Gone Girl: David Fincher's stylish adaptation of yet another popular novel

Today, I look at David Fincher's hit new film Gone Girl, and adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel.

Gone Girl:
Nick Dunne is your average guy living in a broken marriage with his wife Amy, the daughter of a rich author couple. But when Amy goes missing, it sparks a police investigation and mass media panic, and Nick becomes the target of a witch-hunt. But there's more to this seemingly open-and-shut case than either the police or the public think.
      A scathing attack on media's influence over public opinion, the way the media and police treat victims and their testimony (i.e. believing without question), the "social masks" we wear, and the way the economy and other influences effect marriages, the movie is a little more layered than I originally thought, and the idiotic TV personalities featured in the film are both frustrating but also provide some black humor to the film.
     Ben Affleck's performance as Nick was sympathetic and likable, despite his many flaws and rather gray moral compass. I was sort of skeptical when I heard he was going to be playing the lead but I was pleasantly surprised how strongly he owned the role. Rosamund Pike does a great job as Amy, and I can't delve too much into her performance, but what I can say is that she also subverts expectations and the role plays to her strengths. Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry didn't have as much to do as you'd think, but I was pleased with what they did. Carrie Coon (The Leftovers) is excellent as Nick's caring and intelligent twin sister Margo. Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit (who plays a dumb police officer), Casey Wilson, model Emily Ratajowski, and up-and-coming actor Scoot McNairy play a variety of interesting supporting roles. While they are all sort of cookie-cutter characters, they all do a good job bringing their characters to life. Again, while not spectacular, they are convincing.
      The screenplay by Gillian Flynn, the author of the 2012 novel, is witty and fast-paced, but also feels slow enough to build some tension. It's a pretty smart take on a relatively old concept, that I thought has been beaten to death over the years. Because it's written by the original author, it stays very true to book. (Disclaimer: I've never read the book, but may in the future, but from what I understand, it doesn't stray too far from the beaten path.)
      The music by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross is atmospheric and ominous, but also industrial-sounding, adding a certain coldness to it that fits the dark tone of the film.
      David Fincher's style-heavy directing definitely helps the movie out a lot. The cinematography is crisp and impressive, and the overall feel of the movie is pretty tense and almost eerie.
     Gone Girl may not be the best or most inventive thriller out there, but it makes good use of old tropes: the unreliable narrator, the "kidnapped wife" plot, and the red herring are all used effectively in ways you wouldn't think about. The performances are well-done, and the direction is smart and effective. I definitely recommend it to fans of the thriller genre or of the original novel. 4/5 stars.

  (Image: Wikipedia)

Top 15 Horror Films of the 1950's: The Atomic Age and Dawn of the Domestic Thriller

Today, I look at the age in horror cinema where giant monsters and human killers were the most popular choices for your movie villains. Sorry it's been a while since the last entry, but I've been very busy lately and I'm going to try and post more frequently over the weekend.

Criteria:
Horror film or film with horror elements
Made between 1950 and 1959
If you don't see an entry you wanted to see, check out my list of best giant monster movies from last year: http://mattcottermovies.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-10-giant-monster-movies.html

A little backstory....
After the atom bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, Japan, the world changed. People began to really fear the dangers of atomic science and its' destructive capabilities. Two major cities in Japan were in ruins, with dangerous radioactive energy left over, and lives destroyed. This horrific aftermath eventually inspired one of the most famous monsters in all of world cinema: Godzilla. But I'll cover that later.
     The trend of giant, radioactive beasts attacking cities eventually caught on in the States, and soon giant monster movies and creature features began to become huge hits with audiences. Drive-in theaters and traditional cinemas alike showed posters advertising films as the "most amazing picture ever produced" or "a terrifying adventure through space". Usually released in double bills, these films were often cheaply produced, featuring no-name actors and thinly constructed plots, and usually tried to show the monster sparingly to save money. While it was devised as a way for the greedy producers to spend as little money as possible, the act of not showing the monster that much actually helped to build a sense of mystery and bring tension to the film, and made finally getting to see the monster feel more earned, like it's the pay off of the film. And despite being cheap and poorly acted for the most part, there's still a certain charm to these films and the genre as a whole, and they're just fun films to watch.
   While giant insects and radioactive lizards may have dominated the public consciousness, another type of film was gaining popularity with critics and award shows: the domestic thriller, which is a type of thriller that hits home by literally being set at home. The subgenre focuses on the average American family, usually in white suburbia, being corrupted or invaded by an outside force: not a supernatural one, but a human one. These films usually had human villains, typically serial killers and psychopaths, which made them feel more real and grounded, and therefore more terrifying. Despite some of these films feeling a little over-the-top nowadays, at the time they were on the cutting edge of the thriller genre, and some were quite controversial.

The List:

15. The Tingler (1959): Definitely the best of the William Castle gimmick films, this stars the legendary Vincent Price. He is a pathologist who discovers there is a parasitic creature dubbed "The Tingler" that lives in the spine of every human. It is what causes the tingling spine sensation people feel when frightened, and that feeling actually is the Tingler feeding on humans and killing them. Luckily, humans are built with a defense mechanism: screaming. The pathologist then decides to try an experiment on fear with a mute woman. This film was extremely innovative as far as gimmicks go, although it's kind of dated now. Castle had live actors scream out in the theater and pretend to faint and be carted out by nurses; and he put vibrators in the backs of seats during a sequence when the Tingler "gets loose" inside the theater. Not to mention the actually really innovative and kind of trippy color sequence that was probably kind of terrifying for the time.



14. The Fly (1958): In this adaptation of George Langelaan's short story, Vincent Price plays a man whose scientist brother Andre (David Hedison) has recently been found murdered: his head and arm crushed in a hydraulic press machine. His wife (Patricia Owens) confesses, but refuses to say why she did it, and is obsessed with finding a white-headed fly. Price eventually gets her to reveal the truth of why Andre died: it involved Andre's attempts to use a new teleportation device he has created and a common house fly. I won't go into much more detail because it would ruin the film's various reveals. Even though it's kind of dated and its' special effects cheap-looking, it's still a cool classic film that is a lot smarter than you would expect.



13. House of Wax (1953): Yet another Vincent Price film. This time, he plays a genius sculptor who is horribly burned in a fire caused by his business partner, who wanted the insurance money for the building. Now driven insane by his horrifically scarred face and his many masterful creations being destroyed in the fire, he seeks revenge against those who have wronged him, turning them into new wax structures for his "museum". The first 3-D film from a major studio, this is another kind of gimmicky, dated film, but it's still a fun film to watch around Halloween. Also, Price's hulking servant Igor is played by a young, relatively unknown Charles Bronson. Its' one of Price's better movies, so check it out.



12. Tarantula (1955): One of the better giant monster movies, despite its' misleading poster, this film follows the story of a scientist who tries to create a super food nutrient while experimenting with animals. This eventually leads to one of his test subjects, a tarantula, growing to giant proportions and terrorizing the Arizona countryside. Again, a really dated film, with some obviously cheap ways to save money (i.e. they use the exact same shot type over and over again to show how the Tarantula attacks someone, and they cut away before the person is actually killed, if that sounds confusing, just watch the film and you'll see what I mean), Its' still a fun little B-movie that I would recommend to people who love giant insect attack movies.



11. The Bad Seed (1956): Taking a more realistic tone than most of films of the time, Mervyn LeRoy's chilling thriller is a faithful adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's successful stage play, which was in itself an adaptation of William March's novel. One of the better creepy kid movies, it was nominated for several Oscars (including Patty McCormack for her eerie performance as the lead girl), and was the subject of controversy for changing the dark ending. (SPOILERS) In the original novel and play, the mother dies and the evil girl (McCormack) survives. The Hays Code did not like this and had them reverse the characters' fates. The producers also had to put the "Adults Only" tag on the film's posters and ads, as there was no "R" rating at the time. Although the good ending kind of ruin's the film's overall tone, it's still a really well-done horror film that stands the test of time.



10. The Thing From Another World (1951): This RKO film is based on the pulp novel "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, about a shapeshifting alien crash-landing in the Antarctic. The film changes many things: for one, the creature in this film does not shapeshift, and the film takes place in the Arctic instead. However, that doesn't make the film any less effective. In fact, this film is very smart and well-acted, and the ending line "Keep watching the skies!" is very ominous and memorable. This film influenced many filmmakers, none more than John Carpenter, who had the film playing on TV in his film Halloween, and later remade the film as The Thing in 1982, which was closer to the book and slower-paced, but equally timeless. You can tell this film was appreciated by Carpenter, and I think anyone who sees it can recognize it has a certain charm to it and was obviously really impactful for the time. It was also interesting to see producer Howard Hawks, known more for comedies and adventure films, producing a sci-fi/horror film.



9. The Night of the Hunter (1955): This dark and tense thriller stars Robert Mitchum in one of his creepiest roles as a man who marries into a family and slowly takes control of it to get their buried fortune inside the family's basement. One of the most famous thrillers of all time, it has some surreal imagery that sticks with you, such as Mitchum's creepy fist tattoos which read "Love" and "Hate". This film was preserved by Congress for a reason: it's influential, timeless, was shocking at the time, and the lead performance is still kind of unsettling.



8. Them! (1954): The first and arguably best of the giant insect films, this was a huge hit with audiences at the time, and it even won an Oscar for its' special effects and a Golden Reel Award for sound editing. One of the most influential and well-structured films of the 50's, it follows a standard police investigation into several disappearances, which later spirals into a story of giant ants attack the general population. I would say that anyone interested in 1950's science fiction or horror should see this one at least once.



7. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957): The film that kickstarted "Hammer Horror" re-established Gothic horror as a prominent subgenre. Directed by Terence Fisher and starring Hammer mainstays Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, two of the most bad-ass actors of all time. Seriously, look up what Christopher Lee has accomplished in his life. A darker and more true-to-the-book Frankenstein story, Cushing portrays Dr. Frankenstein as more of an obsessive, violent psychopath who will stop at nothing to complete his experiments and will kill off anyone who stands in his way. Christopher Lee stars as the mute, disfigured monster, and portrays him as more of a bloodthirsty animal than Boris Karloff did (Karloff's was far more sympathetic). This was also Hammer's first color horror film, and its' success led to Hammer becoming a major studio.



6. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953): A classic monster film based on the Ray Bradbury short story with some great stop-motion effects from the legendary Ray Harryhausen, this movie has a lot of iconic imagery, and created a lot of giant monster tropes. It was one of the first atomic monster films, even predating the Godzilla franchise. Inspiring countless other films, such as the recent films Cloverfield and  The Host, and revolutionizing special effects, this is one film that needs to be seen by any movie fan.



5. The Blob (1958): While a laughable concept, this movie's execution of its' material is so charming and genuine and fun that it's hard not to like it one some level. It's got everything good about 1950's sci-fi, and stars a young Steve McQueen, who steals the show as the leading man. The film is so ingrained in pop culture as this classic that the small town in Pennsylvania in which it was filmed (Phoenixville, PA) celebrates a Blobfest each year. I can relate to that as my home town in California holds an American Graffiti car show each year due to the fact that the George Lucas film was primarily shot there, and many other films as well. It's just such a nostalgic film and pretty inspiring, as it was produced independently in a small town but still enjoyed great success and shot Steve McQueen to stardom. The icing on the cake is the cheesy opening song by "The Five Blobs" which is a bit of an earworm.



4. Les Diaboliques (or Diabolique; 1955): This black-and-white psychological thriller focuses on an abusive and mean-spirited school headmaster, whose wife and mistress team to murder. Unfortunately, after the murder is said and done, the man's body goes missing, and later strange things begin occurring, and the two women begin thinking the man is back to haunt them. The performances by the lead actresses Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot are remarkable, and the movie has a really tense and creepy atmosphere, but also feels grounded in reality, making it all the more terrifying. It also has one of the best twist endings in all of cinema.



3. Horror of Dracula (or Dracula; 1958): Hammer's best horror films is their follow-up to Curse of Frankenstein. Terence Fisher again directs. Christopher Lee stars as Dracula, who is more violent and more sinister than Bela Lugosi's portrayal. Peter Cushing now plays Professor Van Helsing, the film's hero. Michael Gough (later cast as Alfred in Tim Burton's Batman) appears as well. With lavish and colorful costumes and sets, and vibrant red blood, this Dracula story is more violent, more sexually explicit, and more true to the novel than the 1931 Universal version. Definitely Hammer's best effort.



2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): Don Siegel's adaptation of Jack Finney's novel of the same name is one of the most influential and iconic sci-fi/horror films of all time. Kevin McCarthy gives a profound lead performance as a man consumed by paranoia, as he believes the Earth is being infested by shape-shifting pod people. In fact, the term pod people was popularized by the film. One of the most remade science fiction films ever (there was a 1978 remake, a 1993 remake, a 2007 remake, and the 1998 film The Faculty is obviously inspired by it), its' an intense and mind-bending alien thriller that plays with your head, and actually has a kind of ominous and foreboding ending, even though its' implied that the authorities will stop the invasion. The scene where McCarthy helplessly exclaims "They're Already Here! You're Next!" is now a staple of pop culture. It's a timeless and eerie classic of the genre and everyone needs to see it at least once.



1. Gojira (or Godzilla, King of the Monsters; 1954): This Japanese monster film wound up spawning countless sequel and spin-offs, including a few American remakes/reboots (one successful, one not), and became one of the most iconic Japanese films ever. Inspired by the aftermath of Hiroshima, the original Japanese cut of this film is much darker and more upsetting than the edited America cut, which is a lot more kid-friendly and has an American actor (Raymond Burr, playing a character named Steve Martin) awkwardly edited in. The American version, while worth seeing, is nothing compared to the original Japanese cut. Undoubtedly the most iconic of any of the films on this list, Gojira should be respected as the greatest atomic monster film ever made.

  (Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: The Beginning of the End, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Quartermass Xperiment, Fiend Without a Face, House on Haunted Hill, It!- The Terror From Beyond Space

R.I.P. Elizabeth Pena

Today, the world lost Elizabeth Pena, who is arguably one of the most influential Latina actresses of her generation. Known for her work in films such as The Incredibles, Rush Hour, Tortilla Soup, Jacob's Ladder, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and Lone Star, as well as guest-starring on the hit television show Modern Family. Pena's cause of death has not yet been disclosed. She is mourned by her family and friends, and fellow actresses such as Zoe Saldana and Eva Longoria.


                                                              Elizabeth Pena
                                                            1959-2014 (age: 55)
                                                   (Image: nndb.com)

Others to remember:
Richard Kiel (age: 74, known as the character Jaws in the Bond franchise)
John Bardon (age: 75, known for his role in EastEnders)
Jan Hooks (age: 57, known for work on Saturday Night Live)
Anna Przybylska (age: 35, popular Polish actress and model)

Top 6 Horror Movies of the 1940's: The Rise of the Psychological Thriller, and the Beginning of the End for Universal Monsters

Today, I look at the decade which bridged the Golden Age of Gothic Horror with the Atomic Age of the 1950's. It's a bit of a mixed bag, so this list will be a bit shorter than previous ones.

Criteria:
Horror film or film with many horroresque elements
Made between 1940-1949

But before that, a little backstory...
As the 1930's drew to a close, horror was already growing kind of stale. Despite some great new actors emerging, most notably Lon Chaney, Jr. (who, like his father, became a horror icon), most of the trends of the 1930's had been tired out. It was now that they started doing a crossover movies, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman or even comedy crossovers like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It marked a time when a film like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was getting a remake, one that basically just rehashes the same story without the same grit or shock value (after all, it came from the director of The Wizard of Oz). It was also now that the genre began distancing itself from Gothic literature and more towards the horrors of the mind.
     Producer and writer Val Lewton produced what is considered one of the best films ever made: Cat People, a psychological thriller with hints of the supernatural. He also produced some other great films, more focused on human killers or nontraditional subject matter for horror films, such as an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, and I Walked with a Zombie. These were produced outside Universal Studios, rather being made by RKO Pictures, a smaller company, although these films brought them some good revenue. The same studio had produced some other big hits, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, King Kong, and Citizen Kane, which are still considered classics today, the latter two being considered in the top twenty films ever made.
     

The List:

6. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948): Despite the title suggesting otherwise, there is more than just Frankenstein's Monster featured in this film. Dracula and the Wolf Man also appear. This marked the beginning of the "Abbott and Costello Meet (Blank)" cycle of horror and the end of the Golden Age of the Universal monsters movies. It's obviously played more for campy laughs than actually intending to scare the audience, and it's very dated, but it's ultimately still enjoyable as a tribute to a dying genre.



5. The Leopard Man (1943): Val Lewton produced this chilling movie that was the first film portrayal of a realistic serial killer, but that term wasn't used yet. This film is especially dark for a film made at the beginning of the 1940's, one of the tamest decades in cinema. The main performance Dennis O'Keefe is sympathetic and likable. Like other Lewton-made psychological thrillers, there's a strange connection with animals, which motivates the killer in some way, and that adds a layer of uneasiness to this mystery story: you're not exactly sure if the leopard at the zoo has gotten lose and begun mauling women or if there is a killer trying to use the leopard's escape as a scapegoat to cover his tracks.



4. I Walked with a Zombie (1943): Another exceptional Lewton production. This time, more focused on the supernatural subculture of Haitian voodoo. Possibly the best of the original zombie films, it's got some great performances by James Ellison, Tom Conway, and Frances Dee. It's sad to think this is sort of a forgotten classic, and I think more people should check it out, just remember: this isn't the same type of zombie that's prevalent today.



3. Dead of Night (1945): This British anthology film is one of the better in the subgenre, and has one of the best "living dummy" stories ever told, starring Michael Redgrave. This segment is probably why the film is so well-remembered. It was even censored when it was originally released in the U.S. because of one of the segments involves a children's Christmas party being attacked by a ghost. Even today, it's considered one of the eeriest films of the decade.



2. Cat People (1942): Another Val Lewton film (I promise, it's the last one), and it's his masterpiece. A dark psychological horror film playing on the fear of promiscuity and women's sexuality in the 1940's, it follows a young foreign woman who fears she turns into a flesh-eating cat creature when sexually aroused. While that sounds like a dumb B-movie, the way it's executed is very impressive. It holds back and tries to not show the monster, and keeps the mystery going: is she actually some sort of shapeshifter, or is she just going crazy? That's something I'll let you find out on your own, but this movie is often considered one of the best thriller films ever made, especially for it's time.



1. The Wolf Man (1941): The only Universal film to make the list is the one that made Lon Chaney Jr. into a star. Far more successful than 1935's underrated Werewolf of London, this film has a lot of great, iconic scenes, and a sympathetic main character. Funny enough, we never see the transformation scene in this movie (at least not fully), the Wolf-Man strangles his victims (not mauling them, like you'd expect), and there's no shots of a full moon. But even with all those elements missing, the movie remains a classic of the genre and inspired countless other great werewolf films.

  (Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: The Body Snatcher, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera.

Top 10 Horror Movies of the 1930's: The Golden Age of Hollywood's Most Controversial Genre

Since I'll be doing a top horror films list for each decade, it only makes sense to do it chronologically, so here is the list for the 1930's, possibly the best decade in classic horror.

Criteria:
Must be a horror film or film with horroresque elements
Must have been made between 1930-1939

But first, some background...

 At the turn of the decade, sound had just entered cinema. It was an amazing innovation, now you could hear the music on screen rather than from the theater's in-house orchestra, you could hear what the characters were actually saying, and not just tread it on title cards. One the negative side, this ended many a silent star career, as many of them had either thick accents or squeaky voices that would either confuse the audience or send them into uncontrollable bouts of laughter. But, for certain stars, such as Greta Garbo or Bela Lugosi, their distinct accents matched their looks perfectly and enhanced their characters.
      Around the early 30's, studios were looking for the next big fantasy and horror stories to adapt into films. They began with Mary Shelley's modern classic Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus. After the success of that made stars out of both actor Boris Karloff and director James Whale (one of the first openly gay film directors), they moved on to Irish author Bram Stoker's large and, at-the-time, hard-to-stomach novel Dracula, which was inspired by both vampire-related folklore and the real-life story of ruthless Romanian dictator and warrior Vlad the Impaler, who was rumored to eat his dinner amidst the agonized victims of his wrath (he enjoyed the screams, apparently) and dip his bread in their blood. This success made star Bela Lugosi a film icon and got underrated director Tod Browning more work in the horror genre.
     This boom in horror films was the subject of controversy, and certain key scenes were edited out of Frankenstein because the studio felt them to graphic, but they were later restored and put back in after critics' argued they improved the film immensely, and they have since become as individually iconic as the larger film they inhabit. The two stars of these films, Lugosi and Karloff, later went on to be even more successful in films such as White Zombie and The Man Who Wouldn't Hang, and in films featuring both, such as Son of Frankenstein and The Black Cat. Karloff later became a regular in cheap Edgar Allen Poe films of the 1950's, and eventually voiced both the narrator and the titular character in the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. These two were made genre icons, to say the least.

The List:

10. Island of Lost Souls (1932): This is by far the best adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, and is also the first. The exceptionally dark tone for a film of this time and performances by Bela Lugosi as one of Moreau's "beast men", and Charles Laughton as Moreau himself make this film definitely worthwhile.



9. The Old Dark House (1932): This strange little film from Frankenstein director James Whale features some great returning cast members from his other films, most notably Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger, as well as some newer talent such as Gloria Stuart or Melvyn Douglas, and even Charles Laughton. It tells the story of a sroup of travelers taking shelter from a rain storm by being guests in an eerie mansion in Wales, where they are hosted by the strange and crazy Femm family and their monstrous butler. It's just a fun movie to watch and it gets so crazy that it's hard to believe this was made in 1932, when one of the strictest production codes in cinema history was in place.



8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): This classic RKO film is actually kind of hard to find nowadays. The DVD copies are sort of rare and, I believe, out of print, and there's no Blu-ray release planned. I was very pleased with this film, as Frederich March seems to really get the double role. While a bit hammy as Jekyll, he really relishes the role of Hyde. This movie is one of the more violent and provocative of the 1930's American horror films, as it was Pre-Code and therefore not subject to studio scrutiny and extensive editing. It's a crazy and almost shocking horror film (if you consider what time it was made) and it's got a great lead actor. Not to mention the fact that Wally Westmore's Hyde makeup forever shaped the way the character was portrayed in media. The effects are still seen today in how filmmakers and artists choose to portray him, in an almost ape-like manner.



7. White Zombie (1932): Now, to clarify: this film is not about zombies as we know them today. The notion of zombies as flesh-eating dead people didn't come around until about the 1950's or 60's; these zombies are in the more traditional sense of a hypnotized person who has been enslaved to a voodoo priest or priestess, as in Haitian folklore. Who really shines is Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's role as the voodoo practitioner Legendre is eerie and hypnotizing. This film was made during the whole zombie movie boom of the 30's and 40's, and this is by far the best one. Rob Zombie even named his first band after it.



6. M (1931): Classic director Fritz Lang's dark and disturbing noir-thriller focuses on a psychotic murderer played by Peter Lorre who kills children. Pretty bleak for a 1930's film, no? Lang considered this his finest work, and it was hist first film made with sound. Lorre's disturbing and iconic performance forever typecast him as the mysterious foreigner/creepy villain in movies, especially in British and American productions.



5. The Invisible Man (1933): James Whale's sci-fi/horror story is the perfect adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel. Claude Rains (in his first American film role) is great as Dr. Griffin, the man driven insane by his incurable invisibility. Gloria Stuart also stars as Griffin's love interest. A less serious horror film that's also one of the best of the Golden Age of Hollywood, in any genre.



4. King Kong (1933): This epic monster movie and adventure film is one of the greatest films ever made, as well as possibly the most influential of this decade. With a good cast, iconic action scenes, and Willis O'Brien's groundbreaking stop-motion effects, it's no wonder how this film influenced countless filmmakers, including Peter Jackson (who produced a well-done remake in 2005), Sam Raimi, Ray Harryhausen, and countless others.



3. Freaks (1932): Tod Browning's disturbing and weird film is memorable for a number of reasons. The most notable is that it used real freakshow performers in it's cast, something that would not be done today, for many good reasons, but the performers in the film all do fantastic jobs and you actually get on their side. Why? Well the plot follows a gold-digging trapeze artist and her strongman boyfriend's scheme to trick a rich sideshow performer out of his money. This backfires when the performer's fellow "freaks" hear of this plan and devise a brutal revenge to exact on these selfish people. This film continues to have any influence on horror cinema and television, most notably the upcoming season of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story, whose new storyline is called Freakshow.



2. Dracula (both 1931 versions): Now, this is technically cheating, as I'm counting two films and they're technically the exact same film. The only difference is one is in Spanish. Now, the 1931 English version is undoubtedly a classic, mostly due to Lugosi's influential portrayal of Dracula and Dwight Frye's turn as the crazed Renfield, despite over-acting a bit. Edward Van Sloane is also great as Abraham Van Helsing. The Spanish version, despite Carlos Villarias' obviously inferior portrayal of the vampire, is actually the better version. It was shot on the same sets as the English film at the same time, right after the U.S. crew would leave for the night. Because Spanish production codes were looser, there were more provocative costumes and less censored dialogue. Thought to be lost to time, it was re-discovered in the 1970's and restored. The Spanish version is so good it makes you wish Bela Lugosi was in this rather than the U.S., although he wouldn't be as famous.



1. Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (1931 and 1935; tie): I couldn't decide which Frankenstein film was superior, as they're both excellent and they have most of the same cast and the same director. Where do I begin? It's got iconic imagery, one of the most famous lines from any form of media ever ("It's alive!"), and a sympathetic and imposing monster played by Boris Karloff. The makeup was specifically designed for the film by famed makeup artist Jack Pierce, as the actual descriptions of the monster in the novel are vague and leave it to your imagination. The image that Jack Pierce created as forever been associated with the name Frankenstein. Colin Clive and Dwight Frye are excellent as Dr. Frankenstein and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz, respectively. Edward Van Sloan is also great as Dr. Waldman, and as the opening announcer who gives the audience a warning about how scary the film is, which is kind of funny to watch today. The sequel, Bride, is equally as iconic  and is one of the few follow-ups that is on par with the original. Boris Karloff returns as the monster, who now speaks in this film. Colin Clive returns as Frankenstein, now in competition with the evil Dr. Pretorius, played by Ernest Thesiger, who keeps shrunken people in jars for his own amusement. Elsa Lanchester plays the monster's titular love interest, with her iconic hairstyle. I'm convinced the title of this movie contributed to the confusion about the name of the monster, as the "bride of Frankenstein" does not actual web Dr. Frankenstein, but his creation, which has no name. Despite that, this movie continues to be an influential piece of cinema, as does it's predecessor.



(Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: The Mummy, The Mummy's Curse, The Raven, The Black Cat, Vampyr.