While the world waits for the chance to check out director Steven Spielberg’s latest alien-related film, Disclosure Day, when it’s released next month, film historian and author Max Evry is looking back at an earlier Spielberg alien classic with the book Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which traces the journey from the abandoned alien horror project Night Skies to the creation of E.T.

The hardcover first edition of Stranded on Earth will debut in the U.S. and Canada on October 6, followed by release in the UK and Europe on November 12. The book will be available through major retailers and independent bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop in the United States, as well as Amazon and Indigo in Canada.

What do we know about Stranded on Earth?

Part film history and part investigative chronicle, Stranded on Earth follows Spielberg’s fascination with UFOs and extraterrestrial storytelling from his teenage feature Firelight in the 1960s through the success of 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The book then dives into the ambitious — and ultimately doomed — production of Night Skies, a dark science-fiction horror film that gradually evolved into the heartfelt classic E.T.

Through extensive research and new interviews with Spielberg collaborators, actors, artists, and industry insiders, Evry uncovers the creative chaos, studio politics, abandoned concepts, and radical rewrites that transformed a frightening alien thriller into one of the most beloved films in cinema history.

Stranded on Earth follows Evry’s acclaimed 2023 book Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune and continues his exploration of ambitious, transformative science-fiction filmmaking. The book also examines how the DNA of the abandoned Night Skies project echoed throughout Hollywood, influencing genre-defining works such as Poltergeist and Gremlins while helping shape the explosion of sci-fi horror and fantasy storytelling throughout the 1980s and beyond.

Evry provided the following statement: “For years, Night Skies has been an asterisk in the shadow of that era’s most popular movie. The story of this unmade project is just as fascinating as how E.T. itself came to be. My book explores both, and so much more. As with my book on David Lynch’s Dune, the deeper I dug, the bigger — and wilder — the story became.“

Does Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial sound like a book you’d be interested in reading? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial book coming this October appeared first on JoBlo.

An adaptation of William Hjortsberg’s 1978 novel Falling Angel, the 1987 neo-noir psychological horror film Angel Heart has developed a strong cult following in the decades since its release – a fact which has now paved the way for the concept to receive the TV series treatment from A24, HBO, Black Rabbit creator Zach Baylin, and star / executive producer Zac Efron.

What is Angel Heart about?

Written and directed by Alan Parker, Angel Heart has the following synopsis: Harry Angel is a private detective contracted by Louis Cyphre to track down the iconic singer Johnny Favorite. However, everybody that Angel questions about Favorite seems to meet a tragic demise. Eventually the trail leads Angel to New Orleans where he learns that Favorite had dabbled in the black arts. As Favorite’s whereabouts and true identity become clear, Angel learns that being hired by Cyphre was not a random choice.

The film starred Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, and Charlotte Rampling.

Deadline reports that the TV series will draw inspiration from both Fallen Angel and its sequel Angel’s Inferno (which was written by Hjortsberg but not published until three years after he passed away). The series will follow a down-and-out NYC paparazzi, who makes his living finding and photographing people who don’t want to be found, who is hired by a mysterious man to find a missing woman. But the deeper he digs to find her, the more it looks like a group of powerful elites, and maybe something supernatural, are covering up the disappearance.

Zac Efron will be taking on the lead role and executive producing alongside Zach Baylin, who is writing the series. In addition to Black Rabbit, Baylin’s credits include King Richard (which earned him an Oscar nomination), Creed III, Gran Turismo, Bob Marley: One Love, and The Order.

Jonathan van Tulleken, best known for his work on Shogun, is expected to direct several episodes as well as executive produce. Other executive producers include Baylin’s partner Kate Susman through their Youngblood Pictures, Marc Toberoff, Max Hjortsberg, Lorca Hjortsberg, Alice P. Neuhauser, Joe Hipps for Cut To, Stuart Manashil, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss.

What do you think of Angel Heart getting the TV series treatment? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Last year, it was announced that director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) would be making a horror film called Winthrop (since retitled Lockbox), based on an episode of the Knifepoint Horror anthology horror podcast. That project is reportedly in post-production now – and Deadline reports that Peak Pictures and Capstone Studios, the companies behind Lockbox, are now moving forward with another Knifepoint Horror-inspired horror film. This one is called Fiona, and Maggie Grace (Fear the Walking Dead) is set to star.

What is Fiona about?

Knifepoint Horror writer, creator, and narrator Soren Narnia crafted the story of a lonely, divorced doctor who falls in love with a mysterious woman in rural America, only to discover she is channeling the raw forces of Mother Nature toward an apocalyptic purpose. He must then decide whether to save the woman he loves or the world she intends to destroy.

Grace is joined in the cast of the film adaptation by Steve Howey (Off Campus). Nicholas McCarthy (The Prodigy) is directing from a script by Justin Yoffe and Evan Hart.

Kearie Peak of Peak Pictures is producing, along with Capstone Studios.

What has been said about Fiona?

Peak provided the following statement: “There’s something in Fiona that speaks to a collective exhaustion with each other, with the state of the world, with the damage humanity continues to inflict on itself and the environment. The film channels that anxiety into horror that feels primal, emotional, and strangely cathartic.“

McCarthy added, “As a lifelong fan of horror movies, I’ve always wanted to make a movie about a witch — and with Fiona, I finally found the perfect project. I love Soren Narnia’s Knifepoint Horror universe and can’t wait to bring it to life.“

Deadline notes that the Knifepoint Horror podcast has developed a cult following in the years since its 2010 launch, reaching over 10 million downloads across all platforms.

Fiona is scheduled to begin filming in Toronto tomorrow, May 28. The film will receive a North American theatrical release via Aura Entertainment before streaming on MGM+.

Are you a fan of the Knifepoint Horror podcast, and are you glad to hear that Maggie Grace will star in the Fiona adaptation? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Fiona: Maggie Grace to star in witch horror film based on Knifepoint Horror podcast episode appeared first on JoBlo.

Many horror fans feel that the ’80s were the best decade the genre ever saw, so we here at Arrow in the Head have decided to go back to the beginning and take a look at the Best Horror Movies of 1980. In the list below, we take a journey through 1980, picking ten of the best horror movies the year had to offer along the way. See what you think of our list, and let us know what your picks would have been by leaving a comment!

Film	Release Date	Director	Subgenre	Key Strengths	Notable Cast
The Fog	Feb 1, 1980	John Carpenter	Supernatural horror	Atmosphere, ghost revenge story	Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau
Cannibal Holocaust	Feb 7, 1980	Ruggero Deodato	Found footage / exploitation	Disturbing realism, shocking violence	Robert Kerman
The Changeling	Mar 26, 1980	Peter Medak	Haunted house	Creepy atmosphere, mystery	George C. Scott
Friday the 13th	May 9, 1980	Sean S. Cunningham	Slasher	Camp setting, gore FX	Betsy Palmer
Maniac	May 10, 1980	William Lustig	Psychological slasher	Intense performance, gore effects	Joe Spinell
The Shining	May 23, 1980	Stanley Kubrick	Psychological / supernatural	Cinematography, performances	Jack Nicholson
Prom Night	Jul 18, 1980	Paul Lynch	Slasher mystery	Whodunit structure, dance sequence	Jamie Lee Curtis
Mother’s Day	Sep 19, 1980	Charles Kaufman	Exploitation horror	Dark humor, revenge elements	Beatrice Pons
Terror Train	Oct 3, 1980	Roger Spottiswoode	Slasher	Costume-switch gimmick, train setting	Jamie Lee Curtis
Motel Hell	Oct 18, 1980	Kevin Connor	Horror-comedy	Satire, bizarre humor	Rory Calhoun

THE FOG (February 1)

• Director: John Carpenter
• Release Date: February 1, 1980
• Subgenre: Supernatural ghost horror
• Setting: Coastal seaside town
• Primary Threat: Vengeful undead sailors
• Key Themes: Revenge, buried history, paranoia
• Production Notes: Major reshoots improved scares and pacing
• Tone: Atmospheric and eerie
• Notable Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins

Production on John Carpenter’sThe Fog was a bit of a mess, and Carpenter has even flat-out stated that his first cut of the film “sucked”. The project always had an interesting concept: the story of undead sailors invading a seaside town, enveloped in a thick fog, to get revenge for their murders 100 years earlier. Problem was, the scare sequences just didn’t work as originally shot. Reshoots were required to punch them up with added jumps and violence, and those reshoots saved The Fog from being a disappointment. The film also receives a boost from its cast, which includes Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh, and Hal Holbrook.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (February 7)

• Director: Ruggero Deodato
• Release Date: February 7, 1980
• Subgenre: Found footage exploitation horror
• Setting: Amazon rainforest
• Primary Threat: Cannibal tribe and human cruelty
• Key Themes: Media ethics, exploitation, savagery
• Historical Significance: Early found footage pioneer
• Tone: Graphic and disturbing
• Content Warning: Extreme violence and animal cruelty

Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust is not an easy movie to watch, and I might be fine if I never sat through it again, but the fact that it is so deeply disturbing makes it rank as one of the best horror movies of 1980. An early found footage movie, it follows a crew that claims to be making a documentary about a cannibal tribe in the Amazon, but footage they never intended to be shown reveals that they were actually terrorizing the tribe and staging moments of shocking violence. Which is why the tribe ends up striking back against them. Cannibal Holocaust has the power to make you queasy even when it’s not showing those infamous moments of actual animal deaths.

THE CHANGELING (March 26)

• Director: Peter Medak
• Release Date: March 26, 1980
• Subgenre: Haunted house mystery
• Setting: Historic Seattle mansion
• Primary Threat: Restless spirit
• Key Themes: Grief, loss, hidden secrets
• Tone: Slow-burn supernatural suspense
• Notable Feature: Emotional opening tragedy sequence

After losing his wife and young daughter in a tragic accident shown in the film’s gut-punch of an opening sequence, composer John Russell (George C. Scott) moves from New York out to Seattle… and picks a bad place to settle into: a historic mansion that happens to be inhabited by a spirit that drags him into a complicated mystery. Directed by Peter Medak, The Changeling is a little slow, but also manages to be quite creepy while telling a very interesting story. Plus you get to witness George C. Scott calling a ghost a “goddamn son of a bitch.”

FRIDAY THE 13TH (May 9)

• Director: Sean S. Cunningham
• Release Date: May 9, 1980
• Subgenre: Camp slasher
• Setting: Camp Crystal Lake
• Primary Threat: Mrs. Voorhees
• Key Themes: Revenge, trauma, isolation
• Special Effects: Gore FX by Tom Savini
• Legacy: Spawned major horror franchise

A lot of slasher movies came out of the ’80s, but one of the best ones was Sean S. Cunningham’s summer camp slasher Friday the 13th, which spawned a massive franchise that is still dearly beloved by fans more than 40 years later. It took a few films for all of the elements to come together for the franchise, but this is a great movie even if it doesn’t feature a hockey mask-wearing Jason Voorhees. The isolated Camp Crystal Lake setting is wonderfully creepy, FX legend Tom Savini provided some awesome gore as the counselors are knocked off, and Betsy Palmer delivers an iconic performance as the bereaved and insane Mrs. Voorhees.

MANIAC (May 10, Cannes premiere)

• Director: William Lustig
• Release Date: May 10, 1980 (premiere)
• Subgenre: Psychological slasher
• Setting: New York City
• Primary Threat: Frank Zito
• Key Themes: Isolation, psychosis, misogyny
• Tone: Grimy and nihilistic
• Standout Element: Joe Spinell’s unsettling performance

Tom Savini created some of the grossest special effects of his career for William Lustig’s slasher Maniac, but as gross as they are, they aren’t nearly as troubling as Joe Spinell’s performance in the titular role of Frank Zito. Driven insane by some major mommy issues, Frank roams New York City at night, murdering random people and collecting scalps to stick on the mannequins he keeps at home. There isn’t much to Maniac beyond murder scenes and Frank giving crazy monologues, but Spinell, Savini, and Bond girl Caroline Munro – who shows up as a photographer Frank makes a connection with – make it a must-see.

THE SHINING (May 23)

• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Release Date: May 23, 1980
• Subgenre: Psychological supernatural horror
• Setting: Overlook Hotel
• Primary Threat: Madness and ghosts
• Key Themes: Family collapse, isolation, addiction
• Source Material: Novel by Stephen King
• Legacy: Widely regarded as a horror classic

Stephen King may not like this adaptation of his novel The Shining, and some fans agree that the film dropped the ball when bringing King’s story to the screen, but if you can separate it from the book, director Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining stands up as an all-time great horror film, an incredibly well-crafted examination of a family’s destruction in a ghost-ridden hotel. It’s packed with thrills and scares, and carried by unforgettable performances from Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. When a film is this fascinating on its own, I can’t bring myself to be too concerned with how well it matches the source material.

PROM NIGHT (July 18)

• Director: Paul Lynch
• Release Date: July 18, 1980
• Subgenre: Slasher mystery
• Setting: High school prom
• Primary Threat: Unknown killer
• Key Themes: Childhood guilt, revenge
• Tone: Stylish and suspenseful
• Notable Feature: Famous disco dance sequence

Halloween heroine Jamie Lee Curtis’s horror streak continued with this “dead teenager” whodunit from Paul Lynch. Prom Night is pretty much your average slasher, but manages to stand out from the pack due to the cast (Leslie Nielsen plays Curtis’s father), some memorable death scenes, a three minute disco dance break, and an opening scene that I found to be deeply disturbing when I first saw this movie at a young age. A group of kids are playing a “Hide and Seek”/”It”-style game called “Killers” in an abandoned convent, and their creepy game results in the accidental death of a 10 year old.  This death is the reason for all the murders that follow years later.

MOTHER’S DAY (September 19)

• Director: Charles Kaufman
• Release Date: September 19, 1980
• Subgenre: Exploitation revenge horror
• Setting: Rural woodland area
• Primary Threat: Violent family unit
• Key Themes: Abuse, revenge, twisted family dynamics
• Tone: Darkly comedic and disturbing
• Notable Connection: Released by Troma Entertainment

Filmed at the same time and in the same area as the “killer mommy” classic Friday the 13th, Mother’s Day was directed by Charles Kaufman, the brother of Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman. It’s clear that Charles has a sense of humor that’s very much in line with his brother’s, as the film about an awful mother (Beatrice Pons) and her two dimwitted sons (Frederick Coffin and Michael McCleery as Ike and Addley) tormenting a trio of women (Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, and Tiana Pierce) on a camping trip has some really goofy, amusing stuff in it. It also has disturbing moments, and some satisfying violence when the women are able to strike back against their attackers.

TERROR TRAIN (October 3)

• Director: Roger Spottiswoode
• Release Date: October 3, 1980
• Subgenre: Slasher
• Setting: Moving train during New Year’s Eve
• Primary Threat: Costume-switching killer
• Key Themes: Revenge, humiliation
• Tone: Claustrophobic and suspenseful
• Notable Feature: Appearance by David Copperfield

Jamie Lee Curtis was in three films that were released in 1980, and every one of them made it onto this list. She isn’t a horror fan herself, but somehow ended up starring in a lot of classics. Director Roger Spottiswoode’s slasher Terror Train starts off with a group of college students playing a really appalling prank on one of their classmates. Jump ahead three years and those college students are having a New Year’s Eve costume party on a moving train – and someone starts slashing their way through the partiers, switching costumes between kills. Most of the characters in the film are either unlikeable or bland, but you get to see some David Copperfield magic and in the end Curtis screams her way through an extended chase sequence.

MOTEL HELL (October 18)

• Director: Kevin Connor
• Release Date: October 18, 1980
• Subgenre: Horror-comedy
• Setting: Rural motel and farm
• Primary Threat: Vincent and Ida
• Key Themes: Cannibalism, capitalism, rural grotesque
• Tone: Satirical and bizarre
• Memorable Scene: Chainsaw duel with pig mask imagery

Rory Calhoun delivers a terrific performance in director Kevin Connor’s Motel Hell, playing a farmer and motel owner who sells a line of smoked meat products that just happen to be made from human flesh. Calhoun’s character Vincent and his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) capture people, sever their vocal cords, and keep them buried from the neck down in their secret garden, waiting for the right time to harvest their meat. Boasting a crazy sense of humor and some very strange characters, Motel Hell is an entertaining horror comedy that builds up to a chainsaw duel where one of the participants wears a pig’s head over their own. Classic.

FAQ

What are the best horror movies of 1980 according to this article?

The article selects these ten films:

• The Fog
• Cannibal Holocaust
• The Changeling
• Friday the 13th
• Maniac
• The Shining
• Prom Night
• Mother’s Day
• Terror Train
• Motel Hell

Why is 1980 considered an important year for horror?

1980 was the beginning of one of horror’s strongest decades, featuring:

• the rise of the slasher boom
• influential supernatural horror
• exploitation cinema
• early found footage experimentation
• horror-comedy hybrids

Which subgenres are represented?

The list includes:

• Slasher
• Supernatural horror
• Found footage
• Psychological horror
• Exploitation horror
• Horror-comedy

Which actors appear multiple times?

Jamie Lee Curtis appears in:

• The Fog
• Prom Night
• Terror Train

Which film launched the biggest franchise?

Friday the 13th became one of horror’s most successful long-running franchises.

Which film is considered the most controversial?

Cannibal Holocaust is highlighted as deeply disturbing due to its violence and real animal deaths.

Which film had production problems?

The Fog underwent major reshoots after director John Carpenter felt the original cut did not work.

Do you think these are the best horror movies of 1980? If you think we missed one, sound off in the comments below!

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Originally released on June 4, 1982, Poltergeist was made on a budget of $10.7 million and ended up earning more than $121 million at the box office… and for more than forty years, viewers have been debating which member of the creative team should get the credit for that success. Was credited director Tobe Hooper really responsible for calling the shots, or did he let producer/writer Steven Spielberg take the helm? Apparently this is a debate that will never die, as director Joseph Kahn decided to stir it up again on social media – and Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 star Caroline Williams is taking him to task for it.

What is Poltergeist about?

Officially on the record, Tobe Hooper, who had previously made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive, Salem’s Lot, and The Funhouse, directed Poltergeist from a screenplay Steven Spielberg wrote with Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Spielberg also crafted the initial story.

The film has the following synopsis: Strange and creepy happenings beset an average California family, the Freelings — Steve, Diane, teenaged Dana, eight-year-old Robbie, and five-year-old Carol Ann — when ghosts commune with them through the television set. Initially friendly and playful, the spirits turn unexpectedly menacing, and, when Carol Ann goes missing, Steve and Diane turn to a parapsychologist and eventually an exorcist for help.

Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O’Rourke, Beatrice Straight, Michael McManus, Virginia Kiser, Martin Casella, Richard Lawson, James Karen, Dirk Blocker, and Zelda Rubinstein star, with appearances by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2‘s Lou Perryman and Predator‘s Sonny Landham.

What did Joseph Kahn say about Poltergeist?

Kahn wrote on X, “I am a huge Spielberg nerd, and also a Tobe Hooper fan (especially Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). So, knowing both styles in and out, I say this with full conviction and authority: Spielberg directed Poltergeist. I think at a certain point Tobe spoke to the actors, but no question, Spielberg staged the scenes, the camera work, the lighting, the editing, the music, story, script, locations, casting, basically everything else. Except talk to the actors…and even on that part, debatable. Anyone who doesn’t think Spielberg directed it simply has no eye for cinema. No sense of editing or movement. It’s night and day. It’s like watching Michael Jordan wear a Tobe Hooper skin suit and do dunks from the free throw line. And no, people cannot suddenly emulate this style. If they could there would be a million Spielbergs. There is only one. And I’ll add one very f*cking obvious thing: Poltergeist is shot with Spielberg’s LENSES. Spielberg controls actual T Stops and DEPTH OF FIELD like few directors do, certainly not Hooper.“

Kahn got a lot of responses, some agreeing with him and some disagreeing. Then Williams stood up for her director.

What did Caroline Williams say?

Williams posted a letter Spielberg sent to Hooper on June 2, 1982 to lament that “some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship” they had behind the scenes on Poltergeist, and had started giving him credit for directing the film instead of Hooper. She has no time for anyone trying to “kick the pins out from under one of Tobe’s greatest achievements.”

She went on to say, “Joseph Kahn considers himself to be a film expert. He will never achieve the legendary heights that Tobe Hooper did and revels in trying to add to the libel that Tobe didn’t direct Poltergeist. Steven’s letter to Tobe puts the lie to that. When confronted with proof in print, he resorts to ‘Hollywood politics.’ He’s a mean, envious, ordinary little man who only feels himself when he’s pretending to be better than all the others. My views are well known and better expressed through John Bloom’s article Last of the Hippie Filmmakers. It explains Hollywood politics surrounding the film then and now.

Steven offered the film to Tobe & enthusiastically worked with him on it. All of the stars except the embittered Zelda Rubinstein said so. When I worked with Craig T. Nelson on The District we shared Tobe stories. At an industry party, I did the same with JoBeth Williams. Neither said that Tobe didn’t direct the film, were actually flattering about their portrayals of him. While I grow tired of this bullshit popping up occasionally, I enjoy the support of Mick Garris (listen to his podcast with me) and Joe Russo, who have taken up the cause. As I stated, John Bloom’s article Last of the Hippie Filmmakers states the case. … Mick was unit publicist and was there every day, as well as in production meetings, etc. He’s also the single most honorable man in show biz. Whatever he says, you can take to the bank.“

So there we have the latest chapter in this seemingly endless debate. What do you think of the “did Tobe Hooper really direct Poltergeist” confusion? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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PLOT: A young woman (Midori Francis) who is desperate to lose weight is given access to a new wonder drug called “The Gray,” which allows her to lose weight—fast—but the consequences prove to be more dire than she anticipates.

REVIEW: We live in an interesting era. A lot of people struggle with their weight (most of us do at one point or another), but now there seem to be pharmaceutical solutions that are helping people lose weight and keep it off, upending diet culture in a real way. Natalie Erika James, who previously helmed the well-received Relic (as well as the misbegotten Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A), takes on this new reality head-on with this intriguing new entry into the resurgent body-horror genre.

Our heroine, Midori Francis’s Hana, suffers from severe body dysmorphia. While a more extreme version of this film would have presented her as significantly overweight, Hana starts the movie looking like a pretty average person, although Francis does wear prosthetics that are never quite convincing. Yet she has some family trauma that’s made her fear her growing weight, plus she’s also lusting over a fit grad student, Madeleine Madden’s Alanya, who she feels will never notice her unless she’s rail-thin.

One night, when clubbing with her much more body-positive friend Josie (a likable Danielle Macdonald), she runs into a girl she knew in high school who was once obese but now looks like a model. She’s given some pills called “The Gray,” which she’s told will help her lose weight—although they cost upwards of $5K. Yet Hana also happens to be a med student, and she’s able to synthesize the drug herself, only to discover it contains human ash, prompting her to steal some from an obese cadaver she and her fellow grads have cruelly named Big Bertha. Soon Hana starts losing loads of weight, but also finds herself haunted by Bertha’s increasingly pissed-off ghost—or is she?

Natalie Erika James tackles a lot here—from body dysmorphia to LGBTQ romance to body horror, with a ghost story thrown in too for good measure—but it mostly works. While a little too deliberately paced at close to two hours (there’s a smashing ninety-minute movie in there), Saccharine is always compelling, with some pretty gross gore effects thrown in for good measure. It will also strike a chord with anyone who’s ever wished they could take a shortcut and get the body of their dreams—even as getting the kind you see in movies is ultimately unattainable for a lot of us.

Midori Francis, who was a regular on Grey’s Anatomy, delivers a standout performance as the vulnerable Hana, with whom you always empathize, even if it’s a little hard to swallow that this med student would violate so many ethical lines without ever being caught. She keeps you invested in Hana’s journey, with James also keeping the horror vague enough that for much of it you never know whether the horror is real or just in Hana’s head.

While it’s not The Substance, and isn’t as much of a knockout as another great Sundance body-horror flick from last year, The Ugly Stepsister, Saccharine is always stylish and compelling. It’s now playing in limited release and will come out on Shudder in a few months.

The post Saccharine Review: A New Body Horror Flick Taking On Weight Loss Drugs appeared first on JoBlo.

Cody

Hammer Films was founded in 1934, but it took an eleven year hiatus on the way to the ‘50s, the decade when the company entered the era it’s best known for. In 1955, the sci-fi horror film The Quatermass Xperiment became their first major international success, inspiring Hammer to start building toward becoming one of the most popular genre companies of all time. Since this year marks the 90th anniversary of Hammer Films, we decided it was time to put together a list of some of The Best Hammer Horror Movies. Here we go:

The Many Faces of Hammer Horror

Gothic Aristocracy

• Horror of Dracula
• The Curse of Frankenstein

Occult Terror

• The Devil Rides Out
• The Mummy

Sci-Fi Horror

• Quatermass and the Pit
• X the Unknown

Psychological Thrillers

• Die! Die! My Darling!
• Fear in the Night

Folk & Village Horror

• The Reptile
• The Gorgon
• Night Creatures

Literary Adaptations

• The Hound of the Baskervilles
• The Phantom of the Opera

HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)

Sure, this is yet another adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula; a re-telling of the story that any horror watcher will see roughly fifty versions of over the course of their fandom. But director Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster brought some twists to this one that are not present in others and shuffled some of the characters. As usual, it begins with a young man named Jonathan Harker coming to Count Dracula’s castle on business – but then we get the twist that Harker is actually a vampire hunter, in league with professional vampire killer Doctor Van Helsing. He knows what Count Dracula is and has come to destroy him. Of course, that doesn’t work very well for him, and Van Helsing has to spend the rest of the movie trying to stop Dracula, who has his evil sights set on Harker’s fiancée. Horror of Dracula is a thrilling reimagining of Stoker’s story that moves along at a surprisingly fast pace, telling its story in a brisk 81 minutes. Since it’s so great, it’s no shock that it spawned a franchise. Movie-goers couldn’t get enough of Christopher Lee’s performance as Dracula, and he came back for six sequels (Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Scars of Dracula, Dracula A.D. 1972, and The Satanic Rites of Dracula). Peter Cushing, the coolest Van Helsing ever, came back to share the screen with Lee in a couple of those sequels, and also returned for two adventures without Lee (The Brides of Dracula and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, a martial arts / horror mash-up that saw Hammer collaborating with Shaw Brothers Studios) – which are actually more entertaining than some of the Lee Dracula sequels.

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1967)

Hammer’s Quatermass trilogy is the rare franchise that gets better with each installment. The first film, The Quatermass Xperiment (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown) is a fine story about an astronaut who’s a bit different when he returns from a trip into space. Turns out, he has been taken over by an alien entity and is mutating. Quatermass 2 (a.k.a. Enemy from Space) has more going on, dealing with a village that has fallen under the control of aliens, and has elements reminiscent of Halloween III: Season of the Witch – which makes sense since these stories originate from the same person, Nigel Kneale. Directed by Roy Ward Baker and scripted by Kneale, Quatermass and the Pit begins when workers extending the London Underground unearth a strange skull and a mysterious metal. Investigating the situation, the character at the center of this series, Professor Bernard Quatermass (played in this film by Andrew Keir and in the previous films by Brian Donlevy) finds himself dealing with Martians that resemble the Devil, may be responsible for rumors of a haunting in the area, and have deadly telekinetic abilities. You can see reflections of Quatermass and the Pit in some of John Carpenter’s work, especially Prince of Darkness. For a bonus, also check out X the Unknown, which Hammer wanted to turn into a Quatermass sequel, but Kneale wouldn’t let them. It’s sort of like The Blob, before The Blob existed.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about the detective character Sherlock Holmes and his friend / biographer Dr. John H. Watson in four novels and fifty-six short stories – but as a horror fan, the one I have always been drawn to is The Hound of the Baskervilles. And, of course, this story that involves a curse and a demonic beast was also the one that most appealed to Hammer Films. They had director Terence Fisher bring it to the screen with Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as the man who could be the latest victim of the curse. This isn’t exactly a horror story; it’s a mystery that happens to have some weird, creepy stuff going on in it, and fun scenes involving the man-eating hound, a deadly tarantula, and a trip into an old mine. It’s an entertaining movie that left me wishing Hammer had made more Sherlock Holmes movies with Cushing in the lead. Cushing would go on to play the character again (and Lee would play him as well), but not for Hammer.

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)

A Hammer film that was written by author Richard Matheson but based on the work of a different another (a novel by Dennis Wheatley, in this case), The Devil Rides Out is one of the many classics that were directed by Terence Fisher. Christopher Lee is the hero this time around, bringing to life Nicholas, Duc de Richleau, a character Wheatley wrote about many times. The Duc is out to bring down a devil-worshipping cult headed up by Lee’s fellow Bond movie villain Charles Gray, an endeavor that takes a lot of effort. The film moves along at a quick pace and has plenty of creepy action, including possession, black magic attacks, a giant spider, the conjuring of the Angel of Death, and an appearance by Satan himself in the form of the Goat of Mendes. If only Hammer had made more Duc de Richleau movies with Lee as the character… They made a lot of franchises, but they also left plenty of promising opportunities on the table.

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

One franchise opportunity they did not fail to pursue was the chance to make a series of Frankenstein movies – in fact, they made nearly as many Frankenstein movies as Universal did back in the day! It begins with The Curse of Frankenstein, a director Terence Fisher / writer Jimmy Sangster collaboration that tells a variation on the classic Mary Shelley story, this time with Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as his monstrous creation. It’s a great take on the very familiar tale and opened the door to multiple sequels, with Cushing returning for monster-making, brain-swapping, and soul-transferring adventures in The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Evil of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Created Woman, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. In the midst of this, Hammer also produced a tongue-in-cheek remake of The Curse of Frankenstein called The Horror of Frankenstein, which starred Ralph Bates as Victor Frankenstein. But the people wanted more Cushing, so Hammer gave them more Cushing.

THE MUMMY (1959)

Hammer dealt with some of the same characters as Universal’s classic monster movies, but their Dracula and Frankenstein films have nothing to do with the ones Universal made about those characters. The Mummy is a different situation. For this one, they secured the remake rights from Universal and proceeded to cherry-pick elements from the studio’s entire Mummy franchise, mixing together ideas, characters, and scenes from all of the movies (except Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy). Directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster, The Mummy 1959 has Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee facing off again, this time with Lee as the silent, bandage-wrapped, mud-caked title character and Cushing as archaeologist John Banning… whose wife has a strong resemblance to the great love the mummy lost in ancient Egypt. Blending bits and pieces of all the Universal Mummy stories worked well, resulting in an excellent film. This also sparked a franchise and was followed by The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Shroud, and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, all of which are stand-alone mummy stories.

NIGHT CREATURES (1962)

Night Creatures, a.k.a. Captain Clegg, is an odd one, because this a movie I would never think to call a horror movie if not for the fact that it’s traditionally considered a horror movie. For the most part, it’s a sort of adventure film / drama, with Royal Navy soldiers coming to the small village of Dymchurch to investigate reports of an alcohol smuggling operation. Peter Cushing stars as local parson Dr. Blyss, who may have some connection to the legendary pirate captain Nathaniel Clegg, a man who was supposedly hanged for his crimes. The locals are indeed smuggling alcohol, and we watch how they try to avoid getting caught. Horror elements only enter the picture in a couple of scenes that involve the Marsh Phantoms; men on horseback, wearing glow-in-the-dark skeleton costumes. I don’t really think those moments are enough to make this a horror flick, but it’s a good movie nonetheless.

DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! (1965)

This one is also known as Fanatic, but Die! Die! My Darling! is a much better and more attention-grabbing title. Directed by Silvio Narizzano from a screenplay written by legendary author Richard Matheson and based on the novel Nightmare by Anne Blaisdell, the film manages to be a captivating, engaging thriller despite the fact that the lead character is one of the most pathetic, ineffectual heroines you would ever hope not to see; the stereotypical damsel in distress. Played by Stefanie Powers, that character is Patricia Carroll, an American woman who decides to meet with the mother of her late British fiancé during a trip to England – and finds that her almost-mother-in-law, played by Tallulah Bankhead in her final screen role, is a religious fanatic with some extreme beliefs. So extreme that she locks Patricia in the attic of her home so she can try to save the girl’s soul. Die! Die! My Darling is one of several great psycho-thrillers that were made by Hammer. Other standouts include Fear in the Night, The Nanny, The Snorkel, and Nightmare (which had nothing to do with Anne Blaisdell’s novel).

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962)

Following in the footsteps of Universal again, Hammer sent their own take on the Gaston Leroux novel The Phantom of the Opera out into the world in 1962 – and this is a fun version of the story, if you can tolerate the amount of opera singing that director Terence Fisher included in its 84 minute running time. Herbert Lom plays the Phantom that lurks around the opera house, abducting chorus girl Christine (Heather Sears) and taking her down into his sewer lair with the help of his dwarf assistant (Ian Wilson). Edward de Souza is Christine’s love interest Harry – and there’s some confusion as to whether the role of the Phantom or Harry was originally intended for Cary Grant, who had expressed interest in working on a Hammer horror movie. Grant didn’t end up playing either character… but the movie would have been even better if he had. As it is, it’s still a good time.

THE GORGON (1964) / THE REPTILE (1966)

Here we have a two-for-one special, as director Terence Fisher’s The Gorgon and director John Gilling’s The Reptile are two similar movies that are both well worth checking out. The Gorgon is set in a village that has been the site of several strange murders in recent years, with victims having been turned to stone. This all links back to ancient mythology, the stories of Medusa and her sisters, and it’s up to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to put a stop to all of this. In The Reptile, residents of a village are falling victim to a mysterious ailment referred to as the Black Death… and it turns out that one of the local people transforms into a reptile creature with a fatal bite. These are fun monster movies that can be paired for an entertaining double feature.

Film	Year	Horror Style	Key Themes	Key Creatures / Threats	Key Collaborators	Hammer Hallmarks	Influence / Legacy
Horror of Dracula	1958	Gothic Vampire Horror	Seduction, bloodlust, corruption, immortality	Dracula, vampires	Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing	Technicolor blood, gothic castles, aristocratic monsters	Redefined cinematic vampires with sensuality and physical aggression; established Hammer’s signature style
Quatermass and the Pit	1967	Cosmic Sci-Fi Horror	Evolution, paranoia, buried history, possession	Martian entities, psychic forces	Roy Ward Baker, Nigel Kneale, Andrew Keir	Apocalyptic atmosphere, intellectual horror, supernatural science	Influenced later sci-fi horror, especially John Carpenter’s work
The Hound of the Baskervilles	1959	Gothic Mystery Horror	Family curses, superstition, rationalism vs fear	The Hound, hidden killers	Terence Fisher, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee	Foggy moors, eerie atmosphere, literary adaptation	One of Hammer’s strongest non-monster gothic adaptations
The Devil Rides Out	1968	Occult Horror	Satanism, black magic, faith, good vs evil	Satanic cults, Angel of Death, Satan	Terence Fisher, Richard Matheson, Christopher Lee, Charles Gray	Ritual horror, supernatural spectacle, occult imagery	Became one of Hammer’s defining occult films and a major influence on satanic horror cinema
The Curse of Frankenstein	1957	Gothic Science Horror	Scientific obsession, hubris, morality, resurrection	Frankenstein’s creature	Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee	Mad science, vivid gore, gothic laboratories	Reinvented Frankenstein for modern audiences and launched Hammer’s Frankenstein franchise
The Mummy	1959	Gothic Monster Horror	Reincarnation, lost love, revenge, archaeology	The Mummy	Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing	Atmospheric tombs, tragic monsters, Technicolor horror	Successfully modernized Universal’s Mummy mythology for a new generation
Night Creatures (Captain Clegg)	1962	Folk Adventure Horror	Smuggling, hidden identities, local legends	Marsh Phantoms, Captain Clegg myth	Peter Graham Scott, Peter Cushing	Coastal gothic atmosphere, supernatural ambiguity	Became a cult favorite for blending adventure storytelling with eerie folk-horror imagery
Die! Die! My Darling! (Fanatic)	1965	Psychological Thriller Horror	Religious extremism, imprisonment, manipulation	Fanatical captor	Silvio Narizzano, Richard Matheson, Tallulah Bankhead	Claustrophobic tension, psycho-thriller atmosphere	One of Hammer’s standout psychological thrillers outside traditional monster horror
The Phantom of the Opera	1962	Gothic Tragedy Horror	Obsession, disfigurement, artistic madness	The Phantom	Terence Fisher, Herbert Lom	Lavish gothic sets, tragic monster, melodrama	Hammer’s reinterpretation of classic gothic romance horror
The Gorgon	1964	Mythological Monster Horror	Ancient curses, transformation, fear	The Gorgon / Medusa	Terence Fisher, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee	Mythology blended with gothic horror	One of Hammer’s most unique monster films outside classic Universal-inspired creatures
The Reptile	1966	Folk Monster Horror	Colonialism, curses, disease, isolation	Reptilian humanoid creature	John Gilling	Rural paranoia, mysterious illness, atmospheric dread	Anticipated later folk horror and rural monster cinema
The Quatermass Xperiment	1955	Sci-Fi Body Horror	Mutation, infection, fear of space exploration	Alien-mutated astronaut	Val Guest, Nigel Kneale	Postwar anxiety, creeping body horror	Hammer’s first major international success and a foundational British sci-fi horror film
Quatermass 2	1957	Sci-Fi Paranoia Horror	Infiltration, conformity, alien control	Alien invaders	Val Guest, Nigel Kneale	Government paranoia, science fiction suspense	Expanded Hammer’s science-fiction horror identity and influenced invasion thrillers
X the Unknown	1956	Atomic Age Horror	Radiation, scientific danger, mutation	Radioactive subterranean creature	Leslie Norman	Nuclear paranoia, creeping dread	Early example of British atomic horror cinema
The Brides of Dracula	1960	Gothic Vampire Horror	Seduction, vampiric contagion, temptation	Vampires	Terence Fisher, Peter Cushing	Gothic romance, eerie castles, vampire mythology	Considered one of Hammer’s strongest Dracula films despite Dracula himself being absent
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	1974	Martial Arts Horror	East-meets-West mythology, teamwork, supernatural evil	Golden Vampires	Roy Ward Baker, Peter Cushing, Shaw Brothers Studios	Genre fusion, kung fu action, gothic horror	Notable international collaboration blending Hammer Horror with martial arts cinema
Dracula: Prince of Darkness	1966	Gothic Vampire Horror	Resurrection, corruption, blood rituals	Dracula	Terence Fisher, Christopher Lee	Atmospheric castles, silent menace	Helped cement Christopher Lee’s Dracula as Hammer’s defining monster
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave	1968	Gothic Religious Horror	Sin, faith, blasphemy	Dracula	Freddie Francis, Christopher Lee	Gothic imagery, religious symbolism	One of Hammer’s most visually striking Dracula films
Taste the Blood of Dracula	1970	Gothic Revenge Horror	Moral hypocrisy, corruption, vengeance	Dracula	Peter Sasdy, Christopher Lee	Victorian decadence, revenge-driven horror	Added social commentary to Hammer’s Dracula formula
Scars of Dracula	1970	Gothic Exploitation Horror	Brutality, sadism, fear	Dracula	Roy Ward Baker, Christopher Lee	Increased violence, darker tone	One of Hammer’s most aggressive Dracula films
Dracula A.D. 1972	1972	Contemporary Gothic Horror	Counterculture, generational conflict	Dracula	Alan Gibson, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing	Modern London setting, youth culture	Bold attempt to modernize Dracula for the 1970s
The Satanic Rites of Dracula	1973	Occult Conspiracy Horror	Apocalypse, satanism, world destruction	Dracula, satanic conspirators	Alan Gibson, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing	Occult paranoia, modern conspiracy themes	One of Hammer’s strangest and most experimental Dracula entries

What do you think of this list of The Best Hammer Horror Movies? How would you rank the films, and where would you place some of their other classics, like The Curse of the Werewolf, The Plague of the Zombies, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, or Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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