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| Creepy cherub to give you nightmres….! |
Did you love to watch scary movies on TV when you were a kid? How about now?
I love horror movies, especially the old ones. I don’t like horror movies that are just slasher films. Someone running around in a hockey mask killing girls while they babysit doesn’t really interest me. But give me a good haunted house, a creepy ventriloquist doll, a mummy or a vampire, and I’m with you!
When I was little back in New York, there was an afternoon program on once a week called Creature Feature. The show’s promotion showed some kind of creepy black disembodied hand. I may be remembering it wrong as I was usually hiding behind the couch, peeking out while my older sister made fun of my fears. That hand terrified me.
I wish I could remember all the names of the scary movies I saw as a child. There was one which I think was called Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Creepy little people lived under the stairs tormenting a lady named Sally. They’d whisper “Saaaahhhleeee….” and come out only at night.
The Haunting with Claire Bloom. Can you top that one? What about the House on Haunted Hill?
There were Frankenstein films, Dracula films, ghosts, werewolves, mummies and more.
Recently, I’ve watched….
- Horror Castle – truly a horror of a movie. This one would give “B” films a bad name. A German castle, badly dubbed dialogue, and groovy, way too weird 60s jazz sound track underscore — get this — a guy who runs around re-enacting a 17th century torturer. It’s so ridiculous it’s awful. We couldn’t stop laughing. I know there are some fans of this one, but get out the crackers to go with the cheese…because this movie is just about as cheesy as they get….
- Isle of the Dead – I don’t find this Boris Karloff film frightening as much as I find it sad. It has a peculiar melancholy feel that has struck me several times since I first saw it. The story is unique. A Greek general and an American journalist leave war-torn Greece for a brief excursion to an island where the General’s wife is buried. When they arrive, they find an archaeologist and a small group in a house. A plague strikes and they can’t leave the island until the wind shifts and the plague moves off. During their stay, a woman with catalepsy is entombed alive…she loses her mind when she awakens in the tomb and I won’t tell you what happens. But I find something so sad about Karloff’s portrayal of the General in this film. If you haven’t seen Isle of the Dead it’s worth renting.
- Horror of Dracula – “I am Drakula.” Thus spoke the best on-screen vampire portrayal in all the old movies. This is a classic take on the old Dracula legend. I like the ending. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say…it’s not what I expected.
- Night of the Living Dead – Would you believe I had never seen this one until recently? I couldn’t stop watching. Couldn’t avert my eyes. It is a great example of fast-paced plotting. I’m not into zombie films, but this one is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys the genre. The ending is a surprise, too.
- Carnival of Souls – This is one of those old-time horror movies that you will either love or hate. I love it, spouse hates it. I love it because of the twist ending. I’m a sucker for surprise endings and endings with a twist! It follows the story of a girl driving with several friends across country. She gets into an accident and the car plunges off a bridge. Her friends are killed, but she is able to proceed to take her new job as a church organist in Utah. She starts to see visions of a strange, creepy many following her around. There’s an abandoned amusement park and some wild scenes involving the creepy guy. It’s slow, this one, but worth the watch.
I don’t know whether you like old-time horror movies or not, but there’s something nostalgic and safe in putting an old black and white horror film on the television, sitting in a dark room with a popcorn and a Coke, and waiting for the creature or ghost to jump out at you. For me, it hearkens back to a time when things that went bump in the night could scare me senseless for days on end….and when Halloween was more than just a candy holiday.
