Halloween Movie and Book Suggestions Please

[WitMom]

I'm in the mood for some Halloween fun. Not horror, but something spooky, atmospheric, thriller-ish. Old b&w movies are good, too.

[Kestrel]

I love the old, original Dracula and Frankenstein movies. They were made to be scary, but now the effects/costumes/make-up seem campy.

[trentsmom]

Here are some old b&w movies that can still scare me even though I've seen them several times. (I'm not a horror fan, and I have a low threshold of being spooked.)

The Uninvited - siblings buy a house, discover it's haunted

Diabolique - wife & mistress kill the husband, then the body disappears

Rebecca - young new wife, creepy housekeeper devoted to dead first wife

Shadow of a Doubt - teen girl's favorite uncle visits. Is he a killer?

The Night of the Hunter - man stalks two children to get hidden money

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'm looking forward to Hubie Halloween on Netflix.

[carolinamama]

I watched Hocus Pocus over the weekend with DD. Not too original but perfect for a themed movie that wasn't spooky for DD, who doesn't like anything scary. We both really enjoyed it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We also really like the Shrek Halloween special. Oh, and there’s one with Monsters vs Aliens that’s fun too. I know those are kid shows but they’re just scary enough for me.


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[bisous]

Here are some old b&w movies that can still scare me even though I've seen them several times. (I'm not a horror fan, and I have a low threshold of being spooked.)

The Uninvited - siblings buy a house, discover it's haunted

Diabolique - wife & mistress kill the husband, then the body disappears

Rebecca - young new wife, creepy housekeeper devoted to dead first wife

Shadow of a Doubt - teen girl's favorite uncle visits. Is he a killer?

The Night of the Hunter - man stalks two children to get hidden money

I’m excited about these! These sound like my jam!

[lizzywednesday]

...

The Uninvited - siblings buy a house, discover it's haunted
...

This is one of my all-time favorites! Ruth Hussey is sparkling in it, and if you were a fan of the 60s Batman TV series, you should recognize Alan Napier, who played Alfred, as the town's doctor.

[lizzywednesday]

double post; sorry!

[lizzywednesday]

I love the old, original Dracula and Frankenstein movies. They were made to be scary, but now the effects/costumes/make-up seem campy.

My dad grew up watching all of the Universal monster movies, so I had seen all of them by the time I was 13.

Dracula is a lot of fun, and you can see where a lot of the visual language of vampire films comes from by watching. I heard the Spanish-language Dracula, which can be hard to find, is a bit more erotic and spookier. TCM used to run it regularly this time of year, but with all the rights to old films shifting to several streaming services lately, it's not on their schedule.

Frankenstein is a great way to introduce "it was a dark and stormy night" and "mad scientist" tropes. (It also makes movies like Young Frankenstein and Ed Wood about 10 times funnier when you finally watch them.) I've got a soft spot for Bride of Frankenstein, too, mostly because Elsa Lanchester based The Bride's overall movements/feel on the Robot Maria from the Fritz Lang silent film, Metropolis, which I also recommend.

The Wolf Man is one of my favorites from the era - Lon Cheney, Jr; Bela Lugosi (in a bit part); Claude Rains ... the cast alone is worth the price of admission!

If you're into atmospheric, grotesque, and very German Expressionist, Nosferatu (FW Murnau's classic silent that effectively, and unauthorizedly, retells Dracula and was sued by the Stoker estate for copyright infringement) is pretty good. Again, its visual vocabulary is referenced in horror pictures TODAY and it's almost 100 years old! (Pair it with Shadow of the Vampire for a treat - Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich are an insanely good pairing.)

If you're into crime dramas, and don't mind subtitles, Fritz Lang's M is eerily fantastic. (Content Warning: it's about a child-murderer, played by Peter Lorre, and although nothing is shown on screen, it can be a bit much to watch.)