What Scares You?

I'm finding that picking my Top Ten Horror Films is even more difficult that choosing my favourite SF films. There are so many kinds of horror films, so many remakes and reinterpretations, and a long history of good films as they are often less reliant on special effects. But I'm going to give it a shot! To make it easier on myself, I mostly picked one from each archetype, even though it leaves a lot off the list.

1. Shaun of the Dead
My current favoute zombie movie. I also love the original Night of the Living Dead, the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead (especially the scene where the survivors play "celebrity sniper" on the rooftop), and 28 Days Later, which technically isn't a zombie movie, but close enough--also very scary!

2. Dracula (1930)
I had to stick with the classic here. Bela Lugosi set the standard for the portrayal of Dracula. It is also refreshing to get away from the count, and I also love The Lost Boys (cute vampires, great soundtrack, and slacker mentality), Blade, The Hunger (very stylish), and Salem's Lot (though it had it's weaknesses).

3. Underworld
I picked this for the werewolves, though the vampires are great too. Great werewolf movies can be spoiled by crappy effects and makeup or stupid ideas of what the beasts look like (see The Howling, for example). I am also partial to Wolfen, which brought werewolves in to the cities with us, An American Werewolf in London, The Company of Wolves, Silver Bullet, and Ginger Snaps.

4. The Bride of Frankenstein
Generally regarded as the best of the Universal Frankenstein movies. Great makeup, performances, and subtle humour. I also like Hammer's The Evil of Frankenstein.

5. Candyman (1992)
This is a scary movie! The internal logic makes sense, effects and makeup are great. It's a very underrated film and a refreshing departure from the screaming teen genre so popular at the time. Clive Barker is a master of horror!

6. The Ring
Dark and stylish puzzle. Lags a bit at times. I like how it brings horror to us through the technology in our own homes, very modern.

7. The Haunting (1963)
There are a lot of great haunted house stories, but once again I had to go with the classic. Very atmospheric. The remake is okay (I guess), and I'm also fond of The House on Haunted Hill, especially the remake (stylish, good effects, great soundtrack, though the ending was very weak) and The Shining (1980).

8. The Omen (1976)
Definately NOT the soulless remake. You always suspect little kids are evil. Demon Seed is also good in this regard, and I'm going to stick Rosemary's Baby here too, though it has more to do with the devil begatting a baby rather than the nasty little brat itself.

9. Se7en
Another stylish, astmospheric film, very thoughtful, with good actors. Reminisent of Theatre of Blood (1973) starring Vincent Price as a serial killer (though it touches on campy). Another favourite serial killer movie is Manhunter (1986).

10. The Exorcist
I wanted to pick one film about demonic posession since there are so many good, scary films out there, so once more I went with the classic. End of Days was also good, very action-packed and modern but occasionally weak, and there are also some good Hammer films in this theme.

Hmmm, Good Question

It's one of those getting-to-know you questions: "What are your top ten favourite sf/horror films, in no particular order?" How can you pick just ten? How do you define sf and horror? Of course, no pressure coming from the fact that the guy who asked me this is a movie nut and film editor...

What I did was leaf through VideoHound's Sci-Fi Experience to remind me of films I've seen, look through my own DVD collection and my own mind, made a list, crossed out and added... I made it easier on myself by just doing sf films. Easier enough to make it possible, anyway.

So here are my TOP TEN SCIENCE FICTION FILMS, in no particular order:

1. A Clockwork Orange: funny, sad, violent. A great film exploring language, youth, and free will. Great over-all look and music.

2. Demolition Man: along with Judge Dredd, my favoure Sly double-bill. I think it says something about the futility of supressing "bad" and the blandness of "good". Benjamin Bratt is a cutie, Sandra Bullock is funny, and Sylvester Stallone is both, as well as being the consumate action hero. Besides, I always get a kick out of what an honour it is to be taken out to dinner at Taco Bell, the winner of the Franchise Wars. An interesting vision of the future, good action.

3. Fahrenheit 451: I love the novel by Ray Bradbury, and the movie is very well done. Yeah, it's a dated, 40-year-old vision of the future, but it's slick. The destruction of words, of books and stories is a fear close to my heart. Reminds me a lot of Soylent Green.

4. 1984: Another great interpretation of a great book. It looks wonderful, close to Orwell's premonition of Soviet life. Good performances by Richard Burton and John Hurt. Romance, fear, betrayal, bad government, impoverishment of language and the interior life, and trying to keep a spark of humanity alive in yourself despite overwhelming odds.

5. The Omega Man: Enough said.

6. On the Beach: End of the world. End of hope. Die the best way you know how.

7. Soylent Green: I enjoyed the book by Harry Harrison, titled Make Room, Make Room! It's about the haves and have-nots, too many people and not enough resources, the heavy hand of government, the control of knowledge, and devaluing of human life and the discounting of the old and sick.

8. Total Recall: Great premise! I am a big Philip K. Dick fan (this was based on a short story titled "We Can Remember it for you Wholesale"), but it was tough to pick just one movie for the list. Lots of action. Another movie about betrayal, paranoia, and the sometime fluidity of memory and history.

9. 12 Monkeys: Trying to save the world, being a voice in the wilderness. Time-travel and hopelessness, deadly plague.

10. The Matrix: Slick vision of the future (present?), it's about choosing reality and individuality, what's right rather than what's safe even when it seems there is no hope.

This list is open to debate and would probably change from month to month depending on what I've seen recently, movies that were better or worse than I remembered, things that fit together differently in my head, and newly discovered movies.

Next I'll try my top ten horror films.

The Last Man on Earth

No, I don't mean the guy you wouldn't date even if he were the last man on earth.

I've been on an Omega Man kick lately. The Omega Man is one of my favourite films, and along with Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green, form the must-see Chuck triple-bill.

First I re-read I Am Legend, the Richard Matheson book that started it all. It was a bit of a shock to realise the book is half a century old! Robert Neville's wife and daughter succumb to the plague bourne by dust-storms, and while baby girl is safely burned in a mass burial pit, Neville wants something more personal for disposing of his beloved's earthly remains, so he secretly digs a grave for her. Too bad she comes back! Neville seems immune to the plague, he thinks because he was bitten by a vampire bat, and in short order becomes the last man on earth (you know omega is the last letter in the greek alphabet, right?), seeking slumbering vampires during the day and baricading himself in his house at night, trying to drown out the taunts and attacks by former next-door-neighbour Ben Cortland.

After a few years he finds another survivor, a young woman whose husband was recently killed by the un-dead. Neville hasn't gotten any for awhile, and decides he needs a mate. Remember, this was written in the 50's, and his actions seem... rather brutish. But he has some fun before discovering she is a spy relying on the latest vampire science to keep safe in the nest of the man they hate and seek to destroy.

Stringing the stories in chronological order, the early 60's brought The Last Man On Earth, a B&W Italian production starring Vincent Price. Though great as an actor and icon, Price is no action hero. The film is pretty faithful to the book, except the character is re-named Mason and was a scientist doing research on the plague as it slowly came from Europe, and Ben Cortland is a slightly-paranoid fellow researcher and neighbour. Definately give this one a miss. It is boring, rather disjointed, and the production values are not the best (you can see the bodies of the obviously very light vampires bend as Price gathers them up).

1971 brought us The Omega Man, which is the best-known version (so far). Charlton Heston is Neville, who this time was a scientist in the military and is shorn of wife and child. The plague is the result of germ warfare and Neville survives because he tested the vaccine he developed on himself. Ben Cortland becomes Matthias, and his undead army become luddites.

Neville finds the woman (Lisa) when he is out "shopping" for some new threads. She has a whole gang of young people up in the hills who are infected but not yet ill. Neville cures one of them with antibodies from his own blood and plans to join them, but the vampires finally get him. In an ending full of hope, Neville dies a christ-like death and manages to give his life-giving blood to the young people.

The movie is violent and cool. No station-wagon corpsemobile for Chuck--he gets a convertible! The music is very 70's. It is also worth noting that the Lisa is black, which I didn't think was a big deal, but a friend pointed out interracial pairings were still unusual at the time, only a couple of years after the airing of Kirk and Uhura's famous kiss.

Currently being filmed is I Am Legend, starring Will Smith. My comparison here is based on a rumoured script, so heaven knows what the movie is going to look--this thing definately needs some tweaking. Neville is given back his wife and child in this version, which gives the character a strong emotional bias. In fact, he is a history professor and his daughter has recently been diagnosed with cancer. He begs a researcher at the university to give his daugher the experimental treatment that seems so successful (it's done wonders for Ben Cortland!). The vampires are much stronger. Packs of vampric dogs roam the streets. Eventually the woman makes contact, turns out she is an uninfected spy forced into service because her little brother is held by the vampires. Turns out there are a quite a few people held in underground San Francisco to provide delicious, nourishing blood. Very happy ending, though, which means it sucks.

I could easily see Will Smith in this incarnation of Neville. Much more action-hero, more violent, more special effects. Screw the station-wagon and convertible; the serious vampire-hunter needs a Land Rover. More high-tech weapons and security.

I am looking forward to seeing the movie next fall (?) and hopefully a lot of the stupid and sentimental will be wrung out of it first. My most fervent hope is that the special effects work, because the new vampires and weapons need it to pull the whole thing off.

Phantom Menace

I don't think I've seen the Hammer version of Phantom of the Opera in more than twenty years. And you know what? It's pretty bad! It really fails to capture the drama of the 1943 version, the story of obsession. The phantom comes off as being some whiny, clingy loser instead of the remnants of a physically and psychologically destroyed man driven by revenge and desire and all that good stuff....

The production values of the 1962 Hammer remake are pretty good, and Edward de Souza is wonderful as Christine's love interest, mind you, but this is not the best Phantom and not the best Hammer picture.

Also in my DVD collection is Night Creatures, another 1962 Hammer film...no idea why it's in a set of horror films. Maybe because Peter Cushing is in it. It could have been a horror, but is washed out by the humour in it, mostly in the form of wry observations from Cushing's character. The two just don't seem to fit together in this case.

I hate to admit that I've never seen the entire Lon Chaney Phantom, so that's up next in the rotation, as I have a copy, and then I think it's time to track down the 1943 film and see if it's as good as I remember!

Here Come the Brides

I've been watching some of the movies from my Hammer Horror DVD pack. Brides of Dracula, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Kiss of the Vampire, and Nightmare. Still to be seen: Phantom of the Opera, Paranoiac, Night Creatures, and The Evil of Frankenstein.

It's been really great getting this. I have some of the movies on VHS, but I haven't been able to use my VCR since it developed an appetite for eating tapes, and these films aren't exactly easy to get at the local video rental place. I haven't even seen some of them before, ever. What a treat!

Sitting down watching so many of them, I wonder why I haven't before clued in on all of the brides in these flicks. The blushing, doomed bride on her honeymoon, drawn in to evil. The young innocent forced to become a handmaiden to the monster. The woman betrothed to the old, rich, heartless boor, but who is worthy of much greater love. The woman who helps her lover kill off his wife, and then replaces her. Hmmm. The relationships are much more explicit than the earlier Universal pics (ah, such innocent times!) but still a step down from the "sex is punishable by death" rule of later slasher flicks. Just noting this.

Anyway, the films look great, much better than when I saw them on TV as a kid, in the middle of nowhere (lousy reception!), in the middle of the night. It's easy to dismiss Hammer productions as cheesy, second-rate horror, but I think people do that without paying attention to them, trying to ignore why they might be a trifle uneasy with the monsters, human and not. But then, I have a well-developed sense of what Lovecraft called "the suspension of disbelief," meaning, I can have a lot of fun watching these movies! Sorry if you're missing out on that.

(16 September 2006)