Anything Horror Scott’s Favorite Mind Fuck Films

AnythingHorror Central

Anything Horror Scott’s Favorite Mind Fuck Films

The “mind fuck” film is exactly what it sounds like. This is a type of movie that messes with your head the entire length of the film. When the mind fuck film is done right it makes your jaw drop and you wind up sitting in your chair as the credits roll. I’ve been a fan of this sub-genre since seeing JACOB’S LADDER back in 1990.

What makes JACOB’S LADDER such a great mind fuck flick is that it’s not just the ending that fucks with you; the entire movie, every second of it, keeps poking at your brain daring you to try and understand what’s going on. When you think you’ve figured out what’s happening, bam, the movie shifts gears and fucks with you even more.

Many people confuse a mind fuck movie with a film that simply offers a twist ending. This isn’t the same thing. THE SIXTH SENSE, for example, is a great film with an ending that knocks your socks off, but this isn’t a mind fuck film. The majority of THE SIXTH SENSE is a standard film of a doctor trying to help a young boy.

Below is my list (in no particular order) of some of my favorite mind fuck films. I love all these movies and watch them all over and over again. Every time I watch one of the films on this list, I get something new out of it.

JACOB’S LADDER (1990)

There’s not a weak element in this film. From the acting to the script to the special effects, Jacob’s Ladder is a damn-near perfect film. Director Adrian Lyne masterfully controls the material here and keeps the audience wondering what the hell is happening. If you haven’t seen this film, don’t look it up and don’t read anyone’s reviews of it. Just go buy the DVD and watch it. It’ll blow your fucking socks off.

THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS (2001)

Seth Green, Jeffrey Combs, Ted Raimi, and Alice Cooper all star in a movie helmed by the guy who directed the 2007 Wizard of Gore remake, Jeremy Kasten??!!? A guy is sentenced to a mental hospital for killing his girlfriend, but starts to question whether he actually killed her, or if he’s just a pawn in some strange brainwashing experiment. This one keeps you scratching your head and wondering what the fuck’s going on. Repeated viewings are recommended.

VIDEODROME (1983)

I may be stretching the definition of what a mind fuck film is by including Videodrome on this list, but if you’ve seen this film you know why I’m including it. A sleazy cable TV station owner (James Woods) becomes obsessed with tracking down a television show titled “Videodrome.” This show has no script, no plot, and, as one character observes, “no recurring guest stars.” Oh, but there’s a whole lot more going on in this movie. This film really messes with your head. Videodrome isn’t just my favorite David Cronenberg movie, it’s one of my favorite films, period.

DONNIE DARKO (2001) – Time travel? A near death experience? A large rabbit predicting the end of the world? What the hell is going on here?!? You may never know, but it sure is a fun ride. Donnie Darko became an instance cult classic and after you watch it a few times, you’ll understand why.

ANGEL HEART (1987) – I love this film! I remember the first time I saw it: I was living in a shitty little apartment in Ottawa, Canada and had no cable. I only got three channels and one Saturday night Angel Heart came on around one in the morning. I was mesmerized by Mickey Rourke’s portrayal as Harry Angel, a private detective hired by a mysterious man to find another guy called Johnny Favorite. Just sit back and enjoy all the twists and turns this one takes. And just wait until you see Robert De Niro peel that goddamn hardboiled egg!!!

HEAD TRAUMA (2006) – A man returns home after being away for twenty years to settle his dead grandmother’s estate. As he cleans the house he gets hit in the head and this triggers a series of very vivid nightmares and waking visions. Soon the line blurs between what is real and what is “unreal”. Directed by Lance Weiler (one-half of the directing team behind 1998’s The Last Broadcast), this one keeps you on edge the entire time.

DON’T LOOK NOW (1973) – A classic from the 70’s. Donnie Sutherland and Julie Christie recently lost their young daughter. Sutherland takes them to Venice on business and there they meet a psychic who claims to “see” the spirit of their dead daughter. But there’s so much more going on here. This film is heavy in atmosphere and drips gloom. After watching this film, you feel that there’s no hope in the universe. And just wait until you see that goddamn ending!!

CHASING SLEEP (2000) – This is a little known gem starring Jeff Daniels as a professor who wakes up one morning to find his wife never came home the night before. As he searches to find out what happened to her he is stricken with insomnia. As his sleep deprivation gets worse and worse, reality and hallucinations merge together. Writer-director Michael Walker fucks around with the viewer until we get a great reveal at the end. I was way impressed with Daniel’s performance; I didn’t know he had it in him.

These are some of my favorite mind fuck flicks.  I know this is an incomplete list, so tell me your favorite mind fuck movie.  You know I wanna hear from you all.

Stay Bloody!!!

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Happy Birthday to Harry Alan Towers

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Happy Birthday to Harry Alan Towers

SHOCK remembers the late, great producer Harry Alan Towers.

Although he departed this mortal coil in 2009, SHOCK would like to take a moment to recognize the birthday of one of cult cinema’s most storied and important producers, the wild, wonderful gentleman rogue of Eurogenre films, Mr. Harry Alan Towers.

Born on October 19th, 1920 in London, England, Towers led many lives before entering the world of moviemaking, producing and often writing dozens of feature films throughout the 1960’s including the internationally financed and lensed FU MANCHU series and, of course, it was Towers who gave exploitation film legend Jess Franco some of his largest budgets. The Towers/Franco partnership yielded such notable, lavishly produced pictures as the somber women in prison epic 99 WOMEN, the De Sade adaption JUSTINE,  the Christopher Lee witch hunter vehicle THE BLOODY JUDGE and most famously,  COUNT DRACULA, of which Lee famously cited as his favorite of the Dracula films he starred in. Many of these pictures starred his wife, the lovely actress Maria Rohm, who is still alive and well and living in Canada…

And even though horror fans will remember Towers primarily for these remarkable Franco pictures, his body of work was expansive and fascinating. He literally never stopped working, producing pictures like the Michael Caine thriller BULLET TO BEIJING, the brilliant Anthony Perkins giallo EDGE OF SANITY (co-written by Franco and co-produced by Rohm), the sequel HOWLING IV and DELTA FORCE 3…his list of credits is long and eccentric.

Towers was indeed an eccentric. A larger than life figure who saw the art and science of making movies as one, big globetrotting adventure. Making these celluloid-locked fantasies allowed Towers to live a life of intrigue that echoed the action-packed worlds etched by the authors and storytellers he loved, like Sax Rohmer, Edgar Wallace and Ian Fleming. There was no one else like Harry Alan Towers. And likely, there never will be again…

So Happy Birthday Harry…wherever you are. Thanks for the dreams.

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Anything Horror Scott’s Favorite Slow Burn Films

AnythingHorror Central

Anything Horror Scott’s Favorite Slow Burn Films

So what’s a “slow burn” flick?  Glad you asked.  I consider a movie a ‘slow-burn’  when it doesn’t immediately hit you just how good and/or disturbing a movie it is, but does after some time passes.  I put my picks here below as a list, and there’s some flicks on the list that I must admit that I didn’t even like after I saw it for the first time!!  For example, after I first watched 2004’s CALVAIRE I didn’t like it at all.  I turned it off, returned the DVD to Netflix and thought that was that.  But the next day I found myself thinking about Calvaire…. a lot. Then 2 days later I was still thinking about it!! Something about that movie got deep under my skin and I couldn’t get it outta my head. So I got it and watched it again and when it was over I immediately watched it a third time.  CALVAIRE, it turns out, is a deeply disturbing and unsettling movie. It’s also one of those flicks that defies a label (although I put it firmly in the horror genre) and it requires at least 2-3 viewings. I know; that’s a lot to ask for. We’re all busy and most of the time it’s difficult enough to find the time to sit down and watch a movie, yet alone watch the same one 2-3 times. But trust me; you’ll be rewarded with one of the creepiest, disturbing, get-under-your-skin films you’ve ever seen.

What’s been a “slow burn”  horror movie for you?  I know we all have them.  Leave your thoughts!!

CALVAIRE (2004):  See my above comments. Definitely check this one out.

SNUFF (2008, documentary):  This is a flawed documentary that really doesn’t accomplish what it sets out to do (to examine if snuff films are real and expose them).  But there are 2 interviews that I just couldn’t stop thinking about that got under my skin in the days after I watched this one.  One is an interview with an ex-FBI agent as he talks about a Russian man who filmed the actual sexual assault and slaughter of young boys, and the other is towards the end and is an interview with a b-movie director.  Those 2 interviews are fucking disturbing!!

BROKEN (2006):  After watching this I just wrote it off as another “torture-porn” flick and thought that was that.  But the days following my first viewing had me thinking about the ending a lot.  This is NOT your typical torture-porn; this is so disturbing and bleak (and just wait for that ending) that you’ll be depressed for days after watching it. I love this flick!!

THE LAST HORROR MOVIE (2003):  Not a perfect film by any means.  I just kinda wrote it off after I first saw it.  But then I kept thinking about the ending where the killer breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to the viewer.  I’m getting chills up and down my spine right now as I think about it!!  I double checked to make sure my doors were locked for days after I saw this.

SESSION 9 (2001):  I loved this movie after my first viewing.  Creepy and unsettling.  But the final “reveal” where we learn who the actual killer is and his motivations for the killings just stuck with me.  I didn’t have any kids when I first saw this one, but watching it over again after my first was born elevated this one to a whole new level.  The killer’s motivations are so realistic I couldn’t shake this one for a long time.

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2007):  As the movie ends you are definitely horrified by the treatment of Megan at the hands of the next door neighbor, but the days following my watching this one I just couldn’t get it outta my head that this was based on true events.  It makes you never wanna meet your neighbors.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008):  Like most of the flicks on this list I didn’t really care for this one at first.  Yes I thought the performances were great, but I didn’t really care for the story.  But I couldn’t get that goddamn final scene of Oskar riding on the train, obviously Eli’s new “keeper.” This is a great creepy film that gets to ya!!

VINYAN (2008):  Same director as Calvaire.  This guy has a way of making a movie that just doesn’t seem to be much at first but somehow creeps into your subconscious and fucks you up days after you watch it.  After I saw this one I was very “meh” about it.  But then that night I had a VERY fucked up nightmare about this movie and watched it again.  Creepy, disturbing, and sad folks.

JOSHUA (2006):  WARNING:  Make sure you get the 2006 Joshua directed by Travis Betz.  This is an indie horror flick that doesn’t seem like much after a first viewing but it really stayed with me.  The treatment and torture of the baby by a group of adolescents was fucking disturbing!!  I bought this one and still can’t get myself to watch it again.

What are your favorite slow burn films?

Stay Bloody!!!

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UNDERWORLD 5 Currently Filming in Prague

Shock Till You Drop

UNDERWORLD 5 Currently Filming in Prague

Fifth entry in slick UNDERWORLD franchise currently filming in Prague.

SHOCK has just learned that the fifth installment in the slick, stylized action/horror UNDERWORLD franchise has just gone into production. The ten-week shoot will take place entirely in the Czech capital and areas surrounding.

The lovely Kate Beckinsale will once more pour herself into the PVC catsuit to play heroic vampire Selene and Theo James will reprise his role from UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING. Also in the cast is Tobias Menzies (OUTLANDER), Lara Pulver (SHERLOCK) and the great Charles Dance (GAME OF THRONES) returning as Thomas, the king of the bloodsuckers.

Veteran TV director  and cinematographer Anna Foerster is directing while the screenplay is penned by Cory Goodman (PRIEST).

The previous entry, UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING did boffo box office but was met with lukewarm fan response. Time will tell if UNDERWORLD 5 (the title it’s shooting under) will restore the faith. But either way…Kate Beckinsale. PVC. Catsuit. Fangs. What more do you need, really?

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 2 – “JSS”

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 2 – “JSS”

The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 2 recap

Things are calm in Alexandria. Carol swaps recipes with the women folk. Jessie fights with Ron over her friendship with Rick and the death of his father. Maggie teaches Deanna about farming. Eugene doesn’t want the biggest building in the new expansion to be a church. Denise, a psychiatrist, is trying to get used to her new role as the community’s doctor. Carol returns home, yells at Sam for sitting on her stoop, and goes inside to make a casserole. As she sets the timer (55 minutes) she notices a filthy – but very human – man attack her neighbor, out having a smoke. Carol chases down the guy and kills him, then puts her neighbor out of her misery.

On the wall, molotov cocktails take out several guards, and send Maggie and Deanna for cover. Outside, Spencer is in the sniper tower and he sees a big rig heading towards the community. He fires, and the truck slams into his tower. The driver falls onto the horn – the sound that Rick’s team heard last week. It takes Spencer a while to free himself, and when he does, he tries to gather the courage to kill the now-zombified driver. Luckily Morgan shows up and takes care of it. Spencer decides to stay outside and he is soon joined by Deanna, deciding she would be better off out of everyone’s way.

Inside Alexandria, the Wolves have descended and they are vicious. They attack the Alexandrians with a viciousness that is normally not seen outside of rabid dogs. The Wolves don’t have guns; they use axes and other blades to chop up Alexandrians into tartare. Morgan encounters one of these particularly ferocious killers, but before he can turn on Morgan, another Wolf kills him. The Wolf reveals herself to be Carol in disguise. Rather than thanking Carol for saving his life, Morgan is mad that she killed him and tries to lecture her. Carol can’t worry about hurt feelings; she has to get to the armory. 

With Morgan on a chain, as her “captive,” the two head to the armory while shooting Wolves. She refuses to help Gabriel, which Morgan can’t abide by. He “breaks” his chains and runs to save Gabriel. Carol continues on to the armory, kills a couple Wolves along the way, gives Olivia a 10-second lesson on shooting a gun, and takes off with a sack full of weapons to pass out. On the way, she sees Morgan tying up the Wolf, and she takes it upon herself to shoot him, then hands both Morgan and Gabriel a gun. Morgan doesn’t want it, and gives it to Gabriel. He doesn’t want it, either.

Morgan continues patrolling, and is soon surrounded by five Wolves. He gives them one last chance to leave before hitting them with his big stick. He knocks out a couple of them, then warns that if they “keep choosing this life, you will die.” “We didn’t choose this life,” he growls, but he and his other Wolves leave. He does stop and take a dead man’s gun on the way out. With things quieting down, Morgan stabs a zombie then ventures through an open door to check on a residence. There is a Wolf hiding inside, and the two men fight. Morgan has the upper hand, but the Wolf realizes that Morgan can’t kill him. He charges Morgan, who trips him and beats him with his big stick. “I’m sorry,” says Morgan before landing the killing blow.

When sh*t hits the fan, Carol tells Carl to stay put and protect Judith. A noise at the door puts him on edge, but it is only Enid. She comes in to say goodbye, but Carl convinces her to stay and help him protect the house. She does, for a little while at least. Outside, Ron is being chased by a Wolf. Carl hurries out to help and shoots the Wolf in the leg. The Wolf howls – not like a wolf, but like a hungry infant. Carl inches closer, and the Wolf uses the proximity to grab Carl. Carl is strong and shoots the Wolf dead. He invites Ron into the house with him and Enid, but he declines. I think it is partly because he doesn’t trust Rick or his kin, but also partly because he is jealous that Enid and Carl are spending alone time together. 

Meanwhile, Sam and Jessie are hiding in a closet. When things quiet down, Jessie slips out and makes her way downstairs. She shoots at the female Wolf but misses, and a catfight ensues. Jessie plays dead, and while the Wolf goes for her discarded gun, Jessie attacks with a pair of scissors. All sorts of emotions are released as she stabs the Wolf with the brutality that the Wolves showed to Alexandria. Ron comes in and sees this.

In the cold open of tonight’s show, we see what happened to Enid and her family. While trying to jumpstart a car, the family was attacked by zombies. Enid was the only survivor, and she had to watch the zombies eat her loved ones. After that she was constantly on the move, but wandering in a state of everlasting shock. At every turn, she wrote JSS. In the dirt, on a car window, with the bones of a tortoise she ate raw. Now, when Carl returns to the house and calls for Enid, he gets no answer. She has gone, but she has left him a note: “Just survive somehow.” The alarm goes off and Carl takes the casserole out of the oven. Almost everything in tonight’s episode happened in “real time.”

Also: Holly is brought to the medical office with internal bleeding. Denise is too scared to help, until Tara yells at her. She agrees to give it a go, but Holly flatlines and Denise takes it hard. Aaron brains a Wolf before he can turn, and notices he has a satchel on him. Rifling through it, Aaron discovers the fuzzy photos of Alexandria he used on his recruiting expeditions. That is how they knew where to find them.

Beautiful, violent, simple, terrifying. I hope we get more details on the Wolves. They are fascinating.

You can watch previews for the next episode of The Walking Dead, titled “Thank You,” by clicking here.

The post TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 2 – “JSS” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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Anything Horror Scott’s 5 Favorite Horror Comics

AnythingHorror Central

Anything Horror Scott’s 5 Favorite Horror Comics

There’s nothing I love more than the horror genre and comic books. I grew up collecting comics and still do to this day. It’s not often that a genuinely scary comic comes along, but when it does it is pure heaven. The Vault of Horror, Weird Tales, and Tales from the Crypt are all classic horror comics, but they really weren’t scary. Below is my list of my five favorite scary comic books that will have you turning on the lights before bedtime.

NEONOMICON
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Jacen Burrows
Four Issue Run

No writer influenced and changed the world of comic books like Alan Moore. The man essentially created the graphic novel, redefined what a superhero was, and wrote some of DC’s best comics (his work on The Saga of Swamp Thing was nothing short of genius). Neonomicon, in short, is a terrifying read. It’s full of genuine scares and is accompanied by some fantastic artwork. Neonomicon is only a four issue-run, but is brutal, scary, and so goddamn effective. Every horror fan needs to read this Lovecraft-inspired madness!!

SEVERED
Writer: Scott Snyder & Scott Tuft
Artist: Attila Futaki
Seven Issue Run

Severed is a seven-issue horror mini-series that is set in the U.S. during 1916. It’s about a cannibal boogeyman who assumes various identities to hunt down, kill, and eat children. I tore through the pages of this one and read all seven issues in one sitting. The story beautifully builds until the utterly terrifying and suspenseful climax. Don’t miss this one.

ECHOES
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist: Rahsan Ekedal
Five issue Run

Here I switch gears from creatures to a wholly human monster. Writer Fialkov describes his Echoes as a horror/noir graphic novel and I think that’s a pretty damn accurate description. Echoes is a murder mystery from the viewpoint of Brian Cohn, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. This makes him a very unreliable source, and he may or may not be continuing his father’s legacy as a serial-killer. Echoes is marked with strong story-telling and has dark and moody artwork that beautifully sets the atmosphere. Echoes is an intense ride into the depths of insanity with a schizophrenic acting as our tour guide.

 

NAILBITER
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Mike Henderson
Ongoing (currently at twelve issues)

Welcome to Buckaroo, Oregon. It’s a pretty plain town where not a lot of exciting things happen. This town, though, is known for one peculiar fact: Buckaroo, Oregon is the birthplace to sixteen of the worst serial killers the world has ever known. Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase, “There’s something in the water!!” An NSA Agent teams up with notorious serial killer Edward “Nailbiter” Warren to track down an FBI agent who went missing while investigating the town of Buckaroo. We get creative kills, lots of gore, and the lines between the hunter and the hunted become blurred. Nailbiter will have you turning the pages at a frantic rate while at the same time being afraid of what might be on the next page.

CROSSED
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Jacen Burrows
Currently 209 Issues

This is one twisted, sick, depraved, and disturbing comic book, and I love every blood-drenched page!! Crossed is about a zombie-like virus that turns it’s victims (called “the Crossed”) into something other than brain-eating, mindless creatures. The Crossed are driven by the over-whelming desire to torture, rape, dismember, and mutilate any and all uninfected human beings. The infected’s desire to kill and destroy even goes beyond people. They see animals and buildings as fair game and unleash their rage on those things as well. Crossed is published by Avatar books and I applaud them for giving writer Ennis free rein with his twisted vision. Crossed is the most extreme, horrifying, and disturbing titles out today.

What’s your favorite scary comic book? What makes it so scary?

Stay Bloody!!!

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12 Gothic Horror Flicks to Watch Before You See CRIMSON PEAK

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12 Gothic Horror Flicks to Watch Before You See CRIMSON PEAK

 

12 gothic horror movies to check out before (or after) you see Crimson Peak

The gothic novel dates back to the mid-1700s, but acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim) has just reimagined the genre for 21st century sensibilities in his new film Crimson Peak, which opens today.

The story of the film has all the tropes of a typical gothic romance: A young woman (Mia Wasikowska) is whisked away by a mysterious handsome gentleman (Tom Hiddleston) to his foreboding mansion where a strange older woman -in this case the man’s sister (Jessica Chastain)- holds dominion over the home and its secrets. Although the advertising emphasizes the supernatural apparitions, audiences may be surprised in how foregrounded the love story is over the ghosts. As they say in the film, it’s not a ghost story, but rather a story with ghosts in it.

As a subgenre gothic subject matter has pervaded throughout film (Interview With the Vampire, The Shining, The Woman in Black), television (“Dark Shadows,” “Penny Dreadful,” “Hellsing”), comics (The Secrets of Sinister House, Tomb of Dracula, Creepy), music (Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, The Cure) and gaming (Castlevania, Ravenloft, Bloodborne). With Crimson Peak del Toro has breathed new life into it, and those who want a crash course in the subgenre can check out the above mentioned or dig deep into the prime cuts which we explore in detail within the gallery below! Included is a quote from the star Mia Wasikowska herself where she reveals which film she thinks has the most DNA in common with del Toro’s.

Rebecca (1940)

Author Daphne du Murier's work was a direct influence on Crimson Peak, and add in master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock and you have the recipe for one of the most enduring haunted love stories of all-time. Now, when we say "haunted" we mean more in a psychological sense than a literal one, yet the metaphorical ghost of the first Mrs. De Winter definitely weighs heavily on the mind of the second, as played by Joan Fontaine. Her brooding new husband Maximilian (Laurence Olivier), his sprawling Manderley estate and a severe housekeeper named Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) all hold a terrible secret that will not go away.

Dragonwyck (1946)

Along with Wuthering Heights this old Hollywood production is one of the major films del Toro has name-dropped as having influenced his new picture. Like Crimson Peak, Dragonwyck was not a B-picture but a classy affair produced by the legendary Daryl Zanuck and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve). It marked one of the first leading roles for Vincent Price, playing a wealthy land baron who falls in love with his cousin (Gene Tierney), a lowly farmer's daughter. He whisks her away from her religious parents to a life of luxury in a foreboding mansion, shortly after which Price's wife conveniently dies, making way for a new bride. There is only the slightest hint of a ghostly element to the film, although that presence is felt throughout with only a painting and an overarching sense of foreboding to inspire the dread

The Innocents (1961)

In my interview with Mia Wasikowska for Crimson Peak she specifically referenced this film as the one she would most recommend for film fans to watch to get them in the right groove.

"I absolutely love the book it's based on, 'The Turn of the Screw,' and at the end of it you're not sure which perspective is the right one… You've lost your sense of reality," Wasikowska said.

Jack Clayton's film itself is truly terrifying, with Deborah Kerr as a governess in charge of two children who seem to have a preternatural connection with spirits who dwell within their large country estate. The cinematography by Freddie Francis creates a truly eerie atmosphere that grips you from frame one and does not let go until the final shocking scenes.

Curse of the Crying Woman (1961)

Our list dedicated to one of the great Mexican directors' new film wouldn't be complete without an actual movie from Mexico! This B-picture has everything: An eyeless phantom witch woman, ookie spooky fog-drenched atmosphere, a pack of demon dogs, as well as deaths by stabbing, strangling, mauling and a little girl run over by a carriage… and that's only in the first 3-minutes! This decidedly gothic take on the La Llorona ("The Weeping Woman") legend focuses on a young lady and her husband who travel to her aunt's menacing/decrepit country estate only to realize far too late that they've been lured there for dark business indeed.

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Guillermo del Toro lent his voice to narrating this classic 1842 Edgar Allen Poe story in the upcoming animated omnibus Extraordinary Tales, as it has so many elements he loves like dungeons, mechanical terrors and Spanish tyranny. However, Roger Corman's 1961 adaptation barely uses any of the source material, only the title swinging slice-o-matic. Vincent Price plays a man haunted by his father's evil deeds and the death of his sister (Barbara Steele). The moment when her buried-alive body is discovered with a rictus scream was referred to by Stephen King in "Danse Macabre" as "the most important moment in the post-1960 horror film, signaling a return to an all-out effort to terrify the audience."

Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

England's Hammer Studios virtually cornered the market on fog juice when they produced countless gothic horror films throughout the 1960s and into the '70s. Although this one includes neither Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing nor any recognizable name-brand monsters, it does have all the trademarks that made Hammer great: A spooky castle, superstitious locals, heaving bosoms and lots of day-glow bright-red blood. It concerns a newlywed couple (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) that stumbles across an incestuous vampire cult in early 20th-century Bavaria. If that doesn't peak your interest than we don't know what will!

Nightmare Castle (1965)

Although Mario Bava's cult classic Black Sunday put her on the map, it was the string of blatant rip-offs which cemented Barbara Steele's legacy as the saucer-eyed queen of the B's in the 1960s. While neither the best or even the most competent of these Bava knock-offs (see Antonio Margheriti's The Long Hair of Death if you want quality), Nightmare Castle is the most blunt and shocking of its ilk. It revolves around a deranged scientist who murders his cheating raven-haired wife (Steele) with both acid and electricity (!), and then marries her nearly identical blonde sister to get an inheritance and blood in order to rejuvenate his elderly assistant into a young sexpot. The assistant character bears a striking resemblance in both purpose and look to Jessica Chastain's character in Crimson Peak, as does the heroic doctor who comes to Steele's rescue have a similarity to Charlie Hunnam's heroic doctor who comes to Mia Wasikowska's rescue.

Kill, Baby, Kill (1966)

From his earliest short student films Guillermo del Toro has been a devout acolyte of the church of Mario Bava. The oversaturated colors and virtuoso camerawork that were the Italian maestro's trademark are also del Toro's, and one need only look at the bleeding reds and greens and blues in Crimson Peak to see that stylized influence at work. Kill, Baby, Kill is one of several gothic works by Bava, along with Black Sunday and The Whip and the Body, though this 1966 effort features a creepy little dead blonde girl whose ghostly visage was taken by Fellini for his "Toby Dammit" segment in Spirits of the Dead, represented as the guise of Satan in Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, and is a spitting image of Mia Wasikowska's childhood self in Crimson Peak.

Kuroneko (1968)

Gothic horror is gothic horror, whether it's wearing a corset or a kimono. In this Japanese take on a ghost story the fog is as heavy as the dramatic tension when Yone (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law Shige (Kiwako Taichi) are raped and killed by a despicable group of marauding soldiers. The two return as spirits who tantalize the soldiers-turned-samurai into following them to their secluded burnt-down house, then killing them by biting out their throats like cats. When the son/husband returns from battle he is given the task of eliminating the evil spirits, but when he realizes who they are he is conflicted by having to choose between honor and (undead) family.

Gothic (1986)

Mary Shelley is referenced verbally by Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) during an early scene in Crimson Peak as something of a maverick role model for her aspirations as a budding author. Ken Russell's 1986 film tells a fictionalized version of the famous real-life event during the summer of 1816 when Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) invited Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley (Natasha Richardson and Julian Sands) and Dr. John William Polidori (Timothy Spall) to stay at his Swiss Villa and trade ghost stories. From out of these sessions birthed Mary's "Frankenstein" and John's "The Vampyre" (which in turn inspired Bram Stoker's "Dracula") thus giving birth to modern horror as we know it! Of course, the movie's proceedings leave room for Russell's typical surreal dream sequences and explorations of raw sexuality.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

When it comes to sumptuous production design in a horror film, the gold standard is still Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 epic adaptation of the crowning work of vampire literature. Unlike the Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee or Frank Langella versions, Coppola chose to emphasize the romantic elements of Count Dracula over the bloodthirsty-ness, with Gary Oldman portraying the most famous Transylvanian as an almost Shakespearean tragic hero. Roman Coppola's practical, in-camera visual FX work and Eiko Ishioka's striking costumes make this a timeless experience, even though many of the story elements were cribbed from Dan Curtis's 1973 TV production of the book.

Stoker (2013)

Another Mia Wasikowsa flick is in order, especially since her gothic work with del Toro, Tim Burton and Jim Jarmusch has her slowly becoming the living embodiment of an Edward Gorey drawing. As it was, the current corset queen got to wear modern garb for this southern gothic directed by a Korean (Chan-Wook Park) and starring two Australians (Wasikowska and Nicole Kidman) and a Brit (Matthew Goode). The mildly telekinetic bond between niece and uncle is the only supernatural element in the film, although the dangerously unhinged emotional states of all three main characters creates a very twisted family dynamic that del Toro would no doubt appreciate.

The post 12 Gothic Horror Flicks to Watch Before You See CRIMSON PEAK appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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Bloody Knuckles Comes to Blu-ray, DVD, & VOD

AnythingHorror Central

Bloody Knuckles Comes to Blu-ray, DVD, & VOD

The horror-comedy-exploitation film BLOODY KNUCKLES has a release date and this is one that sounds like it is not to be missed!! BLOODY KNUCKLES is written and directed by Matt O (Matt O’Mahoney) and stars Adam Boys, Kasey Ryne Mazak, Ken Tsui, Gabrielle Giraud, Dwayne Bryshun, and Steve Thackray. BLOODY KNUCKLES is slated to drop on October 27, 2015. Check out below for the press release, plot crunch, and trailer. This one looks like a lot of fun!!

A cult film in the making, Matt O’s cheesily sick Bloody Knuckles has been a film festival favorite and has been described as “Vulgar, violent and very funny” by quietearth.us, “Puerile, juvenile, grotesque fun” by allthingshorror.com, “A bloody, funny blast!” by Bloody-Disgusting.com and “A five finger exercise in fun frights” by Fangoria.
 
The film follows a  determinedly offensive cartoonist who gets his hand chopped off by a humorless crime lord. But the severed hand comes back to life (think of it as a demented Resurrection parable) to seek revenge on evil-doers. With plenty of dark humor and eye-popping violence, Bloody Knuckles makes for a totally un-PC, bloody good time.

Artsploitation Films is releasing Bloody Knuckles on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD on October 27th.

BLOODY KNUCKLES

Street date: 10/27/15

DVD UPC: 851597006117 BLU UPC: 851597006162

DVD SRP: $24.99 BLU SRP: $29.99

Synopsis: Travis, an underground comic book artist with a penchant for obscene caricatures, upsets a Chinatown crime lord who responds by cutting off the young man’s hand. As a despondent, drunken Travis wallows in post-severed hand depression, his decomposing limb returns to life and is determined to exact revenge. Soon, Travis and his mischievous appendage join forces with a masked S&M superhero to rid the city of evil. Filmmaker Matt O.’s debut feature strips Canada of its “land of nice” image with this deliriously offensive, gory, and happily un-PC horror-comedy! Bonus features: Director’s Commentary, Featurettes, Trailer

Dig on the trailer:

Stay Bloody!!!

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