruelty one unlucky person suffers is quite memorable. The woman with the dogs looks quite impressive too.

The makeup is slightly iffy in places but otherwise there isn't much wrong with it.

Rollin said in an interview that he didn't like gore but this is pretty gory.

Surprised more people weren't compelled to say what they think of the Universal horror films

The 1930s ones are all great; the 1940s ones are not so great. Except for The Wolf Man.

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a return to form.

I have a feeling I'll be looking out for Rape Of The Vampire, Requiem For A Vampire, Demoniacs, Night Of The Hunted, I know Fopp had at least two of those. Maybe if I want more, The Escapees and Lost In New York but I probably shouldn't.
I've heard other people say this and I feel the same, that Rollin's films aren't great but always intriguing, fresh and enjoyable enough that you can't help but be curious about more of them.

This has been more satisfying than the string of Fulci films I saw.

Watched DVD extra Rollin short film Les Pays Loins/The Distant Lands. Reading the Fascination blog dedicated to the director, the blogger notes how unlike the rest of French cinema in the mid60s this was but it appears to me as if he was still living in that world, not fully departed into his own world yet.
His good looking women, derelict buildings and more elegant scenery are all there but little else seems familiar to me. It seems to be about racism and unsteady societal change. The black and white looks better than some of his early colour films.
It's very short and I didn't really try to understand what was going on.

There was a trailer for City Of The Dead/Horror Hotel, an early 60s witch cult film featuring Christopher Lee. I think it's probably a bit neglected; it has some of the best foggy dark visuals from that era of gothic film and is fairly atmospheric. I really like films that never show daylight scenes (from memory I think that is how the film went), makes it seem like the village in the film never experiences daytime.

LIVING DEAD GIRL

I think this suffers from too little stylisation, there just isn't enough fancy imagery. Too much standard 80s fashion. Some brief flawed gore effects and awkward editing.
The American couple are kind of amusingly goofy (not sure if this is intentional) but the saving grace of the film is the girl who plays the beautiful and deeply troubled Catherine.

This tends to be in the top 3 of Rollin fans but I think it's one of the weaker ones of his fan favourite period.

So far from best to least..

Shiver Of The Vampires
Grapes Of Death
The Iron Rose
Lips Of Blood
Fascination
Living Dead Girl
Nude Vampire

I was looking up more about Marina Pierro (who I said above was the highlight of Living Dead Girl) and she was in Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Miss Osbourne/Docteur Jekyll Et Les Femmes. Also stars Udo kier and Patrick McGee. Directed by Borowczyk.
I've heard this is a real hidden gem but I really didn't think much of Beast. Anyone seen this?

I'm sure some of y'all owned a copy of Stephen King's Nightshift collection of dollar babies back in the day. On one of the VHS tapes, there was a trailer for some weird low-budget film. It was in black and white and featured a guy crawling through the desert, then this giant mantis or something flies by and drops a skyscraper on his head. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?

no but i wanna subscription

bumping since it looks like the horror crew is active atm.

Unwisely watched the majority of The Gate on tv. Aside from a cool living corpse and some interesting special effects it's a typical trashy 80s kid film.

oh man "Crimson Rivers", you looked so cool, you had vincent cassel which is almost always a good sign, but oh how you actually ended up sucking so furiously

Wake In Fright expires off Netflix Instant Watch tomorrow. It's not technically a horror movie, but it is a movie for people in this thread IMO. Schoolteacher in small town in the Outback goes on holiday break, encounters the worst people on earth. Early 70s. Warning there is irl kangaroo harm in this movie that surpasses The Snowtown Murders. Warning, Donald Pleasance being absolutely insane.

Is The Gate the one about the trapdoor to hell or whatever they open in the backyard? By, iirc, playing a metal LP backwards?

That's right.

I loved wake in fright

http://thedissolve.com/features/oral-history/788-the-strange-saga-of-spookies/

I have a soft spot for The Gate but it is very stupid and not scary at all.

Me too. I feel like it's one of the last YA horrors to have those kind of stop motion creature effects.

Or last horror/fantasy films full stop

If I'm remembering right, WINTERBEAST has some pretty good stop-motion effects and it came a few years later. Worth checking out despite movie's lack of winter.

but plenty of beast.

When I read Kim Newman's Nightmare Movies, I don't know why I hadn't noticed before the comedy and early teen trend of the 80s to early 90s, even though I'd seen most of them. He mostly complained about it. When I watched Dark Waters features, Mariano Baino seen his own work as partly a rebellion against goofy horror.

I think Evil Dead series and Braindead/Dead Alive have nothing to apologize for because they are great. Probably Society too. Mixed feelings on Stuart Gordon's Reanimator, From Beyond.
But when you add up The Gate, Spookies, Fright Night series, House series, Ghoulies, The Burbs, Monster Club, Return Of The Living Dead, probably many more, it does add up and I can see why it would annoy some.

Boston Strangler was really great. Don't know why I don't hear about it more often. One of the best serial killer films I've ever seen but it takes the subject way more seriously than most serial killer films. I thought that maybe since its based on real events that would be natural, but that isn't always the case.

Oddly I had a brief bad dream about the film in which I was describing it to someone and I had a horrible flash of memory which I couldn't figure out afterwards, like the ones in the film.

I pretty rarely have bad dreams about horror films and it is odder because it didn't unnerved me when I watched it last night.

The ending to that film is surprisingly sad.

Correction to above post: hadn't unnerved me.

I was really pretty impressed with that film too. The multiple simultaneous panels thing was cool.