Spooky season may be over, but that doesn’t mean fright night has to be. Cozy up to a classic horror film courtesy ofHBO Max, and get prepared to be scared.
Containing an expansive library of nightmares, HBO Max has everything from underrated features made during Hollywood’s golden era, to wild and weird cult classics from the 1980s. Want to seeDavid Bowieplay a ravenous vampire? How aboutSteve MartinimpersonatingElvis Presleywhile performing root canals? HBO Max has it all. Don’t let these classics slip under the rug, they really don’t make them like they used to.
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Eyes Without a Face (1960)
The 1960 French film,Eyes Without a Face,is often regarded as one of the scariest movies ever made, and with good reason. When a young woman, Christine (Edith Scob), is in a terrible car accident, she is left with no outer face except for her eyes. Chistine’s father, a cold-blooded plastic surgeon, begins kidnapping women and performs face transplants in the hopes that his daughter will become beautiful again. The surgeries are never successful, and they’re excruciating to watch. Directed byGeorges Franjuand co-starringPierre Brasseuras the murderous surgeon andAlida Vallias his faithful assistant,Eyes Without a Face’s statements on societal norms and beauty standards make it a must-watch. When the film was initially released in 1960, the face transplant scenes horrified audiences, and viewing it in 2021 makes it seem like a miracle that this gruesome movie was ever released.
The Hunger (1983)
David BowieandCatherine Deneuvestar as John and Miriam Blaylock, two soul-sucking vampires in the stylish, 1983 gothic horror film,The Hunger. Obsessed with staying eternally young, the couple spends their nights going to clubs with the intention of feasting upon strangers.Susan Sarandonco-stars as their latest victim, and she gets sucked into a dangerous love triangle that produces deadly consequences. Asteamy, punk-infused affairclad with black leather jackets and cigarette smoke, the filmwas met with a lukewarm reception upon its initial release, but has since obtained a devout following. Thanks to its masterful balance between horror, romance, and impeccable style,The Hungerhas left a permanent bloody mark on the vampire film.
Theoriginal modern zombie filmthat birthed a thousand dead monsters in its wake,The Night of the Living Deadis a must-watch for any horror fanatic. Going on to achieve cult-classic status, the filmdebuted in 1967 to stunned audiences as they watched gruesome depictions of hungry, flesh-eating ghouls. Taking place in a secluded rural town, a group of strangers seeks refuge from prowling zombies in a small farmhouse that neighbors the local cemetery. Bunkering down and praying to make it to sunrise, they begin butting heads as they go about deciding how to fight back against the undead. It seems formulaic now, butThe Night of the Living Deadcreated countless horror tropes that are still used to this day. Directed byGeorge A. Romero, the film features iconic performances byDuane Jones,Judith O’Dea,Russell Streiner,Karl Hardman, andMarilyn Eastman. Witness how the zombie mania began, thanks to the truly terrifying,The Night of the Living Dead.
Scanners (1981)
Directed byDavid Cronenberg,Scannersis anunsettling body horror filmwith shocking acts of violence scattered throughout. Catastrophic things start happening when a group of scanners, gifted individuals with telepathic powers, decide to use their abilities to cause destruction. The government fights back by enlisting the help of a powerful telepathic, Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), and he goes on a dangerous mission as he hunts down the rogue scanners. Cronenberg is best known for his various body horror films, includingThe Brood, The Fly,andVideochrome,and his wild imagination is used to its full capacity in this panic-inducing thriller. Dripping in paranoia,Scannersexercises extreme discipline in its lead-up to action-packed sequences, making the film’s fleeting moments of violence jaw-droppingly scary.
Cronos (1993)
From a master of horror,Guillermo Del Toro’s 1993 vampire film,Cronos, seeps with bloodthirsty men fighting mortality. When an antique shop owner (Federico Luppi) accidentally stumbles upon an ancient device that promises eternal life, he naively uses it and begins to change in terrifying ways. Suddenly, he has a hunger for blood, and no matter what he does his thirst cannot be satiated.Cronoswas Del Toro’s directorial debut, and already he had a taste for dark fairytales rich with magic and demons. Co-starringClaudio Brookalongside frequent Del Toro collaboratorRon Pearlman(Hellboy),Cronoswarns of man’s greed and the perils of living in the past.
The Blob (1958)
It’s two teenagers against the world in the 1958science fiction horror classic,The Blob, starringSteve McQueenandAneta Corsaut. It’s up to them to save their small town from the ever-growing, gluttonous Blob, an alien lifeform that crashes down onto earth and begins consuming everything, from townspeople to the local diner. A cult classic,The Blobbecame a popular film shown at drive-ins and can be spotted playing during the drive-in scene in the 1978 film,Grease.Its impact on future science fiction movies is undeniable, and to understand just how farThe Blob’slegacy stretches, revisit season three of Netflix’sStranger Things, where a blob-like monster starts devouring the townspeople of Hawkins and threatens to take over the entire town. Teenagers fighting aliens in the suburbs will never go out of style.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Directed byHerk Harveyin 1962on a shoestring budget,Carnival of Soulswarrants more recognition. Inspiring countless directors, including horror maestroDavid Lynch(Blue Velvet,Twin Peaks), the film is a disturbing portrayal of a woman suffering a nervous breakdown in the wake of a traumatic event. After a disastrous car crash, Mary (Candace Hilligoss) moves to small-town Utah to start fresh as an organist at the local church. Once there, strange things start happening. A creepy man dressed in a rumpled-up suit begins stalking her. The closed-down carnival located on the outskirts of town keeps beckoning her to come visit. Is she hallucinating, or is it real? A slow-cooked thriller that delivers a shocking final course,Carnival of Soulswill leave you reeling.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
AfterDavid Lynch’s hailed television series,Twin Peaks,was cancelled after two seasons on ABC, he announced he was making aTwin Peaksfilm. But hope for resolution quickly died amongst fans, asTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Mewas not the sequel they were hoping for. Instead, it was a confounding prequel that offered no answers. Detailing the events that lead up to the death of homecoming queen, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), the film was ripped to shreds by both the box office and critics. Audiences were hoping for more of the quirky comedy that filled the ABC series, but what they got was ahorrifying glimpseinto Laura Palmer’s last days on earth.
A dark and terrifying character study, the actress Sheryl Lee gives a visceral, searing performance that should have been lauded as one for the ages, but instead was dismissed and forgotten. It’s unflinching in its portrayal of the various abuse Laura suffers, and people simply weren’t ready for the story Lynch was telling, or Lee’s exploration of a battered soul. Now in the wake of Me Too,Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Medeserves a second look, as it tells one woman’s story with unwavering honesty.
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Before he was known as Solomon in theLord of the Ringsfilm franchise,Christopher LeewasCount Dracula, the evil, blood-sucking vampire. In the seminal classic,Horror of Dracula, Lee is terrifying with bared fangs and bloodshot eyes as he goes up against the vampire hunter, Doctor Van Helsing (Michael Gough). Based uponBram Stoker’s 1897 novel,Dracula, the film is directed byTerrence Fischerand co-starsMichael Goughas Arthur Holmwood, andMelissa Striblingas Mina Holmwood. Lee went on to star in a total of nine films as Dracula, and cemented himself as one of the greatest villains to ever grace the silver screen. As he prowls in out of scenes with a barely contained hunger, he proves movies don’t need extravagant special effects to be scary. It’s time to gather up the garlic, silver, and wooden stakes, and devourHorror of Dracula.
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Jack Nicholsonmesses with the wrong witchesin the 1987 comedy- horror film,The Witches of Eastwick. Portraying Daryl Van Horne, Nicholson oozes with charm as a womanizing millionaire who comes to the small town of Eastwick with the sole intention of raising hell and falling in love. Sporting a man-bun and a wicked smile, he meets his match with the hairstyles and spells wielded byCher,Susan Sarandon, andMichelle Pfeiffer, co-starring as a trio of witches. A campy, horrifying delight, never has Nicholson had more fun on screen than as a sly devil who enraptures and seduces three very different women. Cher, Sarandon, and Pfeiffer were some of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time, and they’re truly magic together as rage-filled witches brewing revenge.
