Ten Instruments Of Evil: Popshifter‘s Horror Movie Picks (And Five To Avoid)

6. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (aka Do Not Speak Ill Of The Dead): Jorge Grau, 1974 (Italy/Spain)
Antiques dealer George persuades Edna to give him a ride to his destination after she accidentally reverses her car into his motorbike and damages it. During the course of their time together, George’s frustration seems to increase as Edna becomes more paranoid, but as it turns out, Edna’s fears are well-founded. Like 28 Days Later, there is more to be afraid of in this movie than the zombies, namely the police inspector, one of the most insufferable and rage-inducing characters in any movie, horror or otherwise. Although the film is short on actual zombies, the zombie mayhem level is high and the special effects are outstanding.

Let’s Scare Jessica To Death

7. Let’s Scare Jessica To Death: John D. Hancock, 1971 (United States)
Jessica has just been released from a sanatorium and, wanting to start over, she moves into an old New England farmhouse with her husband Duncan and friend Woody. But the presence of a young transient named Emily commences a chain of eerie events from which none of them seem able to escape. We are unsure if there is something sinister at play or if it’s just the fragile disposition of Jessica (played to sympathetic and tragic perfection by Zohra Lampert). The real life terrors of mental illness mingle with more otherworldly ones in this bloodcurdling and exceptionally fine example of low-key 70s horror.

8. Magic: 1978, Richard Attenborough (United States)
Corky is a whiz at magic, but a failure on the stage. When he brings Fats, a ventriloquist’s dummy, into his act, suddenly he becomes a hot property. All he needs to do is pass a physical and he’ll get his own network TV show. But Corky has more problems than his fear of doctors. Adapted from the book by screenwriter William Goldman, the story becomes more suspenseful and scary when translated to screen. Anthony Hopkins is terrific as the tortured magician, whom we feel immense pity for as the walls begin to close in upon him. He also provides a voice for the noxious and obnoxious Fats.

Tombs Of The Blind Dead

9. Tombs of the Blind Dead: Amando de Ossorio, 1971 (Spain)
The Knights Templar were ex-communicated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 14th century following charges of witchcraft. After witnessing the behavior of their fictionalized counterparts in this movie, it seems to have been a sound decision on the part of the Church. Vacationing couple Betty and Roger run into Betty’s friend Virginia in Portugal and Roger’s flirtatiousness leads to jealousy and hints of past lesbian affairs at boarding school. Trying to escape the awkward situation, poor Virginia unwittingly awakens the Templars, who are ravenous after years of unsatisfied bloodlust. Director Peter Jackson borrowed directly from this film’s spooky visuals and special effects for his depictions of the Ringwraiths in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

10. Zombie 2 (aka Zombi): Lucio Fulci, 1979 (Italy)
Anne Bowles teams up with journalist Peter West to find her missing father after his seemingly-abandoned sailboat floats into the New York City Harbor and two Coast Guard officers are attacked by something hideous on board. The movie was called Zombie 2 to capitalize on the success of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which was released in Europe as Zombie. Fulci’s film is a wholly different beast, as it relies on the legends of voodoo instead to evoke terror. While the film has some astounding special effects (zombie versus shark, the eyeball scene), the really disturbing parts are when we are only given hints of the slow-moving, but inexorable horrors of the undead. Fabio Frizzi (The Gates of Hell) provides the haunting and memorable score.

Click to read more about. . .

Movies one through five
Five movies to avoid

Or listen to the Popcast!

Pages: 1 2 3 4