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Perhaps my horror jag has gone on a little longer than a week, but it has been a pleasant surprise stumbling upon some gems from Hammer Film Productions. Hammer was a British production company responsible for the Hammer Horror films of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, featuring, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in many prominent roles. What follows is a summary of my first three Hammer experiences. As a horror fan I’m embarrassed to say that aside from a few clips, I’ve never watched a complete Hammer film until this past week.

I won’t go into too many details, but those looking for some great horror should really check out these films.

Horror of Dracula (1958) stars Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) is another Cushing-Lee double team.

The Devil Rides Out (1968) stars Lee in one of his very few performances as the hero.

In the case of the first two films, I highly recommend them over their Universal counterparts. It’s unfortunate that it has taken me so long to get around to them, but I’m really glad I’ve finally got a taste for Hammer, and it’s a taste that won’t be going away soon.

Tomorrow I’m kicking back with a buddy and will plow through some top scary movies in honor of halloween. I thought I’d share some of the picks for tomorrow and I’d love to hear what movies get you going.

First up is Drag Me to Hell (2009), which I only caught for the first time a few weeks ago. I won’t say too much about this film other than it’s everything that’s right with horror movies. Sam Raimi really knocked this beast out of the park and it makes me sad to think that we have to wait at least until Spiderman 4 is done before we’ll even have the chance to see more of this goodness. Drag Me to Hell is an excellent viewing experience and has a great mix of thrills, outlandish tongue in cheek humor, and also sincerity. I was even more impressed with the film after I found out it came in with a PG-13 rating.
Next up is a little classic that’s near and dear to my heart, John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece The Thing. I watched this less than three weeks ago but it’s a necessary inclusion in any scary movie marathon. Carpenter’s masterful construction is the ultimate suspense horror/sci-fi film. The practical effects are beyond excellent and hold up quite well. One of my favorite elements, however, is the tense and jarring soundtrack.
Next we’ll jump 10 years in the future to Candyman (1992). After skipping over this film for so long I was fortunate to finally sit down with it a few years back. The film does a wonderful job guiding the viewer through the different transitions of the Candyman from demon, to urban legend, to reality. Candyman gets some slack from hardcore horror fans but it holds its own and presents some shocking visuals to boot.
Halloween (1978) is another John Carpenter flick, and is perhaps a cliched addition to a halloween movie list. I’ve got a lot more respect for this film over the past few years especially after looking past Michael Myers as the antagonist and instead paying more attention to how Carpenter portrayed and directed “The Shape.”

I’ve also got some new picks lined up because it’s always nice to find something new to add to the rotation. It’s my hope that at least one of these will be decent.

Rec (2007). Spanish zombie movie, as far as I can tell.

Trick ‘r Treat (2008). Appropriately themed horror anthology.

Here are some other notable scares to check out if you haven’t already.

In The Mouth of Madness (1994). Yet another Carpenter flick. A nice mix of Lovecraft, King, and Carpenter. I really regret not catching this one sooner.

Night of the Demon (1957). I overlooked this gem for too long. Enjoyable demon film noir. Still brings in the scares.

Lastly, I’m going to check out Seconds (1966), and The Innocents (1961) today on recommendation from the thoroughly enjoyable Horror Etc Podcast, which I highly recommend for anyone looking for a good discussion of horror films.

::update::The Innocents was quite good. I made the mistake of thinking it was inspired by The Turn of the Screw while in reality it was pretty much a straight adaptation. Big trivia: Truman Capote assisted with the screenplay.