2014 Horror Countdown:Eaten Alive (1977)

Eaten Alive (1977), dir. Tobe Hooper, Mars Production Company

Where does on go after making the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? For Tobe Hooper, another Southern fired slice of terror seemed like the ideal thing to do.

2014 Horror Countdown: The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977), dir. Wes Craven, Blood Relations Company

 After the Last House on the Left, Wes Craven went back to classic stories for the inspiration for his next feature. The tale that inspired his 1977 sophomore flick was the legend of the Sawney Bean clan, an infamous group of cannibalistic highwaymen in the Scottish highlands.

2014 Horror Countdown: Someone's Watching Me! (1978)

Someone’s Watching Me! (1978), dir. John Carpenter, Warner Brothers

Made for TV movies generally get a bad rap. Of course, many of them are terrible or overwrought, but every once in a while a diamond is found in the sand. Is John Carpenter’s first TV movie a diamond or sand? Read on to find out after these messages.

2014 Horror Countdown: The Howling (1981)

The Howling (1981), dir. Joe Dante, Avco Embassy Pictures

We’ve discussed werewolf movies before, but as time wore on it seemed filmmakers couldn’t stop remaking the Wolf Man or Werewolf of London. The tropes were pretty much set in stone; man (women always seemed to be either victims or girlfriends/wives) gets bitten by a wolf/transformed via science or magic, cue the full moon, insert transformation scene, and monster dying in a hail of gunfire in his loved ones arms.

The special effects also pretty much strayed pretty close to what Universal did back in the 1940’s. Joe Dante, adapting the story from the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, took what was established and then created the most original werewolf movie of the 1980’s. The influence is still being felt today, although we’ll get that later.

2014 Horror Countdown: Not of This Earth (1957)

Not of the Earth (1957), dir. Roger Cormen, Los Altos Productions

Going back to the B-Movie circuit, Roger Cormen had directed/produced eight films in 1957 alone. This was one of them.

 

2014 Horror Countdown: The House on Haunted Hill (1958)

The House on Haunted Hill (1958), dir. William Castle, William Castle Productions

Master showman William Castle made a brilliant move when he cast Vincent Price in his next film. With the added gimmick of ‘Emergo’ (a flying skeleton that would buzz the audience), Castle would set out to make one of his better remembered films.

 

2014 Horror Countdown: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), dir. Alfred Hitchc934)ock, Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

Moving into the director feature, we open with the works of Alfred Hitchcock. At this point Hitchcock was still working in England and just starting work with talking features. The Man Who Knew Too Much actually began life as a Bulldog Drummond story, but when the rights fell through the gist of the story was reworked.