My take: Top-of-the-line Frankenstein story that is now going to be part of my regular rotation of horror films to watch.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

I’d heard of Hammer Horror over the years. When you watch a lot of horror movies, you simply can’t avoid it. It crops up in magazines, in documentaries and all over the Internet. But until recently, I had not actually watched a Hammer Horror picture. I knew that Christopher Lee was in them, and I had heard the name Peter Cushing. But I didn’t get it. Now I feel like I do, and I am pissed off at myself for waiting so long to watch one of these.

Frankenstein (right) and Paul Krempe (left), his tutor/partner, creating life in The Curse of Frankenstein.

The Curse of Frankenstein is, obviously, about Baron Victor Frankenstein and his creation of a monster. We all know the story. It’s entrenched in our popular culture. As a result, it is very difficult to tell the story and do anything new or interesting with it. Hammer Film Productions made something new and they did it well.

What makes it different? Frankenstein is portrayed as a driven, obsessed man who will go to any lengths to create a human life from nothing. This includes grave robbing, purchasing of black market body parts and even murder. The monster, played by Christopher Lee is realistically grotesque and utterly different from the classic Boris Karloff version of the creature. The story is rich, complex and thought provoking from beginning to end.

If you have not seen this version of the classic monster story of Frankenstein, I recommend that you do. I would recommend this to anyone who like classic horror, monster movies, mad scientist stories and just plain good horror.

I got a copy of the Curse of Frankenstein from Netflix’s DVD service, and it is also available on DVD. Here’s the trailer from when it was released in the late 50s:

My take: An interesting tale of witchcraft and demon summoning.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Curse of the Demon, also known as Night of the Demon in the UK, is a pretty basic, run-of-the-mill demonology movie. There’s a cult, a skeptic and a curse.  It’s got a creepy cult leader who reminds me of Charles Laughton in Island of Lost Souls and a bit of Otho in Beetlejuice. There’s a seance and an ancient book that holds evil spells to invoke demons. The story as a whole reminded me of Drag Me to Hell, The Ninth Gate and other demon-summoning stories.

Demonic cult leader Karswell and his familiar (aka his kitty).

The movie is about an American psychologist/skeptic named John Holdin. Holdin is brought to the UK by Professor Harrington to investigate a new demonic cult. But when Holdin gets to England, he finds Harrington died under mysterious circumstances. As he looks into Harrington’s death, with Harrington’s pretty blonde daughter by his side, he finds that Harrington had been cursed by the cult leader. Now,  the leader of the cult is after Holdin, and Holdin discovers a similar curse has been placed on him.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good demonology or satanic cult movie. I rented a copy online via Amazon and it is available from other similar sources. Here’s the trailer:

Don’t be put off by the cheesy looking demon in the trailer. The movie does a good job building suspense in spite of the limits of 1950s effects.

My take: This film is full of classic science fiction scares. Even if you have seen later versions, this is still a good one to watch.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

I know that I’ve seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers before. I think I’d seen the one from the 70s or even the one with the shorter title “Body Snatchers” from 1993. So, I was a bit nervous about seeing an older version from the 1950s. But I was wrong. It still holds up and it is worth watching.

Miles and his busty love interest, Becky, flee the alien menace in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

It does have a few odd features that remind me of a Twilight Zone episode:

• The story is told as a flashback
• The main character narrates over the flashback pointing out the mistakes he made and describing his feelings
• The main character also looks a bit like Rod Serling, with his slicked-back hair, suit and tie (see above)

But even with all of the 1950s stereotypes, it is a solid story that is full of good creepiness.

The story follows Miles, a doctor who returns home after a convention to find the town changed. While he was away, many patients called with urgent ailments that seem to have mysteriously stopped; everyone is suddenly healthy as can be. There are also a slew of townsfolk who believe that their loved ones and relatives are not themselves. A boy runs from his mother, yelling that she is not his mom. A young woman believes that her uncle is not himself because he is devoid of emotion.

The doctor slowly uncovers an alien plot to take over the planet and replace us all with clones. It’s a downright terrifying idea, that is done well even with the limited effects of the 50s. Even having seen later versions with stronger effects, this story still holds up and it is downright creepy to see the clone people developing.

For this reason, I would recommend the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to fans of monster movies, scary science fiction and classic horror.

I watched it online on this site. Here is the trailer on YouTube:

My take: If you like thrillers of any sort, see this movie. It is a masterpiece of tension, mystery and suspense. Seriously, go see it.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

Diabolique is the 34th movie in the book Studies in Terror, and I have been waiting for it. This is because I had seen it before, years ago, and absolutely loved it. On a second viewing, it did not disappoint.

The wife and mistress in Diabolique.

It follows the story Christina Delasalle, a young woman with a bad heart who is married to an absolute brute of a man. Her husband, Michel Delasalle, is physically and emotionally abusive. He is also flagrantly unfaithful to Christina. His current mistress is Nicole, a teacher at the school the Delasalles own. Their affair is known to everyone, including Christina, resulting in an uncomfortable triangle of love and hate.

But Nicole is also mistreated by Michel, and this creates a bond between the two women. Working together, they devise a complicated plot to rid themselves of Michel once and for all.

The story moves quickly, keeping a brisk pace throughout. The characters, especially Christina, are so well played and developed, that you are quickly wrapped up in the story. And some scenes are downright cathartic if you like revenge stories. These three elements make it an absolutely fascinating film to watch, and it is one that I know that I will watch many times in the future. It’s that good.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers, murder mysteries, and suspense. I watched it on Hulu, but you can also get it via disc from Netflix. While you can find the trailer on YouTube, I thought this 3 Reasons video by the Criterion Collection was even better at evoking the feeling of the film: