COOL FLICKS: A List of Movies for Halloween

Don't piss off the gypsy lady! Lorna Raver in Drag Me to Hell

Halloween is right around the corner and I thought I'd make a list of some suitably creepy ghost movies, monster movies and supernatural thrillers that would make the perfect mini film festival for anyone who wants a night filled with scares. My list, not surprising to many of you, features overlooked or under-appreciated movies and does not include the usual movies that crop up year after year on similar lists. I've arranged the films in reverse chronological order and not by my preference which is always difficult for me to do.

Drag Me To Hell (2009) - Hands down one of the best modern horror movies and a throwback to the old 1970s horror movies I loved as a teen. Genuinely scary, surprisingly funny, and completely entertaining. Amazing performance by Lorna Raver as a gypsy woman who curses a poor bank loan officer (Alison Lohman) forced to be cruel in order to keep her job. Directed by horror master Sam Raimi it's a return to his old style of movie making dating back to his Evil Dead days. The musical score by Christopher Young starts off this movie on the perfect eerie note and is one of the best of any horror movie in the past twenty years. Warning: Some very disgusting gross-out scenes that seem to be done more for laughs than scares.

Them (2007) - No, not the movie about the giant ants. A terrifying French film based on a very real and truly horrible news story. Couple rents a house in the Romanian woods and something in the forest doesn't want them in there. This movie scared the crap out of me. It's most successful at being ambiguous about the menacing beings taunting the couple. Are they ghosts? Are they creatures? Are they even human? You don't find out until the final minutes.

The Host (2007) - A fantastic monster movie from Korean filmmaker Joon-Ho Bong. Who knew a monster movie could also be a moving family drama? And it's very funny at times as well.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) - Another Korean movie. This one is one of the best of a slew of Asian horror movies that have been remade as much more inferior American movies. A combination of ghost story and murder mystery with fairy tale influences, this is a movie best seen without knowing a thing about it. Beautifully filmed, top notch acting, and a very original story that packs quite a gasp inducing surprise ending.

Dagon (2001) - The only Lovecraft inspired movie I recommend. I pretty much hate all the rest of them. (Though Call of Cthulhu, a cleverly done silent movie, has some wonderful moments.) Dagon is a blend of the creepy and the goofy and the gory. Campy over-the-top performance from Ezra Gooden in the lead and a very sexy villainess in Raquel Meroño (shown at left). Excellent final sequence so obviously inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s. True cineastes will recognize that the entire movie's look, story and performance style is a homage to the Spanish-made horror movies of the 1970s. Want a real monster movie Halloween treat? Watch this one.

Race with the Devil (1972) - Not exactly supernatural horror but scary all the same. Two couples on vacation in their souped up RV are pursued by members of a devil worshiping cult when they accidentally witness a secret ritual performed in the woods. Great chase scenes and action sequences. Above par for similar 1970s movies but avoiding gore and overuse of special effects and musical cues to scare an audience. I don't think this is available on DVD, though there may be bootleg or homemade versions for sale out there somewhere.

Chris Udvarnoky & Uta Hagen have a little chat in The Other

The Other (1972) - Few good twin/bad twin movies can match this for real chills and horror. Twin brothers Niles and Holland are coached by their eccentric grandmother to play a very special game that calls upon a supernatural power they all share. One of the twins goes a little too far with his game playing. The scenes when the family look for a missing baby have stayed in my memory for decades. Powerful and touching performance from Uta Hagen as the grandmother. And the two boys who play the twins are rather amazing for child actors. Too many movies have ripped off this plot and none of them have really succeeded as well as this true original. Directed by Robert Mulligan best known for To Kill a Mockingbird.  Based on the classic modern horror novel by Thomas Tryon.

Tales from the Crypt (1972) - I have to put this on the list for nostalgia's sake. Images and scenes from this horror movie have been indelibly burned into my memory since I first saw it when I was 11 years old. Five different stories in one movie - all about cruel, nasty or selfish people who get their comeuppance. It's kind of a mixed bag as far as quality frights go, but two of the stories are truly nightmare inducing. The first story with Joan Collins as a woman driven to murderous rage at Christmas time is really a crime story not a horror tale and it's an idea that's been recycled many times. One is a retelling of "The Monkey's Paw", another is a retelling of M. R. James' "Lost Hearts" with Peter Cushing in the lead role. The one with Cushing and another with Nigel Patrick in charge of a home for blind men are the best of the lot.

Horror Hotel (1960) [AKA The City of the Dead] - Spooky story about a college girl researching witchcraft at the creepy Raven's Inn run by the forbidding Mrs. Newliss. Christopher Lee (only a minor role here) and Patricia Jessel turn in top notch performances. Venetia Stephenson as the hapless Nan Barlow is a a great scream queen. This deeply affected me when I first saw it as a teen and over 40 years later I still count it as one of the best horror movies dealing with witches. An underrated classic.

Dead of Night (1945) - "Room for one more, sir." Several people tell stories of strange and weird events in their lives. This, I think, is the granddaddy of all similar anthology horror movies. Two stories are based on E. F. Benson tales, another is from H. G. Wells. Michael Redgrave as a tortured ventriloquist (below) would inspire many, many ventriloquist horror story rip-offs.

The Devil Commands (1941) - Fairly faithful adaptation of the excellent science fiction/horror novel The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane. Mad scientist unable to accept his wife's death goes to great lengths to invent a method of communicating with the dead. Boris Karloff in the lead role as good as ever is supported by Ann Revere (seen at left) who turns in one of her most impressive performances as a manipulative medium. Weird and nightmarish. Too many have dismissed it for being low budget or old-fashioned or stupid (it's not) and completely miss the point of its fantastic and allegorical elements. Directed by film noir pioneer Edward Dmytryk.