Stocking up on Horror Movies (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

I also strongly recommend THE CHANGELING. I was blown away by this in 1979 and continue to treasure it on DVD, even though the transfer is not exactly stellar. Others on your list are generally inferior, or not horror at all (THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE is a quiet thriller, not a horror film, but very good). BURNT OFERINGS is a mixed bag. I don't care for the kid (Lee Montgomery) and Karen Black has always been a bit of an irritation for me. In fact, even Bette Davis and Oliver Reed seem misdirected here. The film is incredibly slow for a Dan Curtis production. However, the atmosphere is pretty thick and the ending, while perhaps somewhat predictable, is heady. THE DUNWICH HORROR would have benefitted from a less psychotic musical score (by Les Baxter) and better acting and script, but any movie that features a nude scene (albeit with a stand-in) with Sandra Dee can't be all bad. Interesting (if confusing) climax. THE TINGLER is as campy as they get, but once a Vincent Price fan, always...etc. Typically gimmicky William Castle production, not the slightest bit scary, although the bathtub sequence is reproduced in color on the DVD.

 

[Radioman970]

Looks like you go a good stack of titles.

I picked up about 55 new ones to my collection including Dead Birds.

I also have The Changling on hand. Last year I watched it for the first time in many years and it has lost absolutely nothing! I agree with other posters, it's as spooky as they get. Good old George C Scott.

Dunwich Horror is one I usually watch early on. It's not a great film but it gets me in a horror mood for some reason. Love the colored lighting.

Swamp Thang! I like that kid who runs that store in the middle of nowhere. The film has a great overall feeling to it. Perfect October flick.

I wish I had Scanners. Really good film. the effect hold up.

The Girl who Lived Down the Lane is superb. It's almost as Halloween atmospheric as the movie Halloween.

I recommend Dead Zone (Cronenberg/Walken version) to go along with this one for some reason.


A few I bought...

Some oldies:
Tomb of Ligeia/An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe-thanks to a forum poster here I got this oop DVD for cheap! I've only ever seen Ligeia.
Most of the Amicus films-didn't get The Skull yet but might.
Cannibal Holocaust-scared to death of this thing! Is it even worth it for braggin rights?

Newer stuff:
Child's Play 1 thru 5-Haven't seen 1 thru 4 since they came out. Never seen the last one.
Wolf Creek-never seen!
Hostel-never seen but I love Cabin Fever.
TCM The Beginning-got stuff like this used in case is does actually stink

I hope my stack is worthy. A LOT of them I've never seen at all.

 

[Radioman970]

Who do we have to call to get it rolling again?

 

[Ockeghem]

Radioman,

Wow, I haven't seen this one in many years. I own a VHS copy of it, but not the DVD. I remember it having quite a haunting atmosphere.

As we move closer to my favorite holiday of the year (which we celebrate for a minimum of a week ), I bring out some old classics, like the original House On Haunted Hill, and The Hand and I Bury the Living (from the Drive-In Classics collection); we also watch many from the Disney vaults that my children really enjoy each year, like the four Halloweentown films and stuff like The Phantom of the Megaplex, R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour, and Tower of Terror, among many others that we own on DVD and VHS.

I also watch The Shining and two or three Hitchcock films (usu. The Birds, and Psycho for starters); I also revisit a couple of the Dr. Phibes films as well as one or two of the Poe works set to film (with Price in the lead role).

We also mix in about a half dozen or so "Halloween"-themed shows from our favorite t.v. series.

 

[Christopher B]

This is a very good idea. I didn't have much time last year to watch that many movies during the challenge, but the year before I hit it pretty hard. After October I felt like I didn't ever want to watch another horror movie again. Of course that feeling went away after a few weeks.

I need to start stocking up on new horror myself.

 

[JohnRa]

Pete, if you don't have them I can also recommend "The Howling" and the 1979 original tv version of "Salem's Lot" directed by Tobe Hooper. Both are required viewing at Halloween time at my house. But then I'm partial to vampires and werewolves.

 

[Pete Battista]

Yup... I have them both. I am sure I will be watching plenty of vampire movies... Vampires is my all-time favorite sub-genre for horror.

I will have lots to choose from... including those mentioned in the first post at this time I have 554 Horror movies in my collection. Plus any that I may buy in October. So don't believe I will run out before the month is over!

 

[Radioman970]

My fav too! Better than Christmas by far!

I Bury the Living is so good! I love the scoring on that one. As if the story needed a jolt of tension it gets it anyway.

Dr. Phibes I adore. Theater of Blood is also pretty fun...although it does have that nasty poodle incident!

 

[Ruz-El]

I really enjoyed THE CHANGLING as well. It gave me nightmares as a kid, and revisiting it last year, still holds up. THE ORPHANAGE is right up there I think, I'm not really partial to ghost stories, but that one really worked.

I plan on watching a bunch of Hammer and Italian horror this year that a friend sent me. I might even jump into the Godzilla movies. Yeah, you could argue they are a bit sci-fi, but giant monsters equal horror!

 

[Pete Battista]

Agreed... Halloween is my all-time favorite Holiday too. Which is why I celebrate it the entire month!

I really enjoyed I Bury The Living too... I got that one on a cheap free dvd. It came in that free 20 Disc 40 Movie boxset you got for subscribing to Total Movie Magazine.

I am a bit embarrassed to say that I never got to see the Dr. Phibes movies... but that is because I used to not give the classics a chance... if they were pre-1980s I wouldn't even consider it... but don't worry... I learned better... just still catching up now.

 

[Bryan^H]

Wow. Pete, sounds like you have an awesome collection. I have about 400.
Vampire movies rock. Are you a fan of Fright Night from 1985?

 

[Pete Battista]

Oh yeah... It's one of my favorites.... some of my favorite Vampire movies include (in no particular order)...

1. Fright Night
2. Near Dark
3. Salem's Lot
4. From Dusk til Dawn
5. John Carpenter's Vampires

Sure there is others... but that is off the top of my head at least.

 

[Radioman970]

Whole month, me too! Can't wait.

I paid $5 each for a bunch of those MGM MM DVDs when Walmart had a display. I was so happy that year. I have yet to see a Halloween themed DVD sale that was as good.

 

[Ockeghem]

Pete,

Well, truth be told, I do as well. But I just don't tell anyone.

 

[Radioman970]

Keep it a secret as much as you can. People close to me think I'm a nut for my weird "religious revival"-like October.

 

[WadeM]

I think the Changeling & Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane are the best of the list.

What I don't like about Cannibal Holocaust, and some other Cannibal movies, is the real killing of animals for film entertainment. I can't remember which is which, but skinning an animal alive, or cutting off the top of a monkey's skull and such for real is a pretty sick standard for entertainment. I don't remember which animals were killed in that movie, as there's a few that used the same idea. Outside of that, I don't think that cannibal movie nor the other ones are worth the "braggin' rights". It's okay, but overrated.

As far as what I bought, I finally got around to the out of print CasaNegra titles of Mexican horror, Fox Horror Volume 2, Grapes of Death, Cyclone, Madame O, and hopefully something on the spooky side before it's too late.

 

[Ockeghem]

Radioman,

You sure do make Theater of Blood sound tempting. We've talked about how much we like Vincent Price. I may eventually want to get every film he ever did one day.

Yeah, I've seen the Phibes film collection. BTW, somewhat related--I'm loving The Fly Collection. I highly recommend it.

 

[Pete Battista]

I have found that I really enjoy Vincent Price myself. So far he is my favorite classic genre actor. As of right now I have...

1. An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe
2. The Tomb of Ligeia
3. The Fly
4. Return of the Fly
5. The Last Man on Earth
6. House on Haunted Hill
7. House of Wax
8. Tales of Terror
9. The Tingler

I know there is a lot that I am missing... but not to bad of a start.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Vampire movies are probably my least favorite horror sub genre. That said, there are a few that are among my all time favorite horror/monster movies
Blacula & Scream Blacula, Scream
Count Dracula (BBC version)
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter
Nosferatu the vampyre (Herzogs version)
The two Blacula movies and the BBC show suprised the hell out of me. They were blind buys that I was hoping I'd dig, but I never expected them to engage me as much as they did. YMMV, needless to say, but they sure tickled the hell out of me.
I've been working my way thru the Dark Shadows sets which has in turns quite a lot of fun and quite frustrating. For a while I would kick off every night of movie watching with one ep of DS. I've just exhausted the last of the sets I bought cheap when Media Play went bust this past week.
It's a shame Night Gallery S2 won't be out a month earlier. Kind of bizzare scheduling on Uni's part.
Just a heads up, Amazon has an MGM 3/$10 sale going on now- there are a few MMs, the Blacula films, and other horror titles like Squirm. Good deal if don't already have them.

 

[WadeM]

Thanks for mentioning Night Gallery Season 2! I missed the original announcement. Looking forward to that one, big time!


I also preordered the new Hammer Horror set from Sony...