Here is a list of films from the previous millennia that are bound to leave you searching for figures in the shadows
(Clockwise from Top Left) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Young Frankenstein and Nosferatu. Photos; Twentieth Century Fox (Young Frankenstein)
With Halloween creeping up around the corner, it’s the perfect time to bundle yourself in a blanket, snacking on candied apples while watching something that will undoubtedly give you sleepless nights long after spooky season is over.
Bela Lugosi immortalized the line “I am Dracula, I bid you welcome.” There have been countless adaptations over the years featuring the fanged Count from Transylvania but Bela Lugosi remains the placeholder for the aristocratic vampire lord. The 1931 film is the first adaptation to feature sound which they used to their advantage. Though Dracula dies at the end, he will still haunt you long after he’s faded from the screen, be careful you don’t end up like Renfield.
It’s been over a hundred years since the earliest surviving film based on Bram Stroker’s Dracula graced the silver screen. Perhaps the most iconic vampire after Count Dracula himself is Count Orlok portrayed by Max Schreck in F.W. Murnau’s German silent horror film. While based on Bram Stroker’s novel, Orlok deviates significantly from his inspiration, Count Dracula – he is the first recorded version of a vampire who dies by exposure to sunlight. The eerie gothic atmosphere is further heightened by the film being black and white, while Count Orlok stalks the shadowy halls.
An artist on a self-imposed exile, vacations on a remote island with his pregnant wife. His mind begins to unravel and meeting the other inhabitants of the island only serves to make him spiral faster. This Swedish psychological horror film by Ingmar Bergman paints a frightening picture of an artist’s descent into madness. Certainly not for the fainthearted, this surreal film draws from Bergman’s own experiences. But what is the meaning of the title? In Bergman’s words, “The hour between night and dawn … when most people die, sleep is deepest, nightmares are most real. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their worst anguish, when ghosts and demons are most powerful. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most babies are born.”
This silent German film is possibly the first ever horror film to have been made. It has a distinct gothic visual aesthetic that betrays a touch of mania. The painted set makes the film feel like it inhabits the black and white version of Munch’s The Scream. Simply put, this ancestor of Shutter Island is the story of a hypnotist who uses his prized sleepwalker to commit murders.
A governess begins to suspect her young charges are possessed and the house itself haunted. Or are they? Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw has seen many adaptations (the one in the current public memory being The Haunting of Bly Manor). This 1962 gothic horror film by Jack Clayton has a screenplay written by William Archibald and Truman Capote (who took a three-week hiatus from writing In Cold Blood to work on this script).
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford team up and create the first-ever psycho-biddy horror genre. The real-life feud between them adds to their performance in this cult classic. Former child star and raging alcoholic ‘Baby Jane’ is forced to take care of her wheelchair-bound, successful actress sister. Blood is thicker than water but envy, bitterness and resentment make it a very, very, very spurious cocktail.
Learn ballet, they said. It would be fun, they said. What better teachers to learn ballet from than a coven of witches? This psychedelic supernatural Italian horror film is an arthouse horror technicolor trip. It does what a horror film should do – deliver scares. Keeping the story simple, the violence and gore is aesthetically dialed to the max. It is surreal and dreamlike while being nightmarish and fantastical. The colors will be burned into your retinas while you sleep at night.
Based on a book by Jean Redon, this French horror film is the source of inspiration of Billy Idol’s song that goes by the same name. A distraught father attempts to fix his daughter’s face which has been disfigured due to a car accident. Where does one source the face for this transplant? Hapless victims that share similar facial features of course. You’ve seen memes of plastic surgery gone bad, now be prepared to see both surgery and surgeon gone bad.
Who doesn’t love dogs? We spend hours on social media watching them. Most films with a dog make the viewers cry. They feature an emotional tale that signifies the undying affection our canine friends have for us. It tugs at our heartstrings. Cujo tugs at our heartstrings too, in a very different manner that leads to a heart attack. Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, this rabies awareness film serves as a warning to keep a close eye on what your dog gets it nose into. After this, you will probably never feel safe sitting next to your dog while journeying in a car. Actually, it’s best to not watch this film with dogs around.
Birds are strange creatures with their beady eyes and sharp beaks. Research shows that they are even related to the dinosaurs. Think of it – the mighty T-rex reduced to dinner. Alfred Hitchcock in his film, however, brings back the fear and terror they once wielded over this planet. Guano is the least of the townsfolk’s problems when they’re being pecked to death. What truly makes this piece of cinema frightening is that the events that transpired in the film are based on a real-life avian attack in the charming seaside Californian town, Capitola on August 18th, 1961. Rest assured that the reason for this wild bird attack was toxic algae and not because the fowls were in a foul mood.
What better film to watch on Halloween? Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut in John Carpenter’s aptly titled horror good old slasher flick. Babysitting is quite honestly a snooze fest; a babysitting bloodbath on the other hand, is a gore fest. With all the psychological horror thrillers listed here, sometimes it’s just good to kick back, relax and watch a mental patient go on a massacre. James T Kirk’s morphed visage has never looked more sinister than it does in Halloween.
Japan is known for creating some real spine-chilling horror franchises that get western remakes. Take The Grudge or The Ring, for example. However, there is one film that hasn’t got a remake, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s experimental ‘horror’ film House. So far, the films on this list are truly terrifying but for those that want a more…light-hearted experience, House is a go to movie for the spooky season. There are some films that are so bad that they’re so good. Films that make you wonder what exactly was the thought process that went into creating this? House is to horror cinema is what Tommy Wiseau’s Room is to romance, except that House is shot through the same filter as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Gorgeous and her six friends (all similarly named by their characteristic trait such as Kung Fu and Melody) travel to Gorgeous’ enigmatic aunt’s house for a holiday. Upon reaching their place of stay, things take a turn for the worst. Calling House an experimental arthouse horror is a giant understatement as the director himself didn’t know how the effects he incorporated would turn out while filming. This film has some of the most innovative deaths on screen, like Melody being devoured by a piano. It’s funny and horrifying but hey, Halloween is a holiday and even ghouls can enjoy a good laugh.
The best has been saved for the last and the best is none other than Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder’s comedy horror take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This film was shot entirely in black and white just to recreate the atmosphere of the 1930s horror film. In fact, some of the props used were from the 1931 film Frankenstein (which is an actual adaptation of the book). In Young Frankenstein we have Dr. Frederick Frankenstein who is quite eager to distance himself from his infamous grandfather Victor Frankenstein. Frederick inherits his grandfather’s estate in Transylvania and while visiting, discovers his grandfather’s secret lab. Hellbent on completing his grandfather’s research he decides to once more reanimate the dead. Unfortunately for Dr. Frankenstein, his faithful assistant Igor fetches him the wrong brain. Gene Wilder is absolutely hilarious as Dr. Frankenstein but it is Marty Feldman’s Igor that really steals the show. Young Frankenstein leaves you in stitches so much so that you may end up looking like The Creature himself.
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