Story and photo by Bryce Lawson
For the month of October, I decided to watch a horror movie each day.
For some, that might be an overload of monster madness. But if you’re waiting until Halloween night to have your own mini fright fest, here are the five films you should choose.
- The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)
Showcasing my favorite of the Universal Monsters and shot in 3D, this film takes place in the Amazon, where a team of geologists find the skeletal remains of a webbed creature. This leads to further investigation by the team, who eventually run into the creature.
The creature, in a way, comes off as a sympathetic character to me, despite being portrayed as the monster. He’s just an animal living in his habitat and defending himself against intruders. The design of the creature is impressive and holds up to this day, going on to influence future “Best Picture” winner, “The Shape Of Water.”
2. Cronos (1993)
In honor of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, I wanted to include the debut feature of Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. In this Mexican vampire film, del Toro tells the story of an antiques dealer who discovers the “Cronos device” – a scarab-looking amulet that soon turns the lead, played by veteran Argentinian actor Federico Luppi, into an immortal with a taste for blood.
Unlike other vampire films, this film’s point of view is from the vampire’s granddaughter. The theme of children put into circumstances beyond their control is used in many other del Toro films.
3. A Bay of Blood, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
This Italian horror masterpiece from the giallo genre features some of the best kills ever put to film. Giallo is a genre of Italian literature and film usually dealing with horror and mystery detective elements. Director Mario Bava is considered a pioneer of the genre.
The movie details a string of mysterious murders that occur around a scenic bay. You can definitely see how this film had an impact on the slasher film boom in the ‘80s. The kills in this film are so influential that “Friday the 13th Part III” pretty much copied a majority of them shot-for-shot, including the skewer death scene. In giallo films, the plot is pretty much secondary while a blend of style and violence becomes the emphasis. If you’re a fan of gore, this is definitely the film for you.
4. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Fans of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” should definitely give this one a shot. Taking elements from “The Phantom of the Opera,” Brian De Palma’s film is about a disfigured composer, played by William Finley, who writes music for his lover to perform. A record producer, played by Paul Williams, who also scored the picture, exploits the composer to open up his new rock palace, resulting in the composer seeking revenge as a phantom.
I would definitely consider this film a rock opera due to the numerous musical numbers. All of De Palma’s cinematic tropes are on display, including a tracking shot influenced by the opening of Orson Welles’1958 classic, “Touch of Evil.”
5. Kwaidan (1965)
One of my favorite anthology horror films, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, is based on Japanese folk tales featuring four unrelated vignettes. In Japanese horror films, the theme of ghosts or spirits haunting someone is often present — think “Ringu” and “The Grudge.”
“The Woman of the Snow” sequence in Kwaidan is a master class of set design. The eerie Japanese blizzard setting looks like a watercolor painting come to life. In a lot of anthology films, there are usually one or two vignettes that don’t work as well as the rest, but in Kwaidan, all four stand on their own.
