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MY FIVE FAVORITE HORROR/SCI-FI MOVIES |
They Don't Make 'em Like These Five Flicks Anymore!
By JOHN STANLEY
Horrormaster of TheColumnists.com
1.
THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD)-(1951)
One-time film editor Christian Nyby was credited with directing
this RKO Studio version of John W. Campbell's short story "Who
Goes There?" but it is generally known that producer Howard
Hawks was on the set as Nyby's guiding benefactor. Certainly
the technique of overlapping, fast-delivered dialogue is a tell-tale
Hawksian technique. No matter. Because of its concern for a strong
camaraderie among military officers and men (a standard Hawks
theme), for its lively dialogue by Charles Lederer, for its tingling
suspense sequences, and because it captures the frigid atmosphere
of an Arctic research station, THE THING still remains one of
the best sci-fi movies ever made even if it does fall down some
in the special-effects department. Scientists isolated at the
isolated Arctic outpost encounter a creature from outer space
that has crashed its flying saucer into an ice formation, and
discover once it's loose within their isolated station that its
vegetable-based metabolism lives on human blood. James Arness,
yet to be discovered by John Wayne and the producers of "Gunsmoke,"
played the Monster and Kenneth Tobey and Margaret Sheridan are
among those fighting for their lives in the freezing-cold research
station. Dimitri Tiomkin's score made effective use of the Theremin,
and created an eerie, other-worldly motif for the humanoid creature.
2.
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
A flying saucer lands in Washington DC and a humanoid alien named
Klaatu (Michael Rennie) faces mankind in the company of a potentially
destructive robot called Gort. Patricia Neal conveys fear on
a most believable level in her scenes with Gort as she attempts
to communicate a message that is the only thing that will save
Earth from total destruction. (That message is: "Klaatu
barada nikto." Never forget it.) This was the first film
to suggest that mankind will have to conquer its destructive
nature and control its atomic weapons if it ever wants to join
the rest of the peace-loving Universe. Directed by Robert Wise,
who later would win Academy Awards for directing "The Sound
of Music" and "West Side Story." This is one of
the first of Hollywood's attempts to give science-fiction a sense
of importance, and it was soon to be followed by two other near-classics:
George Pal's "War of the Worlds" and Universal-International's
"This Island Earth."
3.
THE INNOCENTS (1961)
This adaptation of Henry James' novel "The Turn of the Screw"
(directed by British cameraman Jack Clayton) remains one of the
most chilling and literate ghost tales ever photographed, with
Deborah Kerr in an electrifying role as a prim governness in
a lonely British manor house haunted by spirits. Scripted by
Truman Capote and William Archibald, the film magically captures
the decay, depravity and haunted possession that make the novel
reek with the supernatural. Michael Redgrave appears in a cameo
as the cold-as-ice baron who hires Kerr to teach his children.
Are those two young ones possessed by the spirits of the former
governness and valet who were known to be sadistic lovers before
their deaths? Or is the whole thing unfolding only in Kerr's
imagination? Pamela Franklin portrays one of the strange children.
 |
 Video covers from two of John Stanley's picks |
4.
PSYCHO (1960)
Robert Bloch's novel, a psychological study of a sexual pervert-murderer
couched in the fashion of a gruesome horror thriller, served
as a springboard for this black-and-white classic, and screenwriter
Joseph Stefano remained true to the thrust of Bloch's novel.
It is the ultimate in horror thrills, a genuine genre classic.
Underneath its pristine film making is a series of cinematic
tricks allowing director Alfred Hitchcock to indulge his impactful
techniques. The most startling thing about this movie is that
its central heroine Marian Crane (Janet Leigh) is murdered in
a motel shower stall early in the film--a complete jolt to audiences
of the period who were not used to seeing their leading ladies
knocked off so cavalierly. Anthony Perkins' portrayal of Norman
Bates remains one of the most frightening of the horror genre.
Bates is a nervous, seemingly weak young man who rns a motel
and lives in a nearby house with his domineering mother. Arriving
at the house one at a time to investigate are Martin Balsam as
an investigator, Crane's lover (John Gavin) and her sister (Vera
Miles). This ultimate horror in schizophrenia isn't as farfetched
as it might seem--Bloch cliams his descent into a killer's warped
mind is based on a true-life case. The Bernard Herrmann score
is one of the most chilling to listen to alone. Try it some dark
night during an electric storm. You'll want to jump into your
bed and pull the covers over your head.
5.
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A psychologically disturbing and atmospheric version of Shirley
Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House" in which
the ghostly phenomena is only suggested, never blatantly shown,
proving that less is more. The miasma of this haunted house masterpiece
will have your skin crawling, thanks to the masterful direction
of Robert Wise and to the faithful script by Nelson Gidding.
The cast is headed by Richard Johnson as a psychic ghost chaser
who picks "sensitives" Clair Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and
Julie Harris to help investigate the old mansion which is so
steeped in psychic phenomena.
© 2000 by John Stanley.
John Stanley caricature is © 2000 by Jim Hummel. The "Psycho"
display is © 1960 by Shamley Productions. "The Haunting"
display is © 1990 by MGM/UA Home Video & Turner Entertainment.
JOHN STANLEY is the nation's foremost authority on "Creature Features" and was the television host of KTVU's "Creature Features" movie franchise for six years. His guidebook to horror, sci-fi and fantasy features is the leading reference work of its kind.