In my last post I gave my list of my favourite horror films of the 20's, 30's and 40's, cinema's golden age. We saw white zombie's, cat people and Universal Studio's long line of successful horror flicks, but now it's time to move into the next generation, the 1950's. This was the atomic age of horror cinema, gothic horror began to die out to make way for a new age of creatures from space and genetic mutations, an era full of rubber monsters and UFO's on strings. However it was an important age, it saw science fiction gain immense popularity, it saw colour cinema become more widespread and most importantly, it saw the birth of Hammer horror. So here we go, my pick for the top 10 horror films of the 1950's, beware of spoilers.
10. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Universal Studio's dominated horror cinema in the 30's and 40's with their long chain of successful horror flicks, however by the 1950's it seemed their time had came to an end and with it came the end of gothic horror cinema. That was until 1957 when Hammer Film Productions, a British company, released their first colour horror film The Curse of Frankenstein. The film was a retelling of Mary Shelley's classic tale about a scientist who brings the dead back to life, this time it saw budding horror icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Victor Frankenstein and his creature respectively. It was not a mere remake of the Universal film however, the tone of the film and the characters were immensely different. First of all, the sets were less exaggerated and although they still had that gothic vibe, they were much more grounded in reality. Secondly, the character of Dr. Frankenstein was much more sinister in this incarnation, he is cunning and manipulative, using his unstable creature to carry out violent acts for him. Lee's creature, while much less human than Karloff's, still retains this sense of innocence and sympathy that makes him less villainous than he appears. The film marked the beginning of a new, darker age of gothic horror with more blood and sensuality and is extremely important for beginning Hammer's long line of successful horror films.
9. Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
Now I'm not saying this is a good film, in fact it is often considered one of the worst films ever and its director Ed Wood is never usually held in better regard, however it is a film that has to be seen to be believed. First of all the plot is ludicrous, it's a convoluted story about aliens who wish to take over mankind by resurrecting their dead to do their bidding, sounds pretty standard but that's until you witness the woeful acting and dialogue. The cast includes the likes of Tor Johnson as the zombified Inspector Clay and mistress of macabre Vampira as a, well, a very Vampira-esque character, their exaggerated performances as the undead have become iconic since for all the wrong reasons. Horror legend and friend of Wood's Bela Lugosi also pops up, sort of. Lugosi died before the film was even in production, however Wood used footage of the actor from various abandoned project and used them along with a different actor who hides behind his cloak for all his scenes to give the illusion that he appeared in the film. So why is such a bizarrely terrible film on this list you ask? Sheer entertainment. Nothing is more entertaining than an unintentionally hilarious film and Plan 9 is one of the first of that kind, it was intended to be just like the other atom age horrors of the time but instead became a joke of sorts. It's corny, full of bad writing and just downright outlandish, but that's what makes it so damn fun to watch.
8. The Blob (1958)
I actually only watched this in full for the first time a little while ago, I had seen bits and pieces over time but recently I finally watched it in all of its glory and oh boy was I glad I did. The film is about a small American town that comes under attack from a blob of space goo that consumes everything in its path causing it to grow in the process. When you mention 1950's horror films, The Blob is the type of film that first comes to mind, from the clothes to the cars to the catchy theme (which you can listen to here), this film really embodies everything about 50's culture. It also saw Steve McQueen in his debut lead role as a character called Steve, your all-American teenage boy who is one of the only people aware of the blobs existence and is determined to stop it. Although watching a giant blob of space jelly is a bit silly by today's standards it only makes it more entertaining to watch people run and scream from it. The acting in this film is far from amateur, McQueen's performance in particular is a strong one and watching him race across the town trying to warn his fellow townsfolk about the impending terror is an exhilarating experience. The Blob is a true classic that really captures the style of its time, it is the embodiment of 50's sci-fi and has gone on to inspire countless parodies and imitations in the future. It did to science fiction and horror what Frankenstein did almost 30 years prior and his highly influential to the genre.
7. Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
Universal Studios' line of successful horrors were coming to an end by the 1950's, but they still had a few tricks up their sleeve and Creature From the Black Lagoon is perhaps their most well known one. Departing from gothic horror and keeping with the 50's trend of mutant monsters, the film follows a team of scientists and their expedition to the Amazon in order to find a missing link between land and sea creatures. Above all else the film gave us Universal studio's last great horror icon, the Gill Man, a creature that was half man half fish and who terrorised the unsuspecting scientists. The days of Dracula and the Wolf Man were gone and the time of the Gill Man was here, although he was rubbery in appearance he was still as formidable as his fellow horror chums at Universal and even managed to spawn himself two more sequels. However, it was this original one that has become most iconic, from its beautiful underwater sequences to the creature itself, it marked a new era for Universal. However it was an era that was short lived, Universal horror films slowly began to decline in popularity and with less and less films released each year it seemed that by the end of the 50's their time had come to and end. The Gill Man was the last of the great Universal horror icons and left behind himself a legacy worthy of his predecessors.
6. Tarantula (1955)
Another one of Universals last great horror films, Tarantula was a film that followed a giant tarantula that terrorised a small town after escaping from its desert laboratory. I saw this film in my grandparents house when I was about 9 years old and being afraid of spiders I was a bit uneasy watching a giant tarantula roam through the desert, uneasy yet entertained. To me the film was everything that the atomic age was about, humans tampering with nature and facing the consequences of it, in this case scientists attempt to create a sustainable food source that when given to animals caused them to either die or grown to immense sizes. You can guess what happened to the tarantula. It is suspenseful, it is unnerving for arachnophobes, but above all it is a cautionary tale, don't mess with mother nature basically. The baddie of this film at the end of it all is not the giant spider, it is the villainous Dr. Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) who tampered with the creature in the first place. Although Tarantula is the embodiment of atom age horror, it is also much more than that. It is a film with a message, a message regarding humans tampering with nature and the horrific consequences, a message that still evidently has not been received.
5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The 50's saw a variety of different creatures in horror cinema, some had bulbous heads while others had numerous eyes or limbs. The pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers however had none of this, instead they looked and sounded just like us which was a huge advantage in their quest for world domination. The film follows Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) who returns to his home town of Santa Mira only to encounter a number of people who appear to be suffering with a form of hysteria, however their delusions soon prove to be all to real. It is a very suspenseful film for its time, the idea of evil creatures from another world living among us is highly unsettling and watching Dr. Bennell's paranoia increase throughout the film makes it all the more intense. There is one particular scene in which Miles and fellow survivor Becky (Dana Wynter) flee from the pursuing pod people and to this day it is still a nailbiting experience. As it was made during the cold war, many believe that this film is a metaphor for the red scare in America, the idea that communist spies were living in American suburbia. Reasons for this belief are obvious when watching the film but whether the metaphor was intentional is up for debate. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is without a doubt one of the most iconic sci-fi/horror's from the 1950's and it is truly deservant of this status as it is a thrilling experience of intensity from start to finish.
4. The Fly (1958)
Many of you are probably more familiar with the more famous remake by director David Cronenberg, however before that grizzly body horror there came this classic sci-fi romp. Told in flashback format, the film tells the story of a scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison) who experiments in teleportation, while testing out a new device a fly makes its way into it with him causing him to have the head and arm of a fly. The actual fly creature is rather comedic by today's standards from its exaggerated appearance to its twitchy movements, however the special effects were way better than a lot of similar creature features at the time. Horror legend Vincent Price also pops up in a supporting role playing Andre's brother Francois. It is a horror film with heart, we sympathise with Delambre's wife Helene (Patricia Owens) as she desperately tries to reverse her husbands transformation before he loses all of his humanity. However, the real shock comes after the films climax when we find out the other effects of the experiment, lets just say things don't end too well for our dear protagonist. It is a highly entertaining film with brilliant acting and, for its time, fantastic effects and although it may not be as popular as the remake it still excels in its own respect.
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
I mentioned Vincent Price making an appearance in The Fly and that's another thing that I love about horror cinema in the 1950's, it saw the actor come to prominence in the horror scene, beginning a flourishing career that lasted right up until his death in 1993. One of Prices greatest performances was in William Castles 1959 horror film House on Haunted Hill where he played a eccentric millionaire who offered $10,000 to anybody who could survive a night in a supposedly haunted house. What follows is a tale of terror and deception that tests the guests of the house on haunted hill. There is a very Scooby Doo vibe to this film from its setting to its twist ending, it is full of unexpected twists and turns with Prices character (literally) pulling the strings throughout. While being visually eerie, the film also has this dark sense of humour brought about by the clever writing and Prices performance, it is very reminiscent of a James Whale film. One of my favourite images in the film is that of Prices character using the dead body of his wife's lover to scare her to death, it is done in such a comedic way that we forget the brutality of it all. House on Haunted Hill is a cleverly woven tale of terror that poses the question, are ghosts real?
2. Dracula (1958)
As I mentioned earlier, the latter part of the 1950's saw the emergence of Hammer horror films, and none of these are as iconic as their first adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. This time Christopher Lee dons the cape and fangs to portray the iconic vampire while Peter Cushing acts as a worthy adversary in the role of the skilled vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula was back in full colour which meant for much more blood than previous films, and Hammer certainly made excellent use of this. Lee's performance as Dracula has since become iconic, not attempting to mimic that of Bela Lugosi but instead bringing out the more animalistic side of the Count, introducing his now signature hiss. It is not a mere imitation of Universals iconic Dracula, it is its own film with its own sinister style and unique take on the count, it is the film that popularised vampires again. Not only was it the first in a series of new Dracula films starring Lee but also inspired numerous other vampire films that took inspiration from the likes of the novel Carmilla. Much like Universal had done in 1931, Hammer had popularised gothic horror again for a new audience and they continued to produce similar films in the years that followed.
1. House of Wax (1953)
My personal favourite horror film of the 1950's however, it House of Wax. It does not involve any monsters from space or genetically mutated animals, instead it follows the insane Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) and the dark secret behind his mysteriously realistic sculptures in his wax museum. The film is in fact a remake of an earlier film called Mystery of the Wax Museum which makes that awful Paris Hilton film a re-remake of sorts, I suppose that would make this my favourite remake of all time. One reason why I love this so much is because it was one of Prices first roles as a horror villain, in Henry Jarrod, Price had finally found his calling. Many people view this film as a gimmick film as it was released in 3D, something that is evident at certain points throughout, but it is not just a mere gimmick. House of Wax is a dark masterpiece, from its tragic villain to the shocking secrets that lie beneath his museum, the film is a thrill ride of terror that has a profound emotional depth. It is captivating both in its story and its acting and the shocking reveal at the end is one that will stick with viewers for years. It's true what they say, they sure don't make 'em like this anymore.
So that's it for this installment, I hope you liked the list and if you've got any favourite horror films from the 1950's be sure to let me know in the comments. Next time I'll be looking at the 1960's, a decade that saw a lot of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, the evolution of the zombie movie and a certain shower scene, so stay tuned!
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