Well the time has come already, for the final horror related
Top Ten Tuesday of OWFs
31 Days of Horror. As Halloween approaches and we all prepare to don our bloodcurdling costumes (ok, so I was a Thunderbird last year it shouldnt have been that scarybut trust me, it was!), what could be better than offering you my personal top ten horror gems. Now, Ive tried to avoid the obvious films that feature in every other similar list on this subject and below is a collection of films that I really enjoy from the genre but feel are underrated. What it doesnt include is my more mainstream favourites, or those films that are more likely to be collected in the popular conscience of (horror) film fans. As most of you will probably agree, my choices are certainly not the greatest horror films that are out there All I can say is that what remains are ten films that are definitely worth a watch, but have been deemed forgettable in the wake of much more successful horror films On a slight tangent, my favourite subgenre of horror is the psychological horror/thrillers of the 1960s and, as such, they feature heavily in this list. Having intended to steer clear of the traditional choices that I and the rest of the genres fans love, Ive delved deeper into my (extremely extensive!) horror collection and pulled out some of what in my mind are classics that cant be ignored (Apologies, there are some
spoilers ahead)
10. THE WITCHES (1966, aka THE DEVILS OWN)
When Gwen Mayfield (
Joan Fontaine) has a nervous breakdown at the hands of a witchdoctor whilst teaching in Africa, she returns to England to recuperate. All goes well to begin with in the new village in which she resides and starts teaching again. However, as she begins hearing about strange occurrences in the village she begins to suspect that a number of the local adults are involved in witchcraft. As her fears lead her to believe that a local girl is to be sacrificed by the coven, Gwen begins to question her sanity once more The first in three Hammer films to feature in this list,
The Witches is a brilliant foray into the psychological and the supernatural. Joan Fontaine is brilliant as the recovering Gwen, whos past terror and mental breakdown continues to haunt her. A great amount of tension is built around the mental state of Gwen, and the audience is continuingly wondering whether she is about to break down again. (However, as its a Hammer film, the audience naturally assumes that her suspicions will be correct!). The Witches is successful as it bases its horror in the familiar British location of small village life. Much like films such as
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) took familiar American locations and transferred them into places of sheer terror, Hammer worked its horrifying charm on the typical English countryside here. For me, by transporting the horror from the Eastern European locations of such classic Hammer productions as
The Horror of Frankenstein (1957) and
Dracula (1958) although these were always obviously shot in England! to the audiences very own backyard, the studio tapped into a whole new direction for their films. The Witches is also the first time that Hammer took lesbian undertones and permeated them as margins for horror.
Kay Walsh was cast as Stephanie Bax, a villager who befriends Gwen but later turns out to be the head of the coven. The role of Bax is subtly characterised as having lesbian desires: most notable in her yearning to ritually sacrifice a young girl. However, through her blossoming friendship with Gwen, these desires are also hinted at. Here, lesbianism is presented as an evil that results in being part of a cult. Hammers view on alternative sexuality is interesting and could perhaps be related to the ever-burgeoning presence of feminism during the 1960s? Whatever the studios motivation was, in combination with the psychological elements of the horror the use of lesbianism as a tool for terror is an interesting plot device. Overall, The Witches is a successful excursion into the macabre underworld of peaceful, English village life terrifying!!
09. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)
When the lead vocalist of the Paris Opera is threatened by a mysterious man (
Lon Chaney), she leaves her role of Marguerite in Faust. Taking the place of the star is the talented young Christine Daae (
Mary Philbin), who the mysterious phantom has an unhealthy obsession with Forget Andrew Lloyd Webbers sappy musical, the first American version of this oft told tale is certainly the best adaptation put to film. Lon Chaney adds his usual miraculous touch to the disfigured monster that lives beneath the Paris Opera House. The scene where the Phantom appears in fancy dress costume, at the top of the grand entrance staircase of the opera house, still sends shivers down my spine to this day. The scene is beautifully hand tinted and the red shades of the palette colourise the Phantoms disguise in a truly haunting way. His skull mask is also one of the most sinister in any horror film. This version of the film is worth a watch for this one beautifully staged scene alone!
What also makes this version of the film so memorable is Lon Chaneys ability to bring humanity to the role. It is clear here that in some terribly warped and twisted way the Phantom kidnaps Christine out of love. Not only does he want to make her a great star, he wants her for himself. Whilst this intention is truly ominous, Chaneys characterisation of the Phantom is successful in generating sympathy within the audience. Thanks to its copyright free status, you can check this full-length film out at
The Internet Archive:
08. FREAKS (1932)
When Cleopatra (
Olga Baclanova), a beautiful trapeze artist, agrees to marry the leader of her circus sideshow, she is initially welcomed by his troupe of freaks. When they discover that she is really only after his inheritance, the group of performers decide to feature the attractive Cleopatra as a new act within the circus Fresh off the success of his production of Dracula (1931),
Tod Brownings next venture proved to be an equally notorious horror film. The undistinguishable mix of real-life freaks and actors in costume is one element that makes this film truly terrifying. Not only is it shocking for audiences inability to decipher between the real and the Hollywood special effects, but also for the debate around the arguably politically incorrect inclusion of real-life sideshow acts. Is this something shameful and distasteful? Well, audiences back in the early 30s certainly thought so and the film was universally criticised and subject to ban in a number of countries. Today, the inclusion of these people makes for some seriously uncomfortable viewing, but is probably the sole reason why the film is actually so successful.
What also makes Freaks such an interesting horror film is the moral undertones that pervade through the narrative. Although the freaks are definitely characterised as the subject of the horror in the piece, they are also depicted as being more respectable than the gold-digging Cleopatra. Despite their attack on Cleopatra at the end of the narrative, Browning still suggests that the audiences sympathy should not lie with her but with the group of performers she has so maliciously mocked. The one element within Freaks that has remained with me since I originally watched it is the obvious sentiment that evil is more likely to dwell within beauty.
07. THE BAD SEED (1956)
Christine Penmarks (
Nancy Kelly) has a near perfect life on the surface. She has a home to be envied; a husband who loves her and a daughter that everyone thinks is faultless. However, under the veneer of her blissful existence, Christine is plagued by a horrific recurring nightmare that she has had since being a child. Plus, the daughter everybody deems so perfect, may in fact be a liar; a thief; and after one of her classmates is drowned, possibly something utterly unbearable Like a lot of the other films on this list, the horror of the piece is certainly more psychologically based rather than being excessively graphic, although some particularly horrific moments do perforate the narrative.
Patty McCormack is extraordinary as Rhoda Penmark, the angelic looking daughter of Christine. McCormack seamlessly transcends between the perfect little darling and maniacal monster with total ease. This performance is certainly one of the most prevalent elements of the films horror. The scene where Rhoda sets gardener Leroy Jessop (
Henry Jones) on fire after he taunts her for the murder of her classmate by refusing to return her shoes (which were implemental in the boys death) is probably the most explicitly ghastly scene and is one of the reasons the film is so unforgettable. The Bad Seed is also interesting for its social commentary. When it is revealed that Christine is in fact the daughter of a serial killer and was adopted as a baby, the question of whether sociopathic behaviour is genetic is raised. This premise would have been extremely rare in the horror genre back in the 1950s and remains a thoroughly engaging concept to this day. During this era, in the wake of endearing and adorable child actors such as
Shirley Temple, the use of a similarly characterised little girl as a tool of horror is a brilliant idea for instilling fear into audiences it is completely surprising!
06. HUSHHUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
Aging recluse, Charlotte Hollis (
Bette Davis) has remained holed up in her crumbling Southern mansion since the brutal murder of her lover years earlier. When developers arrive to knock down her family home, she calls on her distant cousin Miriam (
Olivia DeHavilland) to assist with plans to keep her house. With the return of Miriam the secrets of the past are dug up and the truth surrounding the murder may finally be exposed After the widespread success of
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? two years earlier, director
Robert Aldrich reteamed with stars Bette Davis and
Joan Crawford for
HushHush, Sweet Charlotte, a tale similarly based in psychological horror. However, shortly after shooting began
Olivia DeHavilland unceremoniously replaced Crawford, following a bout of illness that significantly delayed production (and was caused by Daviss sheer detest for Crawford after the latter almost singlehandedly cost her the Best Actress Academy Award in 1963). With the new cast in place, the ball finally started rolling on Charlotte and Aldrich managed to create an equally entertaining horror film!
Despite having a bigger budget, Aldrich managed to keep the rough style that suited the plot of Baby Jane so well. The grainy black and white film stock and the at times stark lighting brilliantly complement the narrative, emphasising the horrific aspects of the plot tremendously. When Davis is lured down stairs in the middle of the night by the sound of her piano being played, the scene is brilliantly shot and perfectly light. When light floods in through an open door and a meat cleaver is illuminated, revealing the severed hand of her murdered lover, the scene cleverly sends a chill up your spine. The performances from the entire cast are exceptional. DeHavilland and
Joseph Cotton are superb as the villainous relatives scheming against Davis. There is a truly horrific scene when Cotton who DeHavilland has convinced Davis she has killed him comes crawling up the stairs after the two women have dumped his body in a local swamp. In this one brief moment, Davis convincingly portrays sheer terror on screen as she simultaneously cowers at what she sees before her and her rational thought tells her its impossible. Charlottes true strength is that its horror is based in reality the devious plot of long lost relations to drive a relative crazy!
05. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)
Whilst her Countess mother takes care of an ill friend, the young and beautiful Carmilla Karnstein (
Ingrid Pitt) spends her time as the houseguest of rich families. Wherever Carmilla goes though, illness and death permeates. As whispers of vampires begin to spread, Carmillas host Roger Morton (
George Cole) calls on the services of General von Spielsdorf, who previously battled with the Karnstein family of vampires Towards the end of the British Hammer Studios life, the company began to take greater risks to lure audiences into their features. With a relaxation of censorship rules in the late 1960s, by 1970 the studio took the sex and violence in their films further than ever before...
The Vampire Lovers is the first and best in a trilogy of films that focused on the sexually titillating lesbian undertones of vampirism! The three films, often referred to as the Karnstein Trilogy, were also made up of the entertaining-but-not-quite-as-good
Lust for a Vampire (1971) and
Twins of Evil (1971). The first instalment, however, has the most explicit lesbian imagery. With Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith running around topless, its apparent that horror is merely an aside in The Vampire Lovers! However, there is still a fair amount of familiar Hammer tropes presentwell, enough to satisfy a Hammer junkie such as myself!
What is so interesting about this film is that although theres obvious horror in the inclusion of vampires to the narrative, for me the true terror lies in the psychological elements of the plot. In a time when homosexuality of any kind was still something to apparently be ashamed of, its interesting how lesbianism is likened to a disease here. Director
Roy Ward Baker uses some terrific imagery here, as he visualises the dreamlike state that Carmilla has instilled Emma in. The most prevalent image is that of cats eyes and again the lesbian woman is likened to a predatory big cat. What this lesbian imagery does for the horror of the film, is prove how powerless wed be under her spell I mean, Id certainly let the busty Ingrid Pitt hypnotise me and then suck me dry!! The Vampire Lovers is also an excellent example of the gothic traditions that Hammer infused all of its films with. The brilliant set pieces depict immense gothic castles and Eastern European villages, all based in the grounds of Moor Park Mansion in Hertfordshire. Hammer ticks all of the boxes with this film: the perfect amount of beautiful, buxom women; the inclusion of the immensely talented
Peter Cushing; a simple but engaging plot; and sets/costumes that look more expensive than the productions entire budget! In short, its a near perfect combination of bust, atmosphere and terror!
04. FANATIC (1965, aka DIE! DIE! MY DARLING)
Patricia Carroll (
Stefanie Powers) goes to visit the mother of her late husband. Upon her arrival she is given a warm welcome, only to find she becomes the prisoner of the fanatically religious Mrs. Trefoile (
Tallulah Bankhead). As she remains captive in her mother-in-laws secluded house, Patricia begins to realise that she is being cleansed of her apparent sins in relation to her husband's death. When Patricia's new boyfriend discovers her disappearance he begins to track her down, but will he be able to save her before Mrs. Trefoile takes her purge to the final extremities? As her last feature film before her death in 1968,
Fanatic could be considered something of a downgrade for Tallulah Bankhead, one of Hollywood's toughest leading ladies. However, having popularly for being considered the biggest bitch of the silver screen, she slots perfectly into the role of the exceedingly unhinged Mrs. Trefoile! In the tradition of 1960s psychological thrillers, Fanatic is reliant on building suspense rather than shocking the audience with unabashed gore. This said, the film does feature a lot more action/violence than many similar films did during this period. Patricia's frequent attempts at escape are often the invitation for such moments. Bankhead is excellent as the irrationally fanatic Mrs. Trefoile and her classical stage experience is beautifully displayed here. Whilst being an evil, monstrous creation, Bankhead also generates sympathy for her character. Unlike many other mentally unstable characters within this sub-genre, it is clear that Mrs. Trefoile's is firmly rooted in the death of her son. The scenes where she breaks down in the privacy of her bedroom show her sheer inability to come to terms with it. Although she acts in a horrific manner, her mental breakdown is that much more realistic for its basis in a calamitous event. It also makes her that much more intimidating as a villain. Powers is a strong opponent to Bankhead, giving much more gumption to the character of Patricia than a lot of the hesitant victims found in similar films of this era. The fact that Hammer Studios, whose fame was predominantly founded in their visions of the Gothic past, produced the film lends a unique charm to the narrative. The location of the Trefoile house an isolated country village is a setting so familiar and 'real' in the UK that it could be anywhere, thus suggesting that the horror of the narrative could be too. Fanatic mimics the power of
Psycho in its ability to base the horror of the narrative in this reality that's familiar to many of the audience. Therefore, Fanatic succeeds in the wake of Psycho where many other imitations did not.
03. DEAD RINGER (1964)
After her brother-in-laws funeral, Edith Phillips (
Bette Davis) discovers that her sister Margaret DeLorca (also Davis!) tricked the man both of them loved into marrying her over Edith. In an act of revenge for forcing her into a working class existence, Edith murders her sister and assumes her identity and extravagant lifestyle. Things begin to unravel however, when Margarets sleazy lover Tony Collins (
Peter Lawford) and the dead Ediths boyfriend Sgt. Hobbson (
Karl Malden) begin to suspect that something is up The thought of Bette Davis facing off against Bette Davis as twin sisters is bitchy comedy heaven. Another psychological horror/thriller, the film creates an eerie, unsettling tone almost immediately. With some truly spectacular split-screen scenes, the film takes a particularly dark turn when Edith points a gun to the head of Margaret effectively Davis pointing a gun at Davis!
This murder scene is certainly a technical feat for the time and is one of the most iconic images from the film. Davis plays Edith with sheer malice and the unwitting Margaret to the hilt. The psychological aspects of the narrative are highlighted through these performances. Between these rather tongue-in-cheek moments there are some genuinely gruesome and rather horrific moments. When the seedy Tony figures out that Margaret is really Edith the two fight, resulting in the former being butchered by the latters Rottweiler. This is a particularly brutal death scene and it is brilliantly depicted in a frantically real way. In this scene, the suspense that has previously driven the narrative is replaced by surprise and terror. Overall, Dead Ringer is an exceptional excursion into the 1960s canon of psychologically charged horror!
02. LADY IN A CAGE (1964)
When wealthy poet Cornelia Hilyard (
Olivia DeHavilland) becomes trapped in her elevator, with her son away for the weekend, she rings an alarm for help. Instead of being rescued, a drunken delinquent enters her house and proceeds to burgle her and help himself to her alcohol. He leaves, only to return later with a prostitute and three teenage yobs, who persist to terrorise the trapped Cornelia whilst destroying her house. Will she ever escape? Fresh from the success of
HushHush, Sweet Charlotte earlier in the year, DeHavilland found her newly revamped career following in the footsteps of her contemporaries,
Bette Davis and
Joan Crawford. Finding a place with new audiences as a leading lady of psychological horror, she found further success with
Lady in a Cage. The film is based more on the suspense of being trapped in a terrifying situation rather than the horror of being tormented by a serial killer, the supernatural or other stereotypical genre tropes. However, Lady in a Cage is more successful in achieving its chilling aims because of this basis. For me, horror is spurred when I watch something that is plausibly petrifying and could happen to anybodyincluding myself! DeHavilland brilliantly portrays the sheer terror of being a prisoner in her own home and the film offers
James Caan one of his first predominant roles as a thoroughly despicable lout, who he convincingly portrays with evil relish!
Despite the limited space for movement, the film never becomes dull or boring. In fact the narrative takes a tragic turn when Cornelia learns from one of her tormentors, Randall (Caan), that her son has left a suicide note, as he can no longer stand her overbearing nature. With a newfound desire to escape, Cornelia manages to overpower Randall and finally escape the lift that has been her cage. It is here that the films horror becomes more graphic. As Randall chases after her and tries to drag her back into the house, Cornelia gouges out his eyes! With the rage that being trapped and tormented has caused to brew inside her finally able to emerge, DeHavilland takes her role to the next level and skyrockets Cornelia out of the tragic arena and into the dominant. Lady in a Cage is one of the best underrated horror films, because it displays strength in a time of complete panic and fright!
01. BERSERK! (1967, aka CIRCUS OF BLOOD)
When Monica Rivers (
Joan Crawford) travelling circus is plagued by a series of murders, as the ringleader and owner suffering from financial troubles, she is the natural suspect. As the murders become more brutal, a Scotland Yard detective begins to investigate This British produced horror film is similar in vein to a low-budget Hammer escapade, but lacks the sophistication of acting talent that the likes of
Peter Cushing and
Christopher Lee brought to that studios output. Instead, audiences are offered an ageing Hollywood superstar (Crawford), a little-known Hollywood matinee idol (
Ty Hardin), Britains rather paltry answer to Marilyn Monroe (
Diana Dors), a future Hammer leading lady (
Judy Geeson) and an array of circus sideshow freaks! Despite this rather bizarre line-up, the film works in ways that many would have thought it couldnt. The murders are brilliantly executed, being both suspenseful and ghastly - despite being obviously artificial! The murder of Albert Dorando (
Michael Gough) Rivers partner in the circus is a fine example of this. As he leans against a tent pole to have a cigarette, we see a hand rise with a tent peg and mallet. The suspense is eclipsed by the gruesome image of the metal peg being driven through his skull (bright red blood streaming down his face and all!). Despite this rather random section, in general
Berserk! is a wholly entertaining, albeit rather feeble, British horror. For me, the creepiest moment within the film is when a group of the circus freaks (the bearded lady, the token dwarf, Mr. Elastic and the strongman!) perform a song at a circus party! (Already, just typing this the whole sorry, eerie affair is sending a shiver down my spine as I recall it!). Although this scene is not intentionally creepy, the very obvious dubbing of their voices and the bizarre dance routine they perform is simply the stuff of nightmares! As well as being totally unnerving, this scene also generates the biggest laugh during the film