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Horror cinema is not dead...

Halloween Inspired Horror Lists


Donato Totaro , dtotaro@hotmail.com

October 25, 1997

Halloween Horror Film Lists: Not many people take Halloween seriously, so in the spirit of good, frivolous fun what better than an irreverent slew of assorted horror film lists for the occasion.

Best Film With Christmas as a Setting

  • Silent Partner 1978 (Christopher Plummer plays a psychopath who robs a bank dressed as a shopping mall Santa Claus
  • Black Christmas 1975
  • Silent Night, Deadly Night 1984 (Slasher with killer in Santa Claus garb. Four sequels)
  • Tales from the Crypt 1973 (Opening story with husband killer Joan Collins getting her comeuppance at hands of escaped asylum inmate dressed as Santa is a real corker. Moment where Santa's hand comes through an open door window always gets them out of their seats)
  • Gremlins 1984 ((Fake snow and Christmas season in a fantasy Americana)
  • The Exorcist 1973 (Famous scene where Linda Blair pees on the carpet floor as adults toast in the new year.)
  • Christmas Evil 1980 (Unheralded film about emotionally scarred mama's boy grows up to be a psychopathic Kris Kringle. Unusually sympathetic portrayal of sociopath loser.)
  • Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 (Christmas vs. Halloween, and we know where Burton's heart lies) King Kong
  • Dead of Night 1945 (Second story, entitled "The Christmas Story," about a girl who goes to a holiday party and finds a sad, little ghost girl while playing hide-and-seek.)

Best Jack the Ripper Films

  • Waxworks1924 (Paul Leni anthology film Werner (Dr. Caligari) Krauss playing the Ripper in "Veidt Ivan" episode)
  • Pandora's Box 1928 (OK, he only appears at the end, but what a great film)
  • The Lodger 1926
  • The Lodger 1944
  • Man in the Attic 1954 ((Creepy Jack Palance plays the other Jack in this remake of The Lodger)The Lodger)
  • Hands of the Ripper 1971
  • 3 Films pitting the great sleuth Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper
    • A Study in Terror 1965
    • Murder By Decree 1979
    • Time After Time 1979

Best "eye" Moments in Horror

  • Un Chien Andalou 1928 (The granddaddy of "eye sore" films. No special effects here kiddies, Bunuel and Dali used a cow's eye.)
  • Zombie 2 1979 (The modern masterpiece of eye carnage by the master of eye carnage, Lucio Fulci. The splintered wood going into the eye still makes me cringe.)
  • The New York Ripper 1982 (Fulci does it with a razor, la Bunuel/Dali)
  • The Beyond 1980 (Fulci at it again, this time with tarantulas)
  • Evil Dead 1982 ( Evil Dead 1982 (Raimi impresses with an extended thumb gouging.) Evil Dead 1982 (Raimi impresses with an extended thumb gouging.)
  • Blade Runner 1982 (Ok it's not horror, but Rutger crushing in his creator's head is pretty horrifying)
  • Evil Dead 2 1987 (Great gore-gag. Ash steps on zombie's head, sending an eye across a room into a screaming woman's mouth.)
  • Faceless (Jesus Franco changes things up a little by using a hypodermic needle.)
  • Opera 1989 (Murderer uses pins to keep victim's eyes open so she can witness gruesome killings. A slight reworking of the experiment in A Clockwork Orange.)

Best Horror Villains in Costumes

  • Friday the 13th (Jason's hockey mask)
  • Halloween 1978 (Michael Myers surprises a victim by disguising himself with a bed sheet.
  • Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 (Leatherfaces's human mask)
  • Blood and Black Lace 1964 (Black cape, mask, gloves and hat)
  • Tales from the Crypt 1973 (The psycho in Santa Claus gear in opening episode.)
  • Stagefright 1987 (Huge stuffed bird's head. The incongruity only makes the killer appear creepier and inhuman)
  • Phantom of the Opera 1925 (Lon Chaney's "mask" was not really a mask, but later incarnations of the phantom opted for a less painful process.)
  • The Invisible Man 1933 (Those dark shades)
  • Raincoat, red in Don't Look Now, yellow in Alice, Sweet Alice.)

Most Disturbing Horror Films:: (Even hardcore horror fans would agree that these are films that go beyond the usual horror film protocol (ie. to scare) by unflinchingly revealing the darkest, vilest aspects of our world. These films are by common consensus, not "fun" to watch. Sick, disgusting, perverse, exploitative, sensational. Well, maybe yes, but disturbing.)

  • Nekromantik 1989
  • Man Behind Sun 1988
  • Untold Story: Bun Man 1992
  • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986
  • Cannibal Holocaust 1979
  • In a Glass Cage 1986
  • Maniac 1980
  • Last House on the Left 1972
  • Cannibal Ferrox (aka Make Them Die Slowly) 1980
  • Shocking Africa 1982

Exceedingly Misogynist Horror Films: Horror genre convention has an obvious bias toward female-as-victim, which in the worst moments produce films that even staunch supporters have no desire to defend.

  • Bloodsucking Freaks 1977
  • Maniac 1980
  • The New York Ripper 1982
  • Red to Kill 1996
  • Nightmare 1980

Good Sequels

  • Son of Kong 1933
  • The Bride of Frankenstein 1935
  • Dracula's Daughter 1936
  • Son of Frankenstein 1939
  • Revenge of Frankenstein 1958
  • Dawn of the Dead 1978
  • Evil Dead 2 1987
  • Demons 2 1987
  • Bloodlust: Subspecies 2 1993
  • Henry 2: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1997

Not-So-Great Sequels (and in some cases awful)

  • King Kong 1976
  • Exorcist 2: The Heretic 1977
  • Jaws 2 1978
  • The Hills Have Eyes 2 1985
  • Howling 2: Your Sister is a Werewolf 1985 (What would you expect from a title like that.)
  • Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 1988
  • Basketcase 2 1990
  • Bird's 2: The Land's End 1994
  • Candy: Farewell to the Flesh 1995
  • Phantasm 3 1996

Great Films With a Color in the Title

  • The Black Cat 1934
  • Horror of the Black Museum 1959
  • Black Sunday 1961
  • Black Sabbath 1964
  • Mask of the Red Death 1964
  • Blood and Black Lace 1964
  • Color me Blood Red 1965
  • Four Flies on Grey Velvet 1971
  • The Black Belly of the Tarantula 1971
  • Deep Red 1975

Some Great Films With Animals in the Title

  • The Wolfman 1941
  • Cat People 1942, 1982
  • The Fly 1958, 1986
  • Spider Baby 1964
  • The Reptile 1966
  • Bird With the Crystal Plumage 1968
  • Cat O'nine Tails 1970
  • Tail of the Scorpion 1971
  • Don't Torture a Duckling 1972
  • Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS 1974
  • The Serpent and the Rainbow 1988
 

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