Top 5 Horror Anthology Films of All Time
by Brandon Engel
If it wasn’t for fifties
horror comics (especially EC titles like Tales From The Crypt and Haunt of Fear) it’s probably
safe to say that horror movies and literature simply wouldn’t exist as we know
them today. Stephen King is himself a huge fan of the comic format, and he has
borrowed liberally from the influence of such works throughout the course of
his career.
There have been many
great horror anthology films over the decades, typically comprised of three to
five short stories with wrap-around segments to stitch the disparate stories
into one self-contained narrative. Many follow in the footsteps of the EC, while
one title from the list below predates such comics, and might have, itself,
influenced the format of the comic books.
Here is a look at the
top five horror anthology films of all time.
5. Trilogy of
Terror (1975)
Originally made for ABC,
the film is comprised of three short stories all written by Richard Matheson (author of I Am Legend and frequent
contributor to The Twilight Zone). Actress Karen Black appeared as a
different character in each segment. The most memorable sequence is the film’s
closer, “Amelia,” about an upscale New Yorker who brings home a Zuni warrior
fetish doll (which resembles a piranha with fearsome fangs and stringy black
hair). There’s a golden band across the doll’s waist, and it’s said that if the
band is removed, the dormant spirit which inhabits the doll will be unleashed.
The segment is significant in the annals of movies with killer dolls, and was
even once parodied in a Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror segment.
4. Dead of Night
(1945)
This was one of the only
horror films made by the English Ealing Studios, and it’s often regarded as one of the
most inventive horror films of all time. A group meet for a weekend vacation,
and one member of the group is plagued by a sense of the uncanny. This provides
the narrative container, as each guest then relates a story about an eerie
occurrence or dream they’ve had. The most famous sequence features Michael Redgrave as a psychotic ventriloquist who can’t seem to discern where his
identity ends, and the identity of his doll “Hugo” begins.
3. Tales From The
Darkside: The Movie (1990)
The film was of course a
spin-off of George Romero’s cult TV show, Tales From the Darkside (which is itself enjoying its own resurgence in
popularity now that it can be streamed directly from DTV - see their website)
and the feature film also features a story contribution from King himself, The
Cat From Hell. The most memorable sequence features a woman who plots to
cook her newspaper delivery boy. Even more memorable is the device used for the
wrap arounds: a young man is telling these stories to distract a witch who
intends to eat him. A technically well-executed and enjoyable horror omnibus in
the Romero tradition.
2. Tales From the
Crypt (1972)
Released by the British
film studio Amicus, this take on the classic fifties horror comics offers
wonderful performances from Hammer Horror icon Peter Cushing as an ostracised but nevertheless benevolent
eccentric who is driven to suicide by the taunts of his community (only to come
back as a vengeful zombie on Valentine’s Day) and the great Patrick Magee, who
stars in a segment as blind man who exacts his revenge on a cruel administrator
of an asylum for the blind. The film also features a segment about a monkey’s
paw which gives its owner five wishes, as well as a story about the homicidal Santa
Claus (the very same story which would serve as the basis for the Robert
Zemeckis directed pilot of the HBO Tales From the Crypt
series).
1. Creepshow
(1982)
Written by Stephen King
and directed George A. Romero, Creepshow is a highly-stylized tribute to EC comics,
which even integrates comic book frames. The film opens with a father
reprimanding his son (Joe King, Stephen’s actual son) for reading a gruesome
comic book entitled Creepshow. This provides the container for the five
vignettes, and among the most memorable are: “Father’s Day,” about a
murdered father who returns from the grave to collect his father’s day “cake”, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,”
which features a performance from King himself as an east coast bumpkin whose life is turned
upside down when a meteor crashes in his backyard, and “The Crate”, a
story about a blood-thirsty primate discovered in a crate under the stairs in a
university which evokes Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue.
*******
Brandon Engel is a blogger in Chicago who writes about a
variety of topics - everything from vintage exploitation films to energy
legislation. Brandon has a penchant for horror literature, and his favorite
authors within the genre include: H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Clive
Barker, and, of course, Stephen King. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonEngel2
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