Film is Truth 24 Times a Second

Here’s a quick rundown of my Halloween picks:

Black Christmas — John Carpenter’s Halloween has been called the first slasher film, but not only is that claim an inaccurate description of his movie, it also excludes the many antecedents to that dubious title. Bob Clark’s Black Christmas was certainly the first english-language film to set that template, and it holds up very well despite the glut of charmless, unpleasant imitators. More here and here.

Black Sunday (1960) — Mario Bava might actually deserve the credit for the modern slasher film, though in his native Italy it is called giallo. Bava’s Black Sunday, while more of a gothic horror, was the first film to genuinely frighten me as a child. Viewing it as an adult, it’s pretty silly, but remains extraordinaly well-made. Tim Burton basically owes his entire career to the look of this film. More here and here.  

Face of Another — My favorite Japanese director is Hiroshi Teshigahara, and of the handful of films he made, only this one could be even loosely labelled a horror film, though it’s as much a science-fiction film, like Frankenstein. Psychedelic, absurd, terribly sad. More here and here.

The Ghost Breakers — This title is pure cornball, but I have soft spot (my brain) for Bob Hope. There’s a black character who’s portrayed in a pretty irredeemable way, but besides that and one or two jokes that fall flat, this is still great, equally funny and creepy. More here and here.

The Holy Mountain (1973) — Indescribably outrageous, nonsensical, contrived, pretentious, vulgar, obscene, blasphemous… no list of adjectives seems able to aptly sum up this film. More here and here.

In A Glass Cage — Highly disturbing psycho/political allegory, not necessarily grotesque or even explicit in its violence, but the unpleasant implications and stunning imagery lodge themselves in your mind like the worst bad dream. Do not watch if you’re averse to seeing children tortured and involved in sexually suggestive situations. More here and here.

Inland Empire — One of David Lynch’s best films, and certainly his most frightening. Close-ups of enormous faces mask the cavernous spaces always present behind them, a nightmare photographed in a mirror. My favorite film of the year. More here and here.

The Seventh Victim – Val Lewton was a film producer who managed to stamp all of his projects - regardless of director - with his own style and concerns. This film isn’t as well-known as his Cat People or I Walked With a Zombie, but it’s every bit as good, sort of an Eyes Wide Shut for the 1940s. More here and here.

Sleepaway Camp — Do not read anything about this film, just watch it. The less you know, the better. I’m not saying it’s good, but it’s… well, it’s something.

Spider Baby — Jack Hill is a great director: The Big Doll House, Coffy, Foxy Brown, The Swinging Cheerleaders, Switchblade Sisters, and this utterly bizarre flick. Forget about Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino (both of whom fawningly cast this film’s brilliant Sid Haig in their own, later movies), Hill is the real deal. More here and here.

R. Kelly: Trapped in the Closet — I have no idea how this got on here.

This entry was posted by Jeffrey on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 2:20 am and is filed under Halloween, Lists, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.