Little Shop of Horrors: dark horror and farce in trashy 1960 cheapie
Roger Corman, “Little Shop of Horrors” (1960) Here’s a cute comedy horror piece made on the cheap in just two days in 1960 that speaks to…
Horror
Australian and New Zealand Films
Heavenly Creatures: a rich and dark dramatisation of a real-life matricide
Peter Jackson, “Heavenly Creatures” (1994) Having made his reputation as purveyor of gory splatter horror comedy flicks to amuse teenagers and kidults, New Zealand director Peter…
French and French-language Films
Les Diaboliques aka The Devils: psychological horror film thin on plot but thick with suspense and twisted endings
Henri-Georges Clouzot, “Les Diaboliques” aka “The Devils” (1955) At first “Les Diaboliques” doesn’t seem anything like director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s previous film “Wages of Fear”: one is…
French and French-language Films
Delicatessen: amusing dystopian black comedy that overdoes the oddball edge and comes out looking twee
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, “Delicatessen” (1991) How to describe this droll French movie that tackles cannibalism in a light-hearted manner? It’s at once a dystopian…
Spider Forest: amusing psych horror / art-house drama that maps an amnesiac mind’s networks
Song Ilgon, “Spider Forest” (2004) Amusing if eccentric film that straddles a grey zone between art-house drama and psychological horror thriller, “Spider Forest” carries themes about…
German and German-language Films
M (dir. Fritz Lang): an ordinary film with sharp social comment
Fritz Lang, “M” (1931) During the 1920’s and early 1930’s, Germany played unfortunate host to some extremely vicious serial killers, one of whom, Peter Kürten, inspired…
French and French-language Films, German and German-language Films
Vampyr: vampire horror film explores issues of human existence
Carl Theodor Dreyer, “Vampyr” (1932) Made originally as a silent movie with a voice and musical soundtrack added later, this film boasts very creative if contrary…
Alien 3 (dir. David Fincher): potentially interesting psych horror / slasher flick in space is a mess
David Fincher, “Alien 3” (1992) At least in this third episode in the Alien series, people finally figured out a new original way of killing the…
Nang Nak: ghost horror story of a love that transcends death and passage of time
A very moving and emotional story of a love that endures beyond death and time. A farmer fights in a war and leaves his pregnant wife at home. After a long recuperation from wounds and injuries, he returns to find his wife and newborn happy and safe ... not knowing that they are actually ghosts. The village endeavours to tell him the truth but his wife's ghost becomes angry and brings terror and death to the villagers.
Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock): good psych horror thriller about predestination / free will and men’s oppression of women
Alfred Hitchcock, “Psycho” (1960) This movie is a good psychological horror thriller with excellent performances from its two leads Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and Janet Leigh as…