| Author | Message | ||
     Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Old quaint Horror/Sci-Fi b&w movies I saw as a boy keep popping up into my mind, sometimes after eons of forgetfulness. I can't remember all the titles. I don't know if they were good or bad, I just saw them in little ramshackle detergent-smelly theatres, often church-maintained, with squeaking wood chairs and strange-looking old men often taking their seat near mine and pretending to watch the screen while I felt their questing damp fingers alighting on my knee and starting a crawl along my leg. Too often I had to change seats in embarassment and anger. Alligator People, The Monolith Monsters, Caltiki, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, The Mole People, The Black Sleep....how many will certainly be, and stay, dormant in the River of Oblivion! I regret not having kept a log for them. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
By gum, Giancarlo, that sounds very much like Times Square! I have all those films on DVD except The Alligator People (on its way to me as I write) and The Black Sleep (not yet available). Caltiki has a few very effective Bava scenes, and I Married a Monster from Outer Space is really pretty good (and has a striking subtext). | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
I share Ramsey's presumed frustration at The Black Sleep not being available yet, although I did chance to see it on a rare late night BBC screening. The Alligator People is wonderful fun. The Mole People and The Monolith Monsters are both available in a box set of 10 Universal SF movies of that era, of which The Incredible Shrinking Man is definitely the best and Cult of the Cobra is probably the worst. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
The Alligator People, yes, Beverly Garland playing in the movie, beside Lon Chaney Jr. I remember B. Garland in Twice Told Tales, an all Vincent Price movie supposedly (un)inspired by Hawthorne. Both movies were fun to see, anyway. I've always had a soft spot for Beverly Garland! I Married a Monster... sported another Dark Lady of Olden Times, Gloria Talbott: wasn't she The Daughter of Doctor Jekyll? And Thomas Tryon, is he not the passable actor who later became the very good writer of The Other and Harvest Home? ...I think so, at least. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
You're talking about one of my all-time favourite genres, the sci-fi "creature features" of the 1950s/60s. Off the top of my head, and roughly in order of merit, here are some of the best imo: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers The Incredible Shrinking Man Forbidden Planet The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass II & Quatermass And The Pit The Day The Earth Stood Still Village Of The Damned & Children Of The Damned Them! Tarantula The Thing From Another World War Of The Worlds Fiend Without A Face It! The Terror From Beyond Space The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Revenge Of The Creature & The Creature Walks Among Us It Came From Outer Space This Island Earth I Married A Monster From Outer Space Donovan's Brain The Damned Godzilla & all those wonderful sequels... The Black Scorpion Island Of Terror Night Of The Big Heat The Day Of The Triffids Not Of This Earth The Monolith Monsters When Worlds Collide The Day The Earth Caught Fire X The Unknown The Space Children 20 Million Miles To Earth It Came From Beneath The Sea The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Earth vs The Flying Saucers The Trollenberg Terror The Earth Dies Screaming The Man With The X-Ray Eyes Little Shop Of Horrors The Blob Monster On The Campus It Conquered The World Attack Of The Crab Monsters The Brain from Planet Arous The Amazing Colossal Man & War Of The Colossal Beast Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman The Deadly Mantis The Monster That Challenged The World etc, etc, etc... Add to that all those affectionate send-ups of the genre that blossomed in the 1980s/90s: Tremors The Blob (better than the original!) Killer Klowns From Outer Space Bad Taste Brain Damage The Deadly Spawn The Hidden The Borrower Critters etc... Also.. Slither was a great recent example. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I bought a load of these old beauties on DVD last night, for a quid each: White Zombie (1932) King Of The Zombies (1941) The Thing From Another World (1951) The Indestructible Man (1956) Attack Of The Crab Monsters (1957) Fiend Without A Face (1958) The Bat (1959) The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1959) The Giant Leeches (1959) The Killer Shrews (1959) The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) The Terror (1963) And just to prove I'm not completely insane, I also picked up a couple of more recent, quality horrors: Near Dark (1987) The Children (2008) So what would people consider the best and worst of that lot? For me, the oldies are beyond criticism and really quite wonderful... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.92 |
Stevie, I remember totally loving NEAR DARK - for it's time, a gritty, mean, shocking vampire film of its time - haven't seen it since about it first came out, but I remember being pretty floored by that one.... I think I've seen THE BAT, with Vincent Price (and Agnes Moorhead! Endora!) and liked it - I'm pretty sure it's the one based on a Mary Roberts Reinhart novel, and previously made a number of times, including a silent version (1926) that I've been meaning to see (available on youtube, I know), supposed to be a classic of its kind itself.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.92 |
"for it's time" and "of its time"?! Oh god... yes, that DOES deserve me a painful death, I agree.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Craig - I watched Near Dark again about two months back. Still a cracking film. The bar scene has not lost any of its impact. It has not dated at all. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.249.56 |
Good to know, Frank! I'll revisit it myself. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.160.64.136 |
Stevie, in another city centre branch of Poundland I discovered several more DVD titles in that 'Cayman Horror Collection' series we discovered last night! From memory... Plan 9 from Outer Space. The House on Haunted Hill. The Wasp Woman. The Screaming Skull. Doomed to Die. The Fatal Hour. Invisible Ghost. Apparently there are 40 titles in all! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.115.63 |
There are some great cheap sets from Mill Creek, each with 50 films on them for around twelve pounds:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horror-Classics-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B0001HAGTM/ref=sr_1_9 ?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1285974703&sr=8-9 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chilling-Classics-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B000AOEQ4W/ref=sr_1 _13?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1285974703&sr=8-13 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sci-Classics-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B0001HAGU6/ref=sr_1_2?s= dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1285974815&sr=1-2 Bargain city! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Bloody hell, Sean!! Only I'm dosed to the eyeballs with flu here I'd be running into town now lol. Where is the other branch? Even at a pound each I'm still gonna be out a fortune, but I can't resist these old movies, especially as most of them I've never seen before and know only by long savoured stills and, ahem.. reputation. Thanks, Mick! My DVD collection is soon gonna be forcing me out of the house at this rate.  And I totally agree with the comments about 'Near Dark'. To my mind there hasn't been a vampire movie anywhere near as original or hard-hitting since. Last year's 'Let The Right One In' came closest to topping it but still isn't quite as good. Still Kathryn Bigelow's finest movie by a mile imo. Trying to decide on a double bill here to enjoy over a steaming bowl of chicken soup and nice big mug of Lemsip. Maybe 'King Of The Zombies' followed by 'The Killer Shrews'.. hmmm... any suggestions? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Did a bit of checking on those films, Sean, and 'Doomed To Die' & 'The Fatal Hour' are NOT horror films but ultra-low budget 1940s crime thrillers starring Boris Karloff as Mr Wong, a Charlie Chan inspired oriental detective - at least that'll save £2 lol. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I've decided on an old, modern & new horror triple bill to see me through the night: 'King Of The Zombies' (1941) by Jean Yarbrough. 'The House By The Cemetery' (1981) by Lucio Fulci - for only the second time. 'The Children' (2008) by Tom Shankland. Flu, do your worst... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - get well, mate. Glad to see you have such a great trio of films lined up for tonight. I have a line-up for tonight also, though two of the films might turn out to be rubbish, the latter two: Just watched Superbad (needed some comedy before the horror), now onto the remake of The Omen, followed by the remake of The Fog. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
'King Of The Zombies' was an ultra low grade, but hard to dislike, horror comedy cash-in on Bob Hope's similar, and much more entertaining, 'The Ghost Breakers' (1940). Much of the "laughs" come from the goggle-eyed scaredy-cat routine of black manservant Mantan Moreland; "I'm feeling a little off colour", etc...  Actually the black actors are the only ones in the cast to show any sign of personality, as it's often difficult to tell the lantern jawed white heroes from the zombies! Now for a bit of Fulci, at his very best... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Just watched two great horror films in a row. 'The House By The Cemetery' has the most coherent plot structure of Lucio Fulci's gothic trilogy, with Catriona MacColl, but I'd still love somebody to explain to me why Anne the babysitter bothered to clean up the gore after one of Dr Freudstein's more artery squirting murders?! I can only assume she was possessed by the evil of the house... I still think this is a brilliant hallucinatory horror classic, while the relentlessly long drawn out finale, and climactic revealing of the mouldering undead Doctor and his underground charnel lair, is arguably the scariest, and most sickening sequence Fulci ever directed. Brilliant stuff!! Then I have to say I was very impressed with the recent British horror flick, 'The Children'. A brilliantly paced and beautifully shot twist on the "virus infected maniacs" horror of 'The Crazies' or '28 Days Later' - turned into a memorable entry in the evil kids sub-genre by the fact that the virus only infects pre-adolescents. The slow-building tension and insidiously creepy atmosphere is marvellously well maintained and I'd actually rank this as superior to the somewhat similar, and more vaunted French horror, 'Them' (2006). The emotional impact on the parents, and their disbelieving bewilderment at having to come to terms with their little darlings gradually metamorphosing into ravening homicidal maniacs is what makes this little gem really stand out. Tom Shankland is a genre director worth keeping an eye on imo. | ||
| Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan) Username: Matt_cowan Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 68.79.168.61 |
It's funny you mentioned The Monolith Monsters. I had never heard of the movie before this week in the newspaper. They have a section where people write in to ask the name of films and stuff like that. The movie being asked about turned out to be The Monolith Monsters. So, I went from never hearing of it to having it come up twice in the same week. Maybe I should try and track it down. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
'The Monolith Monsters' is yet another of those old cornball classics from the 50s that I've wanted to see ever since reading the plot outline and ogling over stills in old movie books and magazines as a kid. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Add to the list: The Invisible Ghost (1941) by Joseph H. Lewis. The Screaming Skull (1958) by Alex Nicol. The Creature From The Haunted Sea (1961) by that man, Roger Corman. and... 'Duel' (1971) - still one of Spielberg's very best films imo. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
More incredible DVD bargains picked up yesterday: 'The House On Haunted Hill' (1958) by William Castle - balls to the remake, this is what we want! Arguably Castle's "masterpiece". 'Profondo Rosso' (1975) by Dario Argento - this, brand new for a quid, is my find of the year!! I'd rank it third in Argento's body of work, after only 'Tenebrae' & 'Suspiria', and this includes the fully restored version with an extra 23 mins of footage I've never seen before!!!! 'Phantasm' (1979) by Don Coscarelli - a surreal horror masterpiece, one of my all-time favourites from the video nasty era, and the only one of the series worth having imo. 'Castle Freak' (1995) by Stuart Gordon - reuniting him with Jeffrey Combs, and based on another Lovecraft story, it says here, though I can't think which one from the synopsis. 'WDZ' (2006) by Tom Shankland - bought this purely on the strength of his other horror film 'The Children' (2008), and it only cost a pound! Sounds like an interesting British variant on 'Saw', and the guy has the talent to pull it off imo. 'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street' (2007) by Tim Burton - a musical, a black comedy, a horror film, ridiculously gory to a quite wonderful degree, and quite possibly Burton's masterpiece to date... I feel almost compelled to watch it again asap to restore my confidence in the man after the artistic disaster of 'Alice In Wonderland'. 'Coraline' (2009) by Henry Selick - was sorry I missed it in the cinema, as I adore this style of stop-frame animation, and consider Selick's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' the popular pinnacle of the artform. It's good to see him back in the horror genre and working with someone like Neil Gaiman. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 217.39.93.223 |
Stevie, the Cayman Horror classics range is missing the following titles now. The Monster Walks. The Monster Maker. The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues. Horrors Of Spider Island. These had been supplied to Poundland in packaging devoid of any sign of BBFC certification. As you are no doubt aware it is illegal for stores to sell any DVD without a BBFC certificate so Poundland have apparently recalled these particular titles, so if your local branch has them you would be well advised to snap them up. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.68 |
I think the Bob Hope remake of The Cat and the Canary's worth throwing into the lists above, actually, though I prefer the old SF movies to the horror ones. For instance, Robinson Crusoe on Mars was fun, I remember. And surely the old Buster Crabbe Flash Gordons have to be remembered... | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Has anyone already mentioned Inoshiro Honda's "THE H MAN" (1958)? Men turned into bluish hungry liquid creatures because of exposition to atomic radiation...their deadly runnelling up over walls and ceilings still a powerful image in my memorable-creeps store. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Poundland seems to have some excellent titles in among the usual dreck they sell. Apart from the movies packaged to resemble other similar more successful movies eg Snakes on a Train (actually a serious sounding voodoo/zombie/venomous snake film set mostly on a train) or Honey the Kids Rule the World I found Deep Red, the Bird with the Crystal plumage (both of which my vhs copies wor out years ago), the wes Craven Hills have Eyes (a shocking gap in my film viewing history) and The Good the Bad and The Ugly (which is well worth a quid of anyone's money). If you've got a poundland near you, get down there. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
It's like sifting through sludge for nuggets of pure gold at the minute... And how can stores like HMV justify charging £16, or more, for 'Profondo Rosso' when Poundland are selling the very same package for £1 ?!?! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I agree, Mark, the Bob Hope version of 'The Cat And The Canary' & 'The Ghost Breakers' have long been two of my favourite horror comedies. Wonderful stuff! I also have to include my all-time favourite of that kind, 'The Laurel And Hardy Murder Case', which managed to make my hair stand on end and almost choke laughing at the same time, as a young child. Hardy being chased into the cloakroom by the "ghost", whereupon Stan closes the door, and we hear this great roar of terror... that image is making me laugh now, just typing this. 'Oliver The Eighth' was great too, if only they'd made more films in that style <sigh>. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Only one find yesterday: 'Pitch Black' (2000) by David Twohy - one of the best, and scariest, sci-fi/horror monster movies of recent years. I also admired the director's other two early genre films; 'The Arrival' (1996) & 'Below' (2002) - both criminally overlooked and extremely effective low budget horror films imo. It's just a pity Vin Diesel became a mega-star and they chucked a load of money at Twohy, resulting in the abysmal mess of, 'The Chronicles Of Riddick' (2004)! Anyone seen his return to low budget fare with 'A Perfect Getaway' (2009)? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.245.71 |
I read A PERFECT GETAWAY, Stevie, the spec that wandered around Hollywood for literally years, with everyone picking it up and hesitating about making it, before Twohy finally got it produced himself. It's a thriller, and let's just say, M. Night Shyamalan comes to mind... but did it pull it off? I dunno, I dunno.... | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
Saw THE SUICIDE CLUB (2002) for the first time yesterday, and am strangely moved by it. Must be my weak spot for Japanese schoolgirls . . . | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Picked up Roger Corman's 'The Wasp Woman' (1959) last night, which leaves me in the position of rushing round various Belfast branches of Poundland valiantly seeking a £1 copy of 'Plan 9 From Outer Space', to complete the collection... no finer tribute to the genius of Edward D. Wood, Jnr could I possibly imagine. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I even saw a Japanese "Dracula" movie dating back to 1970. Bought the DVD at the news-stand, it's titled "Blood of Dracula" (that's the Italian version, at least.) Fond memories of Ringu and Ju-on suggested daring the expense but the flick, as it could be expected, is an old fashioned and emaciated imitation of its English model. Besides, I didn't know sometimes whether I was really watching a post-Honda Godzilla movie, the same wooden acting of players trying hard to be convincing. Director's cut, probably. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
My favourite "so bad it's good" Japanese monster movie is unquestionably Ishiro Honda's 'The Mysterians' (1957) - it features flying saucers, alien abduction & a giant robot chicken. I had the great fortune of seeing this, along with the original 'Godzilla' (1954), on the big screen a few years back - an experience I still haven't quite recovered from... | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I saw them too on screen, Stevie, when I was about 12 old. I was awed at them. Nowadays, I think the original Godzilla is still capable of stinging owing to its atomic trauma background. As to "The Mysterians", it left me an enthusiast from what I then deemed to be the best FX ever! Now I'm quite dismissive of the movie but unjustly so, especially since I've grown indifferent to modern CGI effects. Anyway, I'd like so much to re-experience the creepy lividness of I. Honda's "THE H MAN" (1958). It's my idea even the acting was good. It's a better film, imo, than "The Blob", besides its precursor. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The scenes of relentless devastation and mass death in the original 'Godzilla' really do pack a punch - added to by the austere newsreel-type reportage and chilly B&W cinematography. I can imagine the traumatising effect it must have had on Japanese audiences at the time, so close to the reality of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. 'The Mysterians' is just wonderful, the colours glow on the big screen and those special effects are still quite wonderful - a big influence on Gerry Anderson, and 'UFO' in particular, still one of my favourite sci-fi series. CGI effects from the 90s are already looking painfully dated, while those old model effects still look the business imho. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The 1988 remake of 'The Blob' is the greatest example there is of a remake that completely blew the original out of the water, as charming as it undoubtedly is. 'The Thing' & 'The Fly' equalled the originals, whereas 'The Blob' made its inspiration look feeble by comparison imho. That's one movie I'd love to own on DVD. I haven't seen 'The H Man' but it sounds well up to scratch. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
Haven't seen the original, but love the remake, especially the actor's haircuts  Another J-horror film I saw recently is INFECTION. Not in the class of Ju-on, Ring, Dark Water, Suicide Club, but enjoyable in a grand guignolesque sort of way. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You haven't seen the original version of 'The Blob'! It's a loveable little B-movie, though closer to the cheap thrills of Roger Corman or William Castle than a seriously good film like 'The Thing' or 'The Fly' - even with the presence of Steve McQueen. I thought the remake was one of the best films of its kind ever made, big hair notwithstanding lol. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Steve McQueen as a 30 year old teenager if I remember correctly. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Yeah, he'd have been about 27/28 - just like those chaps in 'The Inbetweeners'... | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Just to thrash about, "The Quatermass Experiment" left me quite unresponsive, too similar to "First Man into Space". "Quatermass II" ("Space Vampires" in Italy, NOT the T. Hooper's one!) still succeds in making my hair stand on end. "Quatermass and the Pit" had a better Quatermass professor in it (Andrew Kier instead of Brian Donlevy, imo), was graced by first class Hammer female player, Barbara Shelley (she was great in "Village of the Damned" too) and...yes the flick sported quality creeps beside matter for post-movie meditation, one of my cult ones! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Interesting you don't rank the first Quatermass, Giancarlo. I think it's still a great sci-fi/horror, one of the best of its decade and easily in my Top 10 Hammer movies. Richard Wordsworth gives a harrowing performance as the doomed astronaut and I've always liked the hard-boiled practicality Brian Donlevy brought to the role. I find the film quite Lovecraftian in tone (compare with 'The Colour Out Of Space') and it's always a joy to watch, no matter how many times I've seen it. 'Quatermass II' is an exceptionally fine twist on the paranoid sci-fi/horror of 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' but, despite that, is still the "least brilliant" of the trilogy imo. Here's my Top 10 sci-fi films, with a strong horror element, of the 1950s: 1. 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' (1956) by Don Siegel 2. 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' (1957) by Jack Arnold 3. 'Them!' (1954) by Gordon Douglas 4. 'Tarantula' (1955) by Jack Arnold 5. 'It Came From Outer Space' (1953) by Jack Arnold 6. 'Fiend Without A Face' (1958) by Arthur Crabtree 7. 'The Quatermass Experiment' (1955) by Val Guest 8. 'The Creature From The Black Lagoon' (1954) by Jack Arnold 9. 'Quatermass II' (1957) by Val Guest 10. 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space' (1958) by Gene Fowler And my Top 10 Hammer films: 1. 'The Devil Rides Out' (1968) by Terence Fisher 2. 'Quatermass And The Pit' (1967) by Roy Ward Baker [of whom, more anon...] 3. 'To The Devil A Daughter' (1976) by Peter Sykes 4. 'Dracula, Prince Of Darkness' (1966) by Terence Fisher 5. 'Plague Of The Zombies' (1966) by John Gilling 6. 'The Damned' (1963) by Joseph Losey 7. 'The Curse Of Frankenstein' (1957) by Terence Fisher 8. 'Dracula' (1958) by Terence Fisher 9. 'The Quatermass Experiment' (1955) by Val Guest 10. 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' (1959) by Terence Fisher 'The First Man Into Space' (1959) & Hammer's own 'X The Unknown' (1956) are both highly effective imitations of 'The Quatermass Experiment' but can't match Nigel Kneale's original imo. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
And which of your choices of sci fi was written by Ray Bradbury? | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
And to top it all we get a snazzy London Sixties setting! Not to mention the best Horned One I have ever seen in a film. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
The above was in reply to Giancarlo's observations on Quatermass and the Pit. Deliciously double-edged title, too. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'It Came From Outer Space' - quality will out! These just missed the list: 'The Thing From Another World', 'Invaders From Mars', 'It! The Terror From Beyond Space', 'The Fly' & 'Donovan's Brain'. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
The Queen of Spades. I have never seen this film and to my frustration it was shown all over London laat christmas and I couldn't get to any of them! I love the fact tht the snow in the film as atually made from minced0-up aircraft cockpits from downed Luftwaffe planss. Apparently it stung badly during the blizzard scenes. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
Two others while I'm at it. "Night of the Demon", an atmospheric b/w from the fifties with Dana Andrews in the lead role. The monster is naff though. "Fear no Evil" is a 1970s TV movie that works, all about a demon who lives in a mirror, excellent, well, as I remember it anyway, perhaps I would change my mind if I saw it now. Chers Terry | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Interesting you don't rank the first Quatermass, Giancarlo. I think it's still a great sci-fi/horror, one of the best of its decade and easily in my Top 10 Hammer movies. Stevie, I couldn't agree more. I always found the middle section of the film incredibly unsettling (and, like you, I always thought of it as Lovecraftian). | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.215 |
I watched Quatermass and the Pit the other night actually. Class. Except for the dodgy mind-video with the rows on jumping antthings. I think Neale would benefit from remakes. The Stone Tape could be brilliant. (But will probably be shit.) | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I think Nigel Kneale would only benefit from remakes if they were set in Britain, stuck to his original scripts and avoided all use of CGI effects. But, yeah, the TV scripts have always cried out for a proper cinematic treatment - as with the Quatermass films. 'The Stone Tape' & 'Quatermass IV' could be turned into wonderful film versions, with a sympathetic treatment. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Except for the dodgy mind-video with the rows on jumping antthings. I always found that bit terrifying...still packs a punch, IMHO. I took the DVD down off the shelf last night, and plan to watch it again this weekend in memory of Roy Ward Baker. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
...and what about the Nippo-American hybrid "THE GREEN SLIME"? Too bad not to be good in its own shoddy way. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That's the one I've been trying to remember the name of... thanks, Giancarlo! Nonsensical rubbish at its most eye-wateringly brilliant - with quite possibly the funniest monsters in motion picture history, like some bastard offspring of Mr Blobby & a rubber octopus!! Caught it late one night on Channel 4 years ago and it has haunted the nethermost regions of my consciousness ever since. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
some bastard offspring of Mr Blobby & a rubber octopus Why does that description make me want to see this film? | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Yes, Stevie! Quite like what psychologist James Hillman asserted about dreams, "the worst they are, the better they are", referring to horror images and their power to stir our Shadow complex which is not, of course, an individual property but a cultural, wordly "reality" and horrible images a sort of neo-Renaissance Art of Memory. Oh, well, just a little off the track, but that's the first "free association" I can offer... | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I suppose I should have written "the WORSE they are..." Sorry for my English! Anyone remembering those Swedish garbage-bin ones, "REPTILICUS" and "VOYAGE TO THE 7TH PLANET"? No, the latter was not that bad, except tha script sounded so very stiff. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.27.39.177 |
Don't apologise, mate. The only Italian the rest of us know are names of pizzas. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Thanks, Gary, but...no, I surmise "ciao" too is in everybody's repertoire!  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I was once asked to think of a word in Italian that doesn't end with a vowel... after days of head scratching I could only think of one (and even that was a kind of cheat). Try it! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Last night I managed to get through the checkout in Poundland with one of their banned DVDs: 'The Monster Walks' (1932) by Frank Strayer - a 'Cat And The Canary' style old dark house horror comedy about a killer ape on the loose! The reviews I've read sound priceless. This is now the only DVD in my collection without a BBFC Certificate. Forbidden fruit indeed! | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I chanced to buy "The Strange Door" (1951), a gothic drama from a tale by Robert L. Stevenson. The movie's casting Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff: I've a soft spots for both, so I couldn't help grabbing the DVD. I haven't seen it yet. I suppose it's not a great movie, maybe just good, but I had never even sniffed the existence of the old b&w flick. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Oh goodness me "The Monster Walks"! That's the one where Yogi the ape gets lashed into a fury, isn't it? "The Strange Door" is quite fun. It was the first half of a Saturday night TV double bill when I was younger. Laughton's the aristocracy and Karloff is his servant. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.140.191.81 |
I got a great one the other week - 'The Screaming skull'. The picture quality was so hopeless that when a woman wearing a white jumper walked in front of something white she dissappeared. Great film though - some really scary scenes and atmosphere, enough to make me wish there was a better copy available. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Was it from Francis Marion Crawford's tale, Tony? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Haven't watched 'The Monster Walks' yet but that sounds like the one. Got 'The Screaming Skull' as well, Tony, must give it a whirl. But what has me really excited this morning is that last night I finally got my hands on that beautiful Laurel & Hardy box set that's been flaunting itself at me these last few years. Talk about having a lump in my throat poring over every detail last night... a little box of pure magic. Quite incredible! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
After a bit of a James Bond operation in Poundland at the weekend I managed to get my hands on another one of their forbidden DVDs, that shouldn't be sold because they lack certification [yet they keep putting them out on the shelves]. 'The Monster Maker' (1944) by Sam Newfield, starring J. Carroll Naish, Ralph Morgan, Wanda McKay & another bloke in a gorilla suit! Anyone seen it? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.143.135.212 |
Giancarlo - I'm not sure. I watched this in a caravan with the kids over the holidays and one of them really liked it, the other leaving early to hang out with friends who'd mocked it a bit. The one that stayed and I were really freaked out by the ending - we couldn't figure out how they filmed it so effectively after all the shoddy (but for me effective) earlier effects. It's a simple film but gets under your skin somehow. Also - the final apparition - an hour before watching it my wife was dressed in the precise same costume for this fancy dress party. It really shook us up, that... SPOILER She was dressed as a bride. I had this skull mask for the kids for halloween and we put it on her. In the movie - well, I won't say anymore. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
It isn't Crawford's screaming skull. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I've chanced upon these DVDs of titles I had vague remembrance of having liked when I watched them as a boy: "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and "The Argonauts". After re-watching them, I can say I had good reason to like them: Bette Davis stays confirmed as my favourite "monstre" actress and, as to the latter movie, I was enthused anew at Harryhausen's stop-motion creatures effects spinning real magic and winning full score over any comparison with to-day CGI "realism". |