#8 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)  Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp,  John Saxon.   Written and directed by Wes Craven.
One must be careful in revisiting the treasures of one’s youth.   Particularly if  one’s youth was, even if only a little, misspent.
I was there when this sucker opened in November 1984, and I stumbled [...]

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#7 CAT PEOPLE

Cat People (1942)  Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph.   Directed by Jacques Tourneur.  Produced by Val Lewton.   Screenplay bey DeWitt Bodeen.
Let’s call this horror noir, shall we?   Because it combines the look and feel of the best noir films with a supernatural edge and laces them together with true fear.
On the surface, [...]

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#6 The Thing / #6a The Thing From Another World

The Thing From Another World (1951) Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer.   Directed by Christian Nyby (who are we kidding, it was Howard Hawks).  Screenplay by Charles Lederer (credited) and Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht (uncredited) very loosely based on John W. Campbell’s story “Who Goes There?”
The Thing (1982) Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford [...]

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#5 From Within

From Within (2008) Elizabeth Rice, Thomas Dekker, Kelly Blatz, Laura Allen, Adam Goldberg.  Directed by Phedon Papamicheal Jr.   Screenplay by Brad Keene.
Maybe there should be points for effort.   On second thought, no.
From Within cannot be accused of failing to try.   It does.   It tries damned hard.   Too hard, I think.
The [...]

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#4: Dark Ride

Dark Ride (2006) Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Patrick Renna, David Clayton Rogers.   Directed by Craig Singer.  Screenplay by Robert Dean Klein and Craig Singer.
We are entitled to hate certain movies, and hate is the appropriate word for Dark Ride.
The plot, such as it can be called, is as follows:  group of college kids going on [...]

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#3: Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)  Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, incredibly funny mystery celeb.  Directed by Ruben Fleischer.  Screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
Yeah, yeah, it’s a comedy.   Or horror-comedy.    Or hormedy.    Whatever.   It ain’t high art, and for that we should be glad.
A word about zombies.   I hate ‘em, for [...]

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# 2: LES DIABOLIQUES

Les Diaboliques (1955)  Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzet, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanal.   Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot,  adapted from the novel by ierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac,
So here we are again in 1955, this time with the very-nearly-brought-to-us-by-Alfred-Hitchock LES DIABOLIQUES.  (Or, if you prefer, DIABOLIQUE.  I don’t prefer.)  Another black and white suspense film that appropriates the [...]

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31 movies, Craig? Really?

Well, yeah, really.   I’m far more behind in blogging than viewing.   Coming up soon, my thoughts on LES DIABOLIQUES, FROM WITHIN, ZOMBIELAND,  THE VIRGIN SPRING, and a couple others.   Hang tight, crickets, the ride’s just firing up.

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#1: NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

Night of the Hunter (1955)  Robert Mitchum,  Billy Chapin, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish.  Directed by Charles Laughton, from the novel by Davis Grubb.
“Hey,” the missus says to me, “This isn’t really a horror movie.  How can you include this in your little spree?”
“Well,” I says, “It’s horror-y.   You have these creepy nods to the [...]

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Nearing a year

Well, counting down the days to the one year anniversary of the corneal transplant.  I went in for a followup today, and everything still looks dandy.    On November 18, the stitches come out, and that, aside from adjusting my vision prescription for glasses or contacts, should be that.
It’s still a bit strange to me [...]

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