Horror - Old Movies

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Horror - Old Movies

Find your classic movies on Internet Archive!

May 27th 2008 02:24

Night of the Living Dead zombies walking through a field

The Internet Archive is a magnificent repository of copyright free images and video clips, saved and archived in one spot.

For me, it's the moving images section that fascinates... the collection of old classic movies, expired past their copyright, now sitting happily in the public domain. You can watch all these great classics, for free, or download to your home computer.

I just downloaded George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", the fabulous resurrection of the zombie, launched into Pennsylvania theatres. It was as unsettling today as it might have been 40 years ago... no, that can't be true. Roger Ebert noted that the kids that watched the opening of the film looked scarred beyond healing.

The archive is massive, though, which makes it tough to find movies that you might be interested in. On the other hand, if you're trawling the depths of the archive for B-movies and schlocky horror, Mr. Bali Hai has a great list on some of the offereings.

" I uncovered a metric buttload of old cult filmage in the public domain, and in a fit of obsessive-compulsive mania, decided to make a list that included every film in the archive that also makes an appearance in Michael Weldon's essential guide to midnight movies, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film."

He proceeds to list some excellent movies, such as "M" and "Night of the Living Dead", giving links to where you can find them. There's no excuse now!

*this image is from Newsday.com

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Horror

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The Ring

March 16th 2007 00:04

At the time of it's release, the Hollywood remake of the J-horror smash 'Ringu', was the spearhead of new wave of horror for the west. It was everything the genre has been crying out for in the last decade. I can't help but feel that 'Scream' was not the godsend most felt it to be, humour was the last thing that horror needed (at the least, that sort of gen-x self-referential humour) and taking away the focus off teens and slasher-style villains was the best thing that could've happened. 'The Ring' is (as far 'the West' is concerned) one of the keystones of this resurgence in sophisticated and mature horror (led by the massively successful 'Sixth Sense'), humourlessly atmospheric and never once degrading itself by winking to it's audience.

The story of 'The Ring' is mysterious at best, an enigmatic series of disquietening events centreing on a cursed video 'nasty', investigated by a busy and negligent mother (Watts, with a strong performance) who must unravel the origins of the video before she and her son succumb to it's horrific will. The direction throughout the film is haunting and creepy, and leaves a disturbing residue of imagery in the brain afterwards. The idea succeeds because it remains mysterious enough throughout (whilst giving enough answers to satisfy on a logical level) to leave chills.

It's a more sophisticated form of 'scary' then the straight-up shock butchery that has become such a part of modern horror films. 'The Ring' evokes feelings of watching things you shouldn’t, like a child watching violent R-rated fare without permission. The fact that it leaves parts up to interpretation and doesn’t neatly answer all questions are what makes it so effective in it’s ‘scares’… (more a slow-burn, disturbing feel than actual shocks). The thematic undercurrent of child-neglect also goes a fair way towards reinforcing the film's success in achieving a depth that has seldom been seen Hollywood's side of the genre since the likes of 'The Exorcist'.

The kid who played Watts' son is a little annoying, he seemed to be mirroring Haley Joel Osment's memorable character from 'The Sixth Sense' - and the script certainly didn't help him avoid this either. The rest of the cast were great though, especially Watts. Brian Cox and Jane Alexander were equally brilliant as well in their important yet smallish parts. 'The Ring' really exceeded all my expectations... I'm generally not really affected by films that want to scare you, and whilst this is no exception, it at least managed to disturb and unsettle me.

HIGHLIGHTS: The video of the piece itself, every bit as creepy as it should be.

TRIVIA: It's fairly common knowledge that 'The Ring' is based on a Japanese film, 'Ringu', which was in turn based on a novel. 'Ringu' has apparently spawned a whole sub-genre of japanese horror films (the aforementioned J-horror wave), and has also been followed by a sequel and a prequel.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Horror

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

October 17th 2006 13:09

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

Following in the footsteps of Francis Ford Coppola's classy rendition of 'Dracula' comes 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein', directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh (and also produced by Francis Ford Coppola). And I can't say that it's quite as successful in it's intent as Coppola's film.

By now most of us should be aware of this classic horror story. Branagh's version is perhaps a little more faithful than most, immersing the film in 18th century Germany, among the scientific aristocracy and the disease-ridden lower classes. The attention to detail is impressive but alas, the script is the biggest failing here.

After what seems to be a promising opening (an unseen monster advancing through the mist of the untraversed North Pole), we are given an annoyingly twee introduction to the film's major characters. Branagh has tried to cram in far too much into too little an amount of time - leaving most of the film feeling like rushed highlights of what must be a very good novel (I must admit that I haven't read it). And this could of been brilliant.

The aforementioned eye for detail and the occasional moments of perfect story telling gave me a glimpse of what could have been. I fear that if either the script had been tightened (trimmed of events and characters that need not have featured) or if the film had had an extra hour granted to it, that it would have been very good. The most telling sign of this is the exemplary acting from almost all involved.

Robert De Niro gives a surprisingly sensitive performance as the Creature, almost unrecognisable beneath the makeup and the unexpected performance he attaches to it. Kenneth Branagh is dangerously energetic as Frankenstein, and the supporting players (most notably John Cleese) make more of their small roles than the roles probably deserved.

Much like Frankenstein's expectations of his ultimate creation - don't expect perfection, but be ready for some surprises.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Horror

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An American Werewolf in London

September 9th 2006 11:05

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Usually I don’t really dig horror films, but ‘An American Werewolf in London’ has always appealed to me because of it’s dark humour and setting. We join the protagonists, David and Jack, a pair of American backpackers, out on the moors of England. Insert a shifty bunch of local yokels, an unfriendly pub adorned with satanic symbols and a spooky English wilderness to get lost in, and hey presto! You’ve got the makings of a Werewolf

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Horror

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Unman, Wittering and Zigo

September 5th 2006 09:18

Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971)

This is a film that seems to be very much under the radar

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Horror

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The Exorcist

August 4th 2006 06:02

The Exorcist (1973)

Often billed as 'the scariest movie of all time' and now re-released as 'the version you've never seen', 'The Exorcist' was one of those classic 70s stylish horror films that I simply had to check out (like 'The Omen'). So I did. Check it out, I mean

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Night of the Living Dead

June 12th 2006 11:56

Night of the Living Dead

This ahead-of-it's-time cult film made waves as the original zombie hack-'em-and-dash-'em flick. There's not much to it in light of the many imitations it's spawned since, but it still stands up as an original and quirky piece of film-making.

The plot? Young folk joke about the undead. One of them get's scared. The undead appear and wreak havoc. Group of strangers hole themselves up in a cottage as scores of zombies home in on them in their quest for human flesh. It's cheesy, but in a good almost-kitschy way. Of course, this sort of stuff seems cliched now, but this low-fi low-budget horror film pretty much got there first, inventing genre conventions that would eventually give way to such cliches. It's quick to get to the action, perhaps afraid that it's audience will otherwise tune out if it doesn’t give something worth seeing straight-up, and then slowly builds a bigger picture of apocalyptic proportions from there (all on the cheap of course, cleverly using radio and television broadcasts to portray a country-wide crisis

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Horror

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