Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock
It is up there in my favorite horror movies because its literally the perfect movie

THE VAMPIRE (1957). Not the German Robles film of the same name. John Beal is a well loved small town doctor who finds himself becoming the title creature through a simple mistake. The film could be more of a parable for drug addiction and keeping a big secret where everyone knows you. Good performances by JB, Colleen Grey and Kenneth Tobey, who saves the day again.
A couple of inspired scares, especially the one involving an incinerator! ***1/2

Diary of a Madman [1963]

Not as good as Corman-poe-price flick but definitely a delightful watch for any VP fan.

I just watched The Screaming Skull. I need to get a better version of the film though. Any suggestions?

You might check out CREEPY CLASSICS.COM or DCS VIDEO SCREAMS.
THE MANSTER (1962, although have seen dates for 1959). Incredibly cheesy, but audacious man with two heads flick and quite a few years before THE INCREDIBLE TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT or THE THING WITH TWO HEADS. Title character is such a boozy abrasive asshole that you really don't feel sorry for him. Lots of family subjects in here like adultery, prostitution, unethical experiments etc. Plenty of fun to be sure! ***1/2

[click on image for a larger version]

It's brilliant; more the psychological dread of insanity rather than outright horror - but terribly affecting nonetheless. SPOILER AHEAD:



(As of my first viewing, I believe a strong argument can be made that Alma Borg is the only real person in this story.)

THE QUARTERMASS XPERIMENT (1955)


This film rocked. You know, I liked Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk and frankly, Godzilla as a rubber suit. When I see these older films and what they had as their options...man, there's nothing like it. They still manage to get the job done! I know CGI's a fantastic thing. Perhaps its my age....

No, it's not your age..it means you appreciate that the people had to work to get the message across. CGI is great, but find it overused and will still take a Harryhausen creation over CGI .
I think this is also known as THE CREEPING UNKNOWN ???
If so, it is a great film.

----------------------------------

RATTLERS (1976). One of the later and lesser entries in the "nature strikes back" era. My brother and I saw the previews for this and begged our Dad to drive us to the run down theater in my grandparents small Arkansas town. Thought it was pretty good at age 14...have it on one of those 50 packs and finally got around to checking it out again last week. It's pretty bad, but for their low budget, they did the best they could. **1/2

OMG, its true about Ray Harryhausen. I think its some huge Greek soldier in Sinbad or Jason that scared the bejesus out of me. He gets speared in the Achilles tendon? And some prehistoric caveman and I think also a minataur ?. His stuff is timeless.

Yes, it is also known as the Creeping Unknown. I actually acquired this film recently; I really need to watch it. It is notable as one of Hammer's first major films. I agree in regards to CGI. I think it can be a good thing, but it is both overused and, in many films, looks terrible. There are plenty of examples where traditional special effects are far superior to CGI. This is not to say CGI is bad, as in the right hands it can be spectacular.