Village of the Damned (1960)

Although universally thought of as a classic, today it is often overlooked and forgotten about in favor of other classic 60s horror flicks like Night Of The Living Dead (1968) or other classic Sci-Fis like Invasion of The Body Snatchers(1956), but this film should still be just as talked about and beloved as it once was for it holds up remarkably well almost 55 years later. Imagine The Omen (1976) except instead of one evil kid running around destroying things with his mind, you get 12 of them in this movie. The children are born when (after a mysterious sleeping spell overtakes a whole town) all the women in a town become pregnant. Oscar winning actor George Sanders (who is known for his cold calculative and often slimy characters, to which this film's no exception) does a wonderful job as the scientist who wants to keep the children alive for the sake of studying even after they begin to commit unspeakable crimes. The special effects done to the children's eyes are still spooky even by today's standards. The film also builds marvelously until the very end (some older films can really lag, but this is well paced for the time it was made). The film does have at least one sequel (Children of The Damned, which is also acclaimed, and Iron Maiden did a saong of the same name about that film) and the honor of being remade 35 years later by horror legend John Carpenter, but from what I have read there seems to be no doubt that the original is the best. I give it a 5/5, and you can view the trailer below:

All About Eve (1950)

This might be the film I've reviewed that I've most strongly connected/personally related

to. All About Eve is the six Oscar winning (including best picture) 1950 film that is as timeless as any classic. The film tells/shows the destructive power of  ambition/planning (albeit to others whose ambitions overlap) deception and jealousy, and of course the power of the theater which encapsulates all three of those. The film is incredibly relevant even to those outside of the theater though because of the competitive and "fake" nature life sometimes seems to take on due to the insincerity of others (which oddly enough is just as damaging be it detectable or undetectable). The film ultimately is a reminder of the old Shakespeare adage: "All the world is a stage, and we but actors on it," and lastly the film serves as a powerful reminder to me of the importance and value I hold for sincerity; From myself and from others. Bette Davis plays an aging theater actress, Margo Channing. One night Margo gets a visit from a fan whose admiration of her is so impressive to Margo and her entourage, that Margo decides to employ the fan as her full time secretary. Eventually it becomes known to all though that the stories the secretary 
(Eve) tells are all fiction though and that Eve had her rise to stardom through the friendship of Margo and her entourage planned from the beginning, and Eve's

humility is nothing more than a testament to her ability to act. Eve is one of those people I'm sure we all either have or will encounter at some point, who doesn't care who they hurt while they try to get what they want (and simultaneously ingratiating themselves into the hearts of others, due to their lack of realizing the individual's ulterior motives), this film also serves as a reminder that at one point or another in our lives we ourselves be similar (though maybe to a lesser extent) to the title character (it's more or less in the nature of being ambitious, one just needs to really try to find a balance and hopefully ultimately be more sincere). This film also has an abundance of great quotes, wit, and of course acting. Though neither lead actress won the Oscar for this film George Sanders did win Best Supporting Actor for his marvelous part in the film. The film has a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, it is listed in several of my cult movie books, and is agreed upon almost universally as one of the greatest movies ever made. The film is a little long, but in my opinion it never really felt sluggish, and it actually had pretty good pacing and is worth almost every moment. As I mentioned before the film has many famous quotes that have since become even more well known than the film they're from, the best example of this is when Davis's character says: "Fasten your seatbelts, It's going to be a bumpy night!" I give it a 5/5, and you can find the film available to stream on Netflix.  I don't really like trailers for older films, but you can view it below nonetheless: 

The Hour of The Wolf (1968)

If you ask any film buff who Ingmar Bergman is/was, they would most likely tell you he's one of the greatest directors of all time, if you were to ask me who he is, I'd say one of my favorite directors. Bergman is known for his art house films, and such ground breaking pictures such as The Seventh Seal (1957). It is not a rare or strange occurrence for a Bergman film to be dark in nature, or to have dark over/undertones, (the Seventh Seal is about a Knight playing chess with Death) but Hour of the Wolf is Bergman's only official horror movie. Like a lot of Bergman's films, this one can be confusing at times, but I believe if you pay enough

attention to the beginning and end of the story, then you should have a good enough understanding of the film. The story is about an artist (Max von Sydow) who struggles with inner demons, which appear to be physically manifesting themselves and affecting his wife just as badly as they do himself. Now when I say demons in this context, I'm referring to the artist's inner mental struggles and guilt. There is a phrase that is bookended in the film (told at the beginning and the end) that best sums up this film's plot: "Do you think it is possible that if a woman loves a man enough for such a long time, that eventually she becomes like that man?" This film has some of the trippiest imagery Bergman ever used, and you almost feel that you're going crazy along with the main character. It is of course left to interpretation however if what happens to the character is actually happening to him or not, (that gives it a similar feel to The Innocents [1961]) but that of course was intentional. The movie has several allusions to classic horror movies/literature/concepts, one of them being an actor who looks exactly like Bela Lugosi, and another being the presence of Poe's raven. I really liked this one, the only thing that bothered me was that the plot was sometimes hard to follow, but as I mentioned before, the ending in my opinion more or less justifies that. I give it a 4.75/5, view the trailer below:

The Gorilla ( 1939)

 The Gorilla (1939) is an "old dark house" horror/comedy  starring the legendary Bela Lugosi (original Dracula[1931]) and The Ritz Brothers (a poor man's version of The Marx Brothers). Ever since Edgar Alan Poe wrote the first detective mystery with Murders in the Rue Morgue, Gorillas have had their place in horror from King Kong (1933) to Disney cartoons with Donald Duck. This film attempts to channel the thrills of silent horror murder mystery films like 
The Cat and the Canary(1927) (recreating its most famous scene) 
and fuse it with the aforementioned fear of gorillas. The film takes place in a millionaire's mansion (full of secret passages) during a storm of course.
This came out the same year as the Bob Hope sound
 remake of The Cat and the Canary (1939). The gorilla isn't as good as the bob hope film, but this is still a classic even though the costumes might be hokey and some of the jokes fall flat it is still fun and well put together. 
 I give it a 4/5. I first heard about this film from this book to the right:
and the film is available through Turner Classic Movies (TCM) with xfinity OnDemand or to stream at tcm.com/watch.