Life force (1985)
I first watched this when I was young.
I can still remember the review in the paper that made me watch it.
"Naked,vampire,sex,zombies from outer space". How could I not watch this film?
Another underrated film, this time directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Dan O'Bannon.
Its great fun set in the Uk with a great British cast.
It was a troubled production that ran out of money, and Hooper had wanted a longer cut. I have it on DVD and just thinking about it makes me want to put it on. Its on this list because I think the special effects are superb and disturbing. I really like the spaceship designs, but its the life force sucking zombies that really impress me. Great Skeletal puppets that explode.
Creepshow (1982)
My favorite film to watch on Halloween. Such great fun, made with love. It look just like the EC comics its inspired by. I am a massive fan of portamento horror films, we made some fantastic ones in the 70s particularly the work of Amicus. There isn't one duff story here. So what's so scary?
Leslie Neilson?
I always struggle with cockroaches and the "They're Creeping Up On You" story always hits a nerve. Apparently they lost a lot of cockroaches while filming that and the little beasties took up residence in the studio. Also the heart breaking Stephen king story "The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill" totally creeps me out. Every time I watch it I think don't suck your finger.
What a colorful and joyous horror.
Just watching the trailer has made me squirm.
Death Line (1973)
What a misleading poster and what an amazing film.
Although it has an American director I think this is one of the greatest British horror films ever made.
Its Grim and dirty, a similar filthy feel as Hitchcocks Frenzy.
Death Line has some fantastic special effects for the time and its pretty full on with the gore.
It features a sympathetic and a beautifully crafted creature who feels like a victim not a monster. Very much in the Frankenstein mode, The only words the creature can speak are "Mind the doors", its amazing how much meaning Hugh Armstrong puts into those 3 words.
Its pretty obvious that I have a massive man crush on Donald Pleasence,His character in this film is insane.
"Make me a cup of tea"!
He plays his part with great relish and has such an honest last line which pretty much sums up what we are all thinking.
Funny Christopher Lee cameo also.
This film really feels like an anomaly in the history of British horror and doesn't ever get mentioned. We should put this right!
The director Gary Sherman didn't make another film for nearly 10 years after this. he followed Death Line up with Dead and Buried another great Dan O'Bannon film.
If someone could do a special edition which CGI'd out the annoying "Swinging" couple then I'm sure this film would be greater than Citizen Kane (Ha!)
Watch it.
Oh Soundtrack is awesome too. Trunk have done a lovely vinyl of it. Pure Sleaze.
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Don't ever take me for granted.
I'm An American Werewolf In London and I am a masterpiece.
I was in a room with John Landis last year and all I could think was American Werewolf, American Werewolf...
Another film of love and understanding.
So much of modern horror is owed to this film. I'm going to claim its another British Horror classic (I know).
This films good fun,right? Its really funny, lightweight, you know for kids. Wrong!
This film terrified me. One of my first horrors. My baby sitters boyfriend (who was an animator on Raggy Dolls!) bought this round one night. He really wanted to watch it but my "Carer" thought it would be too scary. Not at all its funny not scary at all was his response. They had to turn the film off when it got to the scene with the Muppets and those weird Nazi creatures, especially the bit where one jumps through the window when Jenny Agutter opens the curtains. I cried...a lot.
Watched it again about a year later this time with my parents when it was on TV. Didn't get much further again. I spent the night in bed with my parents and I swear all the dogs on our estate decided to howl on that moonlit night just to scare me further.
I love it now but its the one film which utterly terrified me.
Great soundtrack and Rick Baker is a genius. This is a really well made film.
But please don't show this to your kids.
Alien (1979)
There has been so much written and said about Alien that I'm going to keep this short.
Alien is a very scary film.
The design work is phenomenal.
A truly alien creature and life cycle.
Get script,cast and director.
I saw Aliens first (as I'm sure many of you did), I was not prepared for Alien. I can remember my 2 cousins saying how boring it was...They were very wrong.
Saw a 70mm print on my birthday..what a present
I recommend the exhaustive bluray and Alien Vault by Ian Nathan.
5 more tomorrow.
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