Another Silver Screen Halloween!
13 More Movies that Transport through Time
Last year, I told you guys which movies I prefer to watch in October and asked for your suggestions as well. (But I’ll be cold in the ground before I recognize Nosferatu!!!) Here are a few more fun ones — including some truly great classics!
Faust (1926)
No silent film has any business having special effects this cool, and as a bonus, it’s aesthetic as cuss. Bonus-bonus: you can choose to blast any album you wanna hear while watching it. Free on YouTube!
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
What could be more appropriate for this list than a silent film based on a Victorian novel inspired by Jack the Ripper (The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes)? The villain in this early Hitchcock flick is surprisingly compelling — and then not so surprisingly! His motivations are befuddling — and then they make perfect sense!
Vampyre (1932)
Buckle up for some… reading!!! The director of this film couldn’t quite believe he was making a talkie, but once he realized he could fade film, the world was his oyster. I’m very glad I suffered through the dull parts of this movie, because its vampire lore is some of the most compelling and coherent I’ve ever seen. Shout out to INFAMOUS REVIEWER GIO for recommending it!
White Zombie (1932)
This Bela Lugosi classic is, hmm, not racially sensitive. But it does have a pretty good ending and an amazing gothic castle. I dunno man, you decide for yourself if it’s worth it!
I Married a Witch (1942)
In this charming comedy, a woman burned in the Salem Witch Trials takes on living flesh again to torment the descendent of the Puritan who accused her — only to accidentally roofie love spell herself instead of him. Extremely watchable.
Jane Eyre (1943)
Now, you might ask, is the prototype for all romance novels really appropriate for Halloween? If you did, I’d tell you, yes! It’s got ESP! Crazy people! Ominous lightning storms! And just when you least expect it, baby Liz Taylor! Except for being a tiny bit anti-theistic at the start, this adaptation is pretty faithful to the novel and Orson Welles’ performance is so good, you’ll forget he’s not hot.
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
The very first slasher film, and this baby has it all: serial killers, sex scandals, social Darwinism, and spearheading new cures for muteness (has anyone tried shaking the heck out of her?). This one is legitimately very, very good. Watch it immediately.
Dragonwyck (1946)
Murder! Madness! Mistakenly marrying atheists!!! Vincent Price is in this one, and I know how much you nerds love that. Nerds.
The Woman in White (1948)
This story is brimming with intrigue! Who is the woman in white, and why are these gentlemen conspiring against her? While this adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ novel sees to it that the right* people get married at the end, and features some of the loveliest women you could ever hope to feast your eyes on, it does suffer from some pacing issues and betrays the twist too early. If you want, I will allow you to cheat by watching a color version instead. I’m very fond of this one starring Andrew Lincoln.
*in my opinion, which is correct
Them! (1954)
Heavy inspiration for James Cameron’s ALIENS (1986) and an early reuse of the Wilhelm scream, Them! exploits latent fears about nuclear holocaust while exploring other hard-hitting questions such as, “Can an action man and a scientist man be friends?” and, “Do you think that hot doctor would go out with me?”
Curse of the Demon (1957)
Night of the Demon to those of you who live in the horrorscape that is Great Britain, this one is based on Casting the Runes, a short story written in 1911 — the most Victorian of times! A secretive cult is cursing any who dare to expose them, but fear not, a handsome American is on his way! (He believes he’s handsome and that’s what matters.)
“For fans of The Screwtape Letters!” — Snow Martingale
Psycho (1960)
Another Hitchcock film. (Maybe the Hitchcock film?) While a lot of the killer’s depth and madness doesn’t make it out of Robert Bloch’s novel of the same title (not even the sprawling Bates Motel show managed that), there’s no beating this classic.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Maybe the real brain-eating zombie was us all along!
The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
I’ve never been all that into Lovecraft, but Great Scott, I love a modern who appreciates the quaint camp of the olden days.
The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021)
Remember that horrible made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Langoliers? Someone printed out each frame on paper and artistically reinvented it into something so watchable, not only are the horrible CGI monsters improved upon, but even the acting is better! This creative piece manages to preserve a coherent story, too. OPEN YOUR EYES, KREEG!
What movies would you add?
I am really old and I grew up in Pittsburgh, very close to where they filmed "Night of the Living Dead." I was a ten year old with a morning paper route. The day after watching this movie, I went out to deliver newspapers...in the dark...before the dawn when all the dead guys would die. On one very, no really, I mean really dark porch, I heard a noise. I was frozen because I wanted to throw the paper on the porch and tear away but that customer wanted the paper placed in her door. I had to go on that porch. After what seemed like a year and a half, I worked up the nerve to go onto her porch...and a cat zoomed past me, taking seven or eight of my lives with it.
I hate cats.
Love this list. Some of my faves, and some new ones to add to my list.
IDC what anyone says, Wells' Rochester manages to be hot.