Due to my alarming inability to figure out the poll feature, Poll Position is taking a short hiatus in favour of a good old fashioned "Sound Off".
Before the Twilights and World War Zs, Hollywood brought some classic horror characters to the silver screen in the 1930s and 40s. Got a favourite? Tell us who...or what... and why.
I want to thank both djuby and JR for stepping up and covering for me here on the blog while I take some time off. Just a little update, I am seeing some progress with dealing with the pain and beginning to feel more like myself again. I plan on taking at least one, maybe two more weeks off of writing then I will be back to work!
You can never go wrong with Frankenstein can you. Whilst Vampires and Werewolves have got less and less dangerous, there’s something reassuringly unnerving about a mad scientist playing God and creating something that goes mad from loneliness and being misunderstood and ends up killing people.
I always adored older movies and actually still prefer many of them over the trash that gets made these days. (Don’t get me started on Twilight)
I have very fond memories of watching Nosferatu from way back in 1922. Many of my friends and family wondered why I would prefer to watch a silent movie over something modern but to me, Max Schreck was far creepier and just more interesting than anything from my time. It’s still one of my favourite movies.
The Wolf Man is another favourite.
p.s. I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m glad you’re feeling better, Kaldath . You’re one of the longest serving and generally nicest members of this community and we appreciate everything you do 🙂
bride of Frankenstein is on of the best films of all times. the ending is heartbreaking.
Unnerving? But we all have your BEST interests at heart?! Why, just the other day, my newest said the–uh . . . nevermind that. There was this one moment for me in all of scary silent film that was my absolute favorite. L. Chaney as Phantom of the Opera wore a mask — that looked EXACTLY like the Phantom’s face underneath it. I absolutely howled at the ingenuity. He disguised himself to look like himself!
Der Golem und Nosferatu, natürlich. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man… the original The Thing (and the 1980s version with Kurt Russell). Just about anything with Lon Chaney or Bela Lugosi.
“Metropolis”, by Fritz Lang, 1927. 2026AD dystopia meets a pseudo-Biblical end via super-vixen-bot Maschinenmensch. Time well spent, even if you’re treating it as MST3K fodder.
I’m professing my undying fandom for Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe films from the early 60’s. They looked richly done, had excellent writing by Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, and all save one starred Vincent Price (Premature Burial starred Ray Milland, only because Vincent wasn’t available). They still stand up nicely, and a couple (House Of Usher, Masque Of The Red Death) punch well above their weight.
The Hammer horrors and Amicus anthologies from England were also wonderfully done and entertaining “champagne look, beer budget” movies. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were the Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of horror as they took the Universal Monsters and reworked them for a new audience.
Maybe not always the right genre, maybe a decade too late from what you were mentioning, but I’ve had a guilty pleasure about watching Ed Wood films. Bride of the Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and so on. You may now look upon me with a mix of scorn and pity.
Same here. It may be just me, but it seems that practically all movies that identify themselves as “horror” these days are all about blood, guts, and torture porn; more disgusting than actually scary, if you ask me. But, on to the good stuff…
Anything with Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, or that the late, great, and dearly missed Ray Harryhausen worked on is pretty much guaranteed to be on my A List.
Agreed with the “torture porn.” It’s sad. Ray Harryhausen reference… can I do your dishes and sheet your bed? He was amazing!
Don’t get me wrong, the topic is classic horror, not future horror. 😉
I love Metropolis. Even when they did a re-make with Queen as the soundtrack… WTF! Freddie Mercury understood the message and turned it into an hypnotic album. Why is Freddie no longer with us yet Justin Beiber wastes our oxygen?
If I’m not wrong, Giorgio Moroder was the one who created the soundtrack, not Queen. Having said that, Queen used clips of the film for their “Radio Gaga” video, and Freddie collaborated on said soundtrack.
The Wolfman because I love animals.(Primal beast) And Frankenstein. He’s big and strong, and I understand his loneliness and being misunderstood.
What I like about classic horror movies is that they did so much with “less”. Around the 70’s horror movies decided that they had to show the spatter and gore. I think that is why Hitchcock’s Psycho is still watchable.
You are correct. The rock soundtrack features Freddie Mercury solo. Freddie also collaborated with Giorgio Moroder on the musical score. My bad. However, I’m pretty sure that Freddie called Brian May, Deacon John, and John Taylor a few times during production. 😉
It’s a Queen album in all but name the same way Roger Daltrey’s album McVicar is essentally one by The Who.Everyone’s there and it sounds so much like a genuine band release, it may as well be.