HORROR 101

Horror as a film genre has always suffered from an inferiority complex, despite the fact that over the years some of the greatest films we have had the pleasure to see are firmly rooted in this shadowland. The reason is most people do not see how serious, dramatic issues could be adequately handled in a premise that smacks of absurdism. This perception is only half-true (asinine teenage American slasher films are to blame for this). In the realm of bona-fide horror, things can get as serious as death itself.
I have compiled a list of horror films which I think everyone – young and old – should see. I have been a fan of horror films since childhood (I actually saw the original The Amityville Horror in the cinema. At the time I must have been no older than eight). My father was a film buff and had no qualms about dragging me along to every new release. I remember seeing with him The Omen (the original with Gregory Peck), Halloween (not the remake!), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (the very first one starring Johnny Depp). Those were the days when a child could be exposed to these sorts of things without anyone raising an eyebrow.
Times have changed. Hollywood horror films these days (think Saw, think Hostel, think the appallingly remade Friday the 13th) have degenerated to the point of banality and vulgarity. I am sure this trend reflects the intellectual level of current young cinemagoers. So what does a true horror fan do? He opens up his treasure trove and digs out the past, where horror still carried the sense meant by Marlowe in Heart of Darkness.

Ringu, Ringu 2, Ringu 0 (1998, 1999, 2000)
When it comes to under-your-skin horror, no-one can do it better than the Japanese. The Ringu Trilogy jumpstarted in 1998 what was later to be known across the world as J-horror. It all begins with a videotape. Watch it and you will die within seven days, unless you show it to another person and pass on the “curse”. Ingenious plot twists, menacing atmosphere, heart-stopping suspense, and a terrifying finale ensure the trilogy a place in the pantheon of cinematic horror. The Hollywood remake is – contrary to logic – the only remake that actually works, partly thanks to the convincing performance of Naomi Watts. After watching this, you will never look at a TV set the same way. Nor will you want to go near a well.

The Exorcist (1973)
Christian horror at its best. The year was 1973. Cinema was an innocent place with singing nuns and dancing maidens. Then The Exorcist struck like a meteor and sent thousands screaming for their lives. There was mass hysteria. Cinemagoers threw up, prayed for the salvation of their souls, passed out. The Vatican declared the film the work of the Devil, which helped seal its reputation as the most notorious horror film of all time. The plot? It is a simple affair. A teenage girl (marvellously played by a young Linda Blair) is possessed by the Devil and turns the world upside down. The film is famed for its stark contrast between tender dramatic moments and extreme gory shock scenes. The intense finale with the two priests battling the Devil in a bare bedroom is now a classic in film history.

Ju-On (The Grudge) (2003)
If you wonder why in every horror film these days there is a stringy-haired, pale-faced female ghost, wonder no more. Ju-On is the beginning of the vengeful female ghost with the long, flowing hair. Its plot is that of a conventional haunted-house yarn. A family moves into a house with an unsavoury history in suburban Tokyo, and its members are dispatched one by one by a mysterious presence. Anyone who enters the house will get the same treatment… Although it is a transparent plot, director Takashi Shimizu has given it a cerebral approach that taps into our primal fear of the unknown. The creepy soundtrack with the death rattle is effective, and so are the blue-skinned kid and his black cat. Its Japanese sequel is also worth a watch. The American remake, starring Sarah Michelle “Buffy” Gellar, would only work if you did not know the original.

The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense, when it arrived without much fanfare in 1999, scared the trousers off its unsuspecting viewers and made them think at the same time. This is a prime example of a thinking man’s horror film. With M. Night Shyamalan at the helm, the film has turned out to be a disturbing journey about a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who can see them. Bruce Willis, in one of his best roles ever, tries to help him unravel the mystery of the dead, unaware that a mystery of gigantic proportions is awaiting him at the end of the film! If you do not already know how it ends, don’t ask. Favourite scene: Osment saying to Willis, teary-eyed, “I see dead people…” The film was responsible for a barrage of sub-par copycats in the first half of the 21st century. Even Shyamalan himself has been unable to reproduce the same kind of success.

Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (Dark Water) (2002)
Another Japanese gem but not as well-known as Ringu or Ju-On because of the lack of a franchise (which is a good thing in this case). Penned by the author of Ringu, Koji Suzuki, this is a far subtler horror tale about a divorced mother and her daughter moving into an old apartment and suffering the disturbances (in the form of dripping black water, midnight footsteps, and a wilful water tank) of perhaps the ghost of a lost child.  Its hair-raising moments are drawn out and breathtakingly effective – in particular the scene where the ghost appears to the daughter during a game of hide and seek. The film also works as a sociological analysis of modern Japan, which adds a poignant shade to the horror. The American remake, though ambitious, falls flat as it overdoes the psychological aspect (the Japanese never lost sight of the horror element). On the up side, it stars the beautiful Jennifer Connolly.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
More a psychological thriller than a horror flick, though the shocking ending does give it a supernatural punch. Mia Farrow (ex of Woody Allen) plays one of her best roles as a vulnerable young wife who, together with her new husband, moves into a posh apartment building inhabited by eccentric characters. The couple becomes friends with them, but Farrow realises soon enough that these so-called friends may have a double agenda reeking of a little something called witchcraft. Thinking that her neighbours may all be devil-worshippers, she begins to descend into paranoia and madness. Are they or are they not? Roman Polanski’s deft directorial skills are all evident in this unforgettable suspense thriller. Even Mr Masukor remembers this one.

The Haunting (1963)
The director of The Sound of Music, Robert Wise, picked up Shirley Jackson’s bestselling novel The Haunting of Hill House and turned it into a black-and-white horror masterpiece which left its mark on countless horror films generations after. It tells the story of a lonely spinster (played by a phenomenal Julie Harris) who accepts the challenge of spending a few nights in Hill House along with some psychics handpicked by a paranormal scientist bent on exposing the “horrors” of the gothic mansion. We hear and see the “horrors” through Harris’ character, but the director is shrewd: no special effects are used to spook the audience. The film relies entirely on the set, the ominous mood and lighting to evoke fear – which is a feat no Hollywood films can replicate nowadays. The scene where Harris thinks she is holding her girlfriend’s hand in the dark is supreme. Ignore the lame-brained 90s remake.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The only true gore fest on the list. Filmed entirely in black and white, it is an end-of-the-world tale about the dead rising from their graves and feeding on the living. If this sounds over-familiar to you, it is because it has been duplicated numerous times. Contemporary zombie movies like 28 Days/Weeks Later and REC up the gore and go for the adrenaline, but they do not make the skin crawl the way this one does. The zombies here are slow-moving carnivores, but there is nothing scarier than being cornered by a bunch of them. Its controversial sequel Dawn of the Dead, which also has a remake, is just as good but less subtle. By then the Vietnam War was in full swing, and director George A. Romero felt it pertinent to make a horror film about human atrocities.

The Others (2001)

Director Pedro Amenabar (Abres Los Ojos/Open Your Eyes) had probably seen The Sixth Sense and thought that he could pull off the same trick. He was proved right when this taut, suspenseful frightener, starring an unnerving Nicole Kidman, was released to rave reviews in 2001. The Others has all the ingredients of a classic haunted-house movie – the creaking floorboards, the slamming doors, the piano playing in the night – but its approach is entirely unique and bears the stamp of its innovative director. Kidman is sensational as the tormented widow burdened by two children who are never allowed to see daylight due to a rare skin disease. Its surprising denouement (oh, the genius of it!) will have you leap out of your seat.

El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (2007)

This Spanish film produced by Guillermo Del Toro (El Laberinto del Fauno/Pan’s Labyrinth) is a ghost story with a big heart. A couple moves into an erstwhile orphanage by the sea to give themselves and their HIV-infected son some peace of mind. But little do they know, things tend to go bump in the night in the old house. At first glance, this seems to be another haunted-house flick. The twist comes when the son disappears into the house and the mother is convinced he has been abducted by the dead. The ending is both surprising and heartbreaking, achieving the kind of pathos one usually sees in Oscar-worthy dramas. The highlight of the film is when the mother decides to play a game to lure out the ghosts of the dead children – to devastating effect. A triumph in Spanish cinema.

Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters) (2003)
The Koreans, too, jumped on the J-horror bandwagon and produced a memorable hit or two, among which A Tale of Two Sisters must be the most celebrated. A psychological/supernatural drama revolving around two sisters and their (evil?) stepmother, this is a stylishly filmed mind-boggler in the tradition of Hitchcock which will send chills down your spine while confounding you with its intricate plot. It also has a powerful ending which will make you go, “Damn, why didn’t I see that coming?” The American remake, The Uninvited, is another example of why Hollywood should never touch something which is distinctly Asian.