BUFFY 5.19: TOUGH LOVE

Willow vs. Glory

WRITER: Rebecca Rand Kirshner

DIRECTOR: David Grossman

WHAT’S THE SITCH?

Buffy withdraws from college to take care of Dawn, who it seems has been regularly skipping school. Buffy is warned by Dawn’s school that unless things change she might be found unfit to be Dawn's legal guardian and have Dawn taken away from her. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Giles to be the stern authority figure Buffy resolves to take on the role much to Dawn’s disdain. Elsewhere and Willow and Tara have their first fight with Willow ending up storming out. Glory finds Tara sad and alone, siting on a bench at the college fair. At first Glory thinks Tara is the Key but after tasting her blood realises she isn’t. So instead Glory drains Tara’s mind, turning the poor girl in to yet another of the crazy people in Sunnydale. Meanwhile Giles, Anya and Willow capture one of Glory's minions, who reveals to them that Glory thinks Tara is the Key. Willow rushes off to save her girlfriend, but she arrives too late. Overcome with fury, Willow goes after Glory seeking revenge for what she did to poor Tara. Using some dark magic Willow manages to briefly hurt the hell god but Glory soon gets the better of the witch and Willow would be toast if it weren’t for the Buffster turning up at the last moment to save her. A short time later and Willow, Tara, Buffy and Dawn are gathered in the witches’ dorm room discussing what to do next. Suddenly a furious Glory appears by ripping out the entire outside wall. At that precise moment Tara, still out of her mind, looks at Dawn and says she sees her as pure green energy. Glory smiles coldly as she finally realises the true identity of the Key.

WHAT’S THE SITCH BENEATH THE SITCH?

I guess its primarily about taking on new roles and stepping up and taking responsibility. Buffy is still firmly in big sister mode and is not yet filling the parenting void left by Joyce’s demise. As a kid still, Dawn needs firm rules, boundaries and guidance. Buffy can’t yet see herself in this role and so tries to convince Giles to do it. But Giles says no, realising that Buffy will have to step up as it’s the only way forward for the Summers family. Buffy gives in but attacks the problem as if she is a general ordering around a soldier and not a caring mother figure, much to Dawn’s (and Willow’s) dismay.

WHO’S GIVING US THE WIGGINS THIS WEEK?

Glory

WHY IT ROCKS

Tara and Willow – their relationship comes in to focus here and is put to its first relationship type test when they have their first big fight. As if there were any doubt the depth of their love becomes clear when Willow does what she does when Tara is hurt. The bit at the end with Willow feeding Tara and telling Buffy that no matter what, Tara is her girl is genuinely touching.

Buffy and Dawn – the crux of this season is Buffy taking on a more personal role of responsibility, of making her responsible for someone she cares about, giving her a new role in life, adding to her growth as a person and as a character. She takes a big if faltering step forward in that role here.

Glory – as always Clare Kramer is so much fun as the so very cute but evil and insane hell god. Her bubble bath with a loofer, a Mimosa cocktail and three blindfolded minions is highly entertaining.

The Glory vs. Willow fight – it’s a great little smackdown with the witch hurling all sorts of magic at the hell god with almost no success, though she does seem to slow her down a bit, allowing Buffy to arrive and buy them some time for an escape.

Ripper – Giles gets to go all ruthless hard man as he threatens and interrogates the captured minion. Thing is, we buy it. Giles can be genuinely scary and ruthless, as he will prove come the end of the season.

Kicking a couch – in the fight with Glory Buffy kicks a large couch at her, knocking her back. I just love that image for some reason. It’s weird but powerful. You just don’t see enough couch kicking in on-screen fights.

References - Not many genre shows get to include overt references to superheroes (X-Men), classic children’s literature (A Little Princess) and opera (Don Giovanni) in a single episode. One of the many things Buffy was great at was treating its audience as intelligent people who may love superheroes and general geekiness but may also equally love classic literature and the arts too. Basically all the same stuff Joss loves.

The cliffhanger ending – wow, what a great way to end an episode! Glory rips out an entire exterior wall only to discover poor Dawnie is her Key and is right there in front of her. Gulp.

WHY IT SUCKS

Willow seems to have become a very powerful witch without us really noticing. I guess she has done lots more practice off screen. But to go toe to toe with a god and actually score some points is impressive.

IT’S BUFFTASTIC

Bath time for Glory

DIALOGUE TO DIE FOR

Glory: ‘Lotta sucky things in this dimension. Bubble baths? Not one of 'em.’

Xander (to Buffy): ‘Whatever you choose, you've got my support. Just think of me as... as your... You know, I'm searching for supportive things and I'm coming up all bras. So, something slightly more manly, think of me as that.’

Buffy: ‘It's really important that Dawn finishes her schoolwork right now.’
Willow: ‘I know it is, and I'm a big fan of school! You know me, I'm like (singing and doing a little dance), "Go school, it's your birthday"... or something to that effect.’

Willow (miserable): ‘I don't think I can sleep without her.’
Anya (helpfully): ‘You can sleep with me! (The group stares at her.) Well, now, that came out a lot more lesbian than it sounded in my head.’

AND ANOTHER THING

In the Magic Box Xander is reading issue #109 of The X-Men titled "Ceremonies," written by Chris Claremont and pencilled by Thomas Derenick.

This episode is the first time Willow’s eyes go black.

HOW MANY STAKES?

We love it tough. 3.5 (out of 5)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a pretty good movie. For the most part it’s a well made adventure chock full of great visual effects, creepy monsters and enough solid action to keep audiences reasonably entertained across its mammoth two hours and forty five minute running time.

But it ain’t no Lord of the Rings. A fair way from it unfortunately.

Now I’ve not read Tolkien’s The Hobbit but the story (at least as seen on film) is very simple and very episodic. Like The Lord of the Rings it is a journey and a quest film and is made up of a collection of mini adventures in the form of frantic chases, fights and last minute escapes. All of which is fine. But what’s not fine is that The Hobbit’s action sequences are just too silly and chaotic to make any real impact. And too often they have no real bearing on the actual story being told or on the characters involved. For example, I have no idea what all that mountain rock giant stuff was about. Why were they fighting each other? I don’t get it. And the chase through the underground Goblin Kingdom is just a frantic, cartoonish piece of nonsense with no real structure or pay off. Sadly there’s nothing in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to rival the emotional and visceral intensity of the Mines of Moria from Fellowship, Helms Deep from Two Towers or the final battle of Pelennor Fields from Return of the King. The thing about LotR is that every fight/battle/escape feels as if it comes at a price, taking a major toll on poor Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Boromir et al. Their battles are scary, hard won, bloody, painful. You are genuinely afraid for them. Here though, you just don’t get that. The fights and battles and escapes play more like unconnected levels on a gorgeously produced video game. You’re never really invested in what happens because it all looks and feels too OTT and cartoonish. I kinda zoned out in parts, not feeling very engaged by or emotionally involved in what was going on. I mean, there’s only so many endlessly collapsing bridges/mountains/buildings/trees and stupidly high falls for obvious CGI stuntmen that I can be bothered to care about.

Another problem is Martin Freeman. I’m not his biggest fan and he pretty much just plays himself as Bilbo – kinda hapless and bland. Lots of comedy double takes and bewildered expressions. The band of dwarves fare better with Richard Armitage very good as their leader, the grim, brooding Thorin, along with other familiar faces buried beneath make-up such as James Nesbit, Ken Stott and Being Human’s Aiden Turner. Meanwhile Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Christopher Lee all reprise their old Lord of the Rings roles and are all wonderful (as to be expected). Other supporting roles are perfectly fine. But by far the stand out of the cast is Andy Serkis, back as Gollum. The sequence known as Riddles in the Dark featuring Serkis as Gollum riddling against Freeman’s Bilbo, who’s become lost in caves below the Goblin Kingdom, is utterly fantastic and well worth the price of admission alone. The CGI motion capture used for Gollum is better than ever and quite astounding. But it would be nothing without Serkis’ funny/tragic/pathetic performance. In fact, it is with Gollum that the film finally comes to life, recapturing some of the sense of magic and giddy thrill it’s been missing. Boo then when its back to business as usual with yet another last minute frantic chase followed by yet another Gandalf save to end the movie on.

So, apart from the awesome Mr Serkis, is there anything else that stands out as being particularly good?

Well, yes, Howard Shore ’s score for one. It is lush and rousing and exciting, utilising familiar themes along with new ones. Also the film’s design and art direction are pretty good, as is Andrew Lesnie’s cinematography, though it does feel a little flatter than it did in LotR. Weta’s effects are mostly pretty good too if a tad cartoonish with the reliance seeming to be more on CGI this time instead of the wondrous miniatures and high quality make-up of old. Oh, and one can’t forget the sheer beauty of New Zealand and how it still thrills the eye with some simply gorgeous scenery and vistas. Another great advert for tourism to the land of the Kiwi.

In the end, I enjoyed The Hobbit well enough but not as much as I should have done. I get the feeling it should really have been just the one kick ass movie, or at a push, two kick ass movies with a lot of the fat trimmed away. But we’ll see. I hate being harsh on Jackson as I utterly adore his Lord of the Rings trilogy. And things could well pick up and improve quite a bit seeing as how next Christmas promises a very, very big dragon to fight along with plenty more nasty orcs. I just hope The Desolation of Smaug can recapture some much-needed magic and excitement and can actually make me care about all the frantic CGI shenanigans going on onscreen. I really, really do hope so. 3.5 (out of 5)

BUFFY 5.18 'INTERVENTION'

Tribute to the Buffybot

WRITER: Jane Espenson

DIRECTOR: Michael Gershman

WHAT’S THE SITCH?

Giles takes Buffy out to the desert for a spiritual retreat to find focus and answers about the true nature of being the Slayer. Back in Sunnydale, the robot Buffy that Spike ordered from nasty Warren back in ‘I was made to love you’ has been completed with a very happy Spike using his new Buffybot for lots of role-play sexcapades. Unfortunately Buffy’s friends spot Spike and the Buffybot cavorting in the cemetery and, thinking that it is the real Buffy, they become worried and decide on an intervention to help her. Meanwhile, Glory discovers that the Key is human and dispatches her minions to find the person most important to Buffy and then bring them to her, believing that person will almost certainly be the Key. Charged with their new mission, Glory’s minions soon spot the Buffybot with Spike, the bot being extra protective of Spike in the midst of an unexpected vampire scrap. Thinking it is the real Buffy and convinced that Spike must be the Key, the minions kidnap him and take him to Glory, who pretty quickly discovers that Spike is not in fact the Key but decides to torture him until he tells her who is. Soon after, Buffy returns home from her spiritual retreat, smack bang in to her friend’s mistaken intervention. Bewildered, poor Buff thinks her friends have lost it when they accuse her of sleeping with Spike. And that’s when the Buffybot turns up and informs the shocked group that Spike has been kidnapped by Glory and must be rescued pronto. Disgusted by the bot and afraid that Spike will tell Glory about Dawn, Buffy heads out to find the platinum vamp and to put him down once and for all, hopefully before he can spill the beans to Glory about her little sis being the Key.

WHAT’S THE SITCH BENEATH THE SITCH?

It’s the continuing misadventures of Spike and his creepy and unrequited love for the Buffster. There are other themes at play here too, deeper and more serious ones about questioning what it means to be human (or a Slayer) and what effect does being outwardly hard and doing a hard and often deeply unpleasant job have on someone? These are the questions Buffy is asking herself and is worried she is losing her humanity. Maybe these are questions people in the real world ask themselves, for example people in the military who have to do awful things in order to do their duty and the toll it then takes on their soul.

WHO’S GIVING US THE WIGGINS THIS WEEK?

Glory

WHY IT ROCKS

Funny Buffy: Despite the Buffy soul searching and the torture of Spike (and Spike’s creepy sex doll sexcapades) Intervention is a highly fun episode. For starters it is a Jane Espenson script. And nobody brings the Buffy funny quite like Jane. The intervention itself is hilarious, especially with Xander trying to be understanding of Buffy’s supposed attraction to Spike and only making it sound as if he secretly fancies the platinum vamp himself. After the dark and emotionally intense last few episodes (especially The Body) it comes as something of a cleansing breath of air, allowing us to smile and laugh again. And a big part of that is down to…

The Buffybot: A crazily inspired creation of Joss, Jane and co, the Buffybot allows SMG to attack her role from an entirely new angle, allowing for pure and innocent comedy gold. You can tell Sarah is having way too much fun as the perpetually chirpy, childlike, Spike obsessed robobabe. She gets to blurt out truthful lines ala Anya but always with a bright and pretty smile and with a charming innocence and an eagerness to please. Thankfully Buffybot will stick around in to next season. And when she finally goes to the great robo scrap heap in the sky it says a lot that it gives the audience a genuine emotional punch, seeing as how we’ve all come to love her so much.

Spike the hero: Our favourite bad boy vamp gets put through the wringer here, beaten and tortured by Glory while trying to get out of him the truth about the Key. But Spike, a soulless monster, won’t give in. He would never betray Dawn. And at the end of the episode, in a nice bit of subterfuge, he gets a sweet and unexpected reward for his loyalty.

Giles doing the Hokey Pokey (or Okey Cokey to us Britishers)

WHY IT SUCKS

I’m with Buffy here. She is shocked and kinda appalled that her friends didn’t spot pretty quick that something was up with ‘her’. They spotted back in ‘I was made to love you’ that April was a robot pretty sharpish but couldn’t make the connection when their best friend started acting just like April? Great!

IT’S BUFFTASTIC

Every scene with the Buffybot

DIALOGUE TO DIE FOR

Buffybot: (to Willow and co. referring to sex with Spike): "It wasn't one time. It was lots of times, and lots of different ways. I can make sketches!"

Buffybot: "Angel's lame. His hair goes straight up, and he's bloody stupid!"

Buffybot (in the midst of conversation with Willow ): "You're recently gay!"

Glory (about Spike): "What the hell is that, and why is its hair that colour?"

Buffybot (seeing Buffy): "Say! look at you! You look just like me! We're very pretty."

Buffy: “I mean I can beat up the demons until the cows come home. And then, I can beat up the cows. But I'm not sure I like what it's doing to me.”

Buffybot (going out to patrol): “Time to slay. Vampires of the world beware!”

Tara (about Buffy): “You aren't really gonna slap her, are you?”
Xander: “No, but if I have to see her straddle Spike again I will definitely knock myself unconscious.”

Spirit Guide (to Buffy): “Death is your gift.”

Xander: “No one is judging you. It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sort of compact, but well muscled.”
Buffy: “I am not having sex with Spike! But I'm starting to think that you might be!”

Spike (to Glory): “Mark my words, the Slayer is going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass — (Concerned, Glory looks at her ass.) — back to whatever place would take a cheap, whorish, fashion-victim ex-God like you.”

AND ANOTHER THING

Nicholas Brendon was ill during the making of this episode so his twin brother Kelly stands in for him in several scenes.

Buffy’s trip to the desert might seem rather confusing and left field but the lessons she learns are key to this season and to what happens in the finale.

HOW MANY STAKES?

Buffybot alone guarantees it… 4 (out of 5)

BUFFY 5.17 'FOREVER'

Nice little trailer for the ep.

WRITER: Marti Noxon

DIRECTOR: Marti Noxon

WHAT’S THE SITCH?

Following Joyce’s funeral Dawn goes back to Willow and Tara ’s to stay overnight. While there, she tells the two witches that she wants to use magic to bring Joyce back. Tara says it shouldn’t be done as it is very dangerous and that the dead don’t come back as they were. However Willow is a little less definite on the matter. The following morning Tara and Willow leave for class and Dawn finds a book on magic that point her in the right direction to a resurrection spell. Later that same day she goes and finds some better info on resurrection spells hidden away in the Magic Box’s restricted area. And that night she heads to the graveyard to collect dirt from Joyce’s grave, which is where Spike finds her, and, knowing what she is up to, offers to help her do the spell to bring Joyce back. Spike takes Dawn to see an old man called Doc, who turns out to be a demon. Doc tells them what they need to do to complete the spell including getting hold of an egg from a Ghora demon, which won’t be easy. But the pair does manage to get the egg and Dawn goes home to conduct the resurrection ritual that Doc described. Buffy arrives home just as Dawn is about to complete the spell. Horrified at what her little sister is doing, Buffy pleads with her to stop before it is too late.

WHAT’S THE SITCH BENEATH THE SITCH?

This is all about dealing with loss and grief. How different people deal in different ways. And if one could, who wouldn’t want to bring back a recently deceased loved one? Especially in the case of suddenly alone children who’ve lost the comfort and security of their only remaining parent, the one person who has always taken care of them, taken care of everything. Dawn feels utterly alone. She doesn’t understand why Buffy has been busy and businesslike about the whole horrible affair and she accuses her sister of not even caring that their mother has died.

WHO’S GIVING US THE WIGGINS THIS WEEK?

Creepy old guy Doc I guess, but it is the idea itself, what Dawn is planning that is truly scary.

WHY IT ROCKS

Thematically it’s a good idea, delving in to how individuals deal with the immediate loss of a loved one, especially a child losing a parent.

Angel returns for a poignant (if brief) cameo.

Joel Gray is nicely creepy as Doc. A splendid guest star to nab.

Spike bringing flowers for Joyce. No soul, huh? Could have fooled me.

While Michelle Trachtenberg is fine it is SMG who takes the acting honours. Her sweetly affecting scene with Angel is lovely and her end confrontation with Dawn is powerful and emotional. The look on her face when she thinks her mom has come home is a thing of heartbreak.

Willow’s laxer attitude to Dawn’s request to resurrect Joyce foreshadows what she will do for Buffy in early season six.

WHY IT SUCKS

Though a nice idea the episode is kinda ‘meh’ overall. The scene with Angel is sweet and the big emotionally honest confrontation between sisters at the end is powerful and affecting. But everything in between has the feeling of functional filler. And the less said about the awful rubber Ghora demon the better. Yikes!

IT’S BUFFTASTIC

The final scene between heartbroken sisters.

DIALOGUE TO DIE FOR

Spike: "I liked the lady! Understand, monkey boy? She was decent. She didn't put on airs. She always had a nice cuppa for me. (pause) And she never treated me like a freak."

Willow : “I'm gonna stop by my mom's first. Been doing that a lot lately.”
Xander: “Yeah. I actually might stop by your mom's too. (She looks at him.) Well, I'm not going to my place. Those people are scary!”

Dawn: “Nobody's asking you to be Mom.”
Buffy: “Well, who's gonna be if I'm not? Huh, Dawn? Have you even thought about that? Who's gonna make things better? (crying) Who's gonna take care of us?”

AND ANOTHER THING

This episode appears to be inspired by The Monkey's Paw, W.W. Jacobs' classic short horror story about how there's always a price to pay if you interfere with the natural order of things. The end of the story is almost identical to how this episode ends with the moral being the same.

HOW MANY STAKES?

Who wants to live forever? 2.5 (out of 5)

MY 50 FAVOURITE HORROR MOVIES: 10 to 1

And here's the last lot...

10. Alien (D: Ridley Scott, 1979)
Ridley Scott’s space based horror classic has lost none of its terrifying power in the three decades since it was first released. It also remains a truly timeless film due to Scott’s direction; the wonderfully worn down industrial look of the human world and the wonderfully weird, utterly original, utterly horrific and iconic design of the alien and everything connected to it. But the real power of the film is, like Carpenter’s Halloween, in its chilling simplicity. Mostly likeable, relatable people stalked by a horrific and seemingly unstoppable monster looking to appear suddenly from the shadows to kill them at any given moment. The cast are all great, especially Ian Holm as the treacherous android, and Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, a character that is the touchstone for her career and that defined the tough, smart, capable, yet still feminine heroes who would follow in her wake. This film looks utterly gorgeous in every way from the design to the cinematography to the miniature model effects. Plus Jerry Goldsmith goes and adds yet another classic score to his resume. Sci fi horror doesn’t get any better than this. Well, perhaps just one other movie manages to. But more about that later. Alien produced a classic sequel (Aliens), which is arguably an even better film than its progenitor, though not strictly a horror film, so is not eligible for this particular list. It also produced one very good if flawed sequel (Alien 3), one terrible sequel (Alien: Resurrection), and one interesting prequel (Prometheus). Oh, and the godawful Alien vs. Predator spin-offs too. But for sheer pant wetting class all the way you can’t top Sir Rid’s original. Because remember, in space nobody can hear you scream.

9. Poltergeist (D: Tobe Hooper, 1982)
Ah, the summer of 1982, when classic genre films fell from the sky like golden rain. It was the summer of ET, The Thing, Star Trek 2, Mad Max 2, Blade Runner, Conan the Barbarian, Tron. And a certain little horror film co-written and produced by none other than king beard himself, Steven Spielberg. The Freeling family – dad Steven (Craig T Nelson), mom Diane (JoBeth Williams), eldest daughter Dana (Dominique Dunne), young son Robbie (Oliver Robbins), and youngest daughter Carol-Anne (Heather O’Rourke) live in Cuesta Verde, California, a new build suburban housing estate. Steven also works on the estate selling the remaining houses off to new buyers. Soon, though, strange things start happening around the Freeling’s brand new house, events mostly centred on their young daughter, 6yr old blond moppet Carol-Anne, who hears whispered voices in the TV – the ‘TV People’. At first the disturbances are just strange and kinda cool. But when Carol-Anne announces that “They’re heeeere!” and then goes and vanishes in to thin air (or her closet), Mom and Dad Freeling call in the paranormal experts to investigate. The scientists, quickly finding themselves out of their depth, call in a highly regarded psychic medium to try and find out what is going on and where poor little Carol-Anne has got to. Enter four-foot nothing Tangina, one of horror cinema’s greatest characters played to the quirky hilt by the late great Zelda Rubinstein. Poltergeist is a Spielberg movie through and through, even though The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper directed it. The set up and the setting are pure Spielberg - middle class suburbia where something decidedly abnormal is about to happen to normal people. Also the film's shot set ups and the way the actors are directed, especially the kids, reeks of The Beard. Poltergeist is a modern haunted house movie using (then) cutting edge special effects to tell a chilling story of ghoulies and ghosties. But primarily it is an emotional tale of helpless and harried parents who have lost a child and are desperate to find her and rebuild their fractured family. The cast is excellent with especially strong work from JoBeth Williams as Diane and Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina. But the film really hits home through the sweetly realistic performance of the cute as a button Heather O’Rourke as little Carol-Anne. It is part of the sad legacy of Poltergeist that the poor little mite passed away suddenly five years later from a misdiagnosed bowel condition. She was aged just 12. Also, Dominique Dunne who played eldest Freeling child Dana was murdered by her ex-boyfriend only five months after Poltergeist premiered. Two terrible clouds that will always hang over what is an utterly brilliant film.

“Let’s go get your daughter.”

8. The Shining (D: Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Stanley Kubrick was a filmmaking god and a well known perfectionist who would do endless takes until he got exactly what he wanted. He punished his actors by doing so. None more so than poor Shelley Duvall who was reduced to a crying nervous wreck due to the endless hell she was subjected to in making The Shining. But it paid off in spades. Kubrick's film of Stephen King's haunted hotel tale is a coldly unnerving descent in to madness as writer and winter hotel caretaker Jack Torrance, seeing ghosts in the closed for the winter Overlook Hotel, descends in to homicidal madness and tries to kill his nervy wife and young psychic son. King's novel is more involved with the ghosts and the supernatural goings on which Kubrick chopped right back so that the madness of Torrance becomes the focal issue with the ghosts may or may not being part of his psychosis. Apart from a few second unit location shots the entire film was shot on soundstages in London. The Overlook hotel was built on those stages as was its snowbound exterior in a marvel of design and art direction. Technically the film is a triumph from its design to its cinematography to its editing and minimal score. But it is the intensely precise and utterly chilly direction of Kubrick's and the compelling performances by Nicholson and Duvall that truly sells the film. Nicholson has never been better being hugely scary with that axe. And your heart aches for poor Shelley, for her character and for the actress herself.

7. The Haunting (D: Robert Wise, 1963)
Robert Wise's film adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic story The Haunting of Hill House is the greatest ghost story ever made. Wise was a genius. He was a director who worked in almost every genre and made classics in them all. For Sci-Fi see The Day the Earth Stood Still and (to a lesser extent) Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For musicals see West Side Story and The Sound of Music. For horror see this movie. The Haunting sees parasychologist Dr Markway (Richard Johnson) bringing together a small group of sensitive people to take part in an experiment at Hill House, a grand old pile that's allegedly heavily haunted. The doctor wants to prove the existence of the paranormal and hopes to do so at Hill House. The main character is Nell (Julie Harris), a fragile young woman who spent most of her adult life caring for her demanding and now deceased elderly mother. Nell is both excited and fearful to be at the creepy old Hill House. She is also strongly attracted to the thoughtful, caring and intelligent Markway. The rest of the group is made up of provocative and sensual clairvoyant Theo (Claire Bloom) and young playboy Luke (Russ Tamblyn), the future inheritor of Hill House. After a sinister warning from departing housekeeper Mrs Dudley the group settles in for what will soon become a terrifying stay in the old house as the supernatural presence there begins manifesting itself in increasingly dangerous and disturbing ways. The Haunting is gloriously old school. The emphasis is on character and the psychological impact of what scares us. Wise employs highly effective sound effects, a few subtle physical effects and creative camera set-ups and editing to make the audience uneasy and to deliver genuine shivers. He is helped by strong performances all round, especially from the wonderfully fragile Harris as Nell and the charismatic Johnson. But the real star is Wise and his technical team who deliver a truly scary ghost story without any cheap tricks all the while keeping character and story to the fore. A note of interest: the entirety of the film was shot in England doubling for the USA. This was due to the British subsidiary of MGM being the ones who put up the money. A great film then, just forget all about its appalling CGI filled 1999 remake from Speed director Jan De Bont

Trailer

6. The Thing (D: John Carpenter, 1982)
Another summer of 82 classic, John Carpenter’s adaptation of John W. Campbell, JR’s novella Who Goes There, filmed once before in 1951 as Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World, is the pinnacle of sci fi horror. A US team in Antarctica discovers that an alien life form, frozen for millennia in the ice until being unwittingly awoken by Norwegian scientists and escaping, has now infiltrated their isolated base. It soon becomes apparent that the alien kills living beings, absorbs them and essentially becomes them, creating the perfect place to hide. What follows is a tale of frozen paranoia and terrifying body horror as the survivors of the US base try to discover which of their number may be a Thing while also trying to prevent it from escaping and reaching civilisation. Carpenter’s movie is stupendous in every way. It is nerve shredding tension from start to finish based around a smart, tight screenplay which gives us distinctive and relatable characters played by a top notch cast led by Kurt Russell as tough and cynical pilot Macready. Dean Cundey’s cinematography is arguably his best work to date and Ennio Morricone’s score is wonderfully low key and throbbing. But outside of Carpenter’s work, arguably the greatest impact of The Thing is in the still startling and hugely effective make up and mechanical creature effects by Rob Bottin. Along with the work of Rick Baker in a certain werewolf film Bottin’s work on The Thing remains as the high point of make up and creature effects in cinema to this day. Just watch the entirety of the defibrillator sequence and what follows. Two words: spider-head. Brrr The Thing also has a brilliant and classic Carpenter ending – bleak, nihilistic, open ended. On original release The Thing was a flop, opening and quickly closing, all the alien attention in ‘82 going to a certain little dude trying to phone home. Since then the film has become highly regarded and is now a recognised modern classic. Just as it should be.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!”

5. The Exorcist (D: William Friedkin, 1973)
Everyone knows this film. Its name has lived in infamy for almost forty years now. The tale of a little girl called Regan (Linda Blair) who gets possessed by the Devil and who is eventually confronted by elderly Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) and young Father Karras (Jason Miller) in an attempt to drive the loathsome evil our of the child once and for all. William Friedkin’s film adapted from the William Peter Blatty novel of the same name by Blatty himself is for sure one of the most disturbing and terrifying films ever made…even if you don’t believe in the Devil. What the film does is expertly plant the idea in your head, the ‘What if…?’ It makes the seemingly absurd utterly believable. This is partly down to the slow burn character and theme driven screenplay, the realistic and gritty style of direction and the naturalistic performances, especially from Linda Blair as Regan. The reality of what this then twelve year old child had to endure, with the brilliantly horrific Dick Smith make-up, the freezing set, and the awful things she was required to do while possessed, are horrific enough by themselves, let alone the fictional story she and the director are conveying. The increasing horror of Regan’s possession is the spine of the story but I always forget the other major part, which is all about Karras, dealing with his wavering faith and the loss of his mother. Also there is Ellen Burstyn as Regan’s mother having to deal with what is happening to her daughter. And cop Kinderman (Lee J Cobb) investigating the grisly death of a friend of Regan’s mother near to their house. All of this adds up to a rich, character and story driven film filled with chilling ideas and sequences that still shock as much today as they did forty years ago. The mark of a truly great film, The Exorcist works on many levels, taking itself deathly seriously and giving its audience a cinema experience that might make them question their own personal beliefs, if only for a moment.

Trailer

4. Dawn of the Dead (D: George A. Romero, 1978)
In 1978 George A. Romero ventured back in to Dead territory for the first time since Night of the Living Dead with this, his sequel to that movie. However Dawn of the Dead is a different beast to the seminal original. Night is a wonderfully dour, deathly serious, starkly shot in black and white and utterly humourless affair. Dawn, though, is bright, garish, fast paced, action packed while being highly comic book in tone and feel. Yes, it is still apocalyptic. And thanks to the legend who is Tom Savini it is still extremely gory. But this time Romero is determined to have fun with the genre he created. And also to take aim at the deficiencies of late 70’s US culture as he saw it: namely consumerism gone mad. As the zombie epidemic spreads and grows worse, helicopter pilot Stephen picks up his girlfriend - TV reporter Fran, and his SWAT Team friend Peter along with another SWAT Team buddy of Peter’s called Roger and flies off looking for a safe haven. Soon they spot a large out of town shopping mall and decide to put down there. Deciding to stay, the four secure the place, getting rid of the zombies inside and locking it down. And for a while things seem to be going well. They have everything they need with this huge palace of consumerism all to themselves. But before too long the outside world comes a calling and everything goes straight back down in to hell. Made for only $600,000 and funded and produced by Italian horror legend Dario Argento, Dawn of the Dead went on to become massively successful grossing nigh on $100m worldwide. Despite its hard core gore and shocks it also garnered wide critical acclaim with smart reviewers seeing through the gore and comic book trappings to the sly social commentary and pointed jabs at 1970’s America. To this day I cannot visit a shopping mall without thinking of how all the people shuffling around seemingly aimlessly are just like those poor mindless ‘consuming’ zombies. And it always makes me giggle.

Original Trailer

3. Halloween (D: John Carpenter, 1978)
Halloween is the film that made John Carpenter John Carpenter. I won’t bother to recant the story here as I’m sure you all know it by heart. And if not, why not? What’s wrong with you? Anyway, Halloween pretty much invented the stalk and slash movie and proved to be a huge hit and game changer for horror cinema. But whereas the countless imitators that followed would rely on gore and gimmicks, Carpenter relied on style, atmosphere and tension. Creating a genuinely scary mythic vibe to his bogeyman Michael Myers, Carpenter crafted a film that chills without trying. It's mostly a slow, steady build up to what is a nerve shreddingly tense and creepy finale as poor Laurie Strode (a career making turn from Jamie Lee Curtis) must defend herself and her babysitting charges from the seemingly unstoppable killing machine that is The Shape aka Michael Myers. With classic support from Donald Pleasance as Myers old shrink Dr Loomis who is hot on his heels, Halloween is a delicious cat and mouse affair between Loomis and Myers where you never really know who is the cat and who is the mouse. Halloween was a massive hit upon release. For a long time it was the highest grossing independent film ever. And it remains an undisputed classic, a game changer for Carpenter and for horror cinema as well as an abject lesson in filmmaking from a master. The night HE came home!

Laurie in the closet

2. Let the Right One In (D: Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
It’s 1982 and twelve year old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a meek and bullied loner living with his single mother in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm in Sweden. Lonely and resentful, Oskar soon meets the new arrival just moved in next door: a strange little girl called Eli (Lina Leandersson), dressed in rags and barefoot in the freezing snow. After several tentative meets the two become friends, eventually becoming close. Meanwhile local people have been attacked and killed, drained of blood. It soon becomes clear that Eli is a vampire and the old man living with her is her human slave/carer, who goes out each night and kills for her, getting her fresh blood. But when the old man messes up and goes and gets captured, Eli is forced to fend for herself and to possibly flee the area as the police and the suspicious locals begin to close in. Knowing now what his new friend truly is, Oskar comes to terms with it and helps Eli evade capture and doesn’t stop her when she flees the area for pastures new. But with Eli now gone, Oskar is left all alone to face what is likely to be an awful fate at the hands of his incessant tormentors. I adore this film. I connected right away with the chilly isolation, loneliness and sadness that underlies this mournful yet also rather lovely little tale of childhood disconnection, unlikely friendship and budding love. Adapted from John Adjvide Lindqvist’s novel of the same name by the author himself, Let the Right One In is a vampire film, yes, but it is also so much more. Essentially this is a love story about two lost, lonely, damaged souls who find each other amidst a world of endless snow and torment. Restrained and artful direction from Tomas Alfredson brings out wonderful performances from the films two young leads while not ever skimping on the violence and shocks. The end sequence in the swimming pool is a standout and is one of the greatest sequences in recent film memory. The film’s cinematography is sharp and stark and the score by Swedish composer Johan Söderqvist is a thing of haunting romantic beauty. It is rare enough for a horror film to be a genuinely great film. It is even rarer for it to be a deeply touching human story and a work of art that transcends its genre roots. LTROI is not just one of my favourite horror films it’s one of my favourite films. Period. It should also be noted that Matt Reeves’ splendid US adaptation of Lindqvist’s novel titled Let Me In is almost as good too.

Trailer

1. An American Werewolf in London (D: John Landis, 1981)
And so here we are at my number one favourite horror movie of all time. The story goes like this. Two young American backpackers, Jack and David, are travelling around northern England. Stopping off in the creepy village of East Proctor and its extra creepy pub, the two lads are quickly sent on their way by nervous locals, the bizarre warning of stay off the moors and beware the moon ringing in their ears. Lost in the dark outdoors, the lads are soon stalked and attacked by a savage beast. Jack is killed while David survives and is taken down to a London hospital to recuperate. The police believe it was an escaped madman who was responsible while David insists it was an animal, a wolf. Before long the deceased Jack, looking like a walking meat loaf, is visiting David to warn him that they were attacked by a werewolf and that in two days time, on the full moon, David, having survived, will become a werewolf too. Jack urges David to kill himself so as not to kill anymore people and curse his victims to limbo until the wolf’s bloodline is severed. David thinks he’s going mad. Taking pity on him, comely Nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter) invites David to come stay with her when he is released from hospital the next day. The following night, though, after a last ditch attempt by Jack to warn David, David does indeed turn in to a werewolf and stalks the streets and underground of London munching on the locals. The movie ends with a chaotic and show stopping finale as David in werewolf form goes on the rampage in a busy Piccadilly Circus, Nurse Alex rushing to get to him to try and calm the savage beast before the police riddle him with bullets. Needless to say it doesn’t end well for poor David. Well, what can I say about John Landis' legendary lycanthropic classic? Lets start with this: as a life long werewolf geek this was THE horror movie that as a kid I simply HAD to see as soon as I possibly could. I followed its production through the pages of Starburst and Fangoria magazines, reading every article I could find and drooling over every awesome looking photo. When it finally came out in the cinema I got my parents to go see it, then come back and report every tiny detail. And as soon as it came out on video rental I got hold of it myself and devoured it like a ravenous werewolf chomping down on a late night underground commuter. It didn't disappoint. AAWWIL is ridiculously simply plotted, darkly funny and pant-wettingly scary. Plus it still has arguably the best make up and creature effects in cinema history courtesy of Rick Baker who won an Oscar for them (they actually had to invent a new category for him for this, one which still lasts to this day.) Oh, and it also has Jenny Agutter as a sexy nurse. Result! The cast are excellent, especially David Naughton as poor doomed David Kessler and Griffin Dunne as zombie Jack Goodman. Plus the supporting British cast are just sublime, having tons of fun with Landis’ quirky and jet black humour, even delving in to silly physical humour with the likes of the well meaning but bumbling copper Sergeant McManus. What AAWWIL also does wonderfully is capture a genuine feel of Britain in the early 80’s. The TV is terrible, the tabloid newspapers are openly salacious, and the cost of living is high and getting higher. There’s an underlying feeling of grim reality to the whole thing tempered with jet-black humour, and not just regarding the carnivorous lunar activities of poor David Kessler but also about life in general in Great Britain at the time. So, things haven’t really changed that much then. My only quibble with Landis’ movie is this (and it has always bugged): why does David turn in to a werewolf on two consecutive nights? Jack tells him he turns on the full moon. Well, there is only ever one proper full moon per month. A glaring error by Landis. I understand why for story purposes he wanted David to turn twice in a row but only a slight tweaking to werewolf lore was needed. A line of dialogue to say that, for example, that someone who is a werewolf turns every full moon and the night immediately following the full moon. Anyway, it’s a minor annoyance that doesn’t spoil the overall movie experience. The bottom line is I love this movie so much that it makes me wanna howl! Beware the moon!

Time to change in to something less comfortable


A few other titles that could (and maybe should) have been included in this countdown:

The Cabin in the Woods - Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's brilliantly fun celebration and also undercutting of the horror genre would be a top five film in this list. However the very nature of the film and what it is doing I thought would be unfair to all the 'real' horror films in the list. Cabin sits above (or below?) the specific horror genre in a genre all of its own. So I decided to leave it out of this list just to be fair on all the others. But it is utter;y brilliant!

From Dusk ‘Til Dawn – Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s rollicking gangster/vampire flick with George Clooney becoming an instant movie star and Salma Hayek as the sexiest vampire with a snake ever.

30 Days of Night – David Slade’s stylish and bloody adaptation of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s classic comic book about a band of savage vampires attacking the small Alaskan town of Barrow after the sun sets for thirty days and nights.

The Wicker Man – Robin Hardy’s classic folk horror with Edward Woodward as a god fearing copper going to a remote Scottish island to find a missing child.

American Psycho – Mary Harron’s excellent adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis’ novel about psycho yuppie Patrick Bateman who goes mental in the 80’s. A career making performance from Christian Bale.

Let Me In – Matt Reeves’ US adaptation of John Adjvide Lindqvist’s novel Let the Right One In. A wonderful movie almost as good as the Swedish original.

The Woman – Lucky McKee’s brutal and shocking story about a feral woman captured in the wild by a family and then kept in their shed in order to try to tame her.

MY 50 FAVOURITE HORROR FILMS: 20 to 11

And here's more...

20. The Descent (D: Neil Marshall, 2005)
Brit director Neil Marshall's second film is a super tense claustrophobic underground scarefest which sees a band of six female friends go exploring an unmapped cave system, getting lost, surviving a cave-in, only to then have to deal with hideous underground cannibalistic monsters called Crawlers. The Descent of the title not only refers to the descent underground but also to the psychological descent in to guilt, terror and madness by the main character Sarah after her husband and child are both killed in a car accident that she survived. All the actresses are excellent, especially Shauna Macdonald as Sarah, and the script by Marshall is character driven and intelligent. His direction is fantastic too, piling on the tension, atmosphere and scares. Marshall is helped no end by inspired set designs (all of the caves are interchangeable studio sets, which you'd never guess watching the film) and stunning cinematography from his regular DP Sam McCurdy, one of the best DPs currently working. To note, Marshall’s werewolf flick Dog Soldiers remains my fave of his films but I’ve left it out of this list as it’s more of a monsters vs. soldiers action movie than a horror movie, in the same way Aliens isn’t in this list either but Alien for sure will be.

19. The Eye (D: The Pang Bros., 2002)
The Pang Brothers pan-Asian chiller is a brilliantly creepy and imaginative tale which sees blind twenty year old Hong Kong classical violinist Mun getting an eye transplant which allows her to see for the first time since she was two. Unfortunately her new eyes also let her see angry spirits and ghostly apparitions of terrible tragedies which have already happened and which may yet happen. The Eye is simply a great story filled with atmosphere, strong performances, visual creativity, pant wettingly scary moments (the ghost in the elevator springs to mind) and an ending which is nothing short of horrifically spectacular. Brilliant film. Just don't bother with the lame US remake.



18. Bram Stoker's Dracula (D: Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)
Coppola's lush, bloody, romantic, erotic, grandly theatrical and wonderfully overblown take on Stoker's classic novel is my favourite film version of the story for exactly those reasons. And for Gary Oldman's startlingly original and utterly compelling take on the titular character, recast here as a tragic, romantic antihero. Simply, Oldman is amazing! His performance as either creepy wizened old man or elegant romantic lead or bloodthirsty bat demon or sex hungry Wolfman is jaw dropingly awesome. Alongside him Anthony Hopkins makes for a gloriously mad Van Helsing. Winona Ryder is lovely and full of repressed eroticism as Mina, the object of Drac's affections. Sadie Frost is adorable and sexy as flirty Lucy. And Tom Waits, Richard E Grant, Carey Elwes and Bill Campbell all provide solid support. The only duff link in the acting chain is poor old Keanu Reeves, atrociously miscast as Jonathan Harker, his being one of cinema's most embarrassingly awful performances of all time. But not even the terribleness of Keanu can sink this movie. Bram Stoker's Dracula is a visual and storytelling tour de force that harks back to old style movie making on grand sets with imaginative camera work, make-up and in-camera FX rather than snazzy editing farts and glossy CGI. It looks like a wondrously produced stage play with the actors going big as if they are indeed performing to a live audience. And it works. Also, the film doesn't skimp on the blood and the horror. The sequence where Van Helsing and co. track down and kill vampire Lucy in her tomb is stunningly shot and edited and gloriously gory. A special call out goes to the thunderously dramatic and doomladen score by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar. It's one of my all time faves. I know that this film has as many critics as it does fans. And I do understand why many don't go for it. But I do. Big time. For me, Coppola’s film is the most all round enjoyable, visually arresting and compulsively watchable version of Dracula yet made.


Vampire Lucy

17. Interview with the Vampire (D: Neil Jordan, 1994)
Neil Jordan's film of Anne Rice's classic 1976 novel is a classy and beautifully mounted production. That it stays hugely faithful to Rice's text is down to Jordan and to producer David Geffen who employed Rice herself to write the screenplay with help from Jordan. It was only when Tom Cruise was cast as the inimitable Vampire Lestat, the brat prince anti-hero of many of Rice's vampire novels that Rice and much of her fandom balked. However, after seeing Cruise's work, Rice admitted she was wrong and took out a public ad in Variety saying as much and praising Cruise's performance. As well she might. For though the story of Interview is really that of morose vampire Louis who Lestat turns back in 18th century Louisiana, it is Cruise as Lestat, a part-time presence in the film, who electrifies. He is pure savage charisma, a selfish, cruel and utterly amoral monster that enjoys inflicting pain and suffering for his own amusement. He is elegant and charming, then feral and furious. He is pure swaggering ego with fangs and an endless lust for blood. The scene where he toys with and tortures a young prostitute before killing her all to make a point to Louis is cruel and ghastly. But as we follow the undead existence of vampire Louis as he recounts his tale to a writer in a dingy contemporary San Francisco room, it is one other character and actor who comes to truly steal the film. Kirsten Dunst in her screen debut is Claudia, an orphan child who Lestat and Louis turn in to a vampire, taking as their immortal daughter. She is a child who over the decades will mature in mind, but will never grow up in body. The then twelve-year-old Dunst is fabulous as this tragic and ultimately doomed woman child. Her scenes with Brad Pitt's Louis are as touching as her scenes with Cruise's Lestat are tense and combative. Rices' script is rich and thoughtful, pondering often on the nature of life and death, of good and evil, while being filled with such tangible despair (Rice wrote the original book in order to deal with the loss of her young child). On a technical level Dante Farretti's sets are beautifully designed, being often exaggerated versions for their period. Phillippe Rousselot's photography is both lush and gloomy as needed. And the mournful choral score by Elliot Goldenthal is highly effective. Also worth noting is the FX. Digital Domain provided many subtle digital FX along with matte paintings and set extensions. The subtle CG morphing as both Louis and then Claudia become vampires is a lesson in how to do great unobtrusive CGI. And the make-up and animatronics by the late Stan Winston are some of the best he ever did. The sequence where Claudia cuts Lestat's throat and he slowly bleeds to death on the floor is a marvel of FX work combining Cruise's performance and gory make-up merged with an amazingly life like animatronic of Cruise as he writhes, bleeds, desiccates and dies in front of our eyes. As a long time fan of Rice's first tranche of Vampire Chronicles books (from Interview up to Memnoch: The Devil) I couldn't have wished for a better film version of her original beloved text. Sympathy for the Devil indeed.


Angry Claudia

16. The Company of Wolves (D: Neil Jordan, 1984)
Neil Jordan's other horror movie (at least until his new one Byzantium comes out) was partly what got him the gig for Interview with the Vampire. The Company of Wolves is a strange, lyrical, dreamlike fable based upon Little Red Riding Hood and adapted by Jordan together with the late author Angela Carter from short stories by Carter in her book The Bloody Chamber. Carter's book is a reworking of several famous (and some not so famous) fairytales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, but with a strong feminist slant, as tales of burgeoning womanhood and sexual awakening. In the movie, in contemporary times, a young girl, 14 or 15, takes to her bed and falls asleep. In her dreams now we are in a small village in a deep dark forest in long ago times. Here, the same young girl, now called Rosaleen, is being constantly warned by her parents and her granny to beware the wolves who prowl the forest and also nefarious men who will try to take her virtue. Granny tells her too that some wolves can disguise themselves as men, making them doubly dangerous. What follows are several tales told by granny of men who become wolves and all the terrible things that then happen. But Rosaleen’s sexual awakening is more powerful than any scary old tales. And she soon ignores granny’s warnings when she meets a handsome huntsman out in the woods who charms her and challenges her to a race to granny’s cottage. Of course, we all know what happens next. “Oh granny, what big eyes you have...” I'm a huge fan of fairytales and of how they can be reinvented and reinterpreted. I've read The Bloody Chamber and it is a beautifully written, hugely evocative and deeply intelligent text. Jordan's film keeps the same feel as the book and plays like a beautiful nightmare filled with classic fairytale imagery and added blood and gore and some very, very icky werewolf transformations. The film looks gorgeous with the intricate sets and lush photography making it appear far more expensive than it actually was (a budget of only £410,000.) But it is Jordan's overall style of direction – the dreamlike quality – and the thematic depth that makes this something so very special. It is the best, most fully realised, most intelligent adult fairytale ever put on screen. The cast is uniformly excellent including such luminaries as Angela Landsbury, Stephen Rea and David Warner. And George Fenton's score is darkly melodic and quite lovely. A beautiful, lyrical, scary film, The Company of Wolves stays with you, especially in your dreams...and nightmares.


The Wolfgirl

15. Candyman (D: Bernard Rose, 1992)
Bernard Rose’s film adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story The Forbidden transplants Barker’s tale of horrific urban legends from England to the US, specifically to the run down public housing estate of Cabrini Green in Chicago. Virginia Madsen is Helen, a graduate student doing a thesis on urban legends, who is investigating the legend of the Candyman, a slave who fell in love with a white woman only to be tortured and murdered for doing so. Apparently if you say his name five times in to a mirror he appears and splits you open with his hook for a hand. Several murders have happened on the Green, which the locals attribute to the Candyman. Fascinated, Helen delves deeper in to the legend and in to the world of Cabrini Green…only to find more than she ever bargained for - a bloodbath with herself as the number one murder suspect. Rose’s film is a grim, poetic, scare and blood filled nightmare of murder and possible madness. Is Candyman real? Is Helen really mad? Candyman is all about the power of legends, of folklore, of combined belief where what is real and what is believed to be real becomes blurred. It is also damn scary with several sequences that will make you jump out of your skin and cringe in horror. Madsen, always a good actress, is perhaps at her best ever here. And as Candyman himself, Tony Todd creates one of cinema’s finest and most iconic scaremongers. Also worth noting is Philip Glass’s odd, jarring and brilliantly haunting score. Be my victim!

14. The Omen (D: Richard Donner, 1976)
Not much needs to be said about Richard Donner’s classic 1976 tale of the antichrist coming to earth in the form of a little boy called Damien. We all know the story. We all know it is brilliant! Gregory Peck and Lee Remick are both splendid as the child’s unwitting adoptive parents Robert and Katherine Thorne, Robert being the current US ambassador to the UK. Donner’s film is a classy production, which follows the mystery of who and what young Damien really is, the evil that happens around him, and his adoptive father’s own investigations and eventual horrific discovery of the truth. The film is chock full of classic sequences and unforgettable moments that chill the blood to this day. It is helped enormously too by Jerry Goldsmith’s Oscar winning score which is utterly foreboding in its choral grandeur and chilling Latin chants. By far the best of all the Omen films and a million times better than the dull and pointless 2006 remake.

13. The Fog (D: John Carpenter, 1980)
John Carpenter’s 1980 follow up to Halloween is an oft-overlooked classic. A gloriously atmospheric ghost story that , like Halloween, relies on mood, atmosphere and tension over gore and cheap shocks (though it does have a couple of very good shocks). The small coastal town of Antonio bay is celebrating its centenary when a creepy fog rolls in at night from the sea, sending things around town a little crazy. Soon, the ghosts of drowned lepers, betrayed by the original towns folk, return to exact their gruesome revenge on the descendants. Tom Atkins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau and Hal Holbrook lead the cast and do strong work. But the true star of the film is Carpenter along with his DP Dean Cundey who together create a film dripping with atmosphere and slow creeping dread. A simple but great ghost story, I never get tired of watching The Fog and always get a chill when I see a real life fog bank. Ghost lepers…brrr!

12. Evil Dead 2 (D: Sam Raimi, 1987)
Well, what can one say about Sam Raimi’s madcap surreal loony tunes horror/comedy? It’s pure bonkers genius, being a quasi remake and sequel to the first movie while utterly changing the tone from seriously grim and gruelling horror to utterly un-serious and hilarious comic book monster mash. Bruce Campbell is back as poor hapless demon fighter Ash, still stuck in that darn cabin fighting those pesky deadites as some new human arrivals turn up to make his already hard life even harder. This time, Campbell gets to unleash his inner Buster Keaton as a madcap physical comedian, beating himself up, sawing off his own hand, chasing his own possessed hand around with a shotgun… He’s brilliant! So, so funny. The monsters and gore are so cartoonish and rubbery that scares are pretty much non-existent. But when a film is this bonkers, this creative, this out and out zany, who cares about scares? Evil Dead 2 is a riot. I like the first movie but have never loved it. With Evil Dead 2 Raimi found his groove, his horror style. And knocked it outta the park. Evil Dead 2 is pure insane fun from start to end.


“WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?”

11. Day of the Dead (D: George A. Romero, 1985)
George A. Romero’s third zombie film is possibly his darkest, most nihilistic of them all. After the comic book styling of Dawn, Day is a grey, grim, dour look at a ruined world and its last few ruined people. A small band of scientists and military are holed up in an underground bunker apparently searching for a cure to the zombie epidemic which now seems to have claimed the world above. The scientists, led by Sarah (Lori Cardile) and the eccentric but brilliant Dr Logan (Richard Liberty) are experimenting on ‘live’ zombies with Logan thinking they can be tamed and made harmless, as demonstrated by his prize pupil Bub, the ‘smart’ zombie he’s helping learn. Meanwhile, the military types, led by the aggressive and increasingly unhinged Rhodes (Joe Pilato), are getting increasingly frustrated with the scientists and what it is they are doing. Tensions rise between the two groups and when Rhodes discovers something awful that Logan has done he loses it and things in the bunker quickly go to hell. Day of the Dead is an unrelentingly grim look at humanity and how communication between people can break down so easily and lead to terrible things. The humans ironically do not learn from their mistakes and their violent impulses, whereas the zombie Bub is the only one who is learning and controlling his horrid impulses as the humans around him descend in to violence and idiocy. Everything about Day is fabulous. The grim look of the film, the score by John Harrison, the intelligent script, and the acting – specifically Howard Sherman as Bub, the most loveable zombie ever. But above all else, Tom Savini’s make-up and gore FX reach new heights in realism and pure grossness. Real offal was used in the film. And it looks like it too. A great film filled with social commentary, great scares (the opening hands through the wall is genius) and gore by the bucket load. Just avoid the shit 2008 remake.


“Choke on ‘em!”


Top 10 coming soon.