The Lugosi "Dracula" and Karlov "Frankenstein" were great. I also enjoyed "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which included, of course, Dracula and the Wolf Man.
I never enjoyed the "I Was a Teenage..." films.
A suspense film (not a horror flick) that gave me chills was "Experiment in Terror," starring Glen Ford, Lee Remick, Ross Martin, and a young Stefanie Powers.
I'll definitely have to check out "Blacula". From what I've heard, William Marshall in the title role brings a touch of class that really makes the picture something special.
I just finished watching "The Giant Claw", a great 1957 movie about a buzzard from outer space. I love those old movies that used to be on shows like "Creature Features" and "Chiller Theater". I was one of those kids in the 60's who had those Aurora models of the Universal monsters and my stack of "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazines. "Gorgo", "The Giant Behemoth" and "The Beast From 20,00 Fathoms" were favorites of mine and I love it that you can find so many of them on DVD these days. Anybody else out there still enjoying those old movies ? What were some of your favorite movies of the genre ?
Hi Tommy,
Growing up in central CT., I also had the good fortune of being able to receive "Chiller Theater" (WPIX, channel 11) and "Creature Feature" (WNEW, channel 5) on the weekends,
and enjoying a good share of classic "B" movies from other Long Island channels as well. "The Giant Claw" was also one of my favorites at the time. As also
"The Deadly Mantis"
"Terror from the Year 5000"
"The Manster"
"The Tingler"
"Invaders from Mars"
"The Crawling Eye"
"Horror of Party Beach"
"Dr. Cyclops"
"Robinson Caruso on Mars"
"Invisible Fiends"
"It Conquered the World"
There's so many...
And of course, "The Blob" , to which I just picked up the complete soundtrack containing many familiar music library cues used and reused throughout a number of those old movies.
Dan, you and I were watching the same TV stations . New York TV rocked in the early 60's. I grew up in Southern Connecticut.
One movie from that list I saw at the theater was the Tingler. They had a gimmick at certain theaters, where some people would receive an electric shock when the Tingler supposedly got loose in the theater. At that point the audience was directed to scream to drive it away.
The rumor in our neighborhood was that they set Tinglers loose, and my friends brought slingshots , hoping to get a shot at it. I may have been jaded early, but I figured out that even if some places set Tinglers loose, there was no way our crappy Stratford Theater was going to have that luxury. (That Stratford Theater was where young Stephen King sat through Saturday matinees of horror and sci fi movies, by the way).
There was one genuine scare in the Tingler. It was a black and white film, but for one brief moment , there was a bathtub filled with deep, red blood, with a bloody red arm rising out of the tub. THAT impressed this 8 year old.
Though I didn't know it at the time, that "scaring-the-deaf-mute-to-death" color sequence (which I didn't actually see in color till years later, because my family still had b&w tvs into the early 70s) was the earliest depiction of an LSD "trip" on film. Still, those old William Castle films were pretty creepy, along with "Thirteen Ghosts" and especially the "House on Haunted Hill".
Another favorite "Creature Feature" just came to mind: "Horror Hotel" with Christopher Lee.
Does anyone else here recall seeing this little gem?
I've never seen it, but 'Horror Hotel' with Christopher Lee sounds too good to ignore. Think I'll hunt it down.
The mention of 'House on Haunted Hill' brought back another memory , and I promise this is the last one. I went to the theater to see 'House' when I was 10 or so. It was playing with an old Bowery Boys haunted house movie, and the less said about that, the better. The draw at this matinee was that between pictures , there would be LIVE appearances by Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman, so how could I NOT go.
The only thing was this was deep in the heart of neighboring Bridgeport, Conn., which was the 'big city', compared to Stratford, and not a theater my parents normally let me go. Somehow we got a ride, and sat in the balcony, which I was thankful for when I saw the barrage of candy and soda that was tossed from the balcony to the seats below.
After the lousy Bowery Boys movie, they tried to quiet the crowd down for the live monster show, but it was impossible. A fevered mass of screaming. food tossing kids put the skids on the monster show. Frankenstein made a brief appearance, and that was about it.
"House on Haunted Hill' was pretty darn good, though. Another Vincent Price thriller. He seemed to be in everything back then. The story was hokey in retrospect, but they knew how to push the scare buttons, with flying skeletons, monstrous arms appearing around corners, and ghostlike figures appearing out of nowhere.
Not a bad afternoon. I didn't go back to that theater for years, being drawn back by the showing of the cheesy Batman movie serial from the 40's, durng the height of the Batman TV craze. But that's another story.
Make that a double-feature with "Kingdom of the Spiders" starring William Shatner.
Highway,
Your recollections at the movie theater have made me seriously consider wanting to attend a Blobfest.
Tommy,
would love to see such a collection also.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying some of the cheapie horror/sci-fi dvd collections out there, even though some prints look like they've been through a cheese grater.
The Universal Classic Sci-Fi collection looks like a lot of fun. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" was a fantastic film.
And let us not forget the classic, "Atack of the Killer Tomatoes"!!
One of my childhood favorites is, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Â That guy in the gilled lizard/fish suit really was scarry in black and white!
I concurr with Dan, I fell in love with "The Blob" and Steve McQueen from the first time I saw it when I was 12 years old, we were camping in Yosemite and the Park rangers thought it would be fun to scare all the kids by showing it at night in the outdoor amphitheater.  I've watched it countless times since then, its a genuine classic, even the big blob of strawberry jam looks menacing.
I recently saw the silent movie "The Golem". I recognized the name of the camera person from "Frankenstein" and I could see how this movie was an influence on that one.
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WordWolf
For me, just "the Wolf Man", with Lon Chaney Jr. Big surprise, eh?
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GeorgeStGeorge
The Lugosi "Dracula" and Karlov "Frankenstein" were great. I also enjoyed "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which included, of course, Dracula and the Wolf Man.
I never enjoyed the "I Was a Teenage..." films.
A suspense film (not a horror flick) that gave me chills was "Experiment in Terror," starring Glen Ford, Lee Remick, Ross Martin, and a young Stefanie Powers.
George
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waysider
The Killer Shrews
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi126812441/
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TOMMYZ
I saw "Shrews". Nowadays it's usually sold on DVD as a double bill with "The Giant Gila Monster".
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waysider
Which raises the question-------"Does a Gila Monster really have be be a giant to scare the LIVING CR@P out of you?"
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TOMMYZ
For someone who's lived up North all his life (Long Island and the Chicago area) I'd say yes. Otherwise to me it just looks like any other lizard.
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Raf
Blacula
Definitely Blacula
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GeorgeStGeorge
For sheer camp, the "Dr. Phibes" movies were a hoot!
George
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TOMMYZ
Raf,
I'll definitely have to check out "Blacula". From what I've heard, William Marshall in the title role brings a touch of class that really makes the picture something special.
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TOMMYZ
No one else with a soft spot in their heart for those old monster movies ?
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waysider
I think I'll go down to The Bijou.
They're showing "The Monster That Devoured Cleveland."
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WordWolf
For some reason, I thought he meant the old black-and-white movies.
There's a lot more color movies that were fun.
How about "The Beast Must Die"?
A murder movie whodunit that pauses to give the audience a chance
to make their guesses...
Anything with Vincent Price automatically wins,
"The Abominable Dr Phibes" included.
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TheInvisibleDan
Hi Tommy,
Growing up in central CT., I also had the good fortune of being able to receive "Chiller Theater" (WPIX, channel 11) and "Creature Feature" (WNEW, channel 5) on the weekends,
and enjoying a good share of classic "B" movies from other Long Island channels as well. "The Giant Claw" was also one of my favorites at the time. As also
"The Deadly Mantis"
"Terror from the Year 5000"
"The Manster"
"The Tingler"
"Invaders from Mars"
"The Crawling Eye"
"Horror of Party Beach"
"Dr. Cyclops"
"Robinson Caruso on Mars"
"Invisible Fiends"
"It Conquered the World"
There's so many...
And of course, "The Blob" , to which I just picked up the complete soundtrack containing many familiar music library cues used and reused throughout a number of those old movies.
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hiway29
Dan, you and I were watching the same TV stations . New York TV rocked in the early 60's. I grew up in Southern Connecticut.
One movie from that list I saw at the theater was the Tingler. They had a gimmick at certain theaters, where some people would receive an electric shock when the Tingler supposedly got loose in the theater. At that point the audience was directed to scream to drive it away.
The rumor in our neighborhood was that they set Tinglers loose, and my friends brought slingshots , hoping to get a shot at it. I may have been jaded early, but I figured out that even if some places set Tinglers loose, there was no way our crappy Stratford Theater was going to have that luxury. (That Stratford Theater was where young Stephen King sat through Saturday matinees of horror and sci fi movies, by the way).
There was one genuine scare in the Tingler. It was a black and white film, but for one brief moment , there was a bathtub filled with deep, red blood, with a bloody red arm rising out of the tub. THAT impressed this 8 year old.
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TheInvisibleDan
Highway,
Though I didn't know it at the time, that "scaring-the-deaf-mute-to-death" color sequence (which I didn't actually see in color till years later, because my family still had b&w tvs into the early 70s) was the earliest depiction of an LSD "trip" on film. Still, those old William Castle films were pretty creepy, along with "Thirteen Ghosts" and especially the "House on Haunted Hill".
Another favorite "Creature Feature" just came to mind: "Horror Hotel" with Christopher Lee.
Does anyone else here recall seeing this little gem?
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hiway29
I've never seen it, but 'Horror Hotel' with Christopher Lee sounds too good to ignore. Think I'll hunt it down.
The mention of 'House on Haunted Hill' brought back another memory , and I promise this is the last one. I went to the theater to see 'House' when I was 10 or so. It was playing with an old Bowery Boys haunted house movie, and the less said about that, the better. The draw at this matinee was that between pictures , there would be LIVE appearances by Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman, so how could I NOT go.
The only thing was this was deep in the heart of neighboring Bridgeport, Conn., which was the 'big city', compared to Stratford, and not a theater my parents normally let me go. Somehow we got a ride, and sat in the balcony, which I was thankful for when I saw the barrage of candy and soda that was tossed from the balcony to the seats below.
After the lousy Bowery Boys movie, they tried to quiet the crowd down for the live monster show, but it was impossible. A fevered mass of screaming. food tossing kids put the skids on the monster show. Frankenstein made a brief appearance, and that was about it.
"House on Haunted Hill' was pretty darn good, though. Another Vincent Price thriller. He seemed to be in everything back then. The story was hokey in retrospect, but they knew how to push the scare buttons, with flying skeletons, monstrous arms appearing around corners, and ghostlike figures appearing out of nowhere.
Not a bad afternoon. I didn't go back to that theater for years, being drawn back by the showing of the cheesy Batman movie serial from the 40's, durng the height of the Batman TV craze. But that's another story.
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TOMMYZ
Dan,
I've seen and enjoyed most of those movies you listed. Some I haven't thought about in ages.
I recently bought the Rolling Stone magazine collection on DVD-rom and I would love it if there was a "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" collection.
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Pirate1974
Any discussion of great movie monsters would have to include the classic "Night of the Lepus."
Giant mutant rabbits terrorize the Southwest. It doesn't get any better than that.
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TheInvisibleDan
Pirate -
Make that a double-feature with "Kingdom of the Spiders" starring William Shatner.
Highway,
Your recollections at the movie theater have made me seriously consider wanting to attend a Blobfest.
Tommy,
would love to see such a collection also.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying some of the cheapie horror/sci-fi dvd collections out there, even though some prints look like they've been through a cheese grater.
The Universal Classic Sci-Fi collection looks like a lot of fun. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" was a fantastic film.
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now I see
And let us not forget the classic, "Atack of the Killer Tomatoes"!!
One of my childhood favorites is, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Â That guy in the gilled lizard/fish suit really was scarry in black and white!
I concurr with Dan, I fell in love with "The Blob" and Steve McQueen from the first time I saw it when I was 12 years old, we were camping in Yosemite and the Park rangers thought it would be fun to scare all the kids by showing it at night in the outdoor amphitheater.  I've watched it countless times since then, its a genuine classic, even the big blob of strawberry jam looks menacing.
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TOMMYZ
Pirate, I remember "Night Of The Lepus". The bunnies were too cute to be threatening.
Does anyone remember "The Green Slime"?
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waysider
Little Shop Of Horrors
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TOMMYZ
I recently saw the silent movie "The Golem". I recognized the name of the camera person from "Frankenstein" and I could see how this movie was an influence on that one.
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Raf
Anyone ever see "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"?
Made me afraid of the dark.
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