10 Haunting Movies That Play With Your Mind
Sep 06 '03 (Updated Sep 13 '03)
The Bottom Line Final recommendation is to watch them!
From that title you may think these movies are all suspenseful thrillers, but not all of them are. Many are classic comedies, perhaps with friendly ghosts, perhaps with satire or a mystery or bad guys. Many of them will make you thoughtful. I think they all share the theme of characters discovering something about themselves and about others they care about. This is a universal theme that renders these movies unforgettable, rewatchable classics, in my opinion.
Most of these 5-star movies are in black-and-white from yesteryear, so if you prefer the latest Hollywood sexfest with Brittany Murphy or Ashton Kutcher, I suggest you pass on almost every one of these movies.
In order of theatrical release:
M: 1931; Fritz Lang, director and writer; Egon Jacobsen, article. A very young Peter Lorre (Casablanca) is the Child Murderer of a small German city whose police cannot catch despite their efforts. As the citizenry festers with fear and rage, the underground criminal element would dispose of the madman who calls into question their own sanity.
Whistling the frenzied "In the Hall of the Mountain King", Lorre insidiously builds the horror.
Modern Times: 1936; Charles Chaplin, director and writer. Chaplin as the lovable tramp finds work in a factory, requiring robotic precision he is finally unable to handle, especially not that automatic feeding machine! Declared insane he goes to an asylum, then when he's released, he meets a beautiful "gamin," played by Paulette Goddard. Together they laughingly illustrate the poverty and restlessness brought on by machines, highlighted by Chaplin's bawdy French song and dance in a mostly silent film.
My Man Godfrey: 1936; Gregory LaCava, director; Eric Hatch, novel; Morris Syskind, screenplay. William Powell (The Thin Man) plays the Forgotten Man who Carole Lombard's socialite character convinces to help her win a scavenger hunt. He becomes her strange family's butler, a mystery to be solved by the catty sister and a romantic pursuit by Lombard's character. The nobility-of-the-poor theme captivates.
Secret Agent: 1936; Alfred Hitchcock, director; W. Somerset Maugham, novel; Campbell Dixon, screenplay. John Gielgud is forced to discover and off a German spy with the aid of Peter Lorre and Madeleine Carroll. He makes a rotten spy, though, preferring to fall in love, and has to outwit the German spy for her if he really loves her. Lorre's character is tougher, but the human (and dog) vulnerability really made the film for me.
Topper: 1937; Norman Z. McLeod, director; Thorne Smith, novel; Eric Hatch and Jade Jevne, writers. Zany Cary Grant and Constance Bennet as meddling ghosts in the life of his former employer, played equally nuttily by Roland Young, whose panicky wife, played by "Glinda the Good Witch" Billie Burke, suspects an affair. Hoagy Carmichael cameo and ditsy songs. These entertaining folk question their sanity!
Topper Returns: 1941; Roy del Ruth, director; Gordon Douglas and Jonathan Latimer, writers. New ghost, played pluckily by Joan Blondell, asks for Roland Young's Topper character's help in discovering her murderer in a sinister-looking mansion with evil-eyed inhabitants, a trick chair, secret passages, a trained seal and a bufoonish police chief. Billie Burke, Young, Blondell and chauffeur Eddie "Rochester" Anderson especially keep the laughs coming in this murder farce.
Gentleman's Agreement: 1947; Elia Kazan, director; Laura Z. Hobson, novel; Moss Hart, screenplay. Gregory Peck discovers insidious prejudice against Jews when he's assigned to write about anti-semitism and decides to claim himself a Jew. Dorothy MacGuire as his girlfriend breaks down under the pressure and John Garfield as his friend exposes her prejudice. It is high, raw drama that leaves an indelible impression.
The Ghost And Mrs. Muir: 1947; Joseph L. Mankiewicz, director; R.A. Dick, novel; Philip Dunne, screenplay. Beautiful widow played by Gene Tierney rents a haunted beach cottage, meets the sailor ghost (Rex Harrison) and they fall in love despite their efforts not to. George Sanders tries to catch her fancy and small Natalie Wood charms as the child. When the ghost leaves her alone, my heart aches for her in her confusion.
Sunset Blvd.: 1950; Billy Wilder, director and writer; Charles Brackett, writer. William Holden plays a ghost recounting the events that led to his demise in a swimming pool. As a struggling writer he happens to meet a celebrity recluse (Gloria Swanson) while hiding from lowlife and takes the job of editing a bad script she wrote. She also wants him as a young lover, but he eventually falls for a determined writer (Nancy Olsen) his own age and must choose a coward's life or a man's. Creepy film noir and riveting!
Requiem For A Dream: 2000; Darren Aronofsky, director; Hubert Selby, Jr., novel and screenplay. Ellen Burstyn's lonely character loses her mind on diet pills; her son (Jared Leto) shoots drugs while trying to sell them; and his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) has to become a wh*re and exhibitionist to survive. This frenetic movie captures the high-strung emotions of these pitiful characters in a most graphic and disturbing way.
Honorable Mentions go to 2002's Chicago and About A Boy. Chicago combined fantasy and reality to illustrate the emotions, even changing emotions, of its flashy, cynical characters whose song and dance numbers livened up the musical. About A Boy seemed to mirror reality all too well with characters looking for a connection in a brutal world. I recommend them highly along with the others.
I could also mention more ghoulish movies like The Ring and The Others. I don't find these kind of movies as thrilling the second time around, though, although you might. I just don't think they're classics.
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Member: Jan Peregrine
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