Movie-A-Day #282: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).
Guillermo del Toro turns 47 today, and while “Pan’s Labyrinth” may not be a traditional horror film, it certainly introduces some horror tropes into the realm of fantasy. He’s focused less on directing lately and more on producing and writing, which is a shame. The film world needs more of this kind of imagery.
Movie-A-Day #281: Alien (1979).
Not only is today the 62nd(!) birthday of Sigourney Weaver, it is also World Space Week this week. So it’s only natural that today’s movie is “Alien,” which under all its sci-fi trappings is also a horror film at heart.
Movie-A-Day #280: House of Usher (1960).
After being discovered delirious in a gutter just four days earlier, Edgar Allan Poe died on this day in 1849. He never regained his wits enough to explain what had happened to land him in the street wearing another man’s clothes. And his cause of death still remains a mystery because his death certificate and all of his medical records have disappeared. It was a strange, fitting end for a man who forged his personal demons into a literary genre all its own. Roger Corman’s string of Poe adaptations in the 1960s is almost uniformly good, starting with “House of Usher.”
Movie-A-Day #279: London After Midnight (1927).
Director Tod Browning died on this date in 1962. Once the master of macabre storytelling in Hollywood – particularly for his collaborations with Lon Chaney, like “London After Midnight” – but his career sputtered and eventually died in the 1930s through a combination of alcoholism and studio blackballing. He died practically unknown, sadly not living long enough to see his work rediscovered and finally fully appreciated in the mid-1960s.
Movie-A-Day #278: Hellraiser (1987).
Happy 59th birthday to modern horror master Clive Barker. “Hellraiser” was pretty great, but the sequels and spinoffs… not so much. Rumor has it that a remake of the original is in the works. Let’s hope it’s worthy.
Desuko Movie Spot. 