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Supernatural Horror films are movies that strive to elicit fear, horror and terror responses from viewers. In supernatural horror film plots, evil forces, events, or characters, sometimes of supernatural origin, intrude into the everyday world.
Supernatural Horror movies usually include a central villain. Early supernatural horror films often drew inspiration from characters and stories from classic literature, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Later supernatural horror films, in contrast, often drew inspiration from the insecurities of life after World War II, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality film, the horror-of-Armageddon film, and the horror-of-the-demonic film. The last sub-genre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earliest horror films, expanding on their emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world.
This video features twice the screams with two Vincent Price haunted-house horror films. In the first, a maniac known as "The Bat" lurks in a spooky mansion owned by a mystery novelist (Agnes Moorehead). The House on Haunted Hill, directed by William Castle,
features Price as a sinister gentleman who offers five people $10,000
each to spend the night in a creepy old house -- and then tries to
frighten the guests into using the guns he's given them.
It's a scary proposition, but a team of four paranormal investigators
accepts an invitation for a week's stay in a mansion rumored to be
haunted. Depending on their viewpoints, the group members either intend
to prove the presence of ghosts or are determined to debunk the myths.
Previous guests of Hell House are known to have gone mad. … Will this
group survive the week?
Curiosity overcomes five innocent teenagers vacationing at a cabin in
the Tennessee woodlands, and their cellar-snooping unleashes spirits of
the evil dead. After all his pals have become possessed, flesh-eating
zombies, the one remaining teen (Bruce Campbell) tries to solve the nightmarish mystery and save his friends. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi uses impressively freaky special effects to make this low-budget horror classic.
A
high-voltage spectacle boasting impressive (for the time) special
effects, Poltergeist is a must-see horror classic. Life is very
pleasant for the close-knit Freeling family until a host of otherworldy
forces invades their peaceful suburban home. Before long, their house
is transformed into a swirling supernatural sideshow -- all centered
around their angelic young daughter, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke).
Famed RKO Radio Pictures producer Val Lewton managed to single-handedly
redefine the horror genre in the 1940s, cranking out low-budget,
high-volume box office hits that rarely disappointed audiences -- or
studio execs. This double feature of The Leopard Man (1943) and The
Ghost Ship (1943) -- two creepy tales revolving around the terror of
the living dead -- is the fourth installment of a five-DVD collection
of Lewton's work.
Hammer thrillers are beloved by horror movie fans, and for good reason:
They're the perfect mix of kitsch and gore. In Night Creatures, Captain
Clegg (Peter Cushing)
looks into reports of federal crimes in a village but quickly discovers
the town is overrun by ghosts. The Evil of Frankenstein has the
legendary doctor (Cushing) resuscitating his creature once more, but
he's woefully misled by a hypnotist to whom he had entrusted the
monster.
When a Halloween prank traps young Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas)
in a school coat closet, he witnesses the replay of a girl's death.
Narrowly escaping the grip of her unseen killer, Frankie vows to help
solve the murder and exonerate a wrongly accused janitor. All the
while, the legend of the ghostly lady in white lingers. Writer-director
Frank LaLoggia composed the film's musical score and plays the adult Frankie.
A group of high school friends are being slaughtered in their sleep by
the hideous fiend of their shared dreams. When the police ignore her
explanation, one girl must confront the killer in his shadowy realm.
In Stephen King's chilling tale, psychology professor Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis) commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old (Kimberly J. Brown)
to wake up a supposedly dormant haunted mansion known as Rose Red.
Their efforts unleash myriad spirits and uncover horrifying secrets of
the generations who have lived and died in the mansion.
Washington Irving's timeless tale of murder and intrigue is told through the eyes of director Tim Burton in this 1999 screen adaptation. Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp)
is a New York detective sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to
investigate a series of mysterious deaths. With each of the victims
found beheaded, the locals believe the culprit to be none other than
the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman. Christina Ricci also stars.
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