I Walked with a Zombie (1943): James Ellison, Frances Dee and Tom Conway. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, Screenplay by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, based on a story by Inez Wallace.

No, I personally, did not. This is the first post in a series called "31 Days of Horror", or 31 horror films you should rush out and rent as soon as you can, whether you have seen them or not. For the film fan, it will certainly help make October a little less gloomy.

Long before the time when zombies were decaying creatures gnawing at human flesh (purely a creation of George A. Romero and his friends, but we'll get to that in a later post), Producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur crafted this spooky, atmospheric tale, set in the Caribbean. This was their follow-up to 1942's "The Cat People" which cemented the team as masters of horror-noir. Lewton-Tourneur films stand out starkly against other B-movies of the era. There is just something of an otherworldly elegance to them, the same way the literary works of H.P. Lovecraft pale in comparison to other horror stories.

The story follows a Canadian nurse (I mention her nationality only because it's fairly rare to find Canadian characters in films) to Saint Sebastian where she is to care for a plantation owner's wife who is suffering from some undisclosed catatonic illness. As the moody story progresses, we begin to realize that the undisclosed illness may in fact be a voodoo curse and that the woman has become a zombie.

More of a supernatural drama than a horror thriller, the film does not have any monsters, but is still unsettling. The story is partially inspired by "Jane Eyre", but brings a modern flavor, dense emotional and historical elements and a sensitive representation of native people that was unheard of at the time. On the horror side, it's all about what's lurking in the shadows that you can't see (very much like "The Cat People" and "The Leopard Man") rather than what's jumping out at you.

The film deals with the clash of Western and Voodoo cultures and works incredibly well because it is a credible film dealing with the incredible. Later films, such as "The Exorcist" would approach their subject matter in the same manner; the film draws you in (almost hypnotically), lays out the facts and has you base your own conclusions as the story unfolds.

"Haunting" is the best word to describe this film, in which, large stretches go without dialogue, just chanting or wind effects. The mood is the real star, and carries you on the kind of unsettling journey that's only hinted-at in the similarly-themed 1940's films of Hitchcock.

"I Walked with a Zombie" is a nice starting point to the works for two horror masters and the perfect compliment to a dark October evening.

Get it at Amazon.com:
I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher

Dracula (1931): Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan. Directed by Tod Browning, based on the play by John L. Balderston and Hamilton Deane, in turn inspired by the novel by Bram Stoker.

If you don't like the monsters Universal Studios unleashed onto the world starting in 1931, culminating in the 1950's, you'll probably want to make yourself scarce on Thursdays, as we'll be looking at a different classic monster here every Thursday for the rest of this month! But then again, stick around, maybe you might learn something and gain a new appreciation.

A lifelong fan of the Universal monsters, Dracula has always been my least favorite. I guess it's something I've carried along since childhood; when I could choose from Frankenstein or the Mummy, why would I care about a so-called monster that just looked like this pale, creepy guy who didn't even have fangs (for Bela Lugosi's vampire, at least in the original 1931 film, never showed his teeth)? I have, however, carried the respect deserved to Mr. Lugosi and his portrayal, and his many classic monster movie portrayals after this.

Then, the other night, I had 80 minutes or so to kill and needed to find a short movie, and was in the mood for a classic, so I thought I'd give Tod Browning's third talkie another shot.

Amazingly, it was like I'd never seen the film before. Sure, I knew everything that was going to happen before it happened, being more than familiar with the Bram Stoker story and the Hamilton Deane/John L. Balderston play upon which it was based, but I kept thinking these scenes were scenes that were from subsequent versions (like the multiple Hammer productions, the 1979 production starring Frank Langella and the terribly mis-cast Francis Coppola film), but here they were in the Lugosi original. Funny the tricks your mind can play on you. Even though I'd last seen the film less than 10 years ago (with it's first major remastered DVD release), I'd always recalled it as just being a bunch of guys standing around in rooms talking, but, amazingly, it clips around all over the place, from location to location, nearly more than "Frankenstein", which, when you come right down to it, plays out on four or five sets. Both films budgets were severely affected by the depression, but "Dracula" still gives a terrific sense that it's something larger than a cheap horror movie.

But most surprising of all was Lugosi's portrayal of the Transylvanian count. When he enters the room, all the other players immediately go out of focus, and, like his character, all your attention hypnotically drills to him. Amazing for an actor in their first major film role, and with no other role (although, arguably "White Zombie" and "The Black Cat" were close seconds) would he carry such presence.

I tried watching it without having all those years of Lugosi impersonations ("I beed you velcome") running through my head, but it's impossible; Lugosi made the role his own and made his Dracula unforgettable, worldwide. This was a gift as well as a curse, or it's a role, even though his career was eclipsed by Karloff after the release of "Frankenstein", he would always be "Dracula". But Lugosi did not see this as a curse. I was recently leafing through an old issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland and came across a multiple page spread of a studio press questionnaire that was filled out in his own hand. In response to the question, 'What is your favorite role?" his response, "Count Dracula".

"Dracula", itself, can be considered the first bona fide horror film. Considered a major gamble at the time, monsters and the supernatural had previously been played in Hollywood films, mainly for laughs, or at least with some sort of human explanation (like it was all a dream, or the twist ending of one of Browning's other vampire films, "London After Midnight"), "Dracula", with its real supernatural monster, virtually no comedy (unless you count the so-called comic relief of the attendant who looks after Renfield), and climax in a decaying tomb, was a massive success for Universal and started a trend of monster movies that would make it famous.

In the 1960's, as "Dracula" and these other Universal horror films began to make their way onto television, a new monster trend started (fueled, perhaps in no small part, by Forrest J Ackerman and Monster World and Famous Monsters of Filmland), birthing a whole new generation of monster film fans of which I am proud to be a part of.

Get it at Amazon.com:
Dracula - The Legacy Collection (Dracula / Dracula (1931 Spanish Version) / Dracula's Daughter / Son of Dracula / House of Dracula)

The Thing (1982): Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David. Directed by John Carpenter, Screenplay by Bill Lancaster, based on the novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr.

No, I can't believe that there's a remake on my list of 31 horror films either ... well, I guess re-imagining from the original source material (the novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr that the original 1951 film was based on) is more appropriate in this case as we're pretty much dealing with a completely different monster.

There are two kinds of horror films: there are films that scare your pants off and then there are films that are just plain cool. John Carpenter already proved that he could be scary back in 1978, so this film, in my books anyway, is just plain cool. The goal of the film, whose very slim, yet fairly gripping storyline is that there is a shapeshifting monster among the inhabitants of an isolated Antarctic research station, is: just how many different ways can you make a dangerous weapon out of the human body? Despite the fact that I have a very warm place in my heart for the Howard Hawks original, "The Thing from Another World", Carpenter's film does it one better with each and every different form the creature takes being more inventive than the last. At the time, the effects (by Rob Bottin and the late, great Stan Winston) were lauded as being state-of-the-art, but more horrific than audiences could take, which built a bit of a reputation around the film. In '82, the bulk of movie-going audiences were off seeing "ET - The Extraterrestrial", but when the film hit home video, it became an instant cult classic.

Once again, like in a lot of film on this list of 31, isolation plays a key factor in the suspense: there are a certain number of people, more or less stranded in one place, and one of them is a monster. Carpenter, with a great script by Bill Lancaster, keeps you guessing, right up until the very end (and beyond, actually), even having you question the main character and supposed "hero" of the film at times. In all, it's a masterful pairing of a terrific story with amazing over-the-top gore. Why settle for one over the other?

Amazingly, Universal has blocked all attempts at a remake over the years, keeping Carpenter well in the loop. However, it's emerged recently that plans are underway to re-imagine John Carpenter's "The Thing" (which, as I've already said, was a re-imagining itself), I'm sure, with a full CGI creature rampaging through it. I might be old fashioned, but I think part of the charm of this film is that the creature and its various forms are "real", not impossible optical effects added in post. Oh well. Guess you can't complain too much about remaking a remake. Strangely, it won't be the only film on this list that was remade more than once ...

Get it at Amazon.com:
The Thing (Collector's Edition)

Carrie (1976): Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie and William Katt. Directed by Brian De Palma, Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen, based on the novel by Stephen King.

Starting with "The Exorcist" and furthered by "Jaws", it seemed like every fifth film out of Hollywood in the 1970's was a supernatural thriller of some kind. Horror films were experiencing a resurgence and with each new one, new ground was being broken. You can nearly plot a clear path of development from one film to the next that end up with "Carrie", but, for whatever reason, "Carrie" stands out — even today.

The film was the first adaptation of a novel by new writer, Stephen King, and tapped into an area that had not yet been tackled in horror films, namely, a young outcast in a high school setting. Director Brian De Palma, who'd previously gained some critical success with his Hitchcock-esque thriller "Sisters" approached the material almost like a teenage comedy that just happened to have some strange supernatural elements thrown in, and it works amazingly well; even if you are thrown off-kilter slightly after the opening title sequence where Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is mocked by her classmates in the changing room shower, the soft-focus, brightly colored images of middle-America high school life lull you into a sense of safety. You think maybe you're going to see a kind of revenge drama, Carrie using her telekinetic powers to get back at her classmates, and that's basically what you get, but with each revenge act and ramping-up of her classmates' actions, "Carrie" cranks down into a darker world, culminating with prom night where we're a million miles away from the bright world we started in.

"Carrie" has appeared on many 10-best lists over the years, and deservedly so. It's a class piece of filmmaking from beginning to end and stands as one of De Palma's best (and least self-indulgent) works. The performances, although purposely hokey at times, are perfectly suited to the material, and the shocks and scares, especially the ending — which still makes me jump no matter how many times I see it — are perfectly timed.

A gigantic box-office hit, the film was even nominated for multiple Academy Awards, a rarity for a horror film, which only goes to show you how popular horror and the supernatural was becoming in popular culture at the time ("The Omen" was be released the same year).

And, yes, like many of the films on this list, "Carrie" was the subject on not only a bad sequel, but also a TV remake (which tacked on a new ending to allow for a "Carrie" TV series!). Thankfully, it appears that both those efforts have been buried and lost in time, the original still holding its own to repeated viewings and new fans alike.

Get it at Amazon.com:
Carrie (Special Edition)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy. Directed by Philip Kaufman, Screenplay by W.D. Richter, based on the novel by Jack Finney.

Wow, another remake made my list. I'm honestly as shocked as you are. As with "The Thing", though, Philip Kaufman's 1978 re-imagining of the classic 1956 film is as good as the original. Maybe the difference between remaking films then, as opposed to today, is a matter of respect, in this case, with the inclusion of Kevin McCarthy's character at one point in the middle of the film, making it seem almost like the original still matters and this is merely a continuation of the story. I would say both films are perfect companions to each other and if you're in the mood for a double bill, see them both together (I know I have on occasion).

This film seems to be the result of the right thing at just the right time. The year previous, "Star Wars" blew all box office predictions out of the water at a time when supernatural movies were getting all the press, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" had just been released and now the movie-going public was thinking of aliens and outer space, but still had a healthy appetite for horror. So why not mix the two?

The public climate was just right as well. Where the 1956 original played on Communist fears dredged up by the raging Cold War, America was now in the grip of post-Vietnam, post-Watergate paranoia, mistrusting "the establishment", and losing a bit of its identity. What better subject matter for a film could you have than pods from outer space replacing everyone you know with emotionless exact duplicates?

Kaufman manages to inject just the right amount of dread into what is basically B-movie material cranking the tension very slowly to its climax and ultra-creepy final shots.

This remake has been remade not once, but twice! That's four in total, if you lost count. The original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in 1956, this 1978 remake, a 1993 remake, "Body Snatchers" (which plays out more like a sequel I guess) starring Meg Tilly, that, despite its able (no pun intended) direction by Abel Ferrara never quite hits the mark that the previous two did. Lastly, 2007's universally panned "The Invasion" with Nicole Kidman, I guess called "Invasion" because the previous sequel was called "Body Snatchers". I guess the next remake will be "Of The".

Get it at Amazon.com:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Night of the Living Dead (1968): Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, and Marilyn Eastman. Directed by George A. Romero, Screenplay by John A. Russo and George A. Romero.

Not the first zombie movie ever made, but the first to introduce the undead as a worldwide plague, making Romero the father of the modern zombie.

"Night of the Living Dead" is a perfect example of how much can be done with very little. Made pretty much on a whim by Romero and his business partners (John Russo, Russell Streiner, Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman) at Latent Image in between corporate videos and commercials. The crew doubled-up on tasks and pitched in where they could. Hardman has said, since they couldn't afford to do a film where the characters went out and came across horror, "The best that we could do was to place our cast in a remote spot and then bring the horror to be visited on them in that spot".

The result is a film that represents a turning point in the American horror film where the monsters entered the realm of everyday America (on a budget). Like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which would follow, the very fact that the film is crudely shot only helps add to the terror of the situation. "Night of the Living Dead" hit at the right point in history, when Americans were looking at similar horror on the nightly news (shot similarly in black and white) from Vietnam. Quite a few high brow film critics over the years have drawn a direct correlation between the film and what was going on in America in the late 60's. All-in-all, a bit of a stretch. Trie, the filmmakers were of a certain age and sentiment, but it's probably due more to the fact that the film found life on the midnight movie circuit, frequented by trendy intellectuals and radicals alike who may have thought they needed a reason to be watching a horror film, other than the sheer thrill of it.

"Night of the Living Dead" spawned sequels that are still being produced today, as well as numerous imitators (not to mention remakes as well). There are more than a couple of stand-out scenes and quotable lines in the film ("They're coming to get you Barbara") but what makes "Night of the Living Dead" for me is the ending - no spoilers - which instantly elevates it above any other quickie horror film that was being made at the time to the level of "film" (rather than movie). It's one of the few horror films in the last 100 years that can even claim this I think.

Due to a last minute title change by the distributor, the film fell into public domain immediately upon it's release. Subsequent to this, you can legally download it for free off the Internet from archive.org, which has a mind-numbing array of other public domain feature films available for immediate (legal) download.

Torso (1973): Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont and Luc Merenda. Directed by Sergio Martino, Screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi and Sergio Martino.

Not to be confused with the rumored David Fincher project about Elliot Ness hunting a serial killer. "Torso", also, more creatively known as "I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale" ("Bodies bear traces of carnal violence"), is a little known Italian gore movie that is notable, maybe not as a perfectly executed film as a whole (it's definitely not), but for a couple of really genius sequences which have gone on to inspire other films and filmmakers.

If you're anything like me (and I do pity you for that) and you enjoyed "Haute Tension" up to the point of its impossibly-stupid and not-well-thought-out-at-all "twist" ending, then you'll love "Torso" with it's impossibly-stupid and nearly-difficult-to-understand opening, but brilliant, frightening second half. It's funny I should mention "Haute Tension" because one scene in "Torso" in particular is blatantly stolen for one of its better scenes.

"Torso" goes through great (and sometimes baffling) effort to set up its basic premise, which is a killer on the loose and a house full of beautiful women who like taking off their clothes a lot, but once it does this, the real "high tension", Italian style starts. It's basically nearly laughable light entertainment that slowly takes a turn into something uncomfortable and frightening, basically a definition of what good horror is, and Sergio Martino knows exactly what he is doing here, mixing beauty and unspeakable horror to great effect.

Italian Giallo films are a whole sub-genre of their own, exemplified by the likes of Dario Argento and Mario Bava. While I've included only one film for each director on this list of 31, they're all infinitely watchable if you're a fan of the horror or gore genres.

Try and find a copy of "Torso", if you can. Even if you haven't seen or aren't a rabid fan of "yellow films", you'll still enjoy this as a piece of good 1970's horror filmmaking.

Get it at Amazon.com:
TORSO. UNCUT RESTORED VERSION.