Once upon a time, I went to college (the first time) and got myself an Arts degree. I focused on cinema, and took every theory course I could. I love the form as a vehicle for storytelling, and the vast wealth of opportunities in terms of how to tell the story. I dove into various film festivals, found out about various indie theatres in my city, and was inspired. The festivals, especially, were wonderful for this and I spent many a season dragging friends around with me to catch screenings at cinemas we’d never previously heard of. I don’t attend them anymore – some went online/hybrid for a year or two but are unfortunately all back to being in-person with no safety precautions – but my love of movies hasn’t changed one bit.
Once upon a time, I was known for having an intense and vocal dislike of horror films. It was a big deal if I agreed to go to one as it was such a rare occurrence. Heck, I only watched The Haunting of Hill House because I had someone warning me of the jump scares ahead of time! It was the same for video games: horror? No thank you. In books, however, I never had this problem! It took me a long time to realise that my issue wasn’t with horror at all, but with jump scares. Which has, in turn, opened up a whole well of possibilities in terms of finally exploring a genre I love, in quite possibly my favourite medium: film.
Once upon a time, I started making a list of horror films to check out and, finally, started tracking them down to watch. Sunset Boulevard (1950), Nightmare Castle (1965), and Suspiria (1977) are the ones I’ve started off with. And hey, who knows, maybe 2023 is the year I will finally watch Dracula (1931) – usually surprises people that I haven’t seen that one!
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
A 1950 American black comedy film noir film directed by Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard follows struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) meeting, and agreeing to work for, former silent-film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). The film opens with Gillis floating face down in Desmond’s swimming pool, and the rest of the film operates as a flashback relating the events leading to his death.
This very much feels like a classic old Hollywood movie capturing the specific moment in time where we’re transitioning between old and new Hollywood. And new Hollywood doesn’t have room for the old anymore. In that context, Desmond’s tale is a tragic one. She’s a faded star now, but remains a respected name to those who worked with her. She also still believes her fans love her and are eagerly awaiting her return to the screen. This, combined with a miscommunication with the studio she’s pitched her script to, definitely made me wince on her behalf.
I particularly enjoyed the pacing of this one, it felt slow and like the story had room to breathe. The acting was phenomenal, and the sets felt appropriately grandiose for Desmond’s home. Really enjoyed Holden’s narration as well – I’d actually forgotten by the movie’s end that we’d opened with his character, Gillis, dead in a pool so I got to be surprised and delighted by that all over again!
Nightmare Castle (1965)
From Mario Caiano, Nightmare Castle is an Italian horror film following the story of Dr. Arrowsmith (Paul Miller), a sadistic doctor who tortures and kills his wife Muriel (Barbara Steele) and her lover David (Rik Battaglia). Discovering that Muriel has left her fortune to her sister, Jenny (also played by Steele) he remarries, but not before removing and preserving Muriel and David’s hearts, and injecting his assistant/lover Solange (Helga Liné) with their blood in order to make her appear youthful again. Ghost vengeance ensues!
I had a rough go of the first fifteen or so minutes of this movie as I’m not hugely keen on torture and the introduction leans heavily into sadism and violence. Note also that Dr. Arrowsmith is a villain through and through: his plan for Jenny is to marry her, feed her hallucinogens, and then have her institutionalised. He gets what’s coming to him and it feels satisfying.
There are gothic elements in Nightmare Castle reminiscent of Frakenstein and The Tell-Tale Heart, and not in a bad way! The film also takes place in a castle, complete with a crypt, which is always quite fun! The tone shifts throughout, going from head on horrific violence to having a dreamy feeling in the middle, where Steele wanders around the castle in beautifully framed and lit shots. It feels much slower and hazier, before we roll into the finale which is where ghost vengeance comes fully into play! Worth noting is that Jenny gets her happily ever after, something I was quite pleased about as she has certainly been through enough.
Suspiria (1977)
Released in 1977, Suspiria is an Italian horror film from director Dario Argento. In it, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), a young ballet student from America, arrives in Freiburg, Germany, to study at a prestigious dance school. Gruesome murders and inexplicable events lead Suzy to start questioning what’s really going on, leading us to a supernatural evil operating within the school. It is worth noting that the film draws on, and advances, stereotypes of Roma people – something I was unaware of and not expecting going into my viewing.
What really stood out to me in this film was the use of sound. The score is quite possibly as striking as the lighting and holds up quite well – though maybe skip eating this one over dinner as some of the murders are pretty gruesome and maggots make an appearance (and a crunching sound) that I won’t soon forget. It’s a film whose atmosphere surrounds you, and I fell right into it and its sea of red. There’s a 2018 version inspired by the same source text (Thomas De Quincey’s 1845 essay Suspiria de Profundis), which I know nothing about save for “it also exists.”
While not previously familiar with Argento’s work, I do now know Suspiria marks the first of The Three Mothers trilogy, of which Inferno (1980) and The Mother of Tears (2007) are also part. It’s considered a cult classic, and I can absolutely understand why – of the three, this is the one I’m most likely to watch again as its journey, while disturbing, was engrossing – and I’m a sucker for a strong atmosphere.
I’ve got my movie list, but I’m always looking for it to grow! What are your must-see horror movies?
Stay cozy!
The Cozy Cauldron 