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Home is Where the HAUNT Is. Hollywood’s Scare Affair with the Haunted House
Callaghan
Hollywood’s Scare Affair with the Haunted House By Callaghan
Every community has one, or so the rumors say. Surely you’ve heard tell of your own hometown’s version. You know the “condemned convalescent home” or the “slice ‘n dice bed ‘n breakfast”, or even the “vexed axe lady”. Whatever it was.
It didn’t take Hollywood long to realize that the INT. HAUNTED HOUSE - NIGHT was a setting that audiences would keep coming back to. And they would not have to spend the night inside (as their neighborhood chums as doubled-dared them to back home.) No sir, here in the theatre’s dark spooky auditorium, those brave souls would only have to spend an hour and a half, maybe two…
From The Cat and the Canary to What Lies Beneath - from Old Dark House to Session 9…
How do you know which phantasm flat you’ll want to visit? Which spectral suburbs are not to be missed? Welcome to Callaghan Haunted Tours. If you’ll look out the window to your left, you’ll see…
The Essential Ten
Haunted House Films
The Shining
#1 The Shining (1980)
The Overlook Hotel does act as a temporary residence…Which is good enough for me, but not so much for the Family Torrence.
Haunted By:
-Lloyd the Bartender
-The Grady Family
-Bathtub Broad (shivers)
-Bear Suit Guy (shivers harder)
Poltergeist
#2 Poltergeist (1982)
“They’re here,” said Carol Anne way back in 1982…and “they” subsequently never left our collective consciousness.
Haunted By:
-The “T.V. People”
-Evil Clown Toy
-One Crazy Tree (that used to scare me shitless)
The Haunting
#3 The Haunting (1963)
Director Robert Wise showed the Haunted House fable in all its chilling glory…Quite the departure from his films “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story”.
Haunted By:
-The Hill House Posse
The Changeling
#4 The Changeling (1980)
One of the scariest films ever, I kid you not…Carried on the acting shoulders of one George C. Scott.
Haunted By:
-Girly girl
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, !
#5 Beetlejuice (1988)
One of Tim Burton’s most bizarrely bad ass creations, Beetlejuice has the unusual power to scare the laugh out of you.
Haunted By:
-I can’t say (seeing as that would be three times)
-Adam
-Barbara
The Legend of Hell House
#6 The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Considered the “Mount Everest” of haunted houses, Hell House is well worth the climb.
Haunted By:
-My Man Belasco
-A Surprise Guest
The Others
#7 The Others (2001)
Proof positive that lackluster remakes are not the way to go if you want to tell a good Haunted House story today.
Haunted By:
-A Great Big Spoiler Alert
The Innocents
#8 The Innocents (1961)
A How-To for crafting good, rounded gothic ghost tales on-screen is this.
Haunted By:
-Miss Jessel
-Peter Quint
-Eerie Atmospheric Filmmaking
Burnt Offerings
#9 Burnt Offerings (1976)
Who woulda thunk that a Bette Davis, Oliver Reed and Burgess Meredith flick could be so disturbing?
Haunted By:
-One Bitch of a House
House on Haunted Hill
#10 House on Haunted Hill (1959)
With this being a Haunted list, I was enticed…to include the irreplaceable Vincent Price.
Haunted By:
-B Movie Goodness
-Things That Go Awesome in the Night
Happy Halloween From Cineobscure!!
Cheers,
Callaghan
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A quick post this morning; real work calls. I’ll be putting my own version of this list up very soon. Also stay tuned for a review on a film called Berlin from Norm Sanders.
ANIMATION
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
- Pinocchio, 1940
- Bambi, 1942
- The Lion King, 1994
- Fantasia, 1940
- Toy Story, 1995
- Beauty and the Beast, 1991
- Shrek, 2001
- Cinderella, 1950
- Finding Nemo, 2003
FANTASY
- The Wizard of Oz, 1939
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001
- It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946
- King Kong, 1933
- Miracle on 34th Street, 1947
- Field of Dreams, 1989
- Harvey, 1950
- Groundhog Day, 1993
- The Thief of Bagdad, 1924
- Big, 1988
GANGSTER
- The Godfather, 1972
- Goodfellas, 1990
- The Godfather Part II, 1974
- White Heat, 1949
- Bonnie and Clyde, 1967
- Scarface: The Shame of a Nation, 1932
- Pulp Fiction, 1994
- The Public Enemy, 1931
- Little Caesar, 1930
- Scarface, 1983
SCIENCE FICTION
- 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968
- Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, 1977
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
- A Clockwork Orange, 1971
- The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951
- Blade Runner, 1982
- Alien, 1979
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956
- Back to the Future, 1985
WESTERN
- The Searchers, 1956
- High Noon, 1952
- Shane, 1953
- Unforgiven, 1992
- Red River, 1948
- The Wild Bunch, 1969
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971
- Stagecoach, 1939
- Cat Ballou, 1965
SPORTS
- Raging Bull, 1980
- Rocky, 1976
- The Pride of the Yankees, 1942
- Hoosiers, 1986
- Bull Durham, 1988
- The Hustler, 1961
- Caddyshack, 1980
- Breaking Away, 1979
- National Velvet, 1944
- Jerry Maguire, 1996
MYSTERY
- Vertigo, 1958
- Chinatown, 1974
- Rear Window, 1954
- Laura, 1944
- The Third Man, 1949
- The Maltese Falcon, 1941
- North By Northwest, 1959
- Blue Velvet, 1986
- Dial M for Murder, 1954
- The Usual Suspects, 1995
ROMANTIC COMEDY
- City Lights, 1931
- Annie Hall, 1977
- It Happened One Night, 1934
- Roman Holiday, 1953
- The Philadelphia Story, 1940
- When Harry Met Sally…, 1989
- Adam’s Rib, 1949
- Moonstruck, 1987
- Harold and Maude, 1971
- Sleepless in Seattle, 1993
COURTROOM DRAMA
- To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962
- 12 Angry Men, 1957
- Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979
- The Verdict, 1982
- A Few Good Men, 1992
- Witness for the Prosecution, 1957
- Anatomy of a Murder, 1959
- In Cold Blood, 1967
- A Cry in the Dark, 1988
- Judgment at Nuremberg, 1961
EPIC
- Lawrence of Arabia, 1962
- Ben-Hur, 1959
- Schindler’s List, 1993
- Gone With the Wind, 1939
- Spartacus, 1960
- Titanic, 1997
- All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930
- Saving Private Ryan, 1998
- Reds, 1981
- The Ten Commandments, 1956
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