Monday, December 02, 2013

Santa Claus Is Back in Town

Santa Claus Is Back in Town:



by Elvis.

Lyrics excerpt:
...
Well, it's Christmas time pretty baby
And the snow is falling down
Well you be a real good little girl
Santa Claus is back in town
...

Monday, November 25, 2013

Gee Whiz

Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes):



by Carla Thomas, Queen of Memphis Soul and daughter of Rufus Thomas. What a treasure!

Monday, November 18, 2013

You Don't Miss Your Water

You Don't Miss Your Water:



by William Bell, Memphis-born musician. This was his 1961 debut single.

Lyrics:
In the beginning
You really loved me
I was too blind
I couldn't see

But now you've left me
Oh! how I cry
You don't miss your water
Till the well runs dry

I kept you crying
Sad and blue
I was a playboy
I wouldn't be true

But when you left me
And said 'bye-bye'
I missed my water
My well ran dry

I sit and wonder
How can this be?
I never thought
You'd ever leave me

But now you've left me
Oh! how I cry
You don't miss your water
Till the well runs dry

You don't miss your water
Till the well runs dry

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Best Dystopian Films

Gotham News has a list of their top 10 dystopian science fiction movies of the 21st century:
#1. Avatar
#2. District 9 (I watched part of it, but gave up before the end.)
#3. Equilibrium
#4. Pitch Black
#5. Serenity
#6. Minority Report
#7. The Matrix: Reloaded
#8. Looper
#9. Moon
#10. Children of Men
I've seen the ones in bold print. I don't think of Avatar as a dystopian film. It's more a picture of what we are like now, only we're on another planet. Looper is a time travel story, and I loathe time travel stories with rare exceptions. I couldn't finish District 9, finding it tedious and annoying. The others of these I've loved.

HT: SF Signal

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Larry's Party


I like Carol Shields' writing. I've read The Stone Diaries and Unless and pick up books by her when I see them in the used book shops.

Larry's Party tells the story of Larry's life through middle age. As he develops a passion for landscaping -particularly maze installations- and marries and divorces twice and develops a relationship with his son, the extraordinary nature of all our lives is somehow revealed in the life of this one ordinary man. It won the Orange Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

There is a mention of Memphis, TN, on page 156 when Larry surveys a site outside Memphis. Elvis Presley is mentioned on page 258.

There is an exploration of paintings of the Annunciation, with particular mention of ones in Madrid, including these: this Fra Angelico altarpiece, the El Greco (described as a "whirling triumph") and Picardo ("a gem"). Of all of them, the character favors Robert Campin's, because Mary is reading.

favorite quotes:
Larry listens. This is how he's learning about the world, exactly as everyone else does - from sideways comments over a lemon meringue pie, sudden bursts of comprehension or weird parallels that come curling out of the radio, out of a movie, off the pages of a newspaper, out of a joke - and his baffled self stands back and says: so this is how it works.
...
Sometimes Larry sees his future laid out with terrifying clarity. An endless struggle to remember what he already knows.
...
It strikes Larry that language may not yet have evolved to the point where it represents the world fully.

Recognizing this gap brings him a rush of anxiety. Perhaps we're waiting, all of us, he thinks, longing to hear "something" but not knowing what it is.
from the back of the book:
Larry Weller has never thought himself extraordinary in the least. Like so many people, though, he has a transforming passion -and his is designing garden mazes. With their teasing treachery and promise of reward, they gesture toward life itself. Larry's Party is Carol Shields' invitation to peer into Larry's own life. Vignettes, like family snapshots, capture Larry at the most poignant, hilarious and moving points of his existence: two marriages and two divorces; his bewildered, loving relationships with parents, friends, and son; and his awkward and well-meaning quest to be a good man. If he can only figure out what that is. Carol Shields' marvelous novel captures -with salty wit and flawless wisdom- the joys and sorrows of everyday life, and shows us how these moments add up to something immensely important.
Kirkus Reviews closes by saying, "Very fine and real: Shields writes with the rare self- assurance of one who from the first knows where her characters are going and what will become of them once they arrive, and--rarer still--manages not to bend them out of shape along the way." Publishers Weekly says, "The novel glows with Shield's unsentimental optimism and her supple command of a sweetly ironic and graceful prose." Canadian Literature Quarterly says, "Shields uses the novel form to explore new ways of writing a life, of uncovering what she has termed "the mystery of personality" and calls the book "admirable for its compassionate tracing of the puzzling and circuitous paths an ordinary man walks in the process of losing and finding the love and the work that define him as a human being."

There's a reading group guide here.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Countdown City


When I came across Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book 2 on the shelf at my local bookseller I snatched it right up, having read and enjoyed book 1. This soon-to-be trilogy is written by Ben H. Winters. It takes place in an apocalyptic world but the storyline is a mystery, and the mystery section is where they are shelved. This one is every bit as enjoyable as the last, and I look forward to reading the 3rd one as soon as it comes out.

The policeman of the title has a bichon frise named Houdini that used to belong to a drug dealer. I love that as a plot element, and the dog shows up at several different points along the way.

At one point the policeman walks counterclockwise around a building, and I thought that he was lucky this wasn't a fantasy book, as no good can come of walking widdershins around a building in a fantasy story.

from the back of the book:
There are just 77 days to go before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Hank Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over -until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband.

Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace -an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone's gone "bucket list" or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off "impact zone" refugees.

The second novel in the Last Policeman trilogy, Countdown City presents a fascinating mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse -and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond "whodunit." What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?
Amazing Stories Magazine closes with this:
These are philosophical novels, books that examine why we do the things we do, and how we derive meaning, even in the face of certain death (which, of course, awaits us all, just not usually from an asteroid). These are moral novels, books that ask what it is that we owe each other, how much our word is worth, and how long we are bound by the promises we make. And whether the world is ending in 77 days or 7,000,000 years, aren’t these some of the most important questions literature can ask of us?
Kirkus Reviews has a plot summary.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Suite for Toy Piano

Suite for Toy Piano:



composed by John Cage, played by Phyllis Chen.

I wish I'd known about this piece when a toy piano was in the house. That would've been fun!

Saturday, November 09, 2013

100 Best Foreign Films

Empire Online has a list of "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, The greatest films not in the English language", in order from 1-100:
Seven Samurai, 1954, Japan
Amelie, 2000, France
Battleship Potemkin, 1925, Russia
Bicycle Thieves, 1948, Italy
Pan's Labyrinth, 2006, Mexico
Battle of Algiers, 1966, France
City of God, 2002, Brazil
The Seventh Seal, 1957, Sweden
The Wages of Fear, 1953, France
Spirited Away, 2001, Japan
La Dolce Vita, 1960, Italy
Metropolis, 1927, Germany
La Regle du Jeu, 1939, France
Three Colours Trilogy, 1993-94, Poland
Let The Right One In, 2008, Sweden
Tokyo Story, 1953, Japan
The Apu Trilogy, 1955/56/59, India
Oldboy, 2003, Korea
Aguirre, Wrath of God, 1972, Germany
Y Tu Mama Tambien, 2001, Mexico
Nosferatu, 1922, Germany
Rashomon, 1950, Japan
Spirit of the Beehive, 1973, Spain
Come And See, 1985, Russia
Das Boot, 1980, Germany
La Belle et la Bete, 1946, France
Cinema Paradiso, 1988, Italy
Raise The Red Lantern, 1991, China
Les Quatres Cent Coups, 1959, France
Infernal Affairs, 2002, Hong Kong
Godzilla, 1954, Japan
La Haine, 1995, France
M, 1931, Germany
Waltz With Bashir, 2008, Israel
La Grande Illusion, 1937, France
Dekalog, 1988, Poland
Rome Open City, 1945, Italy
Ashes And Diamonds, 1958, Poland
Le Samourai, 1967, France
L'Avventura, 1960, Italy
My Neighbour Totoro, 1988, Japan
In The Mood For Love, 2000, Hong Kong
Cyrano de Bergerac, 1990, France
Ikiru, 1952, Japan
Suspiria, 1977, Italy
Jules et Jim, 1962, France
10, 2002, Iran
Downfall, 2004, Germany
M. Hulot's Holiday, 1953, France
Closely Observed Trains, 1966, Czechoslovakia
Akira, 1988, Japan
Touki Bouki, 1973, Senegal
All About My Mother, 1999, Spain
Festen, 1998, Denmark
Lagaan, 2001, India
Belle de Jour, 1967, France
Central Do Brasil, 1998, Brazil
Persepolis, 2007, Iran
Heimat, 1985, Germany
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources, 1986, France
Knife in the Water, 1962, Poland
8 1/2, 1963, Italy
A Prophet, 2009, France
Wings of Desire, 1987, Germany
Un Chien Andalou, 1929, Spain
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000, China
The Vanishing, 1988, Holland
Solaris, 1972, Russia
Ringu, 1998, Japan
Hard Boiled, 1992, Hong Kong
Persona, 1966, Sweden
Ten Canoes, 2006, Australia
Hidden, 2005, Austria
Devdas, 2002, India
A Bout de Souffle, 1960, France
The Idiots, 1998, Denmark
House of Flying Daggers, 2004, China
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 1988, Spain
Bande A Part, 1964, France
Mother India, 1957, India
The Host, 2006, Korea
Battle Royale, 2000, Japan
Xala, 1974, Senegal
Orphee, 1950, France
Il Conformista, 1970, Italy
Run Lola Run, 1998, Germany
Andrei Rublev, 1966, Russia
Leningrad Cowboys, 1989, Finland
Loves of a Blonde, 1965, Czechoslovakia
Rififi, 1955, France
Goodbye Lenin, 2003, Germany
Ghost in the Shell, 1995, Japan
The Fourth Man, 1983, Holland
Yeelen, 1987, Mali
Way of the Dragon, 1972, Hong Kong
Delicatessen, 1991, France
Farewell My Concubine, 1993, China
Ran, 1985, Japan
Iron Monkey, 1993, China
Night Watch, 2004, Russia
Ones I've seen are in bold print. 38 is not as good as I had hoped. There are a lot of these I've never heard of. The ones I've seen are such that it makes me think well of the list. I'll see if any of them are at Spin Street when I go in from now on.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Good Hearts


Good Hearts is a 1988 novel by Southern writer Reynolds Price. I bought this when I found it used purely on the strength of the author's name. I read Kate Vaiden years ago, and it made quite an impression. This book is a good read, but I'm not convinced these characters are real people.

I did find that the following passage hit me like a slap in the face:
Mama's never been really fat, whatever she's said, but she's surely always been well-upholstered. Those layers are quietly peeling off her now. I've asked her about it. She says, "Rosa, your mother is an old woman. If people don't die in their seventies from bad hearts or kidneys, then you'll begin to notice how they just start to vanish into thin air. It can take another twenty years, but they're on their way. After a while you can all but read the newspaper through their hand. I think it's kind of pretty. Just get used to it anyhow and don't worry me about eating."
and then, much later in the book:
Emma had seen them and was out on the front porch waiting by the steps. When Rosa caught sight, she took a sharp breath. She hadn't seen her mother in exactly four Sundays, and in that time it seemed Emma had shrunk several sizes inward. And near the five steps, there seemed a good chance that that the slightest breeze would tip her balance and fling her down broken.

Again Rosa suddenly felt she should come here and spend the rest of her mother's few years giving constant care and learning everything her mother had kept in. There was no real way to manage it though and stay close to Wesley; she forced back tears.
I took this aspect of the plot (which is strictly a minor plot element) much too personally. I'm very much feeling the guilt/confusion/fear that this situation brings. And that's not even what this book is about! This situation is tangential to the main plot. And of course I would be reading this now.... But enough of that. I've definitely gotten off-track here...

from the dust jacket:
The time is now; the man and woman are Rosa and Wesley. Good and powerfully magnetic people, they have lived in marriage for twenty-eight years. They have good jobs, their skills are valued, and they have a good home. They mostly cherish and honor one another. Yet with no clear warning, their marriage breaks one evening in December. Soon they are more than light years apart. Wesley is in Nashville with another woman and all the ghosts he has tried to leave. Rosa is alone at home in Raleigh; in the absence of the man who vowed to protect her, she suffers a dark and mysterious assault. Too brave to settle for easy answers, they spend a long winter facing the trials of freedom and duty, madness and pain. Then, as spring comes, they try -with the help of family, friends, and strangers- to turn again to face one another.
...
The New York Times review closes with this:
Unobtrusively, without histrionics either on their part or the author's, Mr. Price's characters move through the action of the novel to a larger understanding of themselves and others. As we and they discover, they are people equipped with the power to be good human beings, with the power to love. In revealing this, the tone and rhythms of Reynolds Price's language are masterful. ''Good Hearts'' is superb storytelling by an enduring craftsman. It is a study of life and the placement of individuals within life. In every sense of the word, it abounds with goodness.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

The Mount


The Mount is a 2002 science fiction book by Carol Emshwiller. It won the Philip K. Dick Award in the year in which China MiƩville's The Scar was also nominated. The Scar is one of my favorite Mieville books, and -in my opinion- much better than this.

I remember hearing about The Mount when it won that award and meant to read it, but I forgot. I ran across it used and was glad for the reminder. That said, there aren't that many characters in this book, and I tired of them before the end. At 232 pages I thought the plot dragged and might've made a better story at a shorter length. I'm not buying the alien race at all. They make no sense to me, and I found them and their situation unbelievable from start to finish. I thought the ending was unsatisfying. I liked her writing and would read something else by her if I came across it, but I won't keep this one. Perhaps it might work better as an introduction to science fiction for a child?

from the back of the book:
Charley is an athlete. He wants to grow up to be the fastest runner in the world, like his father. He wants to be painted crossing the finish line, in his racing silks, with a medal around his neck.

Charley lives in a stable. He isn’t a runner, he’s a mount. He belongs to a Hoot: The Hoots are alien invaders. Charley hasn’t seen his mother for years, and his father is hiding out in the mountains somewhere, with the other Free Humans. The Hoots own the world, but the humans want it back. Charley knows how to be a good mount, but now he’s going to have to learn how to be a human being.

The Mount is the new novel by Carol Emshwiller, author of Carmen Dog and Ledoyt.
Kirkus Reviews calls it "A deceptively simple, clear-eyed story that should find its sympathetic Gullivers." SF Site praises the writing, but closes with this: "I didn't like this book much, although I certainly admired it. Some genre readers will find it delightful. But SF fans who expect credible science and realism had better take a miss." SF Reviews.net opens by saying, "Suffice it to say that whatever it is about this book that is blowing away awards committees is missing me by a mile" and later adds, "Putting this book down came all too easily." Jeff Vandermeer closes by saying, "this one of the most sympathetic and endearing books I’ve read lately." Stephen Wu says, "I just couldn't get into it," faulting the worldbuilding, the poor point-of-view writing, and "the oddest, most fitfully plotted conclusion I've read in a long time." Infinity Plus states, "The Mount is not a successful novel."

Monday, November 04, 2013

The Codeine Song

The Cod'ine Song:



by Sons of Mudboy, a Memphis band.

Lyrics:
I have a pain in my belly and an ache in my head.
I feel like I'm dying, and I wish I was dead.
If I live 'til tomorrow, it'll be a long time,
But I'll reel and I'll fall and I'll rise on cod'ine,
Yes it's reel, yes it's real, one more time.

...
The song was written by Buffy Sainte Marie and has been often covered.

Saturday, November 02, 2013

British Children’s Fantasy Classics

Marvelous Tales has a list of 9 British Children’s Fantasy Classics:
P. L. Travers – Mary Poppins series
Edith Nesbit – Five Children and It
J. M. Barrie – Peter Pan
Frances Hodgson Burnett – A Little Princess and The Secret Garden
Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Kenneth Grahame – The Wind in the Willows
Charles Kingsley – The Water Babies
George MacDonald – The Princess and the Goblin and The Light Princess
A. A. Milne – Winnie the Pooh

I've read and loved them all. I would consider them indispensable in any home with children. I might add The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Redwall books by Brian Jacques, and maybe Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling. More recent, I know, but I'd still add them.

Friday, November 01, 2013

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. I had never seen it before and will likely never watch it again. The gore is in no way realistic, but it is graphic and plentiful. I think I'll give the horror genre a rest for a while. The Husband made it through the raped-by-trees scene but left the room at the first sign of spurting blood from a pencil stabbing, and he may have had the right idea. Or maybe I've just had enough for now and this was one horror film too many. The movie is almost universally praised, so I'm in a definite minority in my view.

trailer:



Moria likes it: "The Evil Dead hits in with enormous vigour and an immense degree of directorial assurance upon Raimi’s part." 1000 Misspent Hours says, "As Sam Raimi’s first feature film, it marks the emergence of one of the major cinematic talents of the last 30 years." Slant Magazine opens its review with this: "Twenty years after its original theatrical release, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead still feels like the punchiest horror flick this side of a Dario Argento gialli." Rotten Tomatoes has a 98% critics score.

Horror Movie List Update

Somewhere along the way we started watching a lot of horror movies in October. It started with shows that were suitable for adding some fun to The Kids' preparations for Hallowe'en, and the tradition grew through the years. Now I try to see a few I've never seen before. This is the list we have so far. I'm trying to update code for films where the embed code I used no longer works. I'm surprised at how often public domain films disappear from one place and are relocated somewhere else. If I've written a blog post about a particular film, that post is linked below:

divided by sub-genre:

Haunted House films
Movies with Ghosts
Vampire films
Zombie movies

*******

chronological list, divided by decade:

pre-1920
Le Manoir du Diable (1896 short)
A Terrible Night (Une Nuit Terrible) (1896 short)
The Haunted Castle (1897 short)
The Man with the Rubber Head (1902 short)
The Infernal Cakewalk (1903 short)
The Infernal Cauldron (1903 short)
The Monster (1903 short)
Le Diable Noir (1905 short)
The Haunted House (1908)
The Sealed Room (1909 short)
Frankenstein (1910 short)
L'Inferno (1911)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 short)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913 short)
The Student of Prague (1913)
The Avenging Conscience (1914 short)
A Fool There Was (1915)
The Eyes of the Mummy (1918)

1920's
The Golem (1920)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Destiny (1921)
The Phantom Chariot (1921)
Rip Van Winkle (1921)
Danse Macabre (1922 short)
Haxan (1922)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Shadows: A Nocturnal Hallucination (aka Warning Shadows) (1923)
Hands of Orlac (1924)
Waxworks (1924)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Wolf Blood (1925)
The Bat (1926)
Faust (1926)
A Page of Madness (1926)
The Student of Prague (1926)
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
The Lodger (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
Alraune (1928)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 silent short)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 French)
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The Tell-Tale Heart (1928)
The Great Gabbo (1929)
Haunted House (1929 cartoon short)
The Skeleton Dance (1929 cartoon short)

1930's
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
M (1931)
Betty Boop: Minnie the Moocher (1932 cartoon short)
Freaks (1932)
Haunted Gold (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Kongo (1932)
The Monster Walks (1932)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
The Mummy (1932)
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
Mystery Ranch (1932)
The Old Dark House (1932)
Vampyr (1932)
White Zombie (1932)
Betty Boop Halloween Party (1933 cartoon short)
The Ghoul (1933)
The Invisible Man (1933)
King Kong (1933)
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
A Shriek in the Night (1933)
Supernatural (1933)
The Vampire Bat (1933)
The Black Cat (1934)
The Ghost Walks (1934)
Two Monks (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Mad Love (1935)
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Werewolf of London (1935)
The Devil-Doll (1936)
The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936)
Ouanga (1936)
Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936)
The Walking Dead (1936)
The Old Mill (1937 cartoon short)
Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)
Topper (1937)
The Missing Guest (1938)
The Face at the Window (1939)
The Gorilla (1939)
The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
The Phantom Creeps (1939)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

1940's
The Devil Bat (1940)
Dr. Cyclops (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Spook Sport (1940 short)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
Invisible Ghost (1941)
King of the Zombies (1941)
Man Made Monster (1941)
Spooks Run Wild (1941)
The Tell-Tale Heart (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Cat People (1942)
The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Mad Monster (1942)
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
The Ape Man (1943)
Dead Men Walk (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
The Seventh Victim (1943)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Bluebeard (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
The Lodger (1944)
The Monster Maker (1944)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
The Uninvited (1944)
Voodoo Man (1944)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Dead of Night (1945)
Fog Island (1945)
House of Dracula (1945)
Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green (1945)
The Spiral Staircase (1945)
Strange Impersonation (1945)
The Woman Who Came Back (1945)
Bedlam (1946)
Dragonwyck (1946)
The Flying Serpent (1946)
Shock (1946)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Scared to Death (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
The Red House (1947)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Casper the Friendly Ghost in "There's Good Boos Tonight" (1948 cartoon short)
Macbeth (1948)
Who Killed Doc Robbin (1948)
Blood of the Beasts (1949)
The Queen of Spades (1949)

1950's
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Dracula in Istanbul (1953)
The Tell-Tale Heart (1953 animated short)
Ugetsu (1953 Japanese ghost story)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
Gojira (1954)
Killers from Space (1954)
Mad Magician (1954)
Popeye: Fright to the Finish (1954 cartoon short)
Target Earth (1954)
Them! (1954)
Creature with the Atomic Brain (1955)
Cult of the Cobra (1955)
Daughter of Horror (1955)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1955)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
The Phantom From 10.000 Leagues (1955)
Tarantula (1955)
The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956)
Bride of the Monster (1956)
Broom-Stick Bunny (1956 animated short)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)
Indestructible Man (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Mole People (1956)
The Abominable Snowman (1957)
The Black Scorpion (1957)
Curse of the Demon (1957)
Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Cyclops (1957)
The Deadly Mantis (1957)
Ghost in the Well (1957)
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Land Unknown (1957)
The Monster That Challenged the World (1957)
Night of the Demon (1957)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
The Blob (1958)
The Brain Eaters (1958)
The Crawling Eye (1958)
Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
The Fly (1958)
Ghost of Chibusa Enoki (1958)
Horror of Dracula (1958 Hammer Studio)
I Bury the Living (1958)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
The Screaming Skull (1958)
Tales of Frankenstein (1958 TV pilot)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959)
Curse of the Undead (1959)
First Man Into Space (1959)
The Giant Gila Monster (1959)
The Hideous Sun Demon (1959)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
The Killer Shrews (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
Teenage Zombies (1959)
Terror is a Man (1959)
Terror in the Midnight Sun (1959)
The Tingler (1959)
Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (1959)

1960's
13 Ghosts (1960)
The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)
Black Sunday (1960)
Blood and Roses (1960)
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Circus of Horrors (1960)
The Flesh and the Fiends (1960)
Horror Hotel (1960)
Horrors of Spider Island (1960)
House of Usher (1960)
The Housemaid (1960)
Jigoku (1960)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Mill of the Stone Women (1960)
One Step Beyond: The Lovers (1960 tv series episode)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Tormented (1960)
The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960)
Village of the Damned (1960)
The Virgin Spring (1960)
The Wasp Woman (1960)
Anatomy of a Psycho (1961)
The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)
Bloodlust (1961)
Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)
The Curse of the Doll People (1961)
The Devil's Messenger (1961)
Ghost of Oiwa (1961)
The Innocents (1961)
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Night Tide (1961)
The Shadow of the Cat (1961)
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Hands of a Stranger (1962)
Samson vs. the Vampire Women (1962)
Tower of London (1962)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Atom Age Vampire (1963)
The Birds (1963)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Blood Feast (1963)
The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963)
The Damned (1963)
Dementia 13 (1963)
The Ghost (1963)
The Haunting (1963)
Matango (1963)
The Raven (1963)
The Terror (1963)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1963 animated short)
The Whip and the Body (1963)
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)
The Atomic Brain (1964)
Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Blood is the Color of Night (1964)
Castle of Blood (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
Halloween with the Addams Family (1964 Addams Family tv episode)
I Eat Your Skin (1964)
Kwaidan anthology film (1964)
The Last Man on Earth (1964)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Onibaba (1964)
Pyro (1964)
Sound of Horror (1964)
Spider Baby (1964)
The Vampire of the Opera (1964)
Blood of the Man Devil (1965)
Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)
The Collector (1965)
The Diabolical Dr. Z (1965)
Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965)
Incubus (1965)
The Nanny (1965)
Nightmare Castle (1965)
Orgy of the Dead (1965)
Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Repulsion (1965)
Terror Creatures from the Grave (1965)
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
Island of Terror (1966)
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Kill, Baby, Kill (aka Curse of the Living Dead) (1966)
Persona (1966)
The Plague of Zombies (1966)
Queen of Blood (1966)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1966)
The She Beast (1966)
War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Maneater of Hydra (1967)
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967)
The Sorcerers (1967)
Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967)
Cruel Ghost Legend (1968)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Ghosts of Hanley House (1968)
Groke: Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
A Quiet Place in the Country (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Snow Woman (1968)
Witchfinder General (1968)
The Astro-Zombies (1969)
Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969)
The Cremator (1969)
Django the Bastard (1969)
The House That Screamed (1969)
The Lottery (1969 short)
Mad Monster Party (1969)
Nightmare in Wax (1969)
The Oblong Box (1969)
The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

1970's
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Count Dracula (1970)
Crowhaven Farm (1970)
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
The Fury of the Wolfman (1970)
The House that Dripped Blood (1970)
How Awful About Allan (1970)
The Revenge of Dr. X (1970)
The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman (1970)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
A Bay of Blood (1971)
Black Noon (1971)
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Duel (1971)
I, Monster (1971)
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)
The Omega Man (1971)
The Tell-Tale Heart (1971)
What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Blacula (1972)
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
Images (1972)
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Moon of the Wolf (1972)
Necromancy (aka The Witching) (1972)
Night of the Lepus (1972)
The Night Stalker (1972, tv movie)
The Other (1972)
The Stone Tape (1972)
Crypt of the Living Dead (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Ganja and Hess (1973)
Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973)
High Plains Drifter (1973) (yes, it's a Western. But it's also Horror.)
Horror Express (1973)
The Killing Kind (1973)
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Leptirica (1973)
Lost Hearts (1973)
Messiah of Evil (1973)
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
Sisters (1973)
Theatre of Blood (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Blood for Dracula (1974)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)
Madhouse (1974)
Moonchild (1974)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Ash Tree (1975 BBC TV)
The Black Widow (1975 music video)
Deep Red (1975)
The Devil's Rain (1975)
Footprints on the Moon (1975)
Jaws (1975)
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1975)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Race With the Devil (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Shivers (1975)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
Brimstone and Treacle (1976)
Burnt Offerings (1976)
Carrie (1976)
Embryo (1976)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
The Omen (1976)
The Signal-Man (1976)
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Count Dracula (1977 BBC)
Demon Seed (1977)
Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia) (1977)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
House (1977)
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
The Last Wave (1977)
Martin (1977)
A Photograph (1977)
Rabid (1977)
Shadow of Chikara (1977)
Shock (1977)
Shock Waves (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Dominique is Dead (1978)
Empire of Passion (1978)
The Evil (1978)
Halloween (1978)
I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Manitou (1978)
The Shout (1978)
Alien (1979)
The Brood (1979)
Fascination (1979)
Nocturna, Granddaughter of Dracula (1979)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Phantasm (1979)
Salem's Lot (1979)
Tourist Trap (1979)
When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

1980's
The Changeling (1980)
Fisheye (1980, animated short)
The Fog (1980)
The Shining (1980)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Beyond (1981)
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Ghost Story (1981)
Halloween 2 (1981)
The House by the Cemetery (1981)
The Howling (1981)
Oasis of the Zombies (1981)
Possession (1981)
Blood Tide (1982)
Cat People (1982)
Creepshow (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Thing (1982)
The Dead Zone (1983)
Eyes of Fire (1983)
The Hunger (1983)
House of Long Shadows (1983)
Videodrome (1983)
Children of the Corn (1984)
Frankenweenie (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Gremlins (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Poison for the Fairies (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
Creature (1985)
Demons (1985)
Eternal Evil (1985)
Fright Night (1985)
Mr. Vampire (1985)
Nightcrawlers (1985 Twilight Zone TV)
Re-Animator (1985)
Vampire Hunter D (1985)
From Beyond (1986)
The Hitcher (1986)
House (1986)
The Tomb (1986)
Trick 'r Treat (1986)
Bad Taste (1987)
Bay Coven (1987)
Bloody New Year (1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
I Was a Teenage Zombie (1987)
Near Dark (1987)
Opera (1987)
Predator (1987)
Brain Damage (1988)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
The Lady in White (1988)
The Vanishing (1988)
Etoile (1989)
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
The Woman in Black (1989)

1990's
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
Jekyll and Hyde (1990)
Truly Madly Deeply (1990)
The Witches (1990)
Begotten (1991)
Devil Rider (1991)
Jules et Joel (1991 Northern Exposure TV episode)
The Sandman (1991 animated short)
Braindead (1992)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the movie (1992)
Society (1992)
Chronos (1993)
Freaked (1993)
The Halloween Tree (1993 animated tv special)
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Cemetery Man (1994)
The Crow (1994)
Dark Waters (1994)
Faust (1994)
Interview with a Vampire (1994)
Nadja (1994)
Riget (1994)
Shrunken Heads (1994)
The Addiction (1995)
City of Lost Children (1995)
The Langoliers (1995)
Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh (1996)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Scream (1996)
A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)
Cure (1997)
Halloween (1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv episode)
Mimic (1997)
The Night Flier (1997)
Ringu (1998)
Whispering Corridors (1998)
Audition (1999)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Fear, Itself (1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv episode)
The Green Mile (1999)
Nang Nak (1999)
The Ninth Gate (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
The Wolf Man (1999 animated short)

2000's
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Pulse (2001)
Session 9 (2001)
Trouble Every Day (2001)
Below (2002)
Bloody Mallory (2002)
Dark Water (2002)
Dog Soldiers (2002)
The Eye (2002)
The French Doors (2002 short)
Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002)
The Ring (2002)
Suicide Club (2002)
28 Days Later (2002)
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Underworld (2003)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Dead Birds (2004)
Frankenstein (2004)
The Machinist (2004)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shutter (2004)
Van Helsing (2004)
The Village (2004)
The Amityville Horror (2005)
The Call of Cthulhu (2005 silent)
Corpse Bride (2005)
The Descent (2005)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
King Kong (2005)
Land of the Dead (2005)
Masters of Horror: Homecoming (tv episode, 2005)
Naina (2005)
Noroi (The Curse) (2005)
Still Life (2005 short)
A View from a Hill (2005)
Voice (2005)
Witches of Mass Destruction (2005 Boston Legal tv episode)
American Witch by Rob Zombie (2006 music video)
Bloody Reunion (2006)
Death Note (2006)
Ghostboat (2006)
The Host (2006)
Kilometer 31 (2006)
The Last Winter (2006)
The Life and Death of a Pumpkin (2006 short)
Number 13 (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Pulse (2006)
Slither (2006)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
The Snow Witch (2006 short)
Sweeney Todd (2006)
Wicked Little Things (2006)
30 Days of Night (2007)
Animorph (2007)
The Bride (2007 short film)
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007)
Cthulhu (2007)
A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead (2007 music video)
The Lottery (2007 short)
House of 1000 Muppets (2007 mash-up trailer)
The Mist (2007)
Modern Witches Flying (2007 short)
Muoi: Legend of a Portrait (2007)
Planet Terror (2007)
[REC] (2007)
The Signal (2007)
Wanna Buy a Ghost? (2007 short)
Bedfellows (2008 short)
The Burrowers (2008)
Cloverfield (2008)
The Coffin (2008)
Death Bell (2008)
It's a Wonderful Life: The Reckoning (2008 parody short)
Lake Mungo (2008)
Let the Right One In (2008)
The Magician's Nephew (2008, Midsomer Murders tv episode)
Outpost (2008)
Alma (2009 animated short)
Blood Creek (2009)
A Candy Affair (2009 animated short)
Chemical Wedding (2009)
Coraline (2009)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Teke Teke (2009)

2010+
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
The Dead (2010)
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
Hallowe'en Party (2010 Agatha Christie's Poirot tv episode)
He Dies at the End (2010 short)
Insidious (2010)
Legion (2010)
The Wolfman (2010)
Black Swan (2011)
The Little Mermaid (2011 short)
Priest (2011)
Dead Mine (2012)
Frankenweenie (2012)
Gallowwalkers (2012)
Outpost: Black Sun (2012)
Prometheus (2012)
ABE (2013 short)
Cargo (2013 short)
The Complex (2013)
The Conjuring (2013)
Horns (2013)
Lights Out (2013 short)
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013)
Pee Mak (2013)
Spiders (2013)
Stranded (2013)
The Tea Chronicles (2013 short film)
The Tractate Middoth (2013)
We Are What We Are (2013)
The Babadook (2014)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Godzilla (2014)
Housebound (2014)
It Follows (2014)
Lyle (2014)
Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
Tusk (2014)
Blood Moon (2015)
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Crimson Peak (2015)
Dark Waves 2015)
Ghostline (2015)
Harbinger Down (2015)
Hidden (2015)
Viktor Frankenstein (2015)
A Dark Song (2016)
Train to Busan (2016)
Under the Shadow (2016)
The Wailing (2016)
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2017)
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Annihilation (2018)
Cucuy: The Boogeyman (2018)
Hereditary (2018)
Suspiria (2018)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018)
Winchester (2018)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
In the Tall Grass (2019)