Affection for spooky filmmaking runs deep

Oct. 13, 2020 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

Colin Clive rallies the villagers to go after his creation in “Frankenstein” from 1931, one of the classic Universal horror films you can see for free on Peacock.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

For me it’s the most wonderful time of year: Halloween.

I’ve loved spooky stuff for many, many years. In fact, it was in junior high school that I first fell in love with film and that was because I had become interested in horror movies first.

In my youth, I cold-called Forrest J. Ackerman, the legendary editor of “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” met Peter Cushing and tried to stump Christopher Lee with a question.

My interests in scary movies have led me to interview actor Vincent Price, directors George Romero of “Night of the Living Dead,” Larry Cohen of “The Stuff,” Joe Dante of “the Howling,” John Landis of “An American Werewolf in London,” and Lloyd Kaufman of “The Toxic Avenger,” as well as producers Richard Gordon and his brother Alex Gordon, authors Ray Bradbury and Anne Rice and singer Alice Cooper.

Yes, I made up for coming to love the genre at the advanced age of 13.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot but I can hardly say I’m a completist. Just because something purports to be a horror film isn’t necessarily my cup of tea. Generally, I shy away from slasher films, or movies whose central purpose is to present gore.

Normally I look forward to seeing what is new in theaters, but there are no open theaters and no new movies. Thanks to the pandemic two things are true: streaming services are the movie lover’s best friend and plenty of people have to watch their funds carefully.

So, for this annual column offering suggestions for seasonal viewing with both things in mind. I’m happy to say there are a lot of choices on many streaming services, but there are two I have in mind that truly stand out.

Peacock is the new streaming service from NBC and its free version has a lot to watch. Of particular interest are the classic Universal horror films, the movies that practically invented the genre.

Start with a double feature of the original “Dracula” and “Frankenstein,” both from 1931 and both featuring star-making performances from Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, respectively.

Director James Whale became a horror director in some people’s eyes with his subsequent productions, “The Invisible Man,” (1933) and the wonderful “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935).

Lon Chaney became a star with “The Wolf Man” (1941) and played Dracula in the under-rated “Son of Dracula” from 1943 and all of the Universal monsters teamed up with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in the very funny “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.”

Peacock also features several of the famed Hammer Studios productions, including “The Brides of Dracula” (1960) with Peter Cushing and “The Curse of the Werewolf” with Oliver Reed from 1961.

Joe Dante’s delightful comedy “Matinee,” (1993) which looks at the monster kids of the early 1960s is also on Peacock.

Now let’s switch over to Tubi, another free streaming service. Tubi has a ton of movies and it takes a bit to get through the dreck to the good stuff.

Director William Castle was a master of showmanship and many of his films featured somewhat goofy but ultimately fun gimmicks. There are two on Tubi. “The Tingler (1959) and a colorized version of “House on Haunted Hill” (1959). “The Tingler” is the film where Castle actually rigged seats to theaters to vibrate in order to scare people at a key moment, while at the right time a cardboard skeleton would glide across the heads of patrons in “House on Haunted Hill.’

Even without the gimmicks these films are fun.

Tubi has a decent print of “Nosferatu” (1922), the unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” The great German director F. W. Murnau crafted a film that is still creepy today.

The anthology films “Dr. Terror House of Horrors” (1965) features Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, while “Tales from the Crypt” (1972) is a well-done adaptation of classic horror stories from EC Comics.

Tubi has the “Masters of Horror” series, which features short films from a number of great directors as well as “30 Days of Night,” (2007) an accomplished vampire movie.

It also has one of my favorite films, “John Dies at the End” (2012), which is part horror, part comedy and totally unique. Unique is also a good word to described Larry Cohen’s “The Stuff,” (1985) which also mixes social satire with horror.

Are there more? If you want something that will genuinely scare you, tuck in the kids and try “The Descent” from 2005. It’s one of the most frightening films I’ve ever seen.

Those are a few suggestions for cheap, but great entertainment this spooky season.

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