WARNING: MINOR TO MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
2. ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992)
Okay, so its manic energy and over the top hysterics hardly construe ARMY OF DARKNESS as a straight up horror flick, but how the hell could we bar Bruce and Raimi from the party. Not a f*ckikn’ chance! Y’all know the gist of this zany sumbitch: when the immortal Ash is transported to the 12th century, he’s gotta fend off an army of deadite ghouls in order to procure the Necronomicon and bring it home safely. In the most kinetic, cartoon-like entry in the EVIL DEAD series, you can tell Raimi is having all kinds of fun here. Fusing zombie lore with period production – costumes, sets, dialect…highlighting Campbell’s slapstick timing, rocking outlandish set-pieces and comedic action sequences…all of it comes together in what many believe to be the most entertaining of the three films (I’m still partial to EVIL DEAD 2 though). If, and we stress IF, Raimi and Campbell hook back up for a 4th EVIL DEAD installment, let’s hope it has same spirit the last one abandoned us with!
3. RAVENOUS (1999)
We all know the bulk of cannibal pictures derive from Italy, where exorbitant intestinal eatery and egregious animal cruelty is the norm (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST should be really called ANIMAL HOLOCAUST). With that in mind, it’s Antonia Bird’s snow-dappled 1999 film RAVENOUS that really makes its mark in the subgenre. Not only is the film made with A-list talent, including actors of Guy Pearce’s and Robert Carlisle’s caliber, the film is more or less a treatise on what life must have been like during that rosy promise of westward expansion. It wasn’t always huge nuggets of gold bubbling out of California waters, it was the harsh winters and the evil extremes one was driven to in order to survive. Scant doses of humor keep the film from being overly solemn, but the high period production values, sumptuous cinematography and top notch performances make RAVENOUS a legitimate five star meal!
4. FROM HELL (2001)
Somehow, seeing Jonny Depp play a morosely clairvoyant, Absinthe-addled period detective in the Hughes’ brothers’ FROM HELL makes all the sense in the world. The fact the story is engaging enough, with believable Victorian sets, costumes and dialects, solid acting support from Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson and Jason Flemyng – it’s no real wonder that the sum total of its parts is worth mentioning. The film also does a nice job of fusing tenets of old and new, counterbalancing barbarous counts of violence with sophisticated European tradition. However, if I had to single out a shortcoming, it would indubitably be the stilted performance of Heather Graham (who I’ve been a fan of since playing Mercedes Lane in LICENSE TO DRIVE). More entertaining than a bad acting job among competent ones? Depp’s reaction to the poor girl’s attempt at reciting the Queen’s English. That shite’s pure hilarity.
1. THE FILMS OF HAMMER
Not sure about you, but when one utters the phrase “period horror”, nothing comes to mind faster than the impressive canon of Hammer Films. Okay, CARRIE does (big ups Alex D)…TEETH even, but that’s immaterial for our discussion here. Nope, it’s time to candidly fete the age old British studio dedicated to nothing else but our twisted corner of cinema. Horror! Founded in 1934, Hammer churned out hundreds of horror titles, most of them Victorian Gothic threads that no doubt inspired the better part of our compilation. With five decades of fecundity, almost three of inactivity, Hammer has recently been resurged with Alliance Films to produce high and low concept genre films, the first of which being a remake of the 80s TV movie THE WOMAN IN BLACK. So many of Hammer’s back catalogue could have been included here (bet your ass we’ll do a Top Ten Hammer list at some point), but a few forerunning stands out include PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (NOTLD), X: THE UNKNOWN (THE BLOB), THE CURSE OF DRACUA and many others.
5. THE OTHERS/THE INNOCENTS (2001/1960)
Because one film can be said to derive from the other, and that we featured both on our Haunted House compilation, Jack Clayton’s THE INNOCENTS and Alejandro Amenabar’s THE OTHERS get to share a coveted top spot this go around. That’s not to say either is any less warranted…quite the opposite in fact. Clayton’s film, in many ways ahead of its time – about an English caretaker who increasingly witnesses spookily unexplained phenomena – is arguably taken to greater technical heights by Amenabar some 50 years later. In the 2001 version, the foreboding Gothic horror setting would play more of a central role in the film. By narratively making the children photosensitive, natural flame-light…be it candle or fire…was a motivated touch that effectively lent to the stark mood and atmosphere the film boasts, and the period featured. Both are sleepy and slow burning, each with a hypnotic, lulling effect that sort of sneaks up on you. Two great films!
6. SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)
Although many of us would have preferred to see Andrew Kevin Walker’s original script – which was drastically tamed by famed playwright Tom Stoppard before filming- make to the big screen…there’s no denying how sumptuous Tim Burton’s version of Victorian England is in his 1999 film SLEEPY HOLLOW. In his third collaboration with Big John Depp – who’s been on record as basing his interpretation of Ichabod Crane on a cross between Roddy McDowell and Angela Lansbury (among others) – Burton not only pays tribute to Hammer films of yore, but structurally, he admitted to following a Mario Bava’s KILL BABY, KILL template…even paying homage to the Italian maestro’s other films in a series of familiar shots (spike to the face, etc). Add the fact Depp did all his own stunts, with support from a bevy of fine international actors like Chris Walken, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Jeffrey Jones, Casper Van Dien, Christina Ricci and the great Christopher Lee – and we’ve got a sure fire list contender!
7. ZODIAC (2007)
When the dude’s dead and buried, David Fincher’s headstone may very well read “director of SE7EN and FIGHT CLUB.” However, it’s the man’s exhaustive true-life account of the Zodiac Killer, an at-large California murderer in the 60s and 70s, that should be considered one of his most expertly crafted pieces of work. In fact, it’s Fincher’s directorial style here – a frenzied, circuitous maze of truth and fiction – that probably won him THE SOCIAL NETWORK gig. That is to say, Fincher directs his material according to the story he’s telling…and it’s never been more delicately handled than in ZODIAC. Also, Fincher’s connection to the area featured in the film (he’s a Bay Area dude, like me) comes through in the level of meticulous detail and spot on series of affectations the period evoked. Sure, the film is not technically a horror yarn, but you can’t tell me the scene where the cliff-side couple gets savagely knifed isn’t as unsettling as any true genre piece. And what about that heart-pounding basement scene with Charles Fleischer? (Roger Rabbit of all people…nice touch Dave!)
8. ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1975)
I’m really not sure if any of the ILSA pictures are technically period efforts, but there’s no way in hell I’m omitting at least one of them from the fray. Why? Two words…Dyanne Thorne! In what became a recurring character through four ineffably trashy exploitation flicks – ISLA: SHE WOLF OF THE S.S., ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS, ILSA: THE WICKED WARDEN and ILSA: THE TIGRESS OF SIBERIA – the buxom blonde oozes sex appeal as a daunting dominatrix who resorts to heinous acts of torture to ensure her happiness. In her inaugural portrayal (S.S.), Thorne played an icy-cold (yet stunningly hot) Nazi warden at a death camp. There, in a rabid search to find the most durable dick (yes, she can’t cope with premature ejaculation, natch), she conducts a barrage of disturbing medical experiments…castration, excision, you name it…the sexy She Wolf is more than game!
9. THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE (2001)
I could have just as easily gone with Del Toro’s more polished, populist effort, the 2006 international hit PAN’S LABYRINTH, but when push came to shove, I elected to throw some love to his 2001 flick THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE, a much more raw and intimate portrayal of young child’s ethereal existence. Besides, BACKBONE is a bit more horrific than LABYRINTH, which honestly feels like more of a family film than any serious genre piece. Sure, both weave elements of the fantastical, but BACKBONE – about the honorable intentions of an adolescent wraith during the Spanish Civil War – is in many ways more affective. For one, the performance 11 year old Junio Valverde as Santi is really quite remarkable. But more than that, it’s the flipped convention that really works. Instead of a malefic jinni, the ghost here is a benevolent force…and the tragedy partially lies in what happened to the young boy as opposed to what he does to others. A special distinction!
10. BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (2001)
I’m not sure how many of you have caught Christophe Gans’ 2001 flick BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, a French genre-mashup starring Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci – but it’s one twisted f*ckin’ yarn! Set in 18th century France, the film is inspired by true events involving a mysterious wolf-like beast who gorily dispatched over 100 people in France during a three year span (it’s currently believed the real beast was likely an Asian Hyena). The film has its flaws, its artsy indulgence and unforgivable running time among them, but as far as recreating a time and place…servicing a horror story that really occurred, it’s certainly worth a mention. Besides, what the hell is not to love about Moncial Belluci, at her peak of sensuality, rocking sexy-ass French haberdashery? Straight heat!!!
