Top Ten Classic Monster Movies -- Part 2
Continuing the countdown from last week's blog ...
5 -- Rosemary's Baby (1968)
I bend my own rules here -- there are no dudes thrashing around in rubber suits in this picture. But there is an unparalleled sense of dread that builds until you can't breathe. Never has evil been more banal, and that's the point.
4 -- Frankenstein (1931)
The first of three James Whale pictures in my top five (spoiler!), and along with Dracula (released nine months earlier) the flashpoint for monster movies as a genre. It can be hard to see past the cliches to enjoy this film for its originality, mixing thrills, German expressionism, and melodramatic fantasy to potent effect. Seeing the stricken father carry Marilyn Harris' drowned body through the village still shocks, and I remain haunted by Karloff's performance, particularly his hysterical fear when trapped by fire.
3 -- The Invisible Man (1933)
I love this picture more each time I see it -- give me a couple years and it could climb to #1. Mostly this is down to James Whale -- this is more playful than his Frankenstein pictures, but possibly even more moody. I also enjoy the police procedural aspect of the story (appropriate for a mystery blogger), with E.E. Clive's Constable Jeffers earning a medal for his stolid sangfroid in the face of impossible phenomena. But it is the mostly-unseen Claude Rains who puts this one over-the-top, kicking off a brilliant film career with a vocal performance for the ages. "We'll begin with a reign of terror, a few murders here and there, murders of great men, murders of little men - well, just to show we make no distinction." And then he turns really megamaniacal!
2 -- The Exorcist (1972)
I've seen this film several times in my life, and each time it was a different experience. As a teen, it was a disappointment. That's supposed to be scary? Get out of here. As a young adult it landed harder, as existential doubts began to invade my dreams. It really struck home when I became a parent, and thought about a mysterious and incurable illness grabbing my kids. By far the most intense picture on my list. Just listening to it is enough to give you a nervous breakdown. And The Exorcist entered the cultural conversation of its era in ways few movies have managed (let alone monster movies)
1 -- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
From the most terrifying film on my list to the most benign. I don't think there's a single fright in The Bride of Frankenstein. But there's plenty of fantasy, and freakiness, and non-stop monster entertainment from the very first scene. (And, ok, I was frightened by Elsa Lanchester's reaction to her unbirth as a kid; as an adult, I understand it). This is a wonderfully unhinged bit of monster madness that I never tire watching. "To a new world of gods and monsters!"
Here's my full list:
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Frankenstein (1931)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
The Mummy (1932)
Dracula (1931)
Honorable mentions:
Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Wolf Man (1941), Cat People (1942), La Belle et la Bête (1946), The Thing from Another World (1951), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Curse of the Demon (1957), Psycho (1960), Black Sunday (1960), Carnival of Souls (1962), The Haunting (1963), Kwaidan (1964), Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell (1968), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
See also Top Ten Film Noirs That Aren’t About Crime Part 1 and Part 2