MonsterGirl’s 150 Days of Classic Horror!

Good Evening… Joey, formally & affectionately known as MonsterGirl in certain circles, is here to let you know that I’ve decided to give myself a challenge. I know I write a lot about obscure gems, and I do love shining my flashlight on the deep, cobwebby corners of cinema, throwing a little Joey radiance on films you might not ordinarily think of.

But I got to pondering. People won’t truly know what my personal favorite films are if I never get a chance to write about them in depth. I don’t spend a consistent enough amount of time here at The Last Drive In covering particular films that have absolutely resonated with me over the years. Masterpieces or little artistic offbeat offerings that I love so much I often find it hard to articulate the way I feel about them, and wind up chickening out like Don Knott’s Luther Heggs (The Ghost & Mr. Chicken) for fear my post just won’t do them justice.

So I thought to myself, it’s really time I start posting at least a little snippet of the films that are my chosen favorites. But because I go off on tangents and get so easily distracted, I should try and challenge myself to get to the point and list my TOP classic horror films, YET use only ONE photo, and ONE brief commentary about the film working through my list with the ease of a tortoise who’s been sipping espresso! So… grab your sidecar & ride along…

Barney's Sidecar

I started out with trying to list 100. I failed miserably. Then I thought, okay, let’s do 120. Again, that was as big a flop as Barney Fife’s sidecar or one of Grandpa Munster’s wily inventions!

Grandpa and Herman in the lab

I managed to come up with 150, with my sneaky way of fitting in a bunch of extras by making certain film pairings or triple features. Some I chose to put together because they naturally seem to be companion pieces for each other. The stories somehow connect, or the imagery or their confluence matches up with the vision of the filmmakers who made them.

Whatever the reason, it made it to my list, so you’ll have to accept that I am not one who can narrow down her love to one thing. It can’t be done. I’ve tried. Even with that proverbial gun to my head, like Bette Davis’s good twin/bad twin in Dead Ringer, I had to keep the list rolling. How can I leave out certain films that I just adore?

Now, I can tell you that Rosemary’s Baby and The Haunting are my all-time obsessions. Polanski’s masterpiece, but the devil’s in the details, and that’s a lot of writing! I’ve been putting off covering Rosemary’s Baby, but it’s time soon, lest Minnie Castevet (Ruth Gordon) appear at my doorstep, chocolate mouse and tannis root in hand, and demand I give birth to this critical masterpiece—after all, she chose me, honey, from all the writers in the world to give this film its due!”

For my 500th post here at The Last Drive In, I did pay tribute to The Haunting!

Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) “No one will come any further than town, in the dark… in the night”

I’ve finally got to talk about Tourneur’s Curse of the Demon and expand on Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s beautifully Gothic The House That Screamed 1969 with Lili Palmer. And there are a few others that are absolutely going to wind up being examined extensively here at The Last Drive-In. Whichever I’ve already covered like Roeg’s Don’t Look Now 1973.

Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 1

Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 2

I’ll add the link inside each 150 Days post that briefly covers those films!

Any of these films are ones I’d pick to show as a marathon on Halloween or at my own real Drive- In Movie Theater if I ever won the lottery and managed to open up a fabulous retro Drive-in Theater/Cat Sanctuary/Coffee House. That’s a dream of mine, you know…

3D Audience

And you know, something funny happens when you post YOUR own list of movies? People leave the most delightful (exasperating) unsolicited comments like, “Why didn’t you include?” or “Nice list but, what about? “  And I find myself becoming like Daffy Duck who uncovers the pearl in the giant clam and goes off on his little tirade spewing, ‘It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s all mine, you understand!”

The list is mine! It’s mine!

That’s the point of making my own list. Because it’s MINE. If you don’t see a film here, don’t take it personally. Make a list of your own, and please feel free to let me know what YOUR favorites are.

Another essential thing to take note of here is that I can not possibly qualify which films are better than the rest. I won’t nor can’t do that. I think it’s theoretically impossible to compare different films and decide which is the best in order of rank. Which should take the #1 spot. To facilitate things, I’ve put them in alphabetical order. Not from better to worse. I hate qualifying things anyway. To me, lists that try to do that seem to elevate one film by diminishing another. And…

Some could be considered Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy hybrids or Suspense/Horror hybrids. The ones I’ve chosen seem to fall nicely into the classic horror realm, even if there is a science element to them, because there is a strong presence of the supernatural. Also, within the contexts of what makes a suspense-driven narrative that delves into the deep end of horror, I also take into consideration. If it contains a rather grotesque, brutal, or savage set of details, that’s how I’ve chosen to rank it as a horror film and not just a suspense film. BTW, I will not be including made-for-TV horror movies, in case you’re wondering why you don’t see treasured titles here like Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Trilogy or Terror!

So anyways, don’t think that I love 13 Ghosts the most and White Zombie the least, or that I’m batty because I think that anyone who carries around a hatbox containing a woman’s severed head, as was the case in Night Must Fall, doesn’t qualify as horrific as in Horror film.

Let's Go Out To The Lobby

Just to recap, this challenge is a way of forcing myself to fill my blog with films that fascinate, titillate, and inspire me. It really is a personal challenge for me to write only ONE short commentary with ONE defining photograph from that film. ONE image that sums up the story and nothing else. There is none of my long-winded synopsis, referential tangents, or my usual visual narrative that goes on and on and on and on…

I’ll still be releasing more deep dives and substantive overviews as usual; you can count on me as sure as the House of Usher crumbled and fell,  I’m looking to present these 150 little posts and tell you– as if we were in an elevator only going up a few floors– about my favorites as I count down through the 150 or so, (er, hum says long-winded me) classic horror films.

Here’s a sneak peek at the list. It is in alphabetical order and will also include double and triple features, just like the good old days of sitting in the musty old movie theater with the smell of buttered popcorn assaulting your nose for hours because you could sit through three movies for a $1.50 or those balmy Saturday afternoons at home watching rare ones on the telly or those star-filled summer nights at the drive-in wearing your pajamas: I hope some of your favorites are on here too!

  1. 13 GHOSTS/HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL 1959
  2. ALICE SWEET ALICE 1976
  3. AND SOON THE DARKNESS 1970
  4. ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN 1948
  5. ASYLUM 1972 /TALES FROM THE CRYPT 1972
  6. AT MIDNIGHT, I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL 1964
  7. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES 1972/THEATER OF BLOOD 1973
  8. THE AMITYVILLE HORROR 1979
  9. THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF 1962 / THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK 1962
  10. BABA YAGA 1973 / NECROMANCY 1972
  11. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 1946 / THE QUEEN OF SPADES 1949
  12. BEDLAM 1946 /THE BODY SNATCHER 1945
  13. BEFORE I HANG 1940 / THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG 1939
  14. THE BELL FROM HELL 1973
  15. BLACK CHRISTMAS 1974
  16. BLACK SABBATH 1963 / BLACK SUNDAY 1960
  17. THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE 1972 /BLOOD AND ROSES 1960
  18. THE BLACK CAT 1934 / THE RAVEN 1935
  19. BEWARE MY BRETHREN 1972 / WHEN A STRANGER CALLS 1979
  20. BLACULA  1972 / SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM 1973
  21. BURNT OFFERINGS 1976
  22. THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN 1971
  23. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE 1970 / DEEP RED 1975
  24. BEAST IN THE CELLAR 1970 / THE SHUTTERED ROOM 1967
  25. THE BAD SEED 1956
  26. THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS 1946
  27. THE CAR 1977
  28. THE CHANGELING 1980 / GHOST STORY 1981
  29. THE CANTERVILLE GHOST 1944
  30. THE CRAZIES 1973
  31. CARNIVAL OF SOULS 1962
  32. CASTLE OF BLOOD (DANZE MACARBRA) 1964
  33. CAT PEOPLE 1942 / CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE 1944
  34. CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS 1972
  35. CORRIDORS OF BLOOD 1958 /THE HAUNTED STRANGLER 1958
  36. COUNT YORGA VAMPIRE 1970 /RETURN OF COUNT YORGA 1971
  37. THE CHILDREN 1980
  38. CRY OF THE BANSHEE 1970
  39. CURSE OF THE DEMON 1957
  40. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS 1971
  41. DEAD AND BURIED 1981
  42. DEAD OF NIGHT 1945 / FLESH AND FANTASY 1943 / CARNIVAL OF SINNERS 1943
  43. DEATHMASTER 1972
  44. DEMENTIA 13 (1963) / NIGHT TIDE 1961
  45. DON’T LOOK NOW 1973
  46. DRACULA (1931) / NOSFERATU 1922 / DRACULA’S DAUGHTER 1936
  47. DEAD RINGER 1964 / THE NANNY 1965
  48. THE DEVIL COMMANDS 1941
  49. THE DEVIL’S RAIN 1975
  50. THE DUNWICH HORROR 1970
  51. DOCTOR X 1932
  52. DEATH DREAM 1974
  53. EYE OF THE DEVIL 1966
  54. EYES WITHOUT A FACE 1960
  55. THE EVIL DEAD 1981 /PHANTASM 1979
  56. THE EVICTORS 1979 / THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN 1976
  57. EYES OF LAURA MARS 1978
  58. THE EXORCIST 1973 / THE OMEN 1976
  59. NEITHER THE SEA NOR THE SAND 1972 / THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA 1976
  60. THE FOG 1980 / HALLOWEEN 1978
  61. FRANKENSTEIN 1931 / BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 1935 / SON OF FRANKENSTEIN 1939
  62. FRIGHT NIGHT 1985 / THE LOST BOYS 1987
  63. FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE 1959 / THE THING THAT WOULDN’T DIE 1958
  64. FREAKS 1932 / THE UNKNOWN 1927
  65. GAMES 1967 / WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN? 1971 / THE MAD ROOM 1969
  66. GOD TOLD ME TO 1976
  67. GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE 1972
  68. THE GHOST SHIP 1943 / THE LEOPARD MAN 1943 / THE 7th VICTIM 1943
  69. GOODBYE GEMINI 1970
  70. THE GHOUL 1933 / THE OLD DARK HOUSE 1932
  71. HATCHET FOR A HONEYMOON 1970
  72. HOMEBODIES  1974
  73. THE HAUNTED PALACE 1963
  74. THE HAUNTING 1963 / THE INNOCENCE 1961
  75. THE HAUNTING OF JULIA 1977
  76. THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED 1969
  77. HORROR HOTEL (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) 1960 / BURN WITCH BURN 1962
  78. HOUSE OF USHER 1960 /PIT AND THE PENDULUM 1961
  79. HOUSE OF WAX 1953
  80. HOMICIDAL 1961 / THE NIGHT WALKER 1964 / THE TINGLER 1959
  81. HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE 1964 / WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? 1962
  82. I BURY THE LIVING 1958
  83. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE 1943 / ISLE OF THE DEAD 1945 / THE BODY SNATCHER 1945
  84. ISLAND OF LOST SOULS 1932
  85. THE INVISIBLE MAN 1933
  86. THE INVISIBLE RAY 1936 / THE WALKING DEAD 1936
  87. KILL , BABY, KILL 1966 / LISA AND THE DEVIL 1973
  88. THE KILLER INSIDE ME 1976
  89. KWAIDAN 1964
  90. THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE
  91. LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
  92. LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) / TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD
  93. LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH
  94. THE LODGER 1944/THE LODGER HITCHCOCK/HANGOVER SQUARE
  95. LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE 1973
  96. MARTIN 1977
  97. M 1931 / MAD LOVE 1935
  98. MESSIAH OF EVIL (DEAD PEOPLE) 1973 / DREAM NO EVIL 1970
  99. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS 1928 / THE UNKNOWN 1927
  100. THE MAN WHO TURNED TO STONE 1957
  101. THE MASK 1961
  102. THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH 1964
  103. THE MAZE 1953 / THE SCREAMING SKULL 1958
  104. MR. SARDONICUS 1961
  105. THE NIGHT DIGGER 1971
  106. NIGHT MONSTER 1942
  107. NIGHT MUST FALL 1937 / SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR 1947 / NIGHT OF THE HUNTER 1955
  108. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 1968 / DAWN OF THE DEAD 1978
  109. NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY 1968 / MAN ON A SWING 1974
  110. THE OMEGA MAN 1971 / THE LAST MAN ON EARTH 1964
  111. THE OTHER 1972
  112. THE PSYCHOPATH 1966
  113. PSYCHO 1960 / THE BIRDS 1963
  114. THE PREMONITION 1976/ PSYCHIC KILLER 1975
  115. PLAY MISTY FOR ME 1971 / THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK 1969 / A REFLECTION OF FEAR 1973
  116. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 1974
  117. PSYCHOMANIA 1973
  118. RACE WITH THE DEVIL 1975
  119. REPULSION 1965 / DIABOLIQUE 1955
  120. ROSEMARY’S BABY 1968 / THE MEPHISTO WALTZ 1971
  121. RUBY 1977
  122. THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD 1977
  123. SHOCK WAVES 1977
  124. SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT 1972 / DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT 1973
  125. SISTERS 1972
  126. SCANNERS 1981 / SHIVERS 1975
  127. SPIDER BABY 1967
  128. SQUIRM 1976 / FROGS 1972 / SSsss 1973
  129. STRAIT-JACKET 1964
  130. THE SENTINEL 1977
  131. THE SHINING 1980
  132. THE STEPFORD WIVES 1975
  133. STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP 1946 / FäHRMANN MARIA 1936
  134. SUSPIRIA 1977
  135. SUGAR HILL 1974
  136. SPIRITS OF THE DEAD 1968
  137. TARGETS 1968
  138. THE TENANT 1976
  139. TAM LIN 1970 / QUEENS OF EVIL 1970
  140. THE UNINVITED 1944 / THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR 1947
  141. THE VELVET VAMPIRE 1971
  142. TOURIST TRAP 1979
  143. TERROR AT RED WOLF INN 1972
  144. TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE (BLOOD BATH) 1966
  145. VAMPYR 1932
  146. VAMPIRE CIRCUS 1972
  147. THE WICKER MAN 1973 / BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW 1971
  148. THE WITCHES MIRROR 1962 / CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN 1963
  149. WHITE ZOMBIE 1932
  150. THE WOLF MAN 1941 / THE MUMMY 1942

16 thoughts on “MonsterGirl’s 150 Days of Classic Horror!

  1. Why do you have double entries for some of these? I’m not sure what the connection is for ‘Psycho’ and ‘Chainsaw’ besides murder…

    1. If you knew me better, you’d see the humor in how I can’t ever narrow down my favorite films, that was the whole point of my post. Pairing them is my not so sneaky way of fitting in as many of the classic horror films that I love.As far as Psycho/Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Bloch wrote the story for Psycho which was based on Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, who wore the skins of the women he dug up from the grave or killed. Ed Gein was also the model for Leatherface. Thus I felt it was a great companion piece. Aside from them both having brutal murders, you could also see the connection between the grotesque inversion of the mythic American family.

    1. hell yes, beyond the cult attraction, they are so layered with gutsy and nuanced performances by the amazing Bette Davis. Glad you agree and Thanks for stopping by!

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