ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – HALLOWEEN (1978)

 

“Halloween” is a horror thriller, written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Directed by John Carpenter.

 

The movie begins on Halloween in 1963, when 6 year-old Michael Myers (Will Sandin) stabs his 15 year old sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) to death.

After being institutionalized for 15 years, Myers breaks out on the night before Halloween, and no one seems be too concerned that Myers' is heading back to Haddonfield, and that he’ll likely be there on October 31st 1978, except his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence).

But by the time the authorities of the town realize he’s heading for Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again, it may be too late for many of its inhabitants.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles and Charles Cyphers star in what was undoubtedly the first of the slasher film, which has influenced almost every slasher film made since.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – CARRIE (1976)

 

“Carrie” is a horror classic, screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by Brian De Palma.

 

High school senior Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), is a shy, unworldly, and friendless teenage girl who has been sheltered from real life by her domineering, fanatically religious mother (Piper Laurie), while struggling in secret with the special telekinetic powers she possesses, a secret which she cannot divulge to her mother as she would consider it to be a gift from the devil.

The only adult authority figure who tries to help Carrie with her life is her Physical Education teacher, Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) but she is warned by the Principle not to get too involved.

After an incident of bullying by her classmates the culprits are banned from attending the Senior Prom and blame Carrie so they plan to exact their revenge on her by humiliating her in front of everyone at the Prom.

So will they succeed or will she unleash her telekinetic powers on them in a horrifying display of rage.

Amy Irving, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles play Carries classmates, good and bad, in what is possibly the best movie adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – PSYCHO (1960)

 

“Psycho” is a horror thriller, Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, based on the Novel by Robert Bloch and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

 

The plot concerns a Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) who is dissatisfied with the way life has treated her, and unable legitimize her relationship with her married lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin), she embezzles $40,000 from one of her employer's client when she is entrusted with depositing the money at the bank.

Seeing it as an opportunity to start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards California, however fatigue sets in after getting caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into the Bates Motel which is managed by a quiet young man called Norman (Anthony Perkins) who seems to be dominated by his mother, but is everything as it appears?

 

Vera Miles, Martin Balsam and John McIntire also shine in this classic Hitchcock masterpiece, a film not to be missed.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE SHINING (1980)

 

“The Shinning” is a horror classic, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by Stanley Kubrick.

 

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is an aspiring author and recovering alcoholic cursed with a persistent writer's block.

His solution is to take a job as an off-season caretaker at the secluded Overlook Hotel in Colorado's snow-capped mountains, and drags his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his gifted son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him.

The Torrance’s arrive as the Hotel begins to shut down for the season, and they are given the grand tour, during which they meet the Hotel's chef, Hallorann (Scatman Crothers).

Halloran chats with Danny about the rare psychic gift they share called “The Shining”, and warns him about certain rooms he should avoid, as the Hotel has a grizzly past.

In the weeks that follow the closure of the Hotel Jack fails to overcome his writers block and little by little, Jack starts losing his mind.

He feels trapped in a gargantuan silent prison set in an unforgiving environment of seemingly endless snowstorms, his days are filled with strange occurrences and eerie visions and incessant voices in his head demand a sacrifice, leading to a thrilling and dramatic finale in true Kubrick style.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE DEAD ZONE (1983)

 

“The Dead Zone” is a horror thriller, screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by David Cronenberg.

 

When a survivor from a road accident awakes from a coma after five years, schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) discovers he has psychic abilities, when he touches someone, he gets visions of the past, present or the deadly future.

However after five years he finds life has moved on without him, his girlfriend Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) is now married; he no longer has a job and he's basically crippled due to his muscles having atrophied.

So he struggles to find his place in the world, but along the way he does use his abilities to help Sheriff Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) solve a murder case.

He then helps to save a child's life but when he discovers the chilling fate for the world, he must save everyone from an evilly corrupt presidential hopeful Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) but at what cost.

Character stalwarts, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe and Colleen Dewhurst provide excellent support to the stars in the gripping movie.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE FOG (1980)

 

“The Fog” is a horror thriller, written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Directed by John Carpenter.

 

The story is set against the backdrop of the peaceful community of the coastal town of Antonio Bay, California who are making preparations to celebrate the towns’ centenary.

However strange supernatural occurrences blemish the festivities as an unearthly impenetrable and opaque fog rolls off the ocean to shroud the seaside town and leads to unaccountable disappearances, so is there something evil lurking in the fog?

Could it be linked to events a century earlier when a hideous crime was committed by the town's elders when they sealed the fate of a ship full of drowned mariners now lying on the bottom of the sea.

So has the fog brought the restless dead seeking revenge and demanding justice?

Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman and Hal Holbrook bring this ghostly tale to life, while the photography by Dean Cundey makes it all seem real.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE CHANGELING (1980)

 

“The Changeling” is a horror drama, Screenplay by William Gray and Diana Maddox from a story by Russell Hunter and Directed by Peter Medak.

 

When music professor and composer John Russell (George C. Scott) and his family are enjoying a perfect family vacation, a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter.

Consumed by grief, he is urged to rent a huge nineteenth century house, and the house seems to possess all the room John needs to reflect and hopefully write music.

However it isn’t long before he realizes he is not alone in the house as he shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John's grief and despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit.

With the help of Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere), who helped John secure the house, they set out to find the answers and the powerful and devious man who guards them.

This is not a violent or “Kensington Gore” type of horror, it scares with great story telling, eerie sounds and dark corners and it uses pathos with great effect.

The film also benefit from accomplished direction and the acting excellence of its stars and a great supporting cast including Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos and Barry Morse.