Director James Whale’s sequel deepens the philosophy as well as the terror established in Frankenstein (1931). When the monster learns language and compassion from a kindly blind man, its need for companionship is also awakened, leading the monster to confront its creator. Boris Karloff and many of Read More …
Although they are both based on the same Shirley Jackson novel about a group of people investigating the supernatural in an eerie old mansion, don’t mistake Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) for the 1999 Jan De Bont film, The Haunting. Where De Bont piles on the special effects Read More …
One of several well-regarded collaborations between director Jacques Tourneur and producer Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie follows a nurse as she moves to the Caribbean to care for a plantation owner’s strangely afflicted wife. Tourneur uses shadows and detached narration to create an indelible mood, Read More …
John Carpenter’s gruesome adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella Who Goes There? concerns an Antarctic research station invaded by an alien organism, which could possibly replicate all life on earth in three years. Before attempting to destroy the creature, the ten-man research team must first confront their Read More …
In The Shining, a father, a mother, and a son spend the winter as caretakers of a remote, isolated hotel, only to find themselves lost in a nightmare of psychic horror. Stanley Kubrick’s film makes the most of the atmosphere; the fictional Overlook Hotel makes as Read More …
Voyeurism lies at the heart of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, a taut horror thriller about a disturbed young cameraman who murders women and films them as they die. Powell brings a craftsman’s eye to the film, which he sets in mostly tight, claustrophobic spaces. Terrifying, thought-provoking, Read More …
A masterpiece that transcends the boundaries of time, Frankenstein was described by author Mary Shelley as “a moral lesson of the punishment that befell a mortal man who dared to emulate God.” The horror of a scientist’s creation, or rather re-creation, raises all sorts of ethical questions Read More …
David Cronenberg’s remake is a terrifying tragedy in the best possible way. A young, brilliant scientist makes a life-altering miscalculation and is unable to undo the damage. As his body deteriorates, he considers increasingly horrifying choices in attempts to save himself. Despite the repulsive transformation, his Read More …
Seven people board themselves up in a deserted farmhouse, and struggle as much with each other as they do with the horde of deceased that have risen and begun feeding on the flesh of the living. George A. Romero’s chilling film broke new ground in Read More …
Near the opening of Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Marion Crane steals money from her employer and goes on the run. At a small motel off the beaten path, her guilt catches up with her, as does something considerably more threatening. Psycho deals with histories of wrongdoing and failure to Read More …