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

find me another family friendly horror film with as genuine a sense of affection for the Universal monsters. or one containing even a single scene as poignantly played as Leonardo Cimino's reveal of his concentration-camp tattoo while confessing to "some experience with monsters." Dekker's film is anything but a waste of time.

If I had to pick out moments I liked, it would be when Dracula is sent into the portal and excited Van Helsing gives the boys a thumbs up. The dog and the little girl were cute. But I thought the dialogue was very weak and everything about the boys was so rote.

GANJA & HESS

Vampirism, sex and Christianity; gospel music in church scenes almost like documentary footage; weird idyllic scenes like dreams or memories. Early on it's a little confusing but things gradually make a bit more sense but nothing is ever completely clear. It's a really eclectic soundtrack, with recurring music and a heavy buzzing sound representing the torment of the bloodlust.
Most unusual vampire film I've ever seen.

I don't frequent this thread much, so this is the first I'm hearing of the Eaten Alive re-release. That is indeed rather surprising. I have a fascination with that film that I'm sure exceeds its actual merits, so I'll probably check that out.

I kind of want to see Ganja & Hess for the William Gaddis cameo alone.

e.g.:
http://williamgaddis.org/imagesother/filmganja3a.jpg

Eaten Alive felt post-apocalyptic to me the one time I saw it. Like the featured cast were among the last humans alive and they were all just fucking crazy because the world was basically over. I feel like there was a weird lighting/color scheme that backed up my particular reading of the film, but I may have just been watching a shitty, washed-out VHS copy of the thing.

I'm sure I've related this elsewhere, but I first saw Eaten Alive the way I think it's best experienced: third on a drive-in bill in 1978. In the pre-VHS/internet era, I went to several other drive-ins just to see it again over the next few years, and read what few reviews I could find at the library. The lighting in it is indeed key to the whole crazy atmosphere, and Neville Brand's muttering performance is one of my alltime favorites.

Glad to see more people like it.

DON'T LOOK NOW

I had seen this a few times on television without ever giving it my full attention, so I decided to buy it. It is very good. Seems like House Of Laughing Windows must have been inspired by it.

JACOB'S LADDER

First saw this just over a decade ago and the military/drugs part really spoiled it for me, but it really is central to the film and it is a very good film. Lots of good images, atmospheric moments and Elizabeth Pena looks amazing.
I mostly bought this to see the deleted scenes, which were so highly recommend that I've been meaning to see them for years. There really is a large chunk of story in those scenes and its kind of baffling that they cut out so much good stuff. But I'm not really sure whether it's a weaker film without those scenes. Maybe they could have worked some of them in elegantly but I don't know.

One of the areas of horror films I've seen least of is 50s science fiction b-movies. I wasn't that into Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Day The Earth Stood Still or Thing From Another World so I never went much further. I seen Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman when I was very young but my memory of it is quite hazy.

I recently seen strong recommendations of Them! and Forbidden Planet, is there any other essentials? Preferably with more horror.

The Fly (1958)

The Leech Woman (1960) is a good low budget one with an almost unheard of feminist slant (ignore its dismal imdb rating which is due to the Mystery Science Theater effect), but if you didn't care for the first three movies you mentioned which are probably the cream of the '50s crop, I hesitate to recommend anything else.

Tarantula (1955) and the original Godzilla (1954) you might like.

This Island Earth (1955) also

Thanks. I know I seen some Godzilla films in my earliest years but they all blur together, so it'd be good to see some again. It's possible I've never seen the original.
Same for the Harryhausen films, they all blur together in memory. It still amazes me that Clash Of The Titans and the Sinbad films aren't from 50s-60s.

I've also seen Mesa Of Lost Women, which wasn't great but it was still enjoyably different and quite odd. The narration probably had a lot to do with that.

This happened to be on the streaming service I use.

THE FLY (1958)

Very good. The ending was so strange. But it's too hard to accept even such a desperate person would think they could still find a fly that has went outdoors. And everybody seems so calmly accepting of the killing at the start. But yes, I liked it.

TCM is doing an insect monster marathon on June 18 with The Fly, Mothra, Them, The Wasp Woman, The Swarm and The Cosmic Monster
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1096952%7C1096953/Bugging-Out.html

One of my childhood favorites, Fiend Without a Face, is surprisingly gory for 1958, with an unforgettable finale. I haven't seen it in ages though, so not sure how the whole film holds up.

Doesn't seem to be a proper disc version of Whip And The Body (which I've never seen). Reviews of the Odeon and Kino versions are pretty scathing.
Some say there's a good German DVD and that Arrow couldn't get the rights to this film.

Also some people hated the Kino version of Black Sunday but were pleased by the Arrow version.

Watched a little of Kaidan Yukijoro online but the picture quality was incredibly blurry and I stopped but it seemed cool.

http://www.fright.com/edge/DuchessOfAvila.htm

A French tv obscure oddity.

Personally I've never been able to make it through the Saragossa Manuscript film.

Not exactly a horror, but chilling and interesting to horror fans all the same - The Nightmare - Rodney Ascher's documentary about sleep paralysis and night terrors. Started watching it late at night, in bed of all places, and kind of had to switch it off. Not the scariest thing, but IRL dream phenomenon tends to freak me out. Also, people coming in your room at night brrrr!

That sounds interesting but I think you meant that for the thread for newer horror films.

oh

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wIzQ2sC1hr4

A short documentary on Mexican horror films. I'm not familiar with Curse Of The Crying Woman. A lot of these films are on youtube now.

Just watched Stephen King's It. Was ok.

I watched Dead Of Night last night, you will never see a finer horror anthology movie.

I've seen at least four or five finer horror anthology movies.

I have an attachment to this one, the puppet section scared the shit out me when I was a kid. What be your faves then ?

Admittedly, most of my favorites are also attached to strong childhood memories.

Creepshow
Tales from the Crypt + Vault of Horror (Amicus)
Kwaidan
Black Sabbath

I'll happily entertain solicitations for more quality anthology films. I'm aware of the Amicus films but still haven't seen any of them. I wish I could remember if Nightmares was at all worthwhile (beyond the hilarity of Emilio Estevez vs. the Bishop of Battle).

Asylum!

Did a poll of Amicus films a while back: Best Amicus Productions Film

Everything I've seen by Amicus has been pretty consistent, but the EC Comics duo had the benefit of EC Comics plots.

Kwaidan and Black Sabbath for sure. Maybe Amer doesn't count because it's at different stages of one character's life. Spirits Of The Dead isn't that great as a whole but the Fellini segment is great.

I'm lukewarm on the Amicus ones like From Beyond The Grave, Vault Of Horror, Tales From The Crypt and House That Dripped Blood.
Haven't seen Asylum, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors or Torture Garden.

There's apparently been a bit of a resurgence in anthology horror films but I can't think of anything apart from the ABCs Of Death series(which has far more bad than good segments) and Theatre Bizarre.

Three...Extremes also springs to mind. And I guess Grindhouse technically counts.

and V/H/S

From a Whisper to a Scream is an anthology film that doesn't get enough love.

And of course Trick 'r' Treat.

Not familiar with either.

How did we forget Trilogy Of Terror? People only really like it for the third segment though.

Two Evil Eyes is only two segments. The Romero half is really dull but the Argento/Harvey Keitel half is pretty watchable and a little nuts.

Trick 'r Treat is one of the better shoulda-been-mainstream (its theatrical release was horribly fumbled) horror movies of the past decade.

I've always had a soft spot for Tales from the Darkside: the Movie.

Ken Russell's segment of Trapped Ashes ("The Girl with the Golden Breasts") is very enjoyable bonkers.

DEMONIACS

I had my Jean Rollin phase a little while ago but I still wanted to see this one.

A bad bunch of sailors rape and kill two shipwrecked girls who are later reborn. There's lots of rocky beaches, seaweed, prostitutes, bastards and an abandoned church.
It's very boring, the action scenes are incredibly sloppy (especially that guy going to untie the girl then just falling in the water (Did I miss something? Was he wounded or something?). It's just not very good. One of the weaker early Rollin films.

Another Redemption/Salvation DVD that jitters in the intro before the selection screen. Some of the subtitles later on in the film come a few minutes early, good thing the film isn't dialogue heavy.

I watched a few short Jess Franco documentaries this week and they're not inspiring confidence. Someday I'll see a few of his films because he's one of the biggest horror directors (in the area I care about) I've seen nothing by.

I'm happy with my region 1 Synapse remaster of Lemora but with so much being reissued right now I really wish there was a UK dvd of it. There's a few Spanish region 2 dvds with the English audio intact but I don't know if they are the remaster (which looks brilliant).

I think it's a really special film and I wish Blackburn had directed another 30 films like this. Probably repeating myself now.

Still no region 2 of Lets Scare Jessica To Death and Alucarda either but seemingly plenty of barrel scraping going on.

There's a bunch of fancy reissues for things I know very little about or plain never heard of. Anyone seen The Skull (Eureka dvd), Dr Terror's House Of Horrors, Anthropophagous, The Bloodstained Shadow, A Blade In The Dark, Dead Of Winter, What Have You Done To Solange, Nightmare City, Spasmo, Nightmares In A Damaged Brain, Island Of Death, Madman, Candle For The Devil, Burial Ground, Horror Hospital, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Slaughterhouse, Tower Of Evil, A Study In Terror?
I doubt I'd like most of them but maybe there's a gem in there?

Tenderness Of Wolves is supposed to be really good.

^^ i've seen a few of those.

'burial ground' has a special place in my heart mostly because of the synth-driven soundtrack - sleazy italian zombie flick, lacking the atmosphere. same goes for 'nightmare city' iirc - i know some people who rate it highly tho. 'tower of evil' is an interesting 70's uk slasher, but it's not great by any means. 'antropophagus' is quite atmospheric even if it becomes some nasty piece of work. might need a rewatch tho.

i've never been a fan of 'the town that dreaded sundown'. maybe 'madman' isn't as bad as i recall. 'what have you donw to solange' is far from my fav giallo, but it's quite good, and i can't remember if i've seen 'the bloodstained shadow'.

re: anthologies - 'grim prairie tales' is one of the few times the - filled with so much potential - horror/western crossover worked. and yeah, 'asylum' is my fav amicus.

I've seen most of them.

The Skull and Dr Terror's House of Horror are ok Amicus productions iirc. Anthropophagus is a ropey Joe D'Amato effort with little of the entertainment value of other, ropier Joe D'Amato efforts. The Bloodstained Shadow / Solamente Nero is a fairly minor but watchable Antonio Bido giallo with a score by Goblin.

What Have They Done To Solange is a genuinely good giallo. Spasmo (giallo) and Nightmare City (zombies) are both by Umberto Lenzi - the former is better but neither is great. I can''t remember much about most of the others, which is probably indicative of something.

Island Of Death is a low-budget Mastorakis shocker but is quite good - or at least very memorable, imo.

xp: 'tears of kali' is a great debut from andreas marschall - he also has a segment on 'german angst' that i'm really eager to see, along w/ 2 other segments from jörg 'nekromantik' buttgereit and some guy called michal kosakowski. '4bia' is a nice thai horror anthology as well.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death is on UK Netflix

Xps to myself, there was a remastered version of Island Of Death on Amazon Instant Video last time I checked.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death is fantastic. I've never seen anything like it. There's a really peculiar and beautiful sensitivity at work there.