13 Nights of Shocktober: Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

by A.J.

Happy Halloween! The countdown is over and Halloween is finally upon us. Tonight, hopefully, you'll be relaxing, eating some candy, and watching a scary, or not-so-scary, movie. There are a lot of options for tonight and I hope I've been of some help. Here is my final recommendation to help bring an end to Shocktober:

Night 13: Happy Happy Halloween!

“He’s a Stanislavsky lunatic! That’s what’s wrong with him!”

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

The idea behind Shadow of a Vampire is a novel and clever one: director F.W. Murnau found a real vampire to star in his 1922 silent horror masterpiece, Nosferatu. As you can imagine, this would cause problems with the shoot. Shadow of the Vampire is not just a horror movie, or a vampire movie, it is about the creation of one of the most important and scariest horror films ever made. Nosferatu is still a chilling and unsettling film to watch. Shadow of the Vampire exists in the shadow of Nosferatu, but it is no less a creative, creepy, and spooky film.

John Malkovich plays German director F.W. Murnau, an auteur if there ever was one. Only a real vampire can satisfy his need for authenticity and desire to make a film that transcends entertainment and becomes immortal art. He is addressed by his crew as “herr doctor” and poetically pontificates about cinema and art. On the train ride to the shooting location in Czechoslovakia he says, “we are scientists engaged in the creation of memory, but our memory will neither blur nor fade.”

When the production leaves the safety and control of the studio in Berlin they finally meet the mysterious character actor Max Schreck who is to play the vampire. Schreck’s methods are “unconventional” and his background is hard to pin down. Murnau claims that Schreck studied with Stanislavsky, the Russian who pioneered acting techniques that would become known in modern times as “the method.” Schreck will only appear in full makeup, will remain in character for the entire shoot, and will only shoot his scenes at night.

Willem Dafoe plays the vampire in question, who Murnau introduces to the cast and crew as Max Schreck. The real Max Schreck gave one of the most chilling and iconic performances in horror film history. If you’ve never Nosferatu, you’d likely still recognize the pale vampire or his stiff silhouette and strangely long knifelike fingers. At all times he seems otherworldly and monstrous. Schreck so disappears into the character of Count Orlok that is not difficult to accept the idea that he might have been a real vampire.

Portraying Schreck’s vampire in a movie about the making of Nosferatu is a tall order, but Dafoe is more than up to task. For his superb performance Dafoe received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Dafoe, still slightly recognizable under all that vampire makeup, also disappears into his role as the vampire. He plays Schreck with a dark sense of humor. This vampire seems to be aware of the absurdity of being a vampire pretending to be an actor pretending to be vampire. However humorous Dafoe undeniably is as Schreck, he is also menacing and chilling. In one scene he answers the questions of two drunk crew members about being a vampire. They think he is being "in character," but his answers are simultaneously unnerving and melancholy. Schreck’s payment for participating in the shoot is the lead actress, Gretta (Catherine McCormack).

Crew members fall mysteriously ill and the rest of the cast and crew are uneasy around Schreck. As the vampire feeds off the crew he jeopardizes the production which infuriates Murnau. Malkovich plays Murnau as an artist obsessed. He is willing to achieve his vision at all costs. His interactions with Dafoe as Schreck result in some darkly comedic scenes. Murnau condescends to Schreck and Schreck is mischievous and petulant. Shadow of the Vampire is a movie about making movies, a favorite genre of mine, and there is some good showbiz humor. Murnau yells at Schreck for feeding on the cinematographer, “why not the script girl?” Later in the movie Schreck suggests that the writer is no longer necessary. In one scene, Eddie Izzard, playing one of the actors in the film within a film, accidentally cuts his finger for real in a scene with Schreck only to be attacked by the crazed character actor. Izzard’s character shouts, “He’s a Stanislavsky lunatic! That’s what’s wrong with him!”

Several memorable scenes and images from Nosferatu are recreated in Shadow of the Vampire. The film does not draw unnecessary attention to these scenes and they match same spooky tone and atmosphere of the rest of the movie. Dafoe’s vampire in the recreated scenes is equally as striking and frightening as the real Schreck’s vampire. The supporting cast is outstanding and includes: Eddie Izzard, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, and Udo Keir.

This film does an excellent job creating an eerie, portentous atmosphere transporting you to another time and place that feels paradoxically ethereal and all too real. There is very little blood and gore. Instead of a few horrific set pieces, Shadow of the Vampire opts for a sustained ominous mood punctuated by the presence of a monster. Directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz, Shadow of the Vampire is an homage to a landmark horror film and also an effective horror film in its own right.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 12: Werewolf Party Night/Hammer Horror Night 

I’m not sure that’s how you make a werewolf…

Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

I’m glad to have come across Hammer Films’ werewolf movie entry to their series of loose remakes of the Universal Monsters films from the 1930's and 40's. Hammer Films is the British film studio that is most famous for their atmospheric and often campy horror movies made from the 1950’s through the 70’s. The most famous of these films are the Dracula and Frankenstein movies and their many sequels, usually starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The best of these films were directed by Terence Fisher, who directs Curse of the Werewolf. Cushing and Lee are absent from this film, however, Curse of the Werewolf still ranks in the top tier of Hammer horror.

Curse of the Werewolf is based on the novel The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore, so naturally the film is set in Spain. Perhaps the most memorable thing about this movie is its unconventional and convoluted method of creating a werewolf. The film begins with a beggar wandering into a Spanish village and happening upon the wedding banquette of a cruel and evil Marques. The Marques pays the beggar to act like a pet and humiliates the beggar before having him thrown in a dungeon where he is quickly forgotten. The beggar becomes more and more beastlike the longer he is imprisoned and attacks and rapes the jailer’s daughter. Then, she attacks and kills the now decrepitly old Marques. She runs away to the forest and is found by Aldredo (Clifford Evans) who takes her into his home where she gives birth to a son on Christmas Day. Alfredo’s maid believes it is an insult for an unwanted child to be born on the same day as the Lord. Alfredo raises the child, Leon, as if he were his own, but when Leon is a young boy the village is plague by wolf attacks at night. Yong Leon has terrible nightmares, thinks that blood tastes sweet, and has fur growing on his hands and arms.

A priest tells Alfredo about evil spirits that leap into bodies and battle with the soul for control of the body. Leon has a werewolf in him and “only love” can cure the inner wolf. Alfredo and his maid raise Leon well, giving him much love and keeping the inner wolf at bay. More time passes and Leon, now a young man (Oliver Reed), leaves home to make his own way in the world. He falls in love with Christina Fernando, the daughter of a wealthy vineyard owner, who is already engaged to someone else. She falls in love with Leon but knows her father would never allow their marriage. Then vicious wolf attacks begin on the nights of the full moon.

Curse of the Werewolf isn’t actually a remake of the Universal Studios’ film The Wolf Man (1941), but the design of the werewolf is, like all Hammer monster designs, close to the look of the Universal monsters, but distinct enough to be fresh and memorable. This werewolf is a classic wolf-man monster, not just a man that turns into a wolf. Those familiar with The Monster Squad will see a strong similarity between that film’s wolf-man and the wolf-man in Curse of the Werewolf. There aren’t many werewolf scenes, this is a low budget movie after all, but the costumes, sets, performances, and score make up for that and keep the film moody and atmospheric.

All of the elements of a top notch Hammer horror film are in Curse of the Werewolf. This film is set some time in the past but no specific date is given. If I had to guess I would say it is set sometime in the 19^th century, but a specific time period isn’t necessary. This is a folktale fantasy like a campfire story that lets you fill in the details. The sets manage to look fake and convincing at the same time and only add to the atmosphere of the movie. The costumes look great with vibrant, bold colors that are synonymous with Hammer horror. Blood in this movie is a bright almost orange-red color. The cast is as tan as British people can be made to look without being offensive. All of this adds up to a movie that is a lot of fun. The climax goes on just a bit too long without anything really happening but that is a small hiccup in an otherwise well-paced, entertaining film. 

It’s hard to go wrong with Hammer for entertaining atmospheric horror. Curse of the Werewolf is a great not-so-scary horror movie for people that want a Shocktober movie that isn’t excessively violent, or gory, or disturbing.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 11: Vincent Price Night
"A brass unicorn has been catapulted across a London street and impaled an eminent surgeon...words fail me, gentlemen."

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

I couldn’t let Shocktober go by without at least one Vincent Price movie on the list, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes is one of his absolute best. Price plays the titular Dr. Phibes, who is exacting revenge on the doctors he holds responsible for the death of his wife. He goes about this by murdering them in ways inspired by the 10 plagues of Egypt, making him quite abominable indeed. Each murder is a more and more elaborate and macabre tableau as the methods of murder become more and more outlandish. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is an undeniably campy film, but it is also excellent entertainment for anyone, even someone skittish of horror movies, looking for spooky fun viewing on Halloween night.

Vincent Price’s performance as Dr. Phibes is silent, mostly. Phibes was presumed dead in a car accident but actually survived and was horribly disfigured. He speaks by connecting cable from a gramophone to his neck. We never see his mouth move and he speaks through this device in only a few scenes so Price uses body language and facial expressions to bring this villainous antihero to life. He speaks through the gramophone to a photo of his deceased beloved wife, Virginia, professing his love and reasserting his vow of revenge. A large reason this movie works is because of Vincent Price’s serious performance. He is believable as Phibes because he has fun playing the character but never winks at the audience. This can also be said of the tone of the movie. Though it has a dark, off beat, British sense of humor, it is still more horror than horror comedy. The death scenes are needlessly over the top but the movie makes sure they are still gruesome. The horror in this movie is appropriately horrific which makes the scenes of humor really pop. While Phibes goes about filling a doctor’s bedchamber with bats, Price is dead serious and sincere about what he is doing. His performance makes Phibes’s revenge a loving tribute to his lost love.

There is of course no denying the odd and comical nature of a man being impaled by the head of a brass unicorn statue while under police protection. But the police take it seriously and Phibes takes it seriously which lets the audience have all the fun. Scenes of outright comedy and jokes are left to Scotland Yard as they work on solving the mysterious murders. This is where the British sense of humor really shines through. In one scene a detective regains consciousness after being knocked out and takes a drink before calling for help. The reaction of the detectives to the murders always seems to be understated. “A damn strange business,” one says after discovering the first murder. Their reactions always seem subdued compared to the deaths, or, in other words, they are appropriately British.

Joseph Cotton, one of my favorite actors of the classic movie era, plays Dr. Vesalius, the chief surgeon of the team that failed to save Virginia Phibes. He is the ultimate target for Phibes’s final act of macabre revenge. Cotton gives the movie another serious, unwinking performance. His character gives the movie urgency and is a good counterbalance to Phibes.

Phibes has a mysterious and beautiful assistant named Vulnavia, played by Virginia North, who never speaks. She wears lovely flowing dresses and in one scene she plays the violin while Phibes drains the blood of one of his victims. In another scene at Phibes’s secret lair she sweeps while Phibes’s band of automatons, The Clockwork Wizards, play a slow mellow song like it is closing time at a night club. Yes, Phibes has a band of musical automatons in his lair.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes was directed by Robert Fuest, who began his career as a production designer. This would explain the artistry of the murder scenes and the quality and attention paid to the stylish sets and costumes. This movie is a period piece thought the year is never explicitly stated. From the cars I would guess the time period is the 1910’s or 20’s, so the look of this film is a mixture of the swinging London of the 1970’s and Edwardian England.

Is there a more elaborate way to kill someone than by decapitating a brass unicorn statue and catapulting it across a London street impaling the man? Yes, there is, and Dr. Phibes has thought of it and planned it out carefully. From describing this movie, you might think that The Abominable Dr. Phibes falls into the “so-bad-it’s-good” category, but this film is intentionally and genuinely entertaining. It seems to know it is an offbeat horror movie but never aims to be an outright comedy. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is self-aware enough to have fun with its content, characters, sets, and death scenes without drawing attention to itself. Directly or indirectly Dr. Phibes influenced the nascent slasher genre and Phibes himself and his ever increasingly elaborate murders are reminiscent of Jigsaw from the Saw film series. The special effects are practical as you might expect and with the exception of a fake bat or two hold up very well. The first time I saw this movie was on Halloween night one year ago and I can’t recommend it enough. This movie was one of Vincent Price’s favorites and it’s not hard to understand why.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes airs on TCM Sunday, October 30th at 5PM CT

13 Nights of Shocktober: Young Frankenstein (1974)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 10: Horror Comedy Night/Gene Wilder Memorial Night
Puttin' on the Ritz!

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Like many people my age I first saw Young Frankenstein as a kid when it aired on TV for Halloween. After several reassurances from my mother that it wasn’t scary I watched hesitantly. It didn’t look or feel like any comedy I had seen up to that point in my life. It still doesn’t look or feel like any comedies I’ve seen. The other day, while working at the video store, I put this movie on in the background. Even without actually seeing it, just hearing it, the jokes still made me laugh and smile. Customers paused and watched for long stretches, their faces filled with delight. I heard “this is my favorite part” from different customers at different parts of the movie. I’ve worked at the video store for four years now and I can say that this rarely happens. No, this film isn’t like other comedies. It is something quite special indeed.

Gene Wilder plays the titular young Frankenstein, Frederick, who is trying to escape the shadow of his grandfather Victor’s abominable experiments. He insists his name is pronounced “Fronkensteen,” giving us one of the most memorable quotes of the film. Frederick travels to his grandfather’s homeland after inheriting the family castle in Transylvania. The castle comes complete with eccentric characters: Marty Feldman as Igor (pronounce eye-gore, giving us the second most memorable quote of the film) the hunchback servant, Inga (Teri Garr) the lovely lab assistant, and Frau Blucher (Cloris Leechman) the mysterious woman lurking in the castle playing eerie violin music. Fredrick discovers Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory and is coaxed into continuing his grandfather’s work and creates the Monster, but due to a mix up the monster has a brain that is “abby-normal.”

Young Frankenstein works both as a parody and homage to the Universal Studios monster movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Some of the sets are in fact the same sets used in the Frankenstein movies of that era. Young Frankenstein is beautifully shot in black and white by Gerald Hirschfeld to give it the same look as those classic movies. The cinematography and sets give Young Frankenstein a timeless feel. This film doesn’t look or feel like a 70’s movie, though it is from 1974. Hairstyles do not date this movie and neither does the film score, which is orchestral. The style of comedy also does not date the movie. Unlike modern parody films, in which making a reference to the original film is the punchline (and not a funny one), Young Frankenstein makes subtle references to past Frankenstein films but the jokes come from the characters. This is a film that has great affection for the films that inspired it and instead of cynically riffing those films, it uses them as inspiration.

There are great performances all around. Cloris Leechman as Frau Blucher is frighteningly funny and plays her character with an intensity that matches Wilder’s outbursts. Her very name causes horses to rear up and she leads a tour of the castle with an unlit candelabra. Marty Feldman finds a way to stand out as the comic relief in a film filled with funny characters. He provides a classic “walk this way” gag and countless others. Everything he says is a punchline and every joke lands in every scene.

Madeline Kahn as Frederick’s fiancé is a strong personality though perhaps Frederick is not the right match for her. Teri Garr as Inga is more than just the pretty assistant; she makes Inga a lively and competent character, and is perhaps a better match for Frederick. As the Monster, Peter Boyle is hilarious and sympathetic. He is silent, aside from screams and grunts, for most of the movie but he makes it clear that there a lot going on inside the mind of the Monster. Boyle’s Monster is of course an homage to Boris Karloff’s portrayal in the Universal Studios series of films, but is also distinct and memorable. When Boyle finally does speak at the end of the film, his speech to the villagers is beautifully delivered and encapsulates the heart of this movie.

From start to finish Young Frankenstein is an excellent showcase for Gene Wilder’s superb comic sensibilities. He can be broad and intense (is there anything funnier than Wilder shouting?), but he is also great at subtle, nonverbal comedy. He’ll let the audience catch an errant longing side eye gaze, which, in addition to being a quick, funny moment, builds character in an instant without any dialogue. That’s good acting and being a good comedian. While Wilder is infinitely memorable for his explosive outbursts of rage, he also brings a sweet tenderness to Frederick as well. Believably moving between these two extremes is a very difficult thing to do for any actor, but Wilder seems to accomplish it with a natural ease.

Young Frankenstein is paced differently from modern comedies. Despite all of the hilarious shouting, it feels like a quiet and intimate film. Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Wilder, does not let his direction does not call attention to itself. Like in the horror films of the 1930’s there are special transitions like wipes and fades, but rather than being an elbow poking you in the side (did you notice? Did you notice??) these techniques help evoke the feel of a movie from 30’s.

There are too many memorable comedic set pieces and hilarious jokes to list. There’s plenty of physical comedy but most of the humor is verbal (Werewolf? — There wolf. There castle). All of the comedy, physical and verbal comes from the characters being themselves. This might be why jokes and gags are still funny even if you know they are going to happen. This is a very organic comedy. Nothing feels out of place or contrived. No gag or set piece lasts longer than it should.

One of the most memorable scenes has the Monster meeting a blind man played by Gene Hackman. The blind man pours hot soup on the Monster’s lap, breaks his cup of wine, and sets the Monster’s thumb on fire. You can see all of the gags coming a mile away but they are delivered perfectly and work every time. Another favorite scene is, of course, Frederick and the Monster performing Puttin' on the Ritz. Though it is quite brief, I think my favorite scene is when Wilder and Teri Garr discover the spinning bookcase (Put the kendle beck!). I’ve seen Young Frankenstein twice in the last month and it is funny every time. I’ll likely see it again this Shocktober (it airs on TCM on Sunday, October 30^th, at 7PM Central Time). You should too.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Headhunters (2012)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 9: Non-Supernatural Thriller Night

“My name is Roger Brown. I’m 5’6” tall. And you know what? That’s more than enough."

Headhunters (2012)

I’ve only seen a handful of foreign thrillers and Headhunters, from Norway, released in the states in 2012, is among the best and most exciting and thrilling. It hits every note it should, and several you don’t see coming. The director, MortenTyldum, would follow up this film with the Oscar nominated biopic The Imitation Game. While that film goes out of its way to be a conventional biopic, Headhunters does not use genre conventions as crutch or let them hinder its story or characters.

Headhunters stars Aksel Hennie as Roger Brown, our protagonist and narrator. He is 5’6” tall and insecure, so he overcompensates. He lives in house he cannot afford and does not like, but he thinks his statuesque wife, Diana, likes it so he goes along. He is aware that she is out of his league so he goes out of his way to provide her with a luxurious lifestyle that, though he is a successful corporate headhunter, is beyond his means. To cover these expenses, Roger moonlights as an art thief. He uses his day job to find new targets for his side job. One such potential client for Roger’s headhunting job, and his art thief job, is Clas Greve, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (now of Game of Thrones fame). Clas has inherited a painting believed to have been stolen by Nazis during WWII. To Roger it sounds like the payday of his dreams; one so potentially lucrative he may never have to steal art again. It sounds too good to be true, and it is. After Roger steals the painting he finds himself in over his head in a dreadful mess.

At this point Headhunters becomes an intense cat and mouse chase. No matter where Roger runs or hides, even if he changes vehicles and clothes, Clas is always in pursuit; Clas becomes like the Terminator. Coster-Waldau plays Clas as an intelligent, crafty, and believable villain. He is relentless, cold, and charismatic.  The chase takes on an almost absurd nature, but Roger is aware of the absurdity all the while, so we as the audience believe what we are seeing. There are no elaborate, unnecessary stunts just for the sake spectacle. When Headhunters does indulge in a thriller convention like a car chase, it puts Roger in an old, slow moving tractor. The brilliance of this chase is that it is creative but believable (Roger was hiding out in a barn). Everything in this film feels plausible. This film takes place firmly in the real world, making it effectively engaging and suspenseful.

The film does its best to begin Roger as an unlikable protagonist, but then, thanks to a smart script and Hennie’s performance, does a great job turning our sympathy towards him. Contrary to what studio executives and screenwriting professors espouse, characters don’t have to be likable, they just have to be interesting. At his worst, Roger is a very interesting, complex character; he is also an intelligent one making him a match for Clas and making the film very entertaining. Even characters we don’t spend much time with feel like fully realized people.

Headhunters combines the suspense of corporate espionage films like Michael Clayton or The Firm with the violent intensity of The Terminator. With its combination of a shadowy conspiracy and crime elements, Headhunters also has the feel of a Film Noir. This movie is well paced, grabbing you and never letting go until it’s over. There is a great, effective score adding to the tension and mystery of the film. It gets quite intense and bloody, but is also darkly funny. While this isn’t technically a horror movie, it is still loaded with shocks, thrills, and even scares. Most of all, it is a thoroughly satisfying film that you can watch this Shocktober, especially if you don't like horror movies.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Village of the Damned (1960)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 8: Sci-Fi Horror Night
Beware the Stare That Threatens All Mankind

Village of the Damned (1960)

Village of the Damned is a classic and still spooky British horror film famous for those creepy emotionless bleach blonde children with glowing eyes. This must rank among the most referenced images from classic horror films. If you’ve never seen the film you’ve likely seen a parody or are familiar with the image of the children with glowing eyes. These children are, of course, not exactly human.

Village of the Damned is very eerie and creepy right from the start. The film begins with a mysterious event occurring in a pastoral British village. Abruptly and inexplicably everyone in town loses consciousness at exactly the same moment. Shots of the villagers passed out and collapsed wherever they happened to be are quite unnerving. The military investigates and as far as militaries in science fiction/horror movies go, they are quite competent and rational. Just as the solders are starting to understand the event, it ends just as suddenly and inexplicably as it began.

Soon after the event, Anthea (Barbara Shelley) surprises her husband, Professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders), with the news that she is pregnant. Their joy turns to concern and suspicion, however, when they find out that every woman in the village capable of bearing a child has also become pregnant. All of the babies are born on the same day, have the same weight, and the same odd eyes. The children develop unnaturally fast and after three years have grown to look about 10 years old. All of the children have pale blonde hair and a detached and emotionless countenance. All of the people in the village, the parents of the children included, are nervous and frightened of them. They seem to have a collective consciousness, and, most troubling of all, they can read people minds and control other people’s actions.

This film is shot in black and white which only enhances its otherworldly and surreal atmosphere. Village of the Damned does not go for big scares, but the creepy children with their unnatural calm go a long way to making this a memorable and chilling film. Adding to the odd atmosphere of the film is the reserved nature of the British locals. No one breaks into hysterics at any point in the movie no matter what shocking and supernatural things happen. The Zellabys’ son, David, is the leader of the otherworldly children. Sanders and Shelley are more apprehensive than frightened of him. The incredible George Sanders turns in a good performance and helps anchor the serious and tense tone of the film. If there is one person that can keep his cool around possible alien children with mind control powers, it’s George Sanders.

Village of the Damned is a low budget film that shows little and finds horror through tension and one solid effect. The movie builds to the second half of the film featuring the children. The low key nature of this movie plants the premise in the realm of plausibility and sets the audience at unease. This still spooky classic is well worth watching this Shocktober.

Village of the Damned will air on TCM Saturday, October 29th at 2:15PM CT

13 Nights of Shocktober: Cat's Eye (1985)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 7: Anthology Horror Night
A Trio of Terror

Cat’s Eye (1985)

Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye is a not-so-scary but interesting horror anthology written by King himself. The first two segments are based on short stories from the collection Night Shift and the third King wrote specifically for the movie. A nameless stray cat loosely connects the three stories; in its wanderings it encounters main characters of the first two stories but plays a much larger role in the final story.

In the first story, based on Quitters, Inc., James Woods plays a man who gets himself in way over his head when he signs up with a mysterious treatment center called Quitters, Inc. to quit smoking. The man who runs the clinic lays out cigarettes on his desk and beats and smashes them screaming at Woods that he hates cigarettes. Then he shows Woods a small room with a steel floor that becomes electrified and they watch as the cat jumps like crazy while Twist and Shout plays. The company man explains to Woods that if he smokes one cigarette his wife will be put in the room. A second cigarette and his daughter gets put in the room. After the third cigarette something far more hideous will happen to his wife. Quitter’s, Inc. employees will be monitoring Woods at all times no matter where he is. Woods thinks the Quitter’s Inc. boss was just exaggerating until he finds traces of someone having been in his house in the middle of the night. Everyone looks suspicious to Woods after that, but his urge to smoke is ever present…

The second story, based on The Ledge, finds Robert Hays as a down on his luck tennis player who is forced at gunpoint to walk along the ledge of a high rise penthouse. The man forcing Hays to walk the ledge is the rich and sadistic husband of the woman Hays was planning to run away with. This is the most basic and least complex of the three segments, though none of the vignettes are very complex stories. The Ledge plays on the fear of heights, and the much more instinctive fear of falling and dying. The rich husband taunts Hays from the windows, throws things at him, and at one point turns a firehose on him. The cat is picked up by the husband after it inadvertently wins a bet for him by not getting run over as it crosses a busy street, but when it gets the chance the cat flees the posh high rise building and ends up on a train to North Carolina where the third story takes place.

In the third segment the stray cat is found and adopted by young Drew Barrymore and given a name, General. Her mother wants the cat gone, and her father tells her myths about cats stealing baby’s breath while they sleep. Some creature is trying to steel her breath, but it is not the cat, it is the demonic gremlin that lives in a hole in a wall of her bedroom.

Thought Cat’s Eye is a horror movie and written by Stephen King, the content and tone of each story is along the lines of classic Twilight Zone episodes. The first two stories are thrillers that have no supernatural elements. They scare through suspense. The third story, about the cat and the gremlin, isn’t scary but is entertaining. I think it is the kind of not-too-scary horror story that older kids can watch; it is about a pet saving its child owner from a monster her parents don’t believe is real, after all. The gremlin has scary eyes and sharp teeth but wears a jester’s hat with bells and makes comical noises.

The blue screen effects do not hold up very well. Quitters, Inc. which relies the least on effects fairs best in that respect. The effects in The Ledge don’t hold up, if they ever did, but if you have a fear of heights the nature of the story will still provide some suspense. All of the attempts of the old man to throw Robert Hays off balance get a bit goofy after a while. Cat's Eye attempts to build the cat’s character and backstory; at the beginning of the movie it sees little Drew Barrymore’s face appear in a store window asking for help. The cat is not very expressive however, but I’m willing to accept that it knows it has a mission. Cat’s Eye is a good horror anthology to take a break from blood and serious scares with some entertaining suspense. 

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Brood (1979)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 6: Cronenberg Night

“These thing have a way of expressing themselves.”

The Brood (1979)

The Brood is a strong contender for being David Cronenberg’s most polarizing film—Crash (1996) would be the reigning champion. Roger Ebert called The Brood “a particularly nasty little number” and “an el sleazo exploitation film.” He ended his review wondering, “Are there really people who want to see reprehensible trash like this?” In its theatrical run, The Brood failed to be a hit at the box office, but it developed a cult following over time after it was released on home video. Carrie Rickey, in her essay “The Brood: Separation Trials,” included with the film’s Criterion video release, called The Brood, “an emotionally realistic horror movie.” She also writes about how differently she perceived the film before and after having children. Cronenberg himself said that “The Brood is my version of Kramer vs. Kramer, but more realistic.” This statement seems like a wry blurb for his own film, which it is, but it is also true to some extent. The Brood shows through horror movie violence how the nastiness of a bad divorce can radiate out and effect more than just the spouses. He wrote The Brood while going through a very difficult divorce and custody battle. His soon to be ex-wife allegedly absconded with their daughter to a cult in California. It’s safe to assume that Cronenberg did not relate to the divorce in Kramer vs Kramer.

When The Brood begins Frank and his wife Nola are already estranged and out of regular contact. Nola is staying at an institute and undergoing an extreme version of a radical new therapy called psychoplasmics. It involves the therapist role playing as a patient’s abusive parent and belittling and berating them to bring out and confront their own rage. The creator of the bizarre therapy, Dr. Raglan, played by Oliver Reed, has Nola in isolation, but allows visits from Candy, Frank and Nola’s 5-year-old daughter. When Frank picks up Candy from the institute one day, he notices scratches and bruises on Candy’s back. He assumes that Nola must have abused Candy, and the truth is something close to but not exactly that. There is an unintended and dangerous side effect to psychoplasmics: the rage that is released through the therapy manifests itself physically in the body.

Dr. Raglan is praised as a genius. Nola is a devote follower and believer. Frank thinks that Raglan is a quack and his method is a sham. This can be seen as a take on the cliché of a spouse feeling that their therapist has sided with the other spouse and they are united against him/her. Frank meets with a former patient of Raglan’s that is suing Raglan for physiological damage to his body that lead to cancer. He believes Raglan turned his body against him. Frank seeks sole custody of Candy but his lawyer tells him that even with the evidence he has of abuse he doesn’t have a strong case because “the law believes in motherhood.” Meanwhile, people close to Frank and Candy begin to die. The effect psychoplasmics has on Nola is to manifest her rage in a brood of murderous children that carry out violent attacks on the objects of her rage. Subconsciously, Nola is responsible for the abuse of Candy and murder of friends and family members. The murderous dwarf wearing a child’s red coat can’t help but bring to mind Nicholas Roeg’s marital drama/thriller film Don’t Look Now. The detective in charge of the murder investigation thinks that the culprit is someone’s deformed child that they kept locked up in an attic. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” he says.

I find that Cronenberg’s horror films have a pro-science perspective though they are about wild and fantastic stuff. Generally in films the scientist character, when not mad from the start, is the last to believe whatever paranormal event is occurring or continues to deny it even in the face of it. The scientific method is not about shouting down new claims. It is about evidence. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, as Carl Sagan would say. In Cronenberg’s films the extraordinary events of the story leave behind tangible evidence and the doctor or scientist and the other characters accept the claim as fact when presented with the evidence. In The Brood, one of the dwarf creatures is killed and an autopsy is done. The pathologist, the detective, and Frank are there to witness that the dwarf creature has no sexual organs or navel and is not entirely human. The evidence presented is met with acceptance not skepticism or hesitation. This is also true in Shivers, Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, and The Fly.

The controversy surrounding The Brood stems from claims that it is a misogynist film, and it is not difficult at all to read the film as such. With lines like, “You got involved with a woman that married you for your sanity, hoping it would rub off. It worked the other way,” and the fact that Nola is the source of all marital discord and conflict, it is understandable why the film could be viewed this way. I, and certain female fans of this film (yes they exist), view The Brood differently. The horror in The Brood stems from how psychoplasmics transformed Nola’s body. This is Cronenberg’s second film in which the female body transforms and becomes monstrous. In The Brood, Rabid, and Shivers the female body only becomes dangerous or monstrous and the site of horror after it has been tampered with by a male scientist seeking to improve the woman. In his first film, Shivers, the female body is the source of an infectious parasite that spreads to the tenants of a high rise building. What separates The Brood from Rabid (in which after surgery gone wrong a woman becomes a type of vampire), is that Raglan is trying to heal and improve Nola’s mind, not her body, and to some extent succeeds but unintentionally causes physiological damage to Nola. The mad scientist is to blame for unleashing horror through a female in Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood. Dr. Raglan certainly is a mad psychotherapist; he even has a faithful assistant like all mad scientists.

While the murderous brood are carrying out Nola’s subconscious desires, she is neglecting her child born from her marriage for her children born of her rage. One of the most horrific and gross images in the movie is when Nola licks the blood off of one of her newborn offspring. It was actress Samantha Eggar’s idea for her to lick the blood off of her offspring, the way a mother dog does, and was pleased that she was able to disgust the male crew. From a scholarly angle, you can view this as a maternal instinct being presented as horrific, or as the male perception of a maternal instinct being horrific. 

Samantha Eggar gives a great performance as Nola and is convincingly creepy as a true believer and fanatic of Dr. Raglan. She is not quite as over the top as Piper Laurie as Mrs. White, Carrie’s mom, in Carrie, but she is close. Oliver Reed is also good as the eccentric Dr. Raglan who becomes an uneasy ally of Frank, played by Art Hindle. The Brood has a great string based score by Howard Shore, reminiscent of Bernard Herman’s score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The special effects and make up effects hold up very well and look great, or gross depending on your sensibility. Despite what Roger Ebert says in his review, The Brood is not just a geek show. Yes, it will likely make you squirm and shift in your seat, but it also uses suspense to put you ill at ease. In particular, the scene in which Dr. Raglan tries to get Candy out of the secret room where the brood has taken her is evocative of a similar scene with Rod Taylor in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. The Brood, like Cronenberg’s previous horror movies, is an elevated exploitation film. This film has violence and scares and is shocking and even disgusting, but it is also a film of substance and troubling ideas. The Brood is quality horror that works on many levels.