Aliens, Zombies, and Vampires, Oh my!

Widely considered the worst movie ever made and in one of those so bad it's almost good categories is Ed Wood's masterpiece and perhaps the most famous B-Movie of all time is the classic Plan 9 From Outer Space. This film has everything a horror movie could want: aliens, zombies, vampires, flying saucers, grave robbery, a creepy cemetery and human heros. The problem?

Well, where do we begin?

The film was grossly underfunded and most of the funding it did have came from a Baptist Church in exchange for baptisms of the cast members. Bela Lugosi, one of the stars of the film, died during filming and was replaced by Wood's chiropractor, who was thinner, taller, and had a different accent. The film has a list of goofs longer than the script itself. Most of these goofs are because the budget was so small, the film only took one take to film each scene with no retakes or do-overs. The script, acting, and special effects of the movie really don't seem particularly talented, however. Wood actually earned a posthmous Golden Turkey Award for Worst Director because of this film.

Of course, the awfulness of the film has lead to a strange and unique cult following of its own, leading many people to appreciate the film for its heightened terribleness. In fact, the film currently as 67% in its review on Rotten Tomatoes. The site, badmovies.org does a review of the film, highlighting exactly what is so terrible about it. This article, by Gary Morris, talks about the warped genius of Ed Wood, particularly this film but also about his others. Despite the badness of this film, it still retains a large cult following, especially after the release of Tim Burton's film Ed Wood, and continues to have a significant cultural impact.

For those of you who are particularly brave or just want a good laugh at a horrible film, you can watch Plan 9 here and feel free to tell me what you think.

Plan Your Own Night of Fright

Want to plan your own classic horror movie marathon and don't know where to start? I've found a few good resources you can use to set up your scary movie night and ensure that everyone leaves with a good fright. Each of these websites helps rate and discuss horror movies so you can plan which films are the ones for you.

At lovetoknow.com they have a constant rating systems of all of the best horror movies, new and old, which you can find here. They have the title, a very brief summary and an explanation as to why this is the "best" film in the genre. The list is pretty short, but its a great place to begin when looking for what type of film you want to show.

One of my favorite sites, film-site.org, also has a good introduction to classic horror films. Here under their little intro to what makes a horror film, you can find a list of the best horror movies of the early days. This page on the gives you a brief history of the beginnings of horror film, showing you some of the best and well-known horror films as well as some of the best but not so well known ones.

Don't want your movie marathon to show some classics? Want to have a more original style? Well, here are a list of some good sites for your B Horror Movie Marathon. First and foremost, I would go to B-Horror.com and use all of the links they have. I've found another page here with a list of some great b-horror movies from the Fifties and Sixties. A site where you can learn about and preview the B's is at bmovies.com. And here is a forum that might be helpful where people have come online to discuss their favorite B's and what would make a good horror marathon. 

The site best-horror-movies.com does just that. Here is there homepage and from that you can access tons of lists, databases and resources to find the cream of the crop where horror films are concerned. There is a list for everyone who wants to watch a scary movie here, from gift shops, to video rentals, to zombies to DVD purchases. Just about anything and everything can be found on this site.

The site classicmovies.com has done a list of the scariest movies for Halloween that you can access here. The movies are listed alphabetically with links to the analysis, synopsis and reviews of the movies themselves. This is the perfect site for planning your classic horror movie night.

Perhaps the best of the best, you can go onto the American Film Institute's website and get their list of 100 YEARS...100 THRILLS for the Institute's top picks of horror movies. These films were picked by the actors, directors, critics, and film experts who spent long hard hours voting and analyzing each film. So, if you're an academic or just want the tough stuff done for you, I would really recommend using the films from this list.

For those of you who want a humorous, modern look at film, I would recommend looking through the annals of slashfilm.com. The horror section of their site, which you can find here, allows you to leaf through the past blog entries on their site. They have updates on upcoming horror films, trailers, articles on past films, reviews, and so many good resources for those of you who want a more recent approach to horror. 

I hope I've been helpful in your quest to put together the perfect night of fright for this Halloween. 

Intergalactic Goo Takes Over the World

After watching The Haunting, I think you're going to need a horror film that isn't exactly horrifying. One of the first handful in the independent film tradition, a celebrated B-movie, a drive-in movie favorite and starring the illustrious Steve McQueen, just about everyone has heard of or seen a parody of The Blob. I couldn't find a full version on the internet that would play for me, but a YouTube user has split the film into parts, if you want to watch that here.

The Blob has a somewhat unbelievable plot, though you must take into consideration, it is the mother of all Fifties drive-in horror films. The Blob itself an a weird goo-like substance that is transported to earth during a meteor crash to a small town in Pennsylvania. The old man, who's property the Blob landed on, goes out to investigate and is soon attacked by the Blob. The man, in fear, runs and is nearly hit by two teenagers out on a date. He begs them to take him to the local doctor. The doctor discovers that the Blob slowly absorbs all humans it comes in contact with, only to be eaten himself. The blob then goes on a horrific path of trying to eat every person in sight, growing larger and larger as it does. It is up to the teenagers to save the world from the Blob's gluttonous conquest of Earth.

So, yes, not really an Oscar contender here. It's not the best film I've ever seen, not the worst. It's really a toss up to individual taste whether you will regard this one as a horror movie or a comedy. Most tend to put it into the latter category, even those who saw it when it was first released. This is a movie made for the times when the Cold War was brewing, Sputnik was in the air, and everyone was a little worried about what might be "out there" in the universe. Still, it has a lot to say to modern audiences.

Just some quick and random facts about a movie that is frighteningly funny to me personally. The old man in the first few sequences is played by legendary film actor Olin Howland, a name not many may recognize. Howland's film career covered over 200 movies, going all the way back to the days of silent film. The Blob was his last picture. The Blob has developed a cult following and is widely considered a cult movie nowadays. The film has its own website, which you can access here and several sequels and remakes of the film have been made. Horror collector Wes Shank owns the rights to the film and you can read an interview with him about it here. The swinging theme song to the movie was written by Burt Bacharach and Mack David and you can listen to it here, courtesy of kingtet.com, who have posted it for free to listen to. Don't just give it a few seconds listen either. If you listen long enough, you get to hear the lyrics!

The Blob is a classic movie, though what type of classic is perhaps yet to be determined. Still, people have been enjoying this film for fifty years now and that proves that it is capable of standing the test of time.

The Worst Film of All Time?

In my search of public domain films that I can watch online for free rather than shelling out the money to rent or buy, I came across this magnificent title which I just had to watch: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. The film is billed as a horror film, though I am not sure if that is because it's intended to be scary of if the film is just so bad it's horrible. I came to the conclusion quite early that this film is public domain because no one wanted to claim ownership of what is a definite contender for the title of "Worst Film of All Time". If you are brave enough to subject yourself to this travesty of film making or just want a good laugh, you can watch it here.

Made in 1964, the film has a cheesy set, cheesy lines, cheesy music, cheesy costumes, cheesy Martians, and a cheesy premise. Basically, Martians kidnap Santa so he can give presents to Martian children for Christmas. I really don't feel that I need to explain beyond that, mainly because I don't think you'd believe me if I told you the rest. The film does an early critique of "Earth Television", which is apparently ruining the children of Mars who watch it. Anyone can find it obvious as to why the film was not an Academy-Award nominee when it came out in the mid-Sixties, but the film gained relative popularity after being made fun of on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which should say something about its quality.

Basically, this film is in the "so bad it's almost good" category and deserves the title of horror movie because it is just that filled with horror. So, if you love cheesy B-movies, bad Sixties Alien flicks, movies with Santa Claus, or any film that's so bad its scary, I highly recommend Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. The title, if nothing else, should give you a good laugh.

The Doctor With Two Faces

Perhaps one of the best and most forgotten horror films of all time, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is one of, if not the best, retelling in film Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the text of which can be found here. The story is a wonderful delve into the dark side of human nature, psychology, behavior and how sometimes scientific experimentation can take mankind too far. Horror buffs, such as the ones at Hollywood Gothique, since the praise the work of this little known film from 1961, which remains very popular with those continuing to be exposed to it.

The movie stars Paul Massie in the lead role of Dr. Jekyll with Dawn Adams as Dr. Jekyll's wife, Kitty. The character of Dr. Jekyll's alcoholic gambling friend, Paul Allen, who is cheating on Jekyll with Kitty goes to Christopher Lee, of Lord of the Rings Fame. Meanwhile, Jekyll is continuing on with his famous experiment, which colleagues have warned him against and has caused him to be disowned from the scientific community he was once the center of. Upon the injection of the chemical he has been working on, the introverted, antisocial Jekyll becomes the self-assured, brusque, suave, and violent Mr. Hyde. He goes to the dinner party his wife is attending with Paul and stirs up trouble. The effects of the injection soon wears off and Hyde transforms back into the quiet doctor. The typical story we all know and love follows afterwards: Jekyll's coming to grips with his new identity and personality of Mr. Hyde as well as Mr. Hyde making Jekyll to cross the lines of human decency inevitably causing him to prove his own horrible theories about human behavior. As he becomes more and more intrigued with the personality of Hyde, Jekyll becomes more and more depraved, leading to his downfall.

The movie is done in vibrant color and uses a lot of color and lighting effects to help show the changes in Jekyll's personality. Music is very essential in helping to create background and atmosphere in any movie, horrors and suspenses particularly. The music in his film syncs up perfectly and really helps to portray the mood of the film. The costumes are so exquisite and help to shape the excess of the characters. Luxury is exuded in this film, making you wonder how big of a budget the film had and how much of that budget it exceeded.
Being that it is an early Sixties British film, around the rise of the Mod Squad Era and pre-Hippie counterculture, the film is somewhat exotic and tries to push the bounds a little for the time period. This is definitely not a Doris Day or Sandra Dee film for sure. A word of warning to those of you that are concerned about this sort of thing, there is some sex and violence in this film, though most of it is implied and off screen. I would recommend for all of you, not just the horror buffs and Jekyll/Hyde fans, to track down a copy of this movie and watch it.