Behind the Couch

1958 Dir. Terence Fisher Perfectly epitomising the brand of lurid horror Hammer is now famed for, Dracula is one of the most important titles in the history of British horror cinema. Despite its low budget, it boasts a rich gothic atmosphere, impressive production design and iconic performances from Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Jimmy Sangster’s screenplay, coupled with Fisher’s agile direction, not only streamlines Bram Stoker’s original novel, but accentuates the underlying sexual themes evident within it. Lee’s incarnation of Dracula emerges as a sexual predator, stealthily corrupting the morals of those he encounters. With feral ferocity he pierces the heart of polite Victorian society, unveiling repressed desires and creating lustful, hideously grinning she-demons in his wake... This new cut of the film includes previously excised moments such as Dracula’s bloody seduction of Mina and his decomposition in a shaft of sunlight at the film’s riveting denouement. Hea...

1959 Dir. Crane Wilbur Murder-mystery author Cornelia van Gorder rents a country mansion for the summer while its owner, bank manager Mr Fleming, is on an extended hunting trip. Unbeknownst to Cornelia and her faithful PA Lizzie, Fleming has been embezzling bank bonds worth one million dollars, and hidden them in the manor. The two women and their guests are menaced by a notorious killer dubbed 'The Bat' - who uses steel-clawed gloves to tear out the throats of his victims and will stop at nothing to get his hands on the loot! The Bat is based on the 1920 Broadway play of the same name by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart. It was previously filmed by Roland West in 1926 as The Bat and as The Bat Whispers in 1930. Its stage origins are evident in the sets and locations, mainly limited to a couple of rooms in the sprawling mansion. The premise of a feisty mystery writer renting an old, dark house in the middle of the countryside, while the surrounding area is grip...

1953 Dir. André De Toth This month marks the centenary of the velvet-voiced Vincent Price. Born on May 27, 1911, Price would have turned 100 years old this month. What more reason could you possibly need to revisit one of his classic chillers… Like House of Wax ! In House of Wax , Price plays oddball wax sculptor Henry Jarrod, who seemingly perishes when his business partner deliberately sets fire to their failing wax museum, intending to claim the insurance money. Miraculously, he survives, albeit with severe injuries, and builds a new wax museum. His "Chamber of Horrors" exhibition coincides with bizarre deaths and the disappearance of bodies from the local morgue. Could it be that Jarrod’s waxworks are the wax-coated bodies of his victims? Of course it is! When Jarrod notices a startling resemblance between Sue Allen and his wax model of Marie Antoinette, which perished in the fire, he intends to dunk her in wax and immortalise her in his museum… Cue much maniacal ...

1951 Dir. Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks A group of scientific researchers and military personnel discover an alien spacecraft frozen under the ice in the Arctic. Retrieving the alien pilot, they take it back to their outpost to conduct research. However when the block of ice it’s entombed within thaws, the creature goes berserk and sets off on a bloody rampage, killing anyone who crosses its path and feeding on their blood. The military personnel led by Captain Hendry decide enough is enough, and plot to destroy the creature before it destroys them. Based on the short story 'Who Goes There?' by renowned sci-fi writer John W. Campbell, The Thing From Another World is one of the earliest, and most successful amalgamations of horror and sci-fi. A precursor to the likes of The Day The Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds and Alien , the film was produced during a time when the media was bombarded by reports of sightings of UFOs; a time that would become the Golden Age of sc...

1959 Dir. William Castle Eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) has invited five carefully selected strangers to the house on Haunted Hill for a ‘haunted house’ party, much to the chagrin of his wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart). Loren promises to pay $10,000 to whoever stays in the creepy house for the whole night. With no electricity, no phones and no way of contacting the outside world, the guests are locked in the house at midnight. As the night progresses, it becomes very obvious that it will be a memorable one! Ghosts, ghouls and murder – oh my! Darkness. A woman’s scream. Creepy moaning. Rattling chains and creaking doors. A disembodied head ponders the restless ‘ghosts’ on the prowl. Just another Saturday evening then – but it’s also the opening minutes of William Castle’s lovably daft House on Haunted Hill. A clunky, but thoroughly enjoyable ghost-train romp through every creaky old cliché in the book and straight into your heart. Constructed as the cinemat...