“Untitled” by me_maya (via Flikr creative commons)
1. The Fearless Vampire Killers, Or: Pardon Me But Your Teeth Are In My Neck (1967)
In this early Roman Polanski effort, a famous doctor (Jack MacGowran) and his young apprentice (Polanski) travel to a small village in eastern europe to assist with the terrible vampire problem that plagues the denizens. And there’s plenty of bob-sledding and creepy, Vampire dance parties along the way! The best thing about The Fearless Vampire Killers is that it is a mostly hilarious film, which sneaks up on you with its horror and extreme melancholy and apocalyptic cynicism.
2. Death Line (1973)
Death Line is a little known British horror film from the early 70s, which should be as famous as Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It follows the plight of a man who is the descendent of a group of workers trapped in the London underground at the time of its construction. As a form of apparent resistance against the mainstream society that failed to save them, the underground community creates their own way of life, of which the cuisine is provided from the bodies of bourgeois business men and women who are unfortunate enough to be roaming the tube stops alone at night. This is a very smart film with a great performance by Donald Pleasence and cameo by Christopher Lee. Furthermore, its representation of British culture and idiosyncrasies makes it a great addition to the construction of a British National Cinema.
3. The Bed-Sitting Room (1969)
I have seen The Bed-Sitting Room once. It was about two years ago. I’m still a little unsure of exactly what happened. In a post-apocalyptic Britain, the final living humans struggle with adjusting to the new harsh landscape while also attempting to retain business as usual. And also, people are turning into rooms. Though I’m not going to pretend like I have an intellectual reading of the film, I will say that some serious stuff is going on here, which you can read about here. It’s also highly inventive and hilarious.
4. Hausu (1977)
Hausu is possibly my favorite movie ever, possibly. But the first time I saw this movie is definitely the most fun I’ve ever had at a film screening ever. The film’s conception came when the director (Nobuhiko Obayashi), finding mainstream, Americanized horror trite, asked his five year old daughter what she thought was scary. The result is Hausu: The story of a girl who goes to her long lost aunt’s haunted house for spring break with a group of her friends. The characters encounter man-eating pianos, singing cats, and dancing skeletons in this vibrant, hallucinatory, hilarious, horrifically entertaining film. To watch it properly, invite all of your friends.
5. The Damned (1963)
The Damned is a Hammer film directed by Joseph Losey, and features the late, great Oliver Reed. It begins as a sort of teddy boy/lost generation/troubled youth type story, and ends on a group of radioactive grade-schoolers, conceived by the government for the sole purpose of surviving the apocalypse and repopulating the earth. The film does a great job at illustrating mid-century atomic anxieties as well as presents a number of great performances (and some less great. I’m not crazy about the leading old man, Macdonald Carey, who ends up with the young Joan, portrayed by Shirley Anne Field). Over all, its a great, strange movie, and one of my favorite Reed platforms.