The 60/70s Horror movie appreciation thread

[Adam D]

I grew up in the last generation before SKY was the norm.

The days when there were only 4 channels and where TV programming was very different. It was good.

Anyway, one of the main staples of growing up was the ITV regions post 10.30 at night and BBC2. These channels (in my case HTV and TSW (Television South West)) used to get regionalised programming after the 10 O'clock news and that usually meant some american sitcoms (Married with Children and Sledge Hammer being my favourites) but also some cracking horror films.

The likes of Hammer horror films (thank you Ingrid Pitt for getting me through some growing years) and some fantastic US horror films. And the BBC used to wade in with old Universal films on BBC2 late at night on the weekends.

And I miss those days when you could enjoy horror films for what they were - not special effect heavy tales of pretty teens getting it on (although some of the 70s horrors from the US were great for that!) but period horrors that you could watch over and over.

British films like The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil were staples of these late night showings.

Films like Black Christmas and Halloween were shown regularly from the US catalogue.

So I thought I would open up this thread to talk about the greatest era of horror when Hammer, Abacus and the like were making masterpieces like the Abnominal Dr Phibes before finally bowing out with early 80s slasher craze (which is the last great decade for horror).

So lets hear your memories and faves.....

[TRUSSMAN66]

Now you're talking....................

Which one was the one where that chick turns into a moth after she's given someone a good seeing to and finishes the job.....???

She was so fit ...it could have been worth it!!!!

Dr Terrors house of cards..................was a classic......

Slaughter high in the 80's..........................all Brit classics....

Prom night with Jamie lee.....................

[TRUSSMAN66]

One of my favorites of alltime was THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE...with old Roddy................

[Adam D]

~I liked some of the out there US horrors of the 70s like Demon Seed and It Lives. Something about Mutant babies that were scary!

[TRUSSMAN66]

Doctor Death seeker of souls............So bad it's good.

[pscott]

The Haunting was terrific, I'm sure I read that camera work and sound influenced Evil Dead

[super_realist]

The Beast Must Die.

[Adam D]

The Beast Must Die.

Now that is a film!

I loved the way with about 20 minutes to go, the film stops and a big countdown clock appears asking us whio we think is the wereworlf.

A great who dunnit with werewolves.

I always made time to tape this one when it appeared on late night programming.

[Adam D]

The Haunting was terrific, I'm sure I read that camera work and sound influenced Evil Dead

From memeroy it was a 50s film (or possibly early 60s). Certainly very influential.

Which leads me on to a great horror from the late 80s early 90s - Waxwork.

Directed by Anthony Hickox, it was a modern day compilation horror held together by a waxwork museum that displayed horror scenes. If you crossed the red rope and entered the display, you got zapped into the story.

From memory it had Patrick MacNee, David Warner and Zach something or other from Gremlins.

The reason for bringing it up was that it had a homage to the haunting in it (it might have been in the sequel Out of Time mind).

Anyway, Waxwork was a very good low budget horror that should really be checked out if you havent seen it.

On a side note, he Anthony Hickox also did another really intereesting horror film called Sundown the Vampire in retreat.

Its a mixture of Vampires and Cowboys - silly but quite a good story.

[Stella]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with it being based on a true story, is a film I like to watch, but I don't particually enjoy.

[ONETWOFOREVER]

Vampire circus

Cat people

[Adam D]

I found Cat People incredibly tedious and basically awful.

I also dont get what the fuss is about Texas Chainsaw either.

tobe Hooper is an awful director and the film is pretty rotten. Dont get me wrong, I love my 70/80s video nasty type films but this one did nothing for me.

Tobe Hoopers only good film was Poltergeist and lets face it, that was ghost directed by Spielberg.


Might as well encompass 80s trash too - who has seen "night of the creeps" - fantastic Us horror film!

[TRUSSMAN66]

Cat people was garbage..............Didn't like the Chainsaw massacre either.....

I want atmosphere, atmosphere and atmosphere....................



It's what you don't see that scares you..............................

[Adam D]

Cat people was garbage..............Didn't like the Chainsaw massacre either.....

I want atmosphere, atmosphere and atmosphere....................



It's what you don't see that scares you..............................

Pretty much what I said!

I have no problem with Gore when done right (although there wasnt that much in Texas CM). For example Bad Taste and Brain Dead were OTT gore but still brilliant.

And then you have a film like REC which hardly had any.....

[TRUSSMAN66]

The Fog...Suspiria...Profondo Rossi all beautifully crafted and atmospheric....

A lot of Argento in Carpenter................

Romero not far behind...................All great believers in Claustrophobic horror.

[Adam D]

Carpenter especially - all of his great films have a sense of isolation about them:

The Fog - a lighthouse
The Thing - Ice Station
Precint 13 - errr...precint 13!
Halloween - suburbia

Carpenter is [was] a fantastic director.

Havent heard of Profondo Rossi - is he a director?

[ONETWOFOREVER]

Straw dogs??

[TRUSSMAN66]

Carpenter "was" a fantastic director...........Later stuff like Prince of darkness sucked....

However the gems of previous years will always give him a place in my heart..

Believe it or not I prefer Halloween 2 to the original.............Love the hospital setting.

[ONETWOFOREVER]

Kronenberg is a better horror director.

More intelligent

[Adam D]

Halloween II was great (as was Season of the Witch) - was it Dean Cunningham who directed it? (will check on wiki later).

I think the scenes around the houses prehospital were fantastic too. The first 2 were amazing films, using the scenery as an extra character.

The hospital lends itself beautifully to the nooks and crannies to hide in suspense.

The Halloween series is a strange one - all subsequent sequels post 3 were just dreadful. I didnt particularly enjoy H20 either. In fact, I think the best sequel was Halloween Resurrection with Buster Rhymes which is widely considered the worst of the lot - I thought it was alright!

In Halloween 6, a young Paul Rudd plays the grown up version of the young boy that Jamie Lee Curtis was babysitting (cant remember his name )

[ONETWOFOREVER]

Carpentor was too predictable. His movies catered for the teenagers and truck drivers. Nothing like Kronenberg who made you think long after watching his movies.

[Adam D]

Carpentor was too predictable. His movies catered for the teenagers and truck drivers. Nothing like Kronenberg who made you think long after watching his movies.

Mainly thinking, "well that was dumb"

I know he gets rave reviews but I just didnt particularly like many of Krnoenbergs films - Dead Ringers, Videodrome, Rabid, Shivers are the ones that spring to mind. The Fly was good though.

[TRUSSMAN66]

Have you seen the TV version of Halloween 2????......It was always on cable when I was a kid and some of the deaths are different.......

Security guard Garrett's lead up to his death was completely different....Instead of waiting behind the door we see Michael spending about a minute walking towards him and then getting into position........

The police officer with Loomis doesn't get his throat slit by Michael.....He gets strangled and thrown on the floor....

Jimmy survives as well.................

More stalking as well...........The TV version was on youtube a few years ago...worth checking out!

[Adam D]

Never knew that and I will check it out.

I knew that some films are enhanced by the TV version (which seems strange) - for example, with Star Trek 6, in the cinema version, the ending featured a Scooby Doo ending where the Klingon was unmasked to be a human but in the TV version they dont unmask him (which is a significant change!)

[Adam D]

Might as well encompass 80s trash too - who has seen "night of the creeps" - fantastic Us horror film!

Found the trailer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW8F1boWgv0

Spoiler:

[guildfordbat]

Vampire circus

Now you're talking! An intriguing film featuring the sadly under used and massively under rated ''dwarf actor*'' Skip Martin. His very best performance though was in another regular Friday night horror film 'The Masque of the Red Death' alongside Vincent Price. Catch both films if ever you can. They both have blemishes but remain compelling.

* Apologies for absence of any political correctness but that is how he was often billed.

[TRUSSMAN66]

Rituals............A very rare Canadian horror flick from the late 70s with Hal Holbrook....

Four doctors go for a camping holiday in the wilds of Canada......and get taken out one by one by a deranged maniac....

[superflyweight]

Masque of the Red Death is nuts - saw it as part of a double bill along with The Pit and the Pendulem years ago. Final scene of The Pit... just about did for my heart the first time I saw it.

Whilst on the subject of Vincent Price, mentions are due to

The House on Haunted Hill
The Tingler
Theatre of Blood
House of Wax

[guildfordbat]

Superfly - think you're a bit harsh referring to Masque as 'nuts' but understand where you're coming from. Certainly flawed but still very entertaining in my view. As flagged in my earlier post, it also gave a rare opportunity to Skip Martin who delivered a masterly performance; the film is worth watching for that alone.

As regards Price, I recall an expression used by our much missed friend from the boxing board, Windy. Windy would praise any boxer who wasn't world class but who had heart and never let down the paying fans as 'giving good value for money'. I believe that describes Price to a tee. Never an acting great but someone who always gave everything to every performance.

[superflyweight]

"Nuts" wasn't intended as a criticism, GB. I liked the film - it's just more than a little weird.

I live Vincent Price. Not a great actor but possesed a voice that could chill you to the bone and yet be equally comforting.

[guildfordbat]

Superfly - with you on Masque.

You're also certainly right to draw attention to Price's unique voice.

[Sponsored content]