Tag: Movie

31 Scary Movies: ‘Psycho’

Jeff Mitchell

“Psycho” (1960) – Film students have marveled at director Alfred Hitchcock’s macabre movie of misdirection for decades, and his picture forced millions of moviegoers to think twice before taking a motel-shower. Rightfully so, as “Psycho” instantly became meshed within pop culture in 1960 and to this day. To this day, every movie aficionado knows that the lonely Bates Motel is the film’s setting, and Norman Bates’ (Anthony Perkins) place may be 15 minutes away from fictional Fairvale, CA, but it actually begins in the bustle of Phoenix, Arizona. Young Marion…

31 Scary Movies: ‘Black Sunday’

Jeff Mitchell

“Black Sunday” (1960) – When an executioner lifts his sledgehammer and smashes a mask with about 20 pointed nails into your face – while you are also tied to a stake and then branded with the letter “S”, the mark of Satan – you gotta know that it is not your day. This is Princess Asa’s (Barbara Steele) horrible day, but what makes matters worse is her own brother sentenced her to this ghastly fate.  Set in the 17th century, this unseemly opening sets a sinister tone for “Black Sunday”, which…

31 Scary Movies: ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’

Jeff Mitchell

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) – With hair sprayed across his brow, his clothes soaked in sweat and a wild look in his eyes, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) desperately tries to explain his plight to a handful of doctors and police. “Will you tell these fools I’m not crazy? I’m not insane,” he screams. He certainly resembles a man who just escaped from a mental hospital, but Dr. Bennell begs to tell his story, in Don Siegel’s (“Dirty Harry” (1971), “The Shootist” (1976)) landmark science fiction picture that…