PROFESSOR'S PICKS: 5 Horror Films for Horror Novices

I once counted myself among the crowd who categorically dismissed scary movies simply because I didn't see myself as person who liked scary movies. They were uncomfortable, they were vile, and they were dumb. 

Today I'm a little more open to the horror genre in large part because I've learned that not all scary movies are so aggressively morbid. I owe much of this transition to the research I've put in to horror films of classical Hollywood. 

Until about the 1960's the Hays code placed heavy lines on what kind of content could be featured in films. Many filmmakers felt restricted by these limitations, but this limitation did force filmmakers to find ways to scare audiences without using gore or violence, two things that usually frighten viewers away from the genre. As a result, many films we would classify under the "horror" genre from pre-1965 are really good testing grounds for viewers curious about the genre. 

If you're certain Nightmare on Elm Street crosses a line but you still want to know what all the hoopla over horror is about, here are the Professor's Picks for five classical horror films that will mess with your mind but not your stomach.

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1. Carnival of Souls (1962)

Rated "Chilling" for a whole bunch of undead figures staring straight into the camera without blinking

The sole survivor of a tragic accident takes a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City, mostly because it doesn’t require her to interact with others. Her drive takes her past an old abandoned bath house which immediately fills her with inexplicable foreboding, and strange visions begin haunting her waking mind, visions which soon give way to something much more frightening.

The movie is almost entirely devoid of any traditional "jump-scares" or other shoe-in tactics for eliciting fear from the audience. Rather, the tension cooks through long takes of frightening imagery that unsettle or spook rather than shock. Atmosphere is the name of the game in this film.

This film is kind of the king of horror indie-movies and accumulated a cult following through subsequent releases. This film is also in the public domain, which means it’s easy to find. (You may have to circle through a few sites to find a high-quality rendering of the film, however.) 

2. The Haunting (1963)

Rated "Unnerving" for frightening situations and one potent jump scare

Lonely soul, Eleanor, receives some long-awaited excitement in her life when she is invited to participate in a scientific study of paranormal phenomena. Along with a few other participants, Eleanor stays overnight in an old mansion long-since thought to be "haunted." The paranormal activities begin almost immediately, but each new scare only further draws Eleanor into the mental labyrinth of Hill House. 

Director Robert Wise adapted this film from Shirley Jackson's 1959 book "The Haunting of Hill House." This film was remade twice, first as a film in 1999 and then as a Netflix mini-series in 2018's "The Haunting of Hill House," but it has become the inspiration for every haunted house film that followed. 

This film dwells in suspense and tension, unsettling the audience through frightening sounds or watching the characters squirm under the terror of what neither they nor the audience can see.

The film also marks perhaps the most intensive character study of any of the films on this list. Similar to Carnival of Souls, this film is specially interested in self-imposed isolationism and the unsettling yearnings that fill in the space that should be reserved for human interaction. Eleanor is painted as a drifting soul so desperate for belonging that the sinister beating heart of this mansion only further validates and entices her, convincing her that a place as chilling as this could become a home to her. 

Robert Wise's next film? The Sound of Music. What a world.

3. The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Rated "Scary"  for frightening situations and a few bloodless deaths

A sinister serial murderer is sweeping through a quiet Vermont town, targeting women suffering from various disabilities. All the while, Helen, a mute woman under the employment of a wealthy bedridden widow, must confront her deepest fears and traumas in order to outwit the killer before she becomes its next victim.

This film was adapted from Ethel Lina White's 1933 novel "Some Must Watch." This is one of those rare classic Hollywood films to tackle the subject of disability. That it does so through the protagonist is even more noteworthy. 

The earliest patterns of what would become slasher films can be seen in this film with the element of defenseless women being preyed upon by predatory male figures. But Production Code fences placed limitations on how sadistic filmmakers were able to be in this regard. Even as she's being tormented and stalked, Helen is treated with more dignity and humanity than her slasher-film successors will be thirty years on.

4. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Rated "Thrilling" for a few chase sequences and one scene displaying dead human bodies

An enthusiastic hunter is shipwrecked on an exotic island on which an eccentric millionaire has constructed a lavish castle. Our protagonist is at first enthralled in the company of this man, with whom he shares a love of the hunting sport, but he soon learns the frightening extent of his new friend's love of the game.

This film has more in common with modern day adventure films than a film like A Quiet Place. One of the directors, Ernest B. Schoedsack, would in fact go on to direct King Kong the next year using many of these same sets, even lifting stars Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray. Just so, the film makes for a thrilling view that asks probing questions about our relationship to power and violence and plays with our notion of predator and prey. Urban legends even persist that the first cut of the film was even more horrifying, with our first look at the enigmatic trophy room featuring more grotesque displays of carnage that sent 1932 audiences running out of the theater.

This film was adapted from the 1924 short story by Richard Connel, a story which has been adapted countless times, even as recently as this year in the form of the Quibi series Most Dangerous Game. Perhaps this is because the premise strikes an uncomfortable nerve, confronting us with how even the most civilized of us court and celebrate slaughter. This is another film in the public domain, and this one is barely over an hour long, making it a very accessible watch.

5. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

Rated "Intense" for Barbra Stanwyck spending 80 minutes looking scared out of her skin

Leona Stevenson, a bed-ridden heiress, intercepts a phone call in which she overhears a murder plot. She desperately tries to intervene, and understand what her husband's business affairs have to do with all this, but confined to her bed, what all can she do?

The film is adapted from Louise Fletcher's 1943 radio play, with Fletcher returning to write the screenplay for the feature film. 

Similar to The Spiral Staircase, the film finds its horrific stride with its use of shadows and slow creeps, and by constantly reminding us how helpless Leona is. Though flashbacks take place over a larger landscape, the narrative proper is situated almost entirely in Leona's bedroom. The plot constantly reminds us how our protagonist is tethered to a bed, leaving her entirely helpless in what feels like a predecessor to Hitchcock's Rear Window six years later. 

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Horror has a reputation for being 1) morbid and 2) low-brow. I think there's a lot of validity to the criticisms of how horror films can numb us to graphic depictions of violence or celebrate the ravaging of female bodies, and if we sat down for a minute, we could probably come up with a fair number of films to support this thesis. 

But Extreme Slasher Movie XXXVII doesn't represent the sum of the horror genre. Coming from someone who lives for Judy Garland and Gene Kelly films, I've come to learn of the inherent value of a film that exposes your fears and insecurities--which a well-made horror film can do so well. If you're not ready for Scream (1996) and don't think you'll ever bother with The Evil Dead (1981) maybe test the waters with some of these psychological scarers.

            --The Professor

Honorable Mentions: Island of Lost Souls (1932), The Cat and the Canary (1927), Cat People (1942)

I might also recommend some of the classic Universal Monsters Movies of the 1930's and 40's.