Sorry about going so long between posts, my computer crashed and I was forever getting it debugged, defragged and detrojaned, or whatever the heck they call it. Good thing I married a computer techie, otherwise I’d be out of the blogging game. My original intention for this update was to complain about the lack of good Halloween films out there (and please don’t immediately try and defend Saw V) but in looking at past posts I noticed with rare exceptions I do nothing but complain and the last thing I want to become is a blog version of Andy Rooney, constantly bitching about what’s wrong with everything. So instead I’ve decided to highlight some alternative films to watch on Halloween instead of the usual Universal classics and modern slasher fare that makes up of most of the broadcast and rental choices usually offered.
For people that love classic horror films I offer these suggestions:
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)- Victor Mature plays a promoter suspected of killing his last client and relentlessly pursued by cop Laird Cregar, who seems determined to railroad Mature into prison for the murder than actually investigating the crime, continually popping up at unexpected moments to harass and threaten Mature as he hunts for the real killer. The twist ending still supplies a punch in the gut when the killer and his motives are revealed.
The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1942)- One of the best of Llyod Nolan’s Michael Shayne mysteries, with the tough, two fisted private eye hired to protect an ex-girlfriend from a ghost intent on killing her. Reanimated corpse Leroy Mason stalking the dark corridors of the mansion with glowing eyes is one of the scariest moments in classic cinema.
When Strangers Marry (1944)- A little known William Castle thriller where small town girl Kim Hunter shows up in New York to meet with her new husband Dean Jagger only to find he is suspected of murder. As she spend more and more time with him as they try to elude the police, she begins to realize she doesn’t really know who he is and suspects he might very well be the killer. Castle shows great ingenuity with this low budget Hitchcokian suspenser with a truly nail biter ending.
Pillow of Death (1945)- Final film in Lon Chaney, Jr.’s short lived Inner Sanctum series, with Chaney suspected of killing his wife so that he can marry his secretary. As Chaney searches for the real killer, more people die and he starts hearing his dead wife calling to him from the grave. Contains the most surprising twist ending in the series along with one of Chaney’s best non-Wolfman performances.
Shock (1946)- Lynn Bari witnesses a man murdering his wife and goes in to apoplectic shock. She is taken to a sanitarium run by Vincent Price, who just happens to be the man she witnessed committing the murder. Loads of suspense as Price learns what she saw and then plans her “accidental” death.
Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)- Richard Widmark is going through a bad patch with his wife and decides to put the moves on hotel babysitter Marilyn Monroe only to discover that she’s not too tightly wrapped and plans to do something horrible to her charge when she walks in on Widmark and Monroe in mid clinch.
Blueprint For Murder (1953)- A little know noir that will keeping you guessing right up till the last moment as Joseph Cotton plays an architect who is slowly coming to realize that his brother’s second wife may have poisoned his brother and then his niece, and may be planing to do the same with his nephew for the inheritance. Cotton follows her on a world cruise with the intention of turning the tables with some poison of his own.
Suddenly (1954)- Kept out of circulation for decades due to the star’s insistence after the death of John Kennedy, it has re-emerged as one of Frank Sinatra’s best films. Sinatra plays a cold blooded hit man who keeps a family hostage while he waits to shoot the President, who’s train is stopping at the small town of Suddenly. Sinatra was never better as an unemotional, matter of fact killer who shows signs of slowly unraveling as the film progresses. The final ten minutes rival anything Hitchcock ever did.
Tomorrow I’ll high light more modern film alternatives
