This is from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 masterpiece, The Birds.
This is how you edit a scary scene!
It’s interesting to consider that The Birds was apparently not a big hit with critics when it was first released in 1963. Much like Kubrick’s The Shining, it’s gone on to become one of the definitive horror films of all time. It’s certainly one of the most influential.
This scene, from 1964’s Masque of the Red Death, was directed by Roger Corman, performed by Vincent Price, and shot by Nicolas Roeg. It was based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. That’s a lot of talent on display.
Enjoy!
Seeing as how today is the anniversary of Bela Lugosi’s death, how could I not share a scene from his greatest performance?
Since today is Tor Johnson’s birthday, I wanted to share a scene from Plan 9 From Outer Space or Bride of the Monster or even the Beast of Yucca Flats.
Unfortunately, YouTube would not cooperate. I found a lot of tribute videos that people had done. I found several videos of Tor playing Lobo with silly music playing in the background. There were a lot of weird Tor/Bela tribute videos. (Apparently, there’s a very active community of Lobo/Varnoff shippers, which was not something that I really needed to know.) Anyway, try as I did, I couldn’t find any decent videos of just Tor walking into a wall or rising from the dead of reaching for the bunny in Beast of Yucca Flats.
However, I did find this clip from a film in which Tor Johnson appeared in 1948. Apparently, Behind Locked Doors was noir about a detective who goes undercover at a sanitarium. One of the other patients at the sanitarium? TOR JOHNSON!
So, enjoy this chance to see Tor Johnson in a scene not directed by Ed Wood or Coleman Francis. (The scene was directed by Budd Boetticher, who has a far different critical reputation that both Misters Wood and Francis.)
Nosferatu (1979, dir by Werner Herzog)
Since today is Klaus Kinksi’s birthday, it makes sense that he should be featured in today’s scene of the day. In this scene from Werner Herzog’s 1979 film, Nosferatu, Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz have dinner. Of course, in this scenario, Bruno Ganz is Jonathan Harker while Kinski is Dracula.
(In the original, silent Nosferatu, Harker’s name was changed to Thomas Hutter while Dracula was called Count Orlok. By the time Herzog shot his version, the characters were in the public domain and there was no longer any need to pretend that Nosferatu wasn’t an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel.)
Enjoy!
Today’s horror scene that I love is from 1968’s The Witchfinder General, a film that featured Vincent Price in one of his greatest roles.
From 2012’s Bigfoot:
“Meanwhile….”
I’ll see you again in 25 years.
And just watch Leatherface dance!
This scene, from the 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was directed by the great Tobe Hooper.
Enjoy!
From 1986’s Deadly Friend, directed by Wes Craven:
Now, it should be noted that this scene was not in Craven’s initial cut of the film. Craven envisioned Deadly Friend as being a melancholy love story about a teenage boy who brings his dead girlfriend back to life. Elvira, the lady who loses her head, originally had a much less graphic death scene but Warner Bros. wants to take advantage of Craven’s reputation for being a horror director so they demanded a more extreme version and that’s what Craven delivered.
In my opinion, this scene is just ludicrous enough to work. The studio’s demands were a bit silly so Craven supplied them with perhaps the silliest death scene that he ever directed. That said, I do think Craven’s original version of Deadly Friend sounds like a nicer movie.
Through the Shattered Lens 