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From the '50's through late '70's-early '80's, some truly noteworthy films came by way of European directors and producers such as Mario Bava, Paul Naschy, Amando DeOssorio, Jean Rollin, Leon Klimovsky, Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, to name a few. Often overlooked when classics of the horror film are discussed, there are more than a handful of great takes to be had in this genre, sometimes showing a bit more imagination than their American and UK counterparts of the era.

Yes, there are some awful ones to be found here as well, as with any such grouping, however, even when at their worst, some of these films had a particular charm due to exploitation or other factors.

Which films of the classic Eurohorror era do you enjoy? Which ones just dont do it for you?


Some particular favorites of mine include:

Caltiki the Immortal Monster
Black Sunday
The Awful Dr.Orloff
Blood and Black Lace
Black Sabbath
Planet Of the Vampires
The Long Hair Of Death
Lady Frankenstein
Mark Of the Devil
Assignment Terror
Horror Rises From the Tomb
The Devil's Nightmare
Tombs Of the Blind Dead
Blue Eyes Of the Broken Doll
The Loriley's Grasp
Baron Blood


Your selections and comments would be appreciated! :smile:

Demons & Demons 2. I thought more could have been done with the sequel and the idea of a city overrun by demons being walled off from the rest of the world.

Tenebrae
Lizard In A Woman's Skin
Spasmo
Eyeball
New York Ripper
What Have You Done To Solange?

giallo is a very erratic genre in terms of quality control. most of them seem to be hampered by bad acting and bad dubbing to some extent... but I can dig that. I genuinely enjoy all the above, despite their flaws.

I tend to enjoy less the supernatural themed ones, as a rule

.NIGHTMARE CASTLE (1965) is a great Barbara Steele shocker;with a haunting theme song too.

.the BLOODY PIT OF HORROR (1965) is stupid fun. And if you take a shot of booze every time Mickey Hargitay screams -"the Crimson Executioner!", you will get hammered.  :drink:

. The HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND (1959) is a personal favorite if for no other reason than the busty half nekkid goils!  :twirl:

Oh yeah- and the goofy monsters!

http://youtu.be/c1wBOF1aeOI (http://youtu.be/c1wBOF1aeOI)

Two particular favorites of mine:

THE MUMMY'S REVENGE(1973) with Paul Naschy as the undead Amenhotep who controls his descendant(also Naschy) and his gorgeous girlfriend to aid him in the resurrection of his dead mistress.

NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS(1974) Amando DeOssorio produced this tale of a demonic leopard women cult who add new hotties to their following through human sacrifice

http://youtu.be/YdPATFBieR0 (http://youtu.be/YdPATFBieR0)

yes I like this one. "stupid fun" just about sums it up :)

although i'm not a huge guts& gore fan, i love the old eurohorror stuff because there's an actual story there, unlike today's torture porn garbage. and frankly, some of the effects are hysterically funny, lol! :bouncegiggle:

I would also like to add...

.the VAMPIRE AND THE BALLARINA (1960) Beyond it's expliotive title, this is a fine,atmospheric film.

.the WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971) My favorite Paul Naschy werewolf movie.

.FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD (1969) aka MALENKA- I don't know why. Perhaps because of the busty vampires, mebbe?

.KILL,BABY,KILL (1966) My favorite Bava film. Beautiful photography, creepy atmosphere, and dreamy music. It's like the cover of Black Sabbath's first album come to life.

.BURIAL GROUND:NIGHTS OF TERROR (1980)  Gory, goofy, scary...and starring my friend and yours, precious Micheal.

http://youtu.be/VOOwXX-uuso (http://youtu.be/VOOwXX-uuso)

A few more:


EYES WITHOUT A FACE(1960)..classic French offering featuring a mad doctor who removes womens' faces as a substitute for his daughter's own disfigured visage.

THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT(1973)..a lady vampire lures travelers to her castle where she uses the Ring of the Niebelung to drain them of their lives.

NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS(!975)..death cult of undead Knights' Templars sacrifices girls in a seaside village until a doctor and his wife become involved. Last of the Blind Dead series.

Just about anything starring Paul Naschy or directed by Dario Argento or Mario Bava.

Planet of the vampires is utterly excellent.

X the unknown was fairly good.

The night caller was a good sf horror movie.

Quatermass and the pit was one of the best.

Horror express was pretty good.

Day of the triffids was top notch.

TERROR EXPRESS  is on my to-watch list. anyone seen it?

btw the blu-ray release of Argento's TENEBRAE is amazing, the vibrancy of the colours stands out way more than it did on previous versions I've seen. all about the neon blue/pink/yellows... SUSPERIA was more about the accentualed greens and reds

Do you mean HORROR EXPRESS? With Lee and Cushing and Telly Savalas?

I like this exchange-when the Inspector is questioning Lee and Cushing-

Inspector -" But what if one of you is the monster?"

Lee-" Monster? We're British, you know."

Being the 2 are famous for their horror roles, it struck me as funny.

My sister bought this one for me in a box set which she found in Kabul of all places.  :smile:

The Bloodstained Shadow
Don't Torture A Duckling
The House With Laugihng Windows
Thumbs up to RC for Burial Ground!  :drink:

nope, nor NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS which is another sleazy euro horror thing.... in fact after posting that I watched 'TERROR EXPRESS IN 10 MINUTES' on youtube, and I think I've seen enough...

I love HORROR EXPRESS... with TELLY SAVALAS!!!  

One of my favorites is CASTLE OF BLOOD with BARBARA STEELE...  aka CASTLE OF TERROR aka DANZA MACABRA...

http://youtu.be/iGYZeqDjZ60 (http://youtu.be/iGYZeqDjZ60)  

I would also like to add REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE(1971)
                                THE HORRIBLE DR.HICHCOCK(1962)
                                THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE(1974)
                                and THE GHOST(1963).

I saw a movie called Night of the Seagulls at a local bad movie convention.  Despite its title, its not a Birdemic style nature's revenge movie.  Rather its apparently part of a series, where the main threat are these blind zombies that where once templar knights.  It sounded interesting, and I would have picked it up had I not been a little light on cash at the moment.  Has anyone else seen any entry in what is called the "Blind Dead" series?


! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqGKLuGbn3A#)

I have all 4 Blind Dead movies, but have only watched the first 2, so far.  They were decent.  Creepy and atmospheric.  The first is either available uncut and subtitled, or a edited and English dubbed. 

I've also watched youtube reviews on the second two that basically condensed the movies down into the review.  The Ghost Galleon looked to be the crappiest one of the bunch.  Some of the effects were downright laughable. :lookingup:

I quite liked the GHOST GALLEON which I believe is NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS with a title change. I saw it under the name HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES.

 I also quite liked...

. Jean Rollins' LIVING DEAD GIRL (1982)

.Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) aka GATES OF HELL. I can take or leave most of Fulci's work.  Plotless (or over-plotted) stuff like the BEYOND (aka SEVEN DOORS OF DEATH) and MANHATTAN BABY leave me cold. But this and ZOMBIE (1979) are keepers.

. the Italian made Vincent Price film the LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) which is the best version of Matheson's novella. the OMEGA MAN is ok, and the Will Smith version, with it's CGI zombies, could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

Fulci's LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN stands out for me as his most accomplished work. It seems a lot classier than his other stuff imo. I also like NEW YORK RIPPER for its sleaziness.

but yeah he's directed some clunkers too... some stray into so-bad-it's-good territory (A TOUCH OF DEATH and CAT IN THE BRAIN)

 :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

GHOST GALLEON and NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS are separate entities...they are the last two installments of the Blind Dead saga.

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a5/00/15/a50015e444622c8bee78f0ecbdd1684b.jpg)

(https://horrorpediadotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/night-of-the-seagulls-poster.jpg)

no offense to anyone, but last man on earth with vincent price is the ONLY version worth watching,  and it is AMAZINGLY close to the original story.

That sure doesn't offend me.  It's the best in my opinion, too. 

I HATED the I Am Legend version with Will Smith.  I haven't seen The Omega Man in many years, but I don't remember especially liking it.  It might be time for a re-watch, though.

Another favorite:

VAMPYRES(1974)

(http://img.moviepostershop.com/vampyres-movie-poster-1974-1020244515.jpg)

[url]http://youtu.be/e9rAgWWi80E] (http://[/url)http://youtu.be/e9rAgWWi80E

Let's also give a hand for the expression horror films from Europe during the Silent and early talkie era:

CABINET OF DR.CALIGARI(1920)
THE GOLEM(1920)
NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR(1922)
WAXWORKS(1924)
FAUST(1927)
METROPOLIS(1927)
M(1931)
VAMPYR(1932)

I have the first film on tape under the title RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD (!).

Jeepers creepers... no CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964 aka DANZA MACABRE)?  

OOPS!  I had posted it!   :smile:

A particular favorite of mine, THE MUMMY'S REVENGE(1975):

http://youtu.be/X_XBw6SR7ik (http://youtu.be/X_XBw6SR7ik)

It may lean more towards sci-fi but Mario Bava's "Caltiki: the Immortal Monster" is probably the best of the vintage 'blob' movies with it's tense and moody atmosphere.
Lucio Fulco's movies always give the impression that he was something of a frustrated 'art house' director. I like the way he builds up both the horror and the peculiarity in "The Beyond" and "House By the Cemetery" without feeling the need to hand you a happy or even coherent conclusion.

I just rewatched TENEBRE (1982) by Dario Argento. Argento is like Fulci for me. I love DEEP RED and INFERNO, but can take or leave SUSPIRIA  and some others. But I got to admit-most of his films lack logic.
But of course-that never stopped me from loving a movie!  :teddyr:

Just rewatched BEYOND THE DOOR (1974) with Disney darling Juliet Mills as a woman pregnant with a demonic baby.
DAM! I forgot how stupid, cheezy and FUN this movie is!

http://youtu.be/dkbRJMGFo9g (http://youtu.be/dkbRJMGFo9g)

TENEBRAE is my fav Argento movie. it's so vicious. the blu ray remaster looks stunning too

few days ago I saw Jess Franco's BEYOND THE DARKNESS (1979). very messed up! some of the scenes I was just staring at the screen thinking " wtf am I watching?"

Uhm... you thinking of HAYLEY MILLS?  I think JULIET MILLS is her sister... JULIET starred in TV series "Nanny and the Professor". 

BEYOND THE DOOR is one of my favorite movies to riff on... 

I believe they both starred in that movie about the twin girls-I can't recall the name of it...

+1 for Quatermass And The Pit, and Vampyres.

Adding:

The Night Of The Hunted (1980) with the stunning adult film actress Brigitte Lahaie. NSFW. Sexy, strange, but ultimately sad movie about a woman with recurring memory loss.

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3OMbjKxxA#)

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUJugWaT4Nw#)

Vampyros Lesbos (1971) starring the gorgeous Soledad Miranda. Also NSFW. Has one of the most groovy sexadelic soundtracks ever.

Sorry... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUchfzKhMkI#)

I'm a real sucker for movies of this era with beautiful European actresses, I'd love to see more like this.

A very hard to see euro horror movie is a sci-fi horror one called "the night caller".  I father it was banned in Britain for a  long time.   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Caller_from_Outer_Space

Oh wow, I think I have that in a collection someone gave me. Does it start with an old style crooner theme song about 'The Night Caller'?

The Night Caller (1965) - video dailymotion (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1xghvk)

A yep.

You may be thinking of The Parent Trap from 1961 with Hayley Mills, who played both roles in the film. For all the work that Hayley did for the Walt Disney Company, I am surprised that her older sister Juliet, apparently, never worked for them. Though, their father, Sir John Mills, did, having an uncredited role as a golf caddy in The Parent Trap, and previously a bigger role as the father of Swiss Family Robinson.

In the late '80's Hayley recreated the roles she played in The Parent Trap in a series of TV movies made for the Disney Channel. Then 37 years later, the film was remade for the big screen, one of the better remakes (IMHO) with Lindsay Lohan in the roles played by Hayley in the original film.