31 Days of Horror: Nosferatu (1922)

Silent films aren't for everyone, but F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu gave the world the first image of the vampire, and it's certainly one of the scariest images for Halloween viewing! In this film, we get not only the first image of a vampire but we also get the first loose interpretation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact the story was so close to Dracula that when Stoker's widow brought a suit against the film for copyright infringement she won and the court ruled that all copies should be destroyed. Of course not all copies were destroyed, otherwise we wouldn't be able to watch it today! Max Schreck's portrayal of Count Orlok is a frightening image that is the stuff of nightmares, and thankfully someone was wise enough at the time to defy the court order and saved a print that we are able to enjoy today.

31 Days of Horror: The Black Cat (1934)

The Black Cat is next on my list for Halloween viewing. This film marks the first time that Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were paired on screen and it also has the distinction of being the highest grossing film of 1934; a pretty big achievement when you consider that it only has a 65 minute run time! In those 65 minutes though, Edgar G. Ulmer packs in devil worship, torture, human sacrifice, murder, and a host of other items that would have caused the film to be banned if it had been released just a few months later when the production code went into effect. Besides a fantastic storyline, The Black Cat also has stunning visuals with a futuristic art deco set and lighting and camera angles that are reminiscent of German expressionist film. A unique and thrilling horror, The Black Cat should not be missed!

31 Days of Horror: The Body Snatcher (1945)

The crimes of the infamous murderers Burke and Hare were the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson's short story, later turned into a film, The Body Snatcher. Produced by Val Lewton and directed by Robert Wise, The Body Snatcher was one of RKO's great atmospheric horror films, providing chills more through suggestion than through the actual revelation of a monster. These atmospheric touches were the work of Val Lewton, who became famous for creating high quality horror on low budgets. When you have a story of grave robbing, spooky atmosphere, and Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in their last screen pairing together, you get a creepy classic that, for me, has become a Halloween viewing tradition. 

31 Days of Horror: The Omen (1976)

One of my absolute favorites, you simply can't skip over The Omen when planning your Halloween viewing! It may sound a bit gruesome, but one of my favorite things about this film is the unique ways in which many of the characters die, and they're all in the guise of being accidents. The fact that many of the things that occur in the film can be passed off as coincidence or accident is perhaps one of the things that makes The Omen a classic and so memorable. Without an obvious presence of supernatural activity, it's very easy to believe that these things could really happen

31 Days of Horror: The Wolf Man (1941)

Released in 1941, The Wolf Man came to be known as the film that revived Universal horror. The Wolf Man is one of the few monster films where the source material isn't based on literature; it was also instrumental in contributing to the mythology and legend of the werewolf. The idea that a werewolf could be killed by silver, that a person would become a werewolf through a bite and change during a full moon all came from this film. Perhaps the most significant item to have come from this film is the oft repeated poem "even a man who is pure in heart may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." Some people truly believe this to be gypsy folklore, but it was actually writer Kurt Siodmak who created it, along with the other werewolf "folklore". While this may not have been the first werewolf film, Werewolf of London has that honor, it is the most significant in contributing to the mythology for all werewolf films to follow.

31 Days of Horror: Dead of Night

I just discovered this film and it's already one of my favorites! Dead of Night can best be described as a circular anthology; meaning that it ends up back where it started and it also contains different stories told by the visitors at a country house. There are five different stories, separate from the main story, and each one gets creepier as you go along. However, when you get to the fourth story it's a little more lighthearted, which sort of lulls the viewer into a false sense of security before the final tale involving a ventriloquist (played by Michael Redgrave) and his dummy, which is by far the creepiest and most memorable. Whenever this film is mentioned, the final tale is the most talked about and with good reason; Michael Redgrave's performance is quite honestly terrifying, and anytime you have a story involving a ventriloquist's dummy you just can't help but be creeped out!. And even when that story is over, the terror continues once we resume the main story, which ends up revisiting each of the separate stories that had been told. Dead of Night might not be one of the best known horror films, but it's a masterful tale of terror, expertly told, and should be on everyone's Halloween viewing list!

31 Days of Horror: King Kong (1933)

The original, and the best, King Kong is next on my list of  Halloween classics. This has always been one of my favorites for a number of reasons. First, it's an extremely unique story. When this was first released in 1933, no one had seen anything like it. True, there were several jungle adventure films at that time, but not one of them had a 25 foot gorilla as it's star! Then, there are the special effects. The realistic stop motion effects created by Willis O'Brien, combined with live action shots was an amazing achievement for that time. Most films today would rely on CGI to create their effects, but much like the Star Wars purists who prefer the original film where models were used before it was updated with computer effects, I prefer the artistry of stop motion effects and this film has some of the absolute best. I've been lucky enough to see this on the big screen and there's truly nothing like it, even when compared with the top of the line effects used in films today.