griggs's - Horror Films (Available on Cinema Paradiso) Everyone Should Watch Once List
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The Fly (1986)La mosca
This frightening, but extremely moving and romantic horror film stars Jeff Goldblum as an over-ambitious scientist who accidentally merges with a housefly while conducting a bizarre teleporting experiment. A journalist (Geena Davis) who has fallen in love with him while covering his scientific endeavours suddenly finds herself caring for a horrifying creature whose insect half gradually begins to take over. - Director:
- David Cronenberg
- Cast:
- Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
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The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)Sanatorium pod klepsydra
A young man Joseph (Jan Nowicki) visits his dying father Jakob (Tadeusz Kondrat) in a mysterious Polish sanatorium. Joseph realises time does not exist in its real form inside. He soon finds himself in a web which express the longings, and frustrations of his childhood. The film contains crazed scenes of Jews dancing together and many of the residents are dressed as giant birds. Schulz the writer was seen as the Polish Kafka, he was killed by the SS in the War. - Director:
- Wojciech Has
- Cast:
- Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Irena Orska
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Alice (1988)Neco z Alenky
Jan Svankmajer's Alice is a creepy and disturbing adaptation of Lewis Carroll's original vision. Combining a live-action Alice (Kristyna Kohoutova) with a stop-motion Wonderland filled with threatening, bizarre characters, the film brilliantly marries a sly visual wit with piercing psychological insight. Presented here fully uncut and in its original Czech-language version for the very first time, this comprehensive release also gathers together a selection of rare and fascinating Alice-related short films. - Director:
- Jan Svankmajer
- Cast:
- Kristýna Kohoutová, Camilla Power
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Misery (1990)Miseria
Novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) doesn't remember the blinding blizzard that sent his car spinning off the road. Nor does he remember being nursed back from unconsciousness. All he remembers is waking up in the home of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) - a maniacal fan who is bent on keeping her favourite writer as her personal prisoner... for the rest of his cock-a-doody life! - Director:
- Rob Reiner
- Cast:
- James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
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The Wailing (2016)Goksung
In this critically acclaimed and incredibly tense supernatural thriller, a foreigner's mysterious appearance in a quiet village causes suspicion among the locals - suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria, as the residents begin killing each other in brutal outbursts, seemingly without motive. As the hopelessly out-of-depth investigating officer watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers - unknowingly escalating the situation. - Director:
- Hong-jin Na
- Cast:
- Jun Kunimura, Jung-min Hwang, Do Won Kwak
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Train to Busan (2016)Busanhaeng
As an unidentified virus sweeps the country, the Korean government declares martial law. As the country descends into chaos, one city, Busan, is rumoured to have successfully fended off the virus outbreak and remains the only beacon of hope for those not yet infected. But when the virus breaks out on an express train to Busan, passengers on board must fight for their own survival...453 km from Seoul to Busan. The struggle to survive. Get on board to stay alive! - Director:
- Sang-ho Yeon
- Cast:
- Terri Doty, Yoo Gong, Eun-kyung Kim
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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)Bride of Frankenstein
The acclaimed sequel to the original 'Frankenstein', one of the most popular horror classics in film history, has now been restored in stunning high definition. The legendary Boris Karloff reprises his role as the screen's most misunderstood monster, now longing for a mate of his own. The last horror film directed by James Whale features a haunting musical score that helps make 'The Bride of Frankenstein' one of the finest and most touching thrillers of its era. - Director:
- James Whale
- Cast:
- Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive
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Legend of the Mountain (1979)Shan zhong zhuan qi
A young scholar, Ho Yunqing (Shih Jun), is tasked by an eminent monk to transcribe a Buddhist sutra said to have immense power over the spirits of the afterlife. To execute his work in peace, he travels to an isolated monastery deep in the mountains, where he encounters a number of strange people, including the mysterious and beautiful Melody (Hsu Feng). As malicious spirits attempt to steal the sutra, Ho becomes entangled in a conflict between duelling forces of good and evil. Will he leave the mountain alive? - Director:
- King Hu
- Cast:
- Chun Shih, Feng Hsu, Sylvia Chang
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When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote island to investigate. But this pastoral community, led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), is not what it seems as the devout Christian detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cult's ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face to face with the horror of 'The Wicker Man'? - Director:
- Robin Hardy
- Cast:
- Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento
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The Exorcist (1973)The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen
Brace yourself as one of the all-time spellbinders possesses you all over again. Director William Friedkin and producer/screenwriter William Peter Blatty have revisited The Exorcist to integrate 11 minutes of scenes and images deleted before the film's 1973 release and digitally restore the picture and audio elements. The result is an experience more gripping than ever. Now seen are moments deepening the impact of the performances by Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow and Lee J. Cobb. They include a "nervous disorder" dianosis, expansion of Father Merrin's arrival before the ritual, priestly doubts during the ritual, an epilogue with Lt. Kinderman and Father Dyer and most notably, a shattering staircase descent by Regan. Winner of Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Sound, The Exorcist astonishes time and again like no other movie. - Director:
- William Friedkin
- Cast:
- Ellen Burstyn, Mercedes McCambridge, Max von Sydow
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A National Emergency grips the US as the zombie population grows at an alarming rate. Two S.W.A.T. officers, a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend escape the city and take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall after securing it following a series of flesh-shredding confrontations with the undead. Their survival is threatened when a band of looters leave a door open allowing the zombies access to the mall once more and a final stand-off for survival must play out. - Director:
- George A. Romero
- Cast:
- David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
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Night of the Living Dead (1968)Laugh Track: Night of the Living Dead / Monster Flick / Night of Anubis
A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero's claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, 'Night of the Living Dead' is back. - Director:
- George A. Romero
- Cast:
- Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman
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Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)Matka Joanna Od Aniolow
One of the landmarks of Polish cinema, this film is based on the documented story of the 'possession' of a group of nuns that led to the burning of a priest at the stake in Loudun, France in 1634. Mother Joan of the Angels is a spare, visually rigorous, and profoundly disturbing exploration of faith, repression, fanaticism, and eros. Anyone who is a fan of classics of the strange will find much to savour in Mother Joan Of the Angels. - Director:
- Jerzy Kawalerowicz
- Cast:
- Lucyna Winnicka, Mieczyslaw Voit, Anna Ciepielewska
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Life is going nowhere for Shaun (Simon Pegg). He spends his life in his local pub, The Winchester, with his best mate Ed (Nick Frost), has issued with his Mum and neglects his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). When Liz dumps him, Shaun finally decides to get his life in order. He must win back the heart of his girlfriend, repair his relationship with his mum and face up to the responsibilities of adulthood. Unfortunately, the dead are returning to life and attempting to eat the living. For the newly inspired Shaun, this is just another obstacle. In the face of a full-scale zombie epidemic, armed with a cricket bat and a spade, Shaun sets out with Ed in tow, to rescue his mum and grudgingly his step-dad, his girlfriend and even more grudgingly her friends David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne (Lucy Davis) and take them to the safest most secure place he knows, The Winchester. - Director:
- Edgar Wright
- Cast:
- Simon Pegg, Keith Chegwin, Nick Frost
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From his involvement with the occult, astrology and the pop worlds of Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Page, to the destruction, loss and banning of his films and announcement of his own death in the pages of the Village Voice, Kenneth Anger is an enigma and a truly unique voice in cinema. A filmmaker of prodigious talent, Anger's inimitable style and unparallelled imagination have given rise to works of extraordinary visual power, which have influenced directors as diverse as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and RW Fassbinder. - Director:
- Kenneth Anger
- Cast:
- Kenneth Anger, Gordon Gray, Yvonne Marquis
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