13th
Horror Movies on Netflix
It’s almost Halloween and people are looking for scary movies to watch. One popular place to watch movies these days is via Netflix, especially their Instant Streaming fare. But finding good scary movies, as opposed to direct-to-DVD movies you’ve never heard of, can be difficult.
Partly it’s because availability can shift, with movies becoming available and then disappearing. The inventory is all over the map, with only couple of random odd films available from a great director or lesser sequels from a series being available, while the original is not.
Here are a number of horror films that are available right now. Some of these are fun and some will give you nightmares.
Classic Horror from Universal Studios
Dracula (1931)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Silent Classics
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Monster movies
Gojira (1954) This is the original Japanese film that was re-edited for American audiences as Godzilla. Unlike the later goofy man-in-a-rubber-suit movies, this aims for scares,
Them! (1954) The best of the giant animal monster movies of the Fifties. Also, some genuinely eerie scenes in the beginning.
Invaders from Mars (1953) / The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes (1955) / The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) / The Manster (1959) Fun Fifties monster movies.
Vincent Price Movies
Dr. Phibes Rises Again! (1972) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) is a great movie about an evil genius who takes revenge on the doctors who killed his wife by visiting upon them the Ten Plagues of Egypt. This is the sequel, which isn’t quite as good, but is very enjoyable.
Theater of Blood (1973) A rather similar film, as a Shakespearean actor takes revenge on a group of critics, killing each in a manner borrowed from Shakespeare’s plays.
Witchfinder General (1968) Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a real English witchhunter who operated during the time of the English Civil War in the 17th century. Its horrors are those of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.
The Last Man on Earth (1964) An adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, about a plague of vampirism. The book was also made as The Omega Man in 1971 and as a Will Smith vehicle in 2007.
House on Haunted Hill (1959) I am such a sucker for William Castle films. Price plays a millionaire who offers five people $10,000 to stay a night in a haunted house. Scary stuff happens and there’s a big fakeout at the end. Totally enjoyable.
The Fly (1958) Great classic ending. Later remade by David Cronenberg as The Fly (1986).
The Undead
Night of the Living Dead (1968) Naturally, the most famous zombie movie of all time. If you watch The Last Man on Earth and Carnival of Souls (1962), you’ll see distinct influences.
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) Dan O’Bannon’s dark comic sequel is both very funny and very unnerving.
The Evil Dead (1981) Not about zombies, but about dead people animated by demons. Two sequels (Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness) focused more on the absurdity of the story, but the original is quite taut in its terror.
English Horror
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) British horror anthology from Amicus Productions, followed by others, such as The House That Dripped Blood (1970), Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973). Similar films include Tales That Witness Madness (1973), which is also from director Freddie Francis.
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) Hammer Films really revitalized the horror genre in the late Fifties with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). They made six more Frankenstein movies, which properly focus on Victor Frankenstein. Horror of Dracula (1958) was similarly successful and was followed by other vampire movies, including Dracula A.D. 1972 and Vampire Circus. Other Hammer films include X the Unknown, Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb and To the Devil a Daughter.
The Vampire Lovers (1970) A lesbian-themed vampire story from Hammer, based on Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, as was the earlier Blood and Roses (1960) (not a Hammer production), directed by Roger Vadim, who directed And God Created Woman (1956) and Barbarella (1968).
Asian Horror
Thirst (2009) South Korean film about a priest that gets turned into a vampire.
I Saw the Devil (2010) South Korean film about a secret agent who pursues the serial killer who murdered his fiancée.
Tell Me Something (2000) South Korean movie about a detective pursuing a serial killer who likes to cut up the bodies and leave pieces around town.
Audition (1999) Controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike’s story of a widower seeking a new wife. Not just violent, but very perverse and disturbing. Scary as hell. Not for the faint-hearted.
Whispering Corridors (1998) South Korea, again! A series of mysterious deaths occur at an all-girls school. The film’s original title was Yeogo Goedam, which translates to Girls’ High School Ghost Story. Followed by a series of sequels, each of which has nothing in common, other than being set at an all-girls school: Whispering Corridors 2: Memento Mori, Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs, Whispering Corridors 4: Voice, and Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge.
Horror from the Eighties
The Fog (1980) From director John Carpenter. A ghost story with pirates.
An American Werewolf in London (1981) Directed by John Landis. Manages to be classic and contemporary at the same time, mixing humor and horror.
The Thing (1982) Another from Carpenter, a remake of The Thing from Another World (1951). Not from the Eighties, and not horror, but you should also watch Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988) Directed by George A. Romero. The psychological horrors of your darkest thoughts coming true.
Random Titles
The Exorcist (1973) Everyone knows this one, right?
Session 9 (2001) A creepy descent into madness, as an asbestos removal team cleans up an abandoned psychiatric hospital.
Deathdream (1974) Also known as Night Walk, The Night Andy Came Home, The Veteran, and Whispers. It’s essentially an adaptation of W.W. Jacob’s famous short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” only about a soldier killed in Vietnam, who is pulled back home.
Let the Right One In (2008) Swedish film about a young vampire who befriends her neighbor. Remade in America as Let Me In (2010).
