Halloween. October is the perfect month to hunker down with a movie. As the weather gets colder and the nights start earlier, wrapping up in a blanket and enjoying some warm cider on the couch is the best way to welcome autumn. Although there are plenty of modern classics to enjoy during the season of spook, black and white films have a depth that perfectly compliments the changing seasons. These are the top ten, must- see black and white horror movies you need to see this Halloween. The Bride of Frankenstein (1. The original Frankenstein, released in 1. But the sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, is not to be missed. Immediately following the iconic burning windmill scene at the end of Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein gives the Monster (Boris Karloff) a chance to develop a sense of right and wrong through a series of interactions with humans. The Monster, keen for a friend, demands Doctor Frankenstein make him someone like himself, who will accept him, bolts and all. But when the wide- eyed and stripe- haired beauty (Elsa Lanchester) refuses his advances, the Monster takes matters into his own hands, sparing his creator but bringing an end to Frankenstein’s experiments. The Bride of Frankenstein builds on the moral themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with the violent strength of the Monster juxtaposed against the touching sincerity with which he learns about the world. The film takes a difficult character to humanize–the rigid and inexpressive Monster–and manages to make him a sympathetic hero. The Wolf Man(1. 94. Another classic monster movie, The Wolf Man stars Lon Cheney, Jr. Larry Talbot, heir to a family estate in Wales, is bitten by a wolf while defending the woman he loves. Maleva, a traveling gypsy, tells Talbot that the wolf was a werewolf, sharing the spooky rhyme, “Even a man who is pure of heart/and says his prayers by night/may turn a wolf when the wolfbane blooms/and the autumn moon is bright.” Talbot soon begins turning into a wolf during full moons, terrorizing the village and waking up with vague memories of the attacks. A recurring theme in all Wolf Man movies is that Talbot cannot help his change, and even his own best- laid plans to lock himself away during the full moon are thwarted. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1. The Universal monsters weren’t all deep moral conundrums and tragic endings, as shown in the hilarious Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The comedic duo star as baggage- clerks at a railway station, who are pulled into a fight between the Wolf Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s Monster when the latter two are shipped to nearby “Mc. Dougal’s House of Horrors.” Larry Talbot attempts to intercede to keep Dracula from continuing Doctor Frankenstein’s work, but his sudden change into wolf- form make him a less than reliable accomplice. It falls to Abbott and Costello (here playing Chick Young and Wilbur Grey) to save the day. Vincent (1. 98. 2) & Frankenweenie (1. Tim Burton’s early films are a pleasure, and these two black and white shorts are perfect for a pop of Halloween spirit. In Vincent, the seven- year- old Vincent Malloy is obsessed with Vincent Price, and his vivid imagination leads him to near ruin. Frankenweenie, which Burton remade in 2. Frankenstein tale. In Burton’s homage, Victor Frankenstein is a young boy who is crushed when his dog is hit by a car. Using less- ghastly practices than his grave- robbing namesake, Victor brings Sparky back to life only to find having an undead dog has some unexpected complications. Both shorts are a great reminder of what Tim Burton has always done best: capturing suburban, middle- class America and introducing the bizarre and morbid. With his light touch and sharp eye, Burton’s early work is subtle and delightful. Arsenic and Old Lace (1. Frank Capra’s Halloween classic is the perfect blend of humor, danger, and death. Cary Grant stars as Mortimer Brewster, a confirmed bachelor who decides to get hitched to his long time love, played by Priscilla Lane. On returning to his aunts. The madcap adventure that follows includes a cousin who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt and the return of Mortimer’s murderous brother Jonathan, who looks a great deal like Frankenstein’s Monster. The Canterville Ghost (1. Based on a short story by Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost stars Charles Laughton as the titular spirit, trapped in his family’s castle after disgracing himself during a duel in the 1. He is forced to remain in the house until a descendent can redeem his name by performing an act of bravery. When six- year- old Jessica de Canterville (Margaret O’Brien) overcomes her fear of the ghostly Sir Simon, she and a distant relation work together to set his tortured spirit free. The Canterville Ghost is an unsung classic, starring some of the biggest names in film at the time. It’s a sweet and simple story of bravery and redemption, but told with the thrill of a lost spirit and the little girl he befriends. Nosferatu (1. 92. Based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu is a silent film that remains absolutely terrifying to this day.
The long- fingered and fanged Count Orlok rising from his coffin is an iconic image of horror. In the film, Orlok terrorizes a village from his imposing castle until a young businessman discovers Orlok’s vampiric identity. Psycho (1. 96. 0)Any of Alfred Hitchcock’s numerous thrillers are a must for a Halloween- movie marathon, but his 1. Psycho remains one of his best. The suspenseful story of a woman on the run and a creepy roadside motel has become a cultural touchstone, and with good reason. Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh shine as two strangers both hiding dark secrets, and the discovery of Mother never ceases to be startling. The final scene and the long shot of Perkins leaves viewers with the heeby- jeebies, no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Night of the Hunter (1. Serial killers are perfect fodder for Halloween thrillers, and The Night of the Hunter is a chilling example of the horror genre at its best. Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a Reverend- turned- serial killer who marries wealthy women only to murder them for their fortunes. After being arrested for driving a stolen car, Powell meets a bank robber who hid a large sum of money before his arrest. Powell is released but his cell mate is executed, so Powell sets out to find the man’s widow and get his hands on the green. Eyes Without a Face (1. This French- Italian thriller is a mad- scientist story for the ages. When Doctor Genessier’s daughter Christiane is disfigured in an accident, he fakes her death in order to cover up his own attempts to find a new face for her. The doctor and his assistant take women hostage and remove their faces, but Christiane’s body rejects the skin. Although not bloody, the grisly premise and wide- eyed Christiane are both extremely unsettling. The quiet film is dark and subtle, a psychological thriller with a creepy scientific edge, rather than a paranormal scream fest. I love the AMC FearFest, and have been watching for many years When it USED TO begin October 1st. With ALL the Horror movies that are out there, don’t you think. The Halloween Episode trope as used in popular culture. The characters are costumed, their houses are decked out haunted mansion style, they tell spooky. Listen and see Richard Christy on Howard Stern or catch him Live at one of his many comedy shows. Bridey. Heing is a freelance writer living in Washington, D. C. Her interests include travel, international politics, film, and tattoos. More of her work can be seen here. Images via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via. Cube (film) - Wikipedia. Cube is a 1. 99. 7 Canadian science- fictionhorror film directed and co- written by Vincenzo Natali. Since its release, the film has received both favorable and negative reviews and has gained a cult following. The film spawned a film series, and a remake is currently in development at Lionsgate. He enters an orange room and, without warning, is killed by a trap. In another such room, five people – Quentin, Worth, Holloway, Rennes, and Leaven – meet. None of them knows where they are or how they got there. Quentin informs the others that some rooms contain traps, which he learned by nearly being killed by one. Rennes assumes each trap is triggered by a motion detector and tests each room by throwing one of his boots in first. Leaven notices numbers inscribed in the passageways between rooms. Quentin recognizes Rennes as . After declaring one room trap- free, Rennes enters and is killed when he is sprayed with acid. The others realize that there are different kinds of detectors, and Quentin deduces that this trap was triggered by heat. Quentin believes each person has a reason for being there. Leaven is a mathematics student, Holloway a physician and conspiracy theorist, and the surly Worth declines to talk about himself. Leaven hypothesizes that any room marked with a prime number is a trap. They find a mentally challenged man named Kazan, whom Holloway insists they bring along. When Quentin nearly dies in a room deemed safe by Leaven's calculations, tensions rise due to personality conflicts and lack of faith in Leaven's system. Quentin provokes Worth into an argument about finding the exit, and Worth accidentally reveals that he has knowledge of the Cube. Worth admits that he designed the Cube's outer shell for a shadowy bureaucracy and guesses that its original purpose has been forgotten; they have been imprisoned within simply to put it to use. Worth's knowledge of the outer shell's size allows Leaven to determine that each side of the Cube is 2. She guesses that the numbers indicate the Cartesian coordinates of the rooms. The group moves toward the nearest edge as determined by her theory, but each of the rooms near the outer wall are trapped. Rather than backtrack, they travel silently through a room with a sound- activated trap. After Kazan makes a sound and nearly causes Quentin's death, Quentin threatens Kazan. Holloway defends Kazan and provokes Quentin into an argument by calling him a Nazi. The acrimonious argument escalates until Quentin slaps her, further increasing tension within the group. When they reach the edge, Holloway scouts the gap between the Cube and its outer shell, but slips during a violent quake; Quentin initially saves her, but then lets her fall to her death and reports it to the others as an accident. Quentin attempts to persuade Leaven to abandon the others with him and makes a sexual advance, but she rejects him. When Quentin becomes aggressive, Worth intervenes; Quentin beats him savagely and drops him through a floor hatch. Worth laughs hysterically at what he finds — Rennes's corpse. The group is demoralized by the thought of having been wandering in circles. Worth realizes that the rooms move periodically through the Cube, and this is the source of the quaking. Leaven deduces that traps are not tagged by prime numbers, but by powers of prime numbers. Much to Quentin's surprise, Kazan reveals himself to be an autistic savant. With Kazan's help, Leaven guides them to a bridge room which will lead them out of the maze in two movements. Worth preemptively ambushes Quentin and leaves him behind, though Worth declines to leave the Cube, as he has lost faith in humanity. Leaven objects and convinces Worth to join her, but Quentin reappears, kills her, and mortally wounds Worth. As Quentin moves to kill Kazan, Worth expends the last of his strength to grab Quentin's leg, pinning him in the passageway as the rooms shift again. Quentin is torn apart, and Worth dies seconds later, next to Leaven. Kazan slowly walks into a bright light. Each character's name is connected with a real- world prison: Production. The short was set in an elevator and was intended to give investors an idea of how Cube would hypothetically look and come across. It eventually got the feature financed. Cube was shot on a Toronto soundstage. Pravica, a mathematician. It consists of an outer cubical shell (the sarcophagus) and the inner cube. One side of the outer shell is 4. The inner cube consists of 2. There is a space of 1. Each room is labelled with three identification numbers, for example, 5. These numbers encode the starting coordinates of the room and the x, y, and z coordinates are the sums of the digits of the first, second, and third number respectively. The numbers also determine the movement of the room and the subsequent positions are obtained by cyclically subtracting the digits from one another. The resulting numbers are then successively added to the starting numbers. The color of the room was changed by sliding panels. It was intended that there would be six different colours of rooms to match the recurring theme of six throughout the movie; five sets of gel panels plus pure white. However, the budget did not stretch to the sixth gel panel and so there are only five different room colours in the movie. Another partial cube was made for shots requiring the point of view of standing in one room looking into another. Bloody Disgusting gave the movie a positive review, writing, . It's simply too good a premise and too well- directed to let minor hindrances derail its creepy premise. The ensemble cast does an outstanding job on the cinematic equivalent of a bare stage.. Everyone has his or her own theory about who is behind this peculiar imprisonment.. The weakness in Cube is the dialogue, which sometimes turns remarkably trite.. The strength is the film's understated but real tension. Vincenzo Natali, the film's fledgling director and co- writer, has delivered an allegory, too, about futility, about the necessity and certain betrayal of trust, about human beings who do not for a second have the luxury of doing nothing. Retrieved 1. 7 September 2. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1. September 2. 01. 2. The New York Times. Retrieved 1. 7 September 2. Screen Rant. Retrieved 2. Retrieved 1. 2 June 2. The wild card in the equation, as if there needed to be one, is Andrew Miller's autistic man. Horror Films 1. 01. Retrieved 2. 3 May 2. Imagine being dropped in an empty room. There's no exit.. Imagine not being sure why you're there. Is there a purpose, or are you just being toyed with? Very quickly you learn about the people stuck with you. Very quickly the room becomes a prison.. Five Characters In Search of an Exit has the benefit of brevity, but it also has an engaging episode- long . The characters define their identity, bring their talents to the problems at hand, and their environment - like the world - is as inscrutable as it is deadly. Deep Focus Review. Retrieved 2. 3 May 2. Vincenzo Natali's Cube extends a scenario seemingly straight from The Twilight Zone for the duration of a full- length feature.. Writing the Horror Movie. London ; New York: Bloomsbury. Cube (1. 99. 7) was reportedly influenced by a Twilight Zone episode, Five Characters in Search of an Exit, written by its creator Rod Serling. Archived from the original on 2. Retrieved 2. 01. 1- 0. Math Goes to the Movies. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9. 78- 1- 4. San Francisco Chronicle. Mathematics, Art, Technology, and Cinema. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer- Verlag. ISBN 3- 5. 40- 0. X. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2. 0 November 2. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2. November 2. 01. 6. Electric Sheep Magazine. Empire Online. Nitrate Online. Bloody Disgusting. Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2. May 2. 01. 4. The New York Times. The New York Times. The Hollywood Reporter. Comingsoon. net. External links.
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