A solid British sci-fi/horror film, Village of the Damned is helmed with restraint by German director Wolf Rilla. The plot involves a group of children, born under mysterious circumstances, who possess unexplained and powerful mental capacities. The script, based on a novel by John Wyndham, does a good job exploring the ethical implications of the story. The cast, led by George Sanders in a rare heroic role, all put in solid performances especially Martin Stephens as leader of the "children." The films ending is, perhaps, a little nihilistic but it makes for a suspenseful climax.
Score: 7.8/10
2. Friday the 13th (2009)
One of the many remakes of classic horror films put out by Platinum Dunes in the mid-to-late 2000's, at times Friday the 13th feels more like a sequel then a remake, taking place many years after the events of the original movie, which are referenced in a somewhat ret-conned fashion. It's not a bad film by the standards of the series (which are admittedly pretty low) but it lacks the low budget charm of the older films and Jason, possibly as an attempt to freshen things up, acts out of character occasionally, killing by stealth where he would usually resort to a more direct approach.
Score: 5.8/10
A deeply disturbing horror film, Death Line chronicles a series of mysterious in the London Underground caused by a cannibal living beneath the surface of the city, the lone survivor of a group of descended construction workers who were trapped in the tunnels after a 1892 cave-in. Director Gary Sherman dwells with uncomfortable protractedness on this primitive sub-culture, utilizing agonizingly long tracking shots of rotting corpses and human refuse to chilling effect. Donald Pleasence's sardonic performance as the inspector charged with investigating the disappearances offers some relief from the horror but its Hugh Armstrong who steals the show with his sympathetic portrayal of the pathetic cannibal. I can't say it's an edifying watch but it's a powerful piece of work, nonetheless.
Score: 8/10
4. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
The film that put Peter Weir (Witness, The Truman Show) on the map, Picnic at Hanging Rock may not seem like a horror film at first glance, but it invokes a deeper sense of terror then most conventional horror films. An adaptation of the novel of the same name (allegedly based on actual events) the film tells the story of the disappearance of three schoolgirls and one of their teachers while on a fieldtrip to Hanging Rock, a geological formation in Victoria, Australia. The less I reveal the better. Suffice it to say that the sight of an overweight girl screaming was never more terrifying.
Score: 9.4/10
A very loose adaptation of Nathanial Hawthorne's classic novel, The House of Seven Gables is not exactly a horror film, but it includes enough creepy, gothic elements to make it appropriate October viewing material. Like most Universal adaptations the film is (mostly) well cast. Vincent Price and Margaret Lindsay are particularly good as Clifford and Hepzibah Pyncheon. On the other hand, Dick Foran is severely miscast as Matthew Holgrave and can't really deliver the period dialogue convincingly and his romance with Phoebe (played by Nan Grey) is incredibly stilted. Screenwriter Lester Cole placed more emphasis on Hawthorne's condemnation of greed and far less on the religious aspects of the novel. The author's subtle critique of rigid traditionalism becomes an all-out attack here. The novel the film is an effective enough little drama when considered on its own but the disrespect for the original work is hard to overlook.
Score: 7.8/10
We also re-watched:
If I had to pick one horror film as the greatest of all time (as distinct from my favorite, which is probably Halloween) it would have to be Nosferatu. Few films can match its sense of impending doom, which builds and builds until the climax. More importantly, the film does not get lost in the horror but, like the book that inspired it, is grounded in an essentially Christian worldview. The evil of the vampire is brought about as a consequence of sin and, in the end, there is a sense of hope and an affirmation of the ultimate triumph of good over evil, even if at great cost.
Score: 9.6/10
The only good sequel to Ridley Scott's original masterpiece, Aliens ups the body count, and the number of Aliens but also, at least in some ways, undermines the original. Where in Alien the creature was described as a "perfect organism" here it is reduced to an expendable member of a colony of thousands, all lead by a queen. Disregarding this, Aliens is still a great film in its own right. James Cameron is firing on all cylinders and, as he did in The Terminator, delivers a perfect blend of action and horror. Later sequels would try and fail to recapture the spirit of the original. Perhaps, in retrospect, Cameron was wise to do his own thing.
Score: 8.5/10
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