Just ordered three Masters of Cinema Blu-ray releases: Nosferatu (2013 version), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Golem. All are region 2. I'm hoping a work-around (suggested at this site) will allow for playback on my Blu-ray player. Otherwise, I'll be getting a region-free player for my birthday.
None of these titles are really horror films in terms of being particularly horrific in content but as films with great supernatural stories then these are my faves: The Others A Tale Of Two Sisters (South Korean) A Ghost Story Let the Right One In (Swedish) Dark Water (Japanese) Hansel & Gretel (South Korean)
I'm a big Hammer horror fan which explains 3 picks from that studio alone. I'm also not a big fan of slasher films which explains arguably only one film in my list (although SOTL and Se7en might fall into that category). So here's 15 of my favs..... Horror Of Dracula Jaws Alien The Thing Hellraiser Re-Animator Curse Of Frankenstein Night Of The Living Dead Evil Dead Silence of the Lambs The Mist The Fly (remake) I Saw The Devil Vampire Circus Se7en
The Thing (1982) Halloween The Exorcist The Omen The Wolfman Them! Carnival of Souls Dead of Night Legend of Hell House Night of the Demon (1957) The Night Stalker
The Changling (George C. Scott!) Black Christmas (original) All the Hammer films! Near Dark (Great Vampire Flick)
For me, the best horror films have always been about the power of suggestion. Stories that conjure up our worst fears by not showing us anything, or making us question what they do show us. This is what makes the films produced Val Lewton in the 1940s so powerful and memorable. It's also why The Innocents (1961) and The Haunting (1963) are more effective other ghost stories. The most exciting period of the horror film genre is the early 1930s when filmmakers were trying out new ideas for the first time, and the studios were still bold enough to dare anything. The range of masterpieces vary from the grotesque to the sado-masochistic to the supernatural and biochemical. The 1930s remain as exciting to watch today as when they were new and are the building blocks of every horror film that came later. I'd like to spend more time sorting out this list but it's time to stop. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Germany 1920) Häxan (Sweden-Denmark 1922) Nosferatu (Germany, 1922) The Phantom of the Opera (Universal 1925) original theatrical edit The Cat and the Canary (Universal 1927) The Bat Whispers (United Artists, 1930) Dracula (Universal 1931) Dracula (Universal 1931) alternate Spanish version Frankenstein (Universal 1931) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paramount 1932) with Frederick March Dr. X (WB 1932 early color) Island of Lost Souls (Paramount 1932) The Most Dangerous Game (RKO 1932) The Mummy (Universal 1932) Murders In the Rue Morgue (Universal 1932) Vampyr (Denmark 1932) White Zombie (independent 1932) The Invisible Man (Universal 1933) King Kong (RKO 1933) Mystery of the Wax Museum (WB 1933 early color) Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (Germany, 1933) The Black Cat (Universal 1934) Mad Love (MGM 1935) The Werewolf of London (Universal 1935) The Devil Doll (MGM 1936) The Walking Dead (WB 1936) All That Money Can Buy (The Devil and Daniel Webster) (RKO 1941) The Wolfman (Universal 1941) Cat People (RKO 1942) I Walked With a Zombie (RKO, 1943) Vredens dag (Day of Wrath) (Denmark, 1943) The Body Snatcher (RKO 1945) Dead of Night (Ealing Studios, 1945) Isle of the Dead (RKO 1945) The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (RKO 1946) The Thing (The Thing from Another World) (RKO 1951) House of Wax 3-D (WB 1953) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Allied Artists 1956) The Abominable Snowman of the Himilayas (Hammer, 1957) The Curse of Frankenstein (Hammer 1957) Les sorcières de Salem (The Crucible) (France 1957) Dracula (Horror of Dracula) (Hammer 1958) Night of the Demon (Columbia, 1958) Revenge of Frankenstein (Hammer 1958) The Fall of the House of Usher (AIP 1960) The City of the Dead (Horror Hotel) (Amicus, 1960) Village of the Damned (MGM 1960) The Curse of the Werewolf (Hammer 1961) The Innocents (Fox, 1961) The Pit and the Pendulum (AIP 1961) Night of the Eagle (independent 1962) The Haunting (WB 1963) I tre volti della paura (Black Sabbath (Italy 1963) The Masque of the Red Death (AIP 1964) The Tomb of Ligeia (AIP 1965) Quatermas and the Pit (Hammer 1967) Night of the Living Dead (independent 1968) Rosemary's Baby (Paramount 1968) "Toby Damnit" episode in Spirits of the Dead (France 1968) Vargtimmen (The Hour of the Wolf) (Sweden 1968) The Witchfinder General (Tigon 1968) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (Hammer 1969) The Man Who Haunted Himself (EMI 1970) The Blood On Satan's Claw (Satan's Skin) (Tigon 1971) Duel (ABC TV 1971) original 72-minute broadcast version The House That Dripped Blood (Amicus 1971) The Mephisto Waltz (Fox 1971) The Night Stalker (ABC-TV 1972) Don't Look Now (Paramount 1973) Lisa e il diavolo (Lisa and the Devil) (Italy 1974) original theatrical edit The UFO Incident (NBC-TV 1975) The Tenant (Paramount 1976) Count Dracula (Dracula) (BBC teleplay, 1977) with Louis Jourdan Dawn of the Dead (independent 1978) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (United Artists 1979) Nosferatu (Germany 1979) The Whisperer In Darkness (independent 2011) The Witch (Universal 2015)
I got the Arrow version of Re-Animator on BD today. I haven't seen it in awhile so going to put it on tonight after dinner. Not sure I want to try and eat pasta while watching it.
Amazing how effective The Haunting is with zero gore, zero anything that has become a horror "staple" today.
Agreed. The novel, too. I forgot to include The Woman In Black (BBC 1989) on my list. A top-tier ghost story. Hell hath no fury like a dead woman.
Didn't work, so the all region player was in order. It also plays 3-D. I have no idea how that works on a TV. Do I need glasses? Is 3D House of Pancakes available on DVD?
@Richard_W: You have the 1962 independent movie "Night of the Eagle" listed for your favourite horrors -- I have a VHS tape on MGM of a movie titled "Burn, Witch, Burn!" and I think it's the same movie. Maybe you know for sure?
Night of the Eagle is a 1962 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers.[2] The script by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and George Baxt was based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife.[3] The film was retitled Burn, Witch, Burn! for the US release