This is an article I wrote for the second issue of Filmbobbery (1:2; Autumn 1999), in which I offered twenty-five cinematic alternatives to the more popular vampire, werewolf, zombie, alien, serial killer, demonic and slasher films so often associated with the Halloween season. In re-reading it, I can admit that the writing is a bit weak in spots, and I don’t know that I would make the same choices now as I did then. Nevertheless, I still think it’s a worthwhile effort. I am adding some poster images to spice it up a bit. Look for a 2024 version of this article soon.
Hollywood tradition demands that we watch horror films at this time of year, especially during Halloween week. I’m not a big horror film fan myself, but there are certainly some good chillers out there and the following suggestions are, I think, better choices than the popular (and mindless) Freddy or Jason flicks. They are presented in alphabetical order.
Alligator
A giant alligator is loose in the city of Chicago! Writer John Sayles and director Lewis Teague turn what could have been just a silly monster movie into something quite a bit better — a funny, literate monster movie.
This 1980 hit features Robert Forster and a host of familiar faces, but Henry Silva steals the show as the big game hunter who tracks the gator through the city streets by its spoor. And don’t miss the scene when the big guy crashes the outdoor wedding and flattens the limousine!
Arachnophobia
Horror films took on a sharper comic edge in the eighties and nineties and one of the hippest, yet still quite frightening, examples is Frank Marshall’s 1990 opus about a killer South American spider which safely journeys to America in the coffin of one of its victims.
Despite the broad comedy, there are plenty of shocks and jolts along the way and the spiderific climax is, for those of us who don’t care for bugs, a vision of pure Hell on earth. Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman, Julian Sands and Henry Jones head the capable cast of intended spider victims.
The Bad Seed
Evil comes in many forms and in this 1956 film, evil is in the form of an eight-year-old girl who has an innate desire to kill all who would keep her from her desires.
Mervyn LeRoy plucked Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Eileen Heckart and Henry Jones from the Broadway play (written by Maxwell Anderson), and all three women received Oscar nominations. The film was sort of remade as The Good Son with Macauley Culkin as the bad kid, and McCormack graduated from the bad child role to play the bad mother in Mommy and its sequel Mommy 2: Mommy’s Day.
The Changeling
George C. Scott stars in this eerie Canadian ghost story made by Peter Medal in 1980. Scott portrays a musician trying to overcome his sense of guilt involving the deaths of his wife and child, who died in a freak car accident. When he moves into an old house, the spirit of a child murdered some seventy years earlier attempts to contact him.
This movie was # 8 on my list of the top ten best movies of 1980. At that time I wrote “Very frightening, yet well-acted, realistic, and most importantly, logical. It makes sense, unlike many recent horror flicks.” I have not changed my mind. One of Scott’s unheralded gems.
A Cold Night’s Death
Suspenseful and surprisingly well-remembered, this 1973 made-for-television movies stars Robert Cull and Eli Wallach as scientists sent to discover why a fellow scientist mysteriously died at a lonely, remote Arctic research facility.
Tightly written (by Christopher Knopf) and directed by Jerrold Freedman, the mystery of this psychological horror tale revolves around the animal subjects of the facility’s research, which evidently don’t want to be subjects any more. The ending makes the movie.
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Colossus is a computer that the United States has programmed to run its civil defense operations automatically. But when the Russians introduce Guardian, their supercomputer, the two mechanical brains get together and decide to change the course of world history.
Ostensibly science fiction, this 1970 film directed by Joseph Sargent features future soap opera star Eric Braeden as the scientist who designs Colossus. Why is it here? Because Colossus: The Forbin Project details the subjugation of our species to that of artificial intelligence and that is a very frightening possibility, especially now, thirty years later.
Curse of the Demon
Also known as Night of the Demon, this 1957 chiller from director Jacques Tourneur is one of a handful of British shockers whose reputation has grown over the years. Dana Andrews plays an American psychologist who doesn’t believe that a series of British killings is caused by an ancient curse.
Atmospheric and creepy, the film builds up to a truly classic climax involving one of the coolest looking demons in cinematic history.
Dead of Winter
Lots of horror movies establish a situation wherein people are invited to a particular location only to find out that they have been set up for death. This 1987 thriller, directed by Arthur Penn, uses this premise to good advantage as an actress (Mary Steenburgen) arrives for an audition unaware of the danger awaiting her.
With Roddy McDowell and Jan Rubes in key roles, this film is inspired by the 1945 movie My Name is Julia Ross and it takes great advantage of its secluded location.
Island of Lost Souls
This is the original film version of H. G. Wells’ novel “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” which was remade well in 1977 and disastrously in 1996. This 1932 creeper, directed by Erle C. Kenton, stars Charles Laughton as the mad scientist trying to combine human and animal species into one, and features Bela Lugosi in a small role as the leader of the half-humans.
More than any other classic Universal monster movie, this one really does contain frightening and disturbing images and lurid medical horror. It definitely succeeds in creeping a person out.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Instead of Alien or its spawn, try the film that inspired those scarefests. It! The Terror from Beyond Space is from every aspect a B-movie, but that’s part of its silly charm. This 1958 space adventure, directed by Edward L. Cahn, is the rather inventive genesis for the Alien movies, down to the ultimate disposal of the alien.
That alien is none other than Hollywood western legend Ray “Crash” Corrigan, and even though here he’s just a guy in a rubber suit, he still manages to give the part some character and other-worldly menace, Silly but enjoyable.
Jaws
I didn’t get a wink of sleep the night after I first saw Jaws I 1975; nonetheless, it’s my second favorite movie of all time. The film still packs a wallop because of the nature of the beast and the fact that the mechanical shark caused director Steven Spielberg such trouble that he couldn’t properly photograph it, so it stayed hidden for much of the adventure’s first half.
One thing critics carped on was the singular mind of the shark, which they found unrealistic. Once it decides to stay around Amity, the shark’s animosity seems to focus on Chief Brody. Of course, that is unrealistic, but its personal vendetta makes for good drama. And that great white shark (particularly when it attacks the boater from below in a crane shot) is the single scariest thing I’ve ever seen. Period.
Killdozer
Another legendary made-for-television movie (1974) based on a classic Theodore Sturgeon story, about a bulldozer on a remote island construction site that becomes possessed by an alien intelligence. Clint Walker, Carl Betz, Neville Brand and Robert Urich have to fight the unearthly force.
Director Jerry London has the cast play it straight and the result is a surprisingly tight little movie. Its primary inspiration was obviously Steven Spielberg’s Duel.
The Lady in White
Another ghost story with a child as the central character. This time, Lukas Haas (the boy in Witness) is contacted by the ghost of a girl who was murdered some years before. Also involved are Alex Rocco, Len Cariou and the ghostly form of Katherine Helmond.
While the murder mystery isn’t difficult to decipher, the atmosphere of Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 film is vivid and effective and the performances are all first-rate.
Lair of the White Worm
Ken Russell is one of the most outrageous directors in the business and this is actually one of his tamer films. In this 1988 tale based on a Bram Stoker novel, an archaeologist finds the remnants of a giant worm in the British highlands. He discovers that the giant worm is only the beginning of the horror.
With a cast that features Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Sammi Davis and especially Amanda Donohoe as the worm queen, Russell is able to work his cinematic magic and bring an ancient pagan culture to magnificent life. Campy, violent and lots of fun.
Manhunter
If human monsters are what scare you, look no further than Manhunter, the 1986 Michael Mann film which first brought serial killer Hannibal Lecter to the screen. Here, Lecter (Brian Cox) is a minor character, used to help former FBI agent Will Graham (William L. Petersen) get the scent of another serial killer.
Mann’s stylistic film combines a tight script with taut suspense, excellent acting, exciting music and unforgettable moments and images, both beautiful and ugly. Manhunter is not on the same level as Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs, but in some ways it’s even better.
The Night Stalker
Vampires are traditional for Halloween, and my vampire recommendation is The Night Stalker. This was the highest rated made-for-television movie upon its debut in 1972, was followed by a sequel, The Night Strangler, in 1973, and later the television series.
Over-the-hill newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin, in a brilliant character performance) finds evidence of a real vampire in Las Vegas (it loves the nightlife!) and nobody will believe him. Horror and comedy accompany each other in Richard Matheson’s beautifully written piece, nicely directed by the prolific John Llewellyn Moxey.
The Other
Twin brothers represent good and evil in this spooky 1972 adaptation of Thomas Tryon’s novel. Set in Connecticut in the 1930s, Martin and Chris Udanosky portray a set of twins whose rocky relationship leads to a series of “accidents.”
Director Robert Mulligan has a great feel for the time and place and uses the natural “otherness” of the twins to reinforce the supernatural aspects of the story. Truly creepy, though it is slowly paced. Tryon adapted his own book for the screen.
Phase IV
Known for his inventive title designs for such films as North by Northwest, Vertigo and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Saul Bass ventured into directing in 1974 with this surreal film about efforts of a super colony of ants to change the evolutionary chain in their favor.
Without a strong linear narrative, this film is quite bizarre to some audiences, but it is also visually stunning, and the philosophical ramifications of the ant uprising are far-reaching.
Race with the Devil
In the post-Exorcist seventies, there were a lot of movies about demonic possession and Satanic cults. Race with the Devil is a road movie with two couples chased by a cult after witnessing their human sacrifice ritual.
Directed by Jack Starrett, this 1975 adventure features Warren Oates, Peter Fonda, Loretta Swift and Lara Parker traveling together in an RV, and part of the film’s fun involves the car chases with the RV. This probably isn’t very good, but it’s a guilty pleasure for me and I can’t help but watch it.
The Stuff
Typical stuff from cult director Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, Gold Told Me To, Q: The Winged Serpent) about a dessert food that is actually a corporate attempt to turn consumers into zombies. What makes this of interest are some of the f/x and the cast: Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Danny Aiello and Paul Sorvino.
This 1985 horr0r-comedy also features my all-time favorite advertising slogan: “Are you eating it, or is IT EATING YOU?” Lots of celebrity spokespersons make cameo appearances, too.
Theatre of Blood
Shakespearean actor Vincent Price decides to kill off the theater critics who have consistently given hum a thumbs down. He recreates death scenes from the Bard’s plays and subjects his harshest critics to various deaths.
This British horror-comedy is a 1973 release directed by Douglas Hickox and features one of my favorite (and most hammy) Price performances. Diana Rigg adds charm and beauty to the proceedings as his daughter.
John Carpenter’s The Thing
I love both versions of The Thing, but John Carpenter’s 1982 version is, in my humble opinion, his masterpiece and has some great scares along the way. Working with a strong ensemble cast, Carpenter uses the alien anonymity to great effect — it could be the man sitting next to you!
Carpenter’s film also benefits from the cold, claustrophobic setting, Rob Bottin’s incredible (and gross) alien effects and a memorably tense music score from Ennio Morricone. This is a vastly underrated movie from the director of the ultimate slasher movie, Halloween.
Wait Until Dark
Dread is a major factor in many horror films, and I can’t think of a film with more than this one. Because the woman in danger is blind, and is Audrey Hepburn, this film is loaded with dread. The bad guys searching for the hidden heroin are played with aplomb by Richard Crenna, Jack Weston and especially Alan Arkin, never slimier.
The tense script in Terence Young’s 1967 hit gives Audrey’s character enough intelligence to stay alive and eventually triumph over these evil men, although it’s a close call. Very well made.
The War of the Worlds
A science fiction staple, this movie may not seem very frightening today, but give it a chance. I first saw it age five or so on a stormy night, and halfway through, as the Martians surrounded the farmhouse, our power went out. I went to bed believing the Martians were taking over, and needless to say, did not sleep. My parents tried to tell me it was just a movie, but I didn’t believe them until the next morning. That experience hooked me on movies for life.
Produced by the great George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin, this 1953 adaptation of H. G, Wells’ best known novel was originally planned as a Cecil B. DeMille spectacular, but DeMille never found a script he liked. Instead, Pal developed the cinema’s seminal alien invasion film, my third favorite film of all time.
Wolfen
One of the oddest werewolf movies is Michael Wadleigh’s 1981 film, Wolfen. His super wolves are urban predators, feeding on the homeless, staying hidden from the general public for generations.
Albert Finney, Gregory Hines, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos and Tom Noonan discover the secret and the Wolfen kill two of them in order to keep it hidden. The film connects the Wolfen to Native Americans and even makes a statement about valuing and protecting cultural traditions.
My intent here is to suggest other possible cinematic horrors. Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Norman Bates and Jason Voorhees have their place but they’re still just guys with lots of issues to resolve. Horror and its accompanying anxieties come in many forms; perhaps one of these movies might appeal to your sense of the macabre.
Filmbobbery 1:2 (Summer, 1999) pages 8-11.