My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: The Exorcist

The Exorcist
Dir: William Friedkin. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, and Jack MacGowran. 1973

"Something beyond comprehension is happening to a little girl on this street, in this house."

In a sense, The Exorcist is the hardest of my favourite horror films to write about. It has been so thoroughly discussed and it looms so large in my horror history that it’s difficult to know where to start. I truly love this movie, however, so what I feel I can add to the writing about it is this – The Exorcist was the first movie I encountered that I knew was beyond my understanding. As a 12 or 13-year old, I knew that what I was seeing was introducing me to things for which I had neither a reference nor a compass to navigate, and that quite possibly what I was seeing could have a lasting negative effect on me. That is to say that in the short term I feared nightmares; in the long term I feared scarring my psyche. My response was not unlike that of many adults at the time of The Exorcist's release. It’s this kind of reaction that most horror movies reach for, but too few achieve. Today, some complain that the absolutely necessary and beautiful prologue in Iraq is too slow moving. Today, some laugh at the film’s horrific sequences or deride them with a “that’s no big deal” attitude. Make no mistake - laughter was a response the film sometimes earned on its initial release too, sometimes as a result of its extreme imagery, sometimes as a relief after making it through another onscreen challenge, and sometimes, I suppose, because some people just don't buy into the film at all. Despite that, I'm willing to bet that each time the film is screened for a crowd today there is someone who is being terrified by The Exorcist, someone who can feel the impact of watching helplessly as a person they love is brutalized, of watching that person become someone else, of losing the people they love as Karras loses his mother and Chris McNeil loses her daughter.

To get a glimpse of audience reaction to The Exorcist in 1973, click here. For an account of my first half-viewing of The Exorcist, click here.

My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: The Devils

The Devils
Dir: Ken Russell. Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Gemma Jones and Michael Gothard. 1971

The Devils is Ken Russell at his most controlled and his most out of control. It’s a fever movie about fervor that kicked off the Nunsploitation craze of the 1970’s, outraged some and invigorated others. To this day, Warner Bros., the studio that released the film in 1971, has still not released a subsequent completely uncut version of The Devils, and in fact, the studio seems to regard it as some family shame to be locked away and never spoken of. That’s too bad, because it’s one of the greatest films they’ve ever produced. The major controversy surrounding The Devils relates to its portrayal of religion as cruel, vengeful, and morally repulsive, but I think there’s more to it than that. Wrapped around its central theme is a nightmare version of what can happen when love, lust and infatuation get out of control, an unsettling representation of the joy we find in punishing people for perceived arrogance, and a none too subtle look at our lust for bloodshed. These elements combined make for a strong tonic of a movie that hits its viewer on multiple levels so that you never know which wound to tend to at any given time.

My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: Deep Red

Deep Red
Dir: Dario Argento. Starring David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia. 1975

I saw this - my first Argento – during the VHS boom of the 1980’s. It had all the gore that I’d come to expect from my beloved Italian horror imports, but Deep Red also had suspense, a plot with entertaining twists and turns, and sequences that have rightfully become classics of the horror genre. What perhaps appealed to me the most, though, was that this is a movie painted with broad strokes – bright colours, a first rate pounding score from Goblin, bizarre close-ups, extreme violence, ripe dialogue, broad characters – all elements that actually serve to showcase Argento at the top of his game as a director. After all, we watch Argento movies to be thrilled, to see where he’s going to take his camera next. Present too in Deep Red are some of Argento’s favourite themes – the outsider/artist involved in a murder investigation, the protagonist struggling to unravel that one piece of information he’s misinterpreted, and murder as terrible beauty. What these pieces add up to for me is the ultimate Dario Argento movie, aided in no small way by his then-wife, star, and co-writer, Daria Nicolodi.

My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: Cat People

Cat People
Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Starring Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph. 1942

Producer Val Lewton was responsible for creating a string of literate horror films in the 40’s that transcended their studio-imposed titles and delivered highbrow chills. For me, Cat People is the stand out, though all are essential horror movie viewing, especially The Body Snatcher, I Walked With a Zombie and The Seventh Victim. Here, a woman’s fear of sex and intimacy creates the belief that she becomes a wild panther whenever she responds to these impulses. Or does she actually transform when her emotions are heightened? The addition of a few seconds of film required by RKO lessens the mystery, but only does minimal damage to the film. Blurring the lines between horror and film noir, Cat People features several stand out scenes and plenty of memorable imagery in its brief 73 minute running time.

My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: Carrie

Carrie
Dir: Brian De Palma. Starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving and John Travolta. 1976

Basically a contemporary fairy tale, Stephen King crafted a story with Carrie that is so solid and explores fears that so many people share that it feels like it’s been part of literature’s lexicon for centuries. Working from excellent source material, Brian de Palma edited any literary detours and added his own sensibilities to create one of horror’s classic films, featuring outstanding performances by the entire cast, but particularly by Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. A bullied Carrie unleashes her blossoming telekinetic powers against her high school tormentors and religious fanatic mother in a blood and thunder fairy tale. The prank staged at the prom is one of de Palma’s best Hitchcock influenced montages, using the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much as its source.

My Favourite Horror Movies, Alphabetically: The Brood

The Brood
Dir: David Cronenberg. Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds. 1979

A significant jump for Cronenberg in maturity as a filmmaker while still retaining his early grotty body horror. In other words, a perfect balance of Cronenberg’s arthouse and grindhouse sensibilities. As a filmmaker, Cronenberg has always been at the forefront of doing what horror does best – making metaphors – and The Brood is a prime example with its vengeful rage-made-flesh children pummelling members of a divorcing household to a bloody pulp.

My Favourite Horror Flicks, Alphabetically: Blood & Lace

Blood and Lace
Dir: Philip S. Gilbert. Starring Gloria Grahame, Melody Patterson, Len Leser, Vic Tayback and, in an early and brief appearance, Dennis Christopher. 1971

A nostalgic favourite of mine, not to be confused with Mario Bava's terrific Blood and Black Lace. I saw this on the Late Show when I was approaching double digits and it scared the hell out of me. Ellie’s (Patterson) prostitute mom and a john are bashed by hammer then set on fire in a sequence that is very similar to the opening of John Carpenter’s later Halloween. Ellie is sent to an orphanage where a flame-scarred killer is on the prowl, and the directress (Grahame) is carrying out a sick little scam of her own. Orphan murders, dismemberment, frozen corpses, hammer bashings, a scary-faced killer, and stuff I can’t talk about without giving too much away all add up to create a lurid horror flick that holds a special place in my little black heart.