Anyone that talks about movies has to talk horror in October at some point. And I'm no different. After all, Halloween is the movie buff's time of year, a time to pour over zombies, vampires and serial killers. And the cool thing about horror movies is that everyone had their favourites. Everyone's got a preference. Whether you prefer atmosphere or ultraviolence, everyone has a favourite horror film. Yeah, comedy is still my favourite movie genre, but there are so many awesome horror movies too. And so let's celebrate them, by discussing my favourites in no particular order.
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I've said many times before that comedy is my favourite genre, so naturally I gravitate towards horror with a funny streak. But if we're talking comedy (which we aren't, but bear with me), you don't get much better than John freaking Landis. I could gush about how much I love Animal House, the Blues Brothers and Trading Places, but it's not the time. But Landis didn't just make great comedies. He also delivered one of the greatest cult horror movies of all time. An American Werewolf in London. This movie man. This movie is so damn awesome. And today, we're gonna look into what makes it so. So, let's get going, and start my obligatory horror post with An American Werewolf in London!
For those who don't know, American Werewolf is about two college students on a trip across Europe, who stumble upon a strange pub in the English countryside, the Slaughtered Lamb. The pub has some strange connection to the occult, and the patrons warn the two not to go onto the moors at night. Guess what they do next. They end up getting attacked by a werewolf, who is then killed. One of the students is "killed", and the other is transformed into a werewolf, and has to deal with all the struggles that go along with that. The plot, and the way it's told have this great cult-ish feel. The film I think is deliberately made to be a little bit shit, which gives it a boatload of charm in the process. It has this wonderful B-movie feel to it, and that combines with the campy humour to create a massively enjoyable experience. It's something about that combination of clichéd dialogue, hammy delivery and hilarious awkwardness that push this movie into the gloriousness of being a campy cult horror favourite, and it's one that I love watching with people who have never seen it before. Some of the reactions people have to this film are fantastic.
But it's not all shoddy in a fun way. Some aspects of this movie are legitimately fantastic. Take the special effects, which not only won an Oscar, they INVENTED A NEW CATEGORY ENTIRELY. Few movies have that honor, and the effects here, by Stan Winston are amazing. That transformation scene speaks for itself, but everything is great. The makeup is fantastic, and the other effects outside of the transformation are ace too. I don't usually praise this kind of stuff in movies (I'm more of a storytelling and writing kind of guy, if you haven't noticed), but American Werewolf's effects are too good to not mention. I'm a huge lover of practical effects when they're done right, and here is no exception. The soundtrack is also fantastic, with every song being moon themed. It's a little aspect of the production that proves that John Landis has this great sense of humour when it comes to the smallest of details. The production here is no joke, and that somehow accentuates the aspects that are kind of shitty in the film, massively adding to the cult-y charm that was already all over the movie.
I find it hard to criticise the film and say "this doesn't work", because there's not really much to criticise here. I mean, I could say that the acting isn't great, but that's kind of the point. It's supposed to be kind of B-movie-ish. And it succeeds at that. I could criticise the slightly awkward romance plot, but it doesn't feel out of place or anything, only slightly stiff at times, and it's not that bad either. I suppose with a film that's as gloriously campy as this one, there isn't an awful lot to legitimately criticise here. John Landis made a film that is kind of silly, and knows it too, and constantly reminds you of how silly it is. Landis knocked it out of the park, making one of the strongest comedy horrors ever. It knows it's shit, and it wears it's shitness on its sleeve. It's so much damn fun. An American Werewolf in London is not only one of the best horror movies of the 80s, but also one of the greatest comedy horrors of all time.
If you had to open both of those catagories up though....
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There's kind of this stigma with sequels nine times out of ten. Don't get me wrong, there are good ones for sure. Aliens, Rocky II, The Empire Strikes Back, T2 Judgement Day, Captain America the Winter Soldier, and plenty of other legitimately good movie sequels exist, but more often than not, THEY SUCK. It's hard to be orginal twice, and sequels mostly fall into two categories: ones that are too scared to do anything different, and are way too safe as a result, and those that deviate too far from the vision of the first film and take way too many risks and fall flat because of it. I don't have anything against sequels. When they're good, they can add a lot to an already great idea, and take the series in an interesting direction. So yeah, good sequels are hard to do, especially for horror movies. Creating something legitimately shocking and scary once is hard. Doing it twice is insanely difficult, and as such, when a horror sequel is good, it's often downright amazing. I've talked about Aliens before, and how it succeeded as a follow up to the first in terms of both story and atmosphere. I did however say that Aliens didn't surpass Alien in my opinion. So, where does Sam Raimi come into this? Simple. He created not just the best horror sequel, but for my money the best sequel to any movie ever. Evil. Dead. 2.
Before we talk about chainsaw hands and fruit cellars, we need to talk about a little indie feature that came right the hell out of nowhere, and created a legend in the process. Evil Dead isn't the greatest horror film ever made, but it isn't really like anything else that came before it. It's visceral, and shocking, and claustrophobic, and creative, and just so damn cool. It's rough around the edges and actually kind of shit, but that's all part of its charm. Everything about the first film works towards making it fresh, and original, and so incredibly badass. So a sequel may have been an odd choice. I mean, I find it's hard to imagine a world WITHOUT Evil Dead 2, but the first one was kind of standalone. It was open ended, but it didn't demand a sequel or anything. I suppose the idea of a second one might seem odd when you look at how new and frankly different the first Evil Dead was. It wasn't perfect, actually it was as far from perfect as a good movie could get, but it was fresh. It offered viewers something so fantastically violent, and fun, and kind of grindhouse. It was low budget, and campy, and making a follow up to that was never going to be easy. It's lightning in a bottle for sure. So why am I talking so much praise about the Evil Dead? Because I legitimately believe the second Evil Dead is the greatest movie sequel of all time. I tend to stray from talking about my favourites of all time, because I have kind of been saving talking about my favourites for special occasions. But I love Evil Dead, and it's Halloween, so you know what? Screw it. Time to talk about how awesome Evil Dead 2 is.
So where does it improve over the first? Well, it doesn't improve, so much as refine. It takes everything that the original did well, and managed to do it better. The first ten minutes are actually a remake of the first movie. From then on, it's like the first one, with a group of characters trapped in a cabin being assaulted by demons, but it's more self aware, it's funnier, there's more crazy shit, it's awesome. In many ways it is just the first one again, but it adds this irresistible black humour that makes me love it so damn much. It takes the originals claustrophobic horror, inventive visuals and insane gore, and improves on it by adding comedy, throwing in more of what makes it great, and by developing the character of Ash, played by Bruce. Freakin. Campbell. In the first movie Ash was just kind of there. He wasn't a great character, or even particularly that interesting, but here he's funny, he's badass, he's so damn likable, he's awesome. And Bruce Campbell is awesome as him. Also fleshing out the necronomicon and explaining how that works is pretty great too.
But even as it's own film, Evil Dead 2 works 100%. Sam Raimi does a great job at building huge amounts of atmosphere in the cabin. The movie really works because it's set in such an enclosed space, and it makes the threat seem more dangerous as a result. There's nowhere to run, and each part of the cabin becomes this great set piece as a result. I'm personally quite fond of the fruit cellar containing the old woman, who's absolutely hilarious in my opinion. It shows Sam Raimi's knack for black comedy, as does all of other the crazy shit that happens in the movie. The balance of comedy and horror is perfect here. Evil Dead 2 man. Evil. Dead. 2. Damn.
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Moving away from comedy horror, but staying in the 80s, is John Carpenter's The Thing. This is a masterpiece in tension. The effects are obviously fantastic too, and I will talk about them, but what I love here is how unbearably intense the atmosphere is in this film. For those unaware, The Thing centres around a group of scientists in a facility in the Arctic, who are stalked and brutally murdered one by one by a vicious alien. If that sounds cliché, don't worry, Carpenter keeps it fresh by never actually revealing what the beast looks like, instead having it assume different forms based on the dna it absorbs from living creatures. This results in so many awesome visuals, such as dogs morphing into giant beasts, to heads opening up into huge mouths, and a freaking head walk around on spider-like legs. It EARNS that 18 rating for sure.
I'd also regret not talking about the effects, by Rob Bottin and the irreplaceable Stan Winston, who I've mentioned as making some of cinema's greatest effects. Yeah they're slightly dated, but they're so grotesque and creative with how many ways they portray murder and mutilation that it doesn't even matter. You don't want to watch it, but you just can't look away. They're stunningly frightening because they're straight out of a nightmare. They're things you'd never come up with in you're wildest dreams, which naturally makes them absolutely terrifying.
Kurt Russell is surprisingly great here too as the charasmatic and badass MacReady. I'm someone who doesn't hate Kurt Russell, but I'm also not his biggest fan. Here though he's awesome. He's a badass with a flamethrower, yeah, but what makes me love him is how smart and resourceful he is. He's able to survive not just because of his combat skill, but also with his quick wit and ability to keep a level head during the attacks. The other characters are great too. You get to know each of these men, and the more time you spend with them, the more you care about them when they inevitably get brutally killed. I'll admit, it would have been so easy to just have them be disposable horror victims, but instead you legitimately care about each of them.
The atmosphere is perfect too. Carpenter excels at generating huge amounts of doubt among these characters. They have to work together to survive, but they can't afford to trust each other. This stress builds and builds, creating this atmosphere of pure dread. It's fantastically done here. I love how it's not just the alien threat that tests their relationships, but also the slowly building insanity that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing who's who. Then acting and writing is perfect, and contributes to the sense of fear and panic in the movie. If you haven't seen The Thing, do. It's one of Carpenter's best.
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But let's jump forward 20 years to 2002, and Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. It's easy to have zombie fatigue in this day and age, what with so many pieces of zombie media being made recently, but there are some legitimately fantastic zombie movies out there. 28 Days Later is my favourite zombie movie, ironically made by a filmmaker I'm not even a huge fan of. Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of Danny Boyle's work to be honest. I really enjoyed Millions, but apart from that and 28 Days Later, none of his other films really do much for me. Not bad, just not for me. 28 Days Later, however is absolutely incredible. The atmosphere here is stunning. Instead of being slow and forboding, all of the horror here is fast paced and in your face. Boyle barely gives you a second to think, shoving the threat of the infected in your face. This massively adds to the paranoia in the film. The characters never feel safe, and they're never well equipped to deal with the army of infected coming after them.
Boyle's direction here is masterful. The scary scenes aren't just scary, there's dread, and panic, and all kinds of fear. It's so damn wonderful. Instead of just having one kind of scare through the whole thing, Boyle creates this scale of fear, going from shock, uncertainty, discomfort, doubt, terror. He creates this wonderfully layered scary atmosphere, and combined with the in-your-face nature of the infected, it becomes incredibly thrilling and ensures that you stay on the edge of your seat throughout the film. So many single moments here are incredible. The scene in the tunnels where the infected are running at the group is so damn gripping. You can only see the shadows, and hear the infected running, and the suspense it builds is insane. It's a kind of horror that really works, and even after having seen so many horror movies, 28 Days Later still managed to be legitimately frightening, and it kept me thrilled and invested.
Though maybe the characters had something to do with that too. Just like in The Thing, you actually really care about all of these people, and you seriously don't want anything bad to happen to them. I don't want to give too much away, but the scenes at the end with the military facility are terrifying, not just because they're horrible, but because you can empathise with the characters, and so you really want them to get out. Another thing that makes the climax work is how the trust of the characters is taken advantage of, and how that works to build up a huge amount of dread that explodes into that reveal. It's really wonderful stuff. 28 Days Later combines atmosphere and character to create an experience that's so sickeningly brilliant, and just has to be seen.
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One thing I love about the horror genre is it's ability to not only frighten, but also to move. Fear is a good way to develop a character. Facing them with terrifying situations often brings out their best attributes, and progresses their characters nicely. It also massively adds to the empathy we feel towards characters, which can lead to some honestly incredibly emotional moments. So yeah, great horror has the potential to be legitimately moving. And one of the best at this is Tomas Alfredson's 2008 magnum opus Let the Right One In. Almost more of a coming of age story than anything else, Let the Right One In is an absolutely spellbinding tale of isolation, friendship and young love in 1980s Sweden. For those unaware, Let the Right One In centres around a young boy named Oskar, who's constantly being bullied. He meets a young girl named Eli, who turns out to be a vampire. It's about the relationship that forms between the two outcasts. This relationship is surprisingly sweet, and for me is the best part of the movie. The bond between them really makes it for me. It's a natural feeling relationship that really accentuates the horror. It's a perfect compliment to the quietly eerie and disturbing horror. A strangely fantastic balance between utterly chilling and deeply sweet.
It's still a horror film though. I'll admit, this one isn't scary as such, and more uses the vampire aspect to emphasise how different Eli is from the other characters. The atmosphere, however is eerie, and constantly gives off the feeling that something isn't quite right. It's not scary as much as quietly disturbing. The snowy scenery, the quiet sound design and the slow plot progression really add to the eerie dread of the atmosphere. And I know I'm using the word eerie a lot, but it is the best word for the movie. It's quiet, and slowly disturbing, and brilliantly done. The pool scene sends chills up my spine every single time I watch it. The atmosphere is truly masterful, and it makes for a chilling, dread filled watch.
I will admit though, this is one that I'm kind of reluctant to talk about. And it's not because it's not good, because it's excellent. It's because so much of what makes this movies great relies on the experience. The uncertainty, the atmosphere, the surprisingly sweet relationship between the two main characters, the quietly disturbing moments of horror, all of it practically begs to be viewed with little to no prior knowledge of what happens. If you haven't seen it, go in blind. You seriously won't regret it. It feels like you're discovering something really special. Even on repeat viewings though, it holds up. It's not just a one watch film. The first viewing is a powerful, disturbing and surprisingly moving experience, but each repeat viewing brings with it something new. For me, anyway. So yeah, I'll keep quiet about details for now. If you've seen it, you'll know why. If you haven't, do.
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Okay, okay so everyone loves Alien. It's not exactly an original pick for one of my favourites, but I don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, Alien EARNS it's place in horror legend. It's crazy how well this film hold up some 38 years later. It's still tense, shocking and absolutely terrifying all these years later. I will admit though, with how much everyone loves Alien and talks about Alien and puts Alien on all the lists, it's actually pretty difficult to know what to say about it. So I'm gonna try my best to sum up my thoughts on one of my favourite movies, Alien.
For the three people that haven't seen it, Alien is about the crew on the spaceship Nostromo, and how a brief trip to an alien planet proves deadly when a vicious alien gets on board the ship. From there, the crew has to survive as the creature picks them off one by one. This is a film all about the buildup, and the atmosphere. The first half is pure tension. It's a slow buildup, but it grows into something truly special. What I would say to someone who hadn't seen it is that it's very slow for the first half. The second half is all thrills and horror, but the first half is a slow creeping tension. There's not even any horror for about 25 minutes, it's all just atmosphere. And Ridley Scott does a fantastic job at creating this claustrophobic mood that chills throughout the whole thing.
The turning point of the film is when John Hurt encounters the facehugger for the first time. That of course leads to the chestburster scene, which is masterful. Even now, even having seen it more times than I care to mention, it's still a fantastically shocking scene that holds up even today. All of the effects are wonderful. H.R. Geiger's xenomorph is absolutely fantastic. This design is one of my favourite monster designs ever. It's so nightmarishly different from anything I've seen. The whole idea of using human hosts to produce more xenomorphs is creatively horrifying, and used really well here. Another thing I love is how unfamiliar the characters are with what's chasing them. This may sound small, but it definitely enhances the experience for me. They're so out of their depth, and it results in the xenomorph being that much scarier as a result. None of them really have any idea what exactly they're up against. This unfamiliarity becomes part of the beast's design, and makes it that much more frightening as a result.
The cast is stunning too. And I know I've been praising characters a lot in this post, but Alien's cast really deserves a mention. Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Sigourney Weaver. It's nothing short of one of the best casts in any movie ever. Every single one of them is great and memorable. As I've said several times now, it's easy to just have characters in horror movies be plot devices that are easily disposable. Alien completely forgoes this idea, instead having each character be so well written and memorable. You could name any character and I'd instantly know who you were talking about. It's not often that that happens with me in movies, especially not in horror movies. I'm especially fond of Ian Holm as the vile android Ash, and of course Sigourney Weaver as one of my all time favourite movie characters ever, Ellen Ripley. Ash is a great antagonist, and I consider him the true villain of the film. He's so cruel and uncompromising, and the reveal that he's an android is absolutely fantastically done.
And Ripley. God I love Ripley. Ripley is one of the greatest movie characters ever, and while I do think Aliens is a better movie for showcasing why Ripley's a great hero, Alien is a great almost origin story for her. She's not really the main focus, and Tom Skerritt's Dallas is kind of the main hero (until he's brutally murdered by the xenomorph). She's just an everywoman doing her job, until bit by bit the situation worsens, leaving Ripley to step up to the plate and become a badass hero. But all of her character traits that would be developed in Aliens are introduced to us here. How she goes from a lowly warrant officer to the only person who can deal with the alien threat, and turns her fear and vulnerability into courage and strength, is awesome, and she's hands down my favourite part of the movie. She's one of my favourite characters ever, and this movie perfectly illustrates why.
So all in all, Alien is a classic that I don't think is going away any time soon. Even now, it holds up, and while I prefer Evil Dead 2 as a horror film, I think Alien is better as a whole. They're my two favourite horror movies, and both up there as two of my very favourite films ever. Alien is near perfect, and while Aliens was a great sequel, the first movie holds up incredibly well today. It's still scary, it's still atmospheric, it's still excellently made. Not just for it's time, but in general. It's one of my all time favourites, with a great story, great writing, a great cast, a great threat and a great atmosphere. It's a masterpiece, not just in the horror genre but in all of cinema. It's very nearly perfect, and if you've missed it somehow, do yourself a favour and watch it. And if you have seen it, do yourself a favour and watch it again.
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