Remember the old B movies

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scullars

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I sorta miss them. You know the ones I'm talking about:

Them, the classic "never met a giant atomic ant who didn't wanna eat me."

The Curse of the Wasp Woman, also a classic. Makes you read the face cream ingredients to avoid anything vagualy apian.

The Blob, giant jello gone amiss.

The Night of the Lepus (giant rabbits), Beginning of the End (giant grasshoppers), Food of the Gods (giant farm bugs and animals), which begs the question of whether herbivores are only so because of their diminuitive size.

Frogs, Willard, Ben, Kingdom of the Spiders, Arachophobia all examples of the true dangers of lower species unionizing against management.

Mephisto Waltz, the classic Freaky Friday premise taken to a demonic level. Features a rather creepy Alan Alda.

I remember enjoying these movies because at first viewing as a child they did hit upon a nerve or two. Now I would nostagically enjoy them in a more tongue-in-cheek way for their Ed Wood type cheesiness. Still, they entertained, which some recent horror movies seem to forget to do, because they are so fixated on grossing out their audiences.

What 50's, 60s, or 70s (and maybe some 80s and 90s) B movies do you remember fondly?
 
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MacAllister

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Night of the Comet
Tremors

heheh

I love the old B&Ws, too--Karloff's Frankenstein monster...
 

scullars

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MacAllister said:
Night of the Comet
Tremors

heheh

I love the old B&Ws, too--Karloff's Frankenstein monster...

Tremors was a good one. As for the B&W's, how could I forget the simmering eroticism of Christopher Lee in all the Count Dracula films. All those heaving bosoms with crucifixes that just never seemed to slow him down. ;)
 

Fractured_Chaos

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"They Live"

Rowdy Roddy Piper defeats alien invaders with sunglasses, and a bad attitude.

It doesn't get any better than that! :ROFL:
 

Anatole Ghio

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I love the old Val Lewton films: Cat People, Attack of the Leopard, Island of the Damned. Not only does the old black and white noir cinematography add and element of eeriness and artistry to the films, they also feature a real knowledge of the human subconscious that gives them an element of depth.

I remember watching the Martin Scorcese History of American Cinema a number of years ago and being suprised by his inclusion of these films; it only validated what I knew all along, these are a set of really special movies.

- Anatole
 

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Cat people
The Tingler
Prophecy (with the mercury damaged inside-out bear)
Manhunter (Psych thriller/horror)
The Haunting (of Hill House) (the book was far better, but the movie wasn't bad)
Fallen (with Denzel Washington...hellaciously smooth plot. Pun intended)
The Exorcist (saw it at the drive-in as a new release. Scared the bejeezus out of me.)
 

Gehanna

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The Blob was the first horror flick I watched. I can't believe I remember that. Anyway, the part where the man was holding up the stick and the blob ran down on his hand is the part that stands out most in my mind. I must have covered my eyes during the rest of the show. ;-) I haven't thought about that movie in a long time. That very well may be why I do not eat jello! LOL

Gehanna
 

Gehanna

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well that and I once heard Jello was made from ground up horse hooves. Yuck!
 

Fractured_Chaos

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"The Birds" Saw it the first time when I was 5, and it scared the crap out of me.

Watched it a couple years later, and wondered -why- it had scared me.
 

scullars

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jdkiggins said:
Tilogy of Terror

Trilogy of Terror, I totally forgot about that one. Can't forget Karen Black crouching with the knife waiting for ole Moms to come through the door. That doll had me looking under my bed on both sides before I stepped my foot on the floor. :)
 

triceretops

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Gorgo
Mighty Joe Young
Lord of the Flies
Valley of Guangie
Beast from 20,000 fathoms
The legend of Bogey Creek
Rodan
The Thing (orginal)
Gargoyles?
Son of Kong
The Beast with five fingers
Murders of the Rumorg (sp)
Jeepers Creepers
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Village of the Damned
The Bad Seed

Triceratops
 

hapsburg

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Killer Clowns from outer space


Evil dead 1 & 2 and of course the third, subtitled army of darkness
 

maestrowork

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Oh lord, I just watched part of the Night of the Lepus last night before I went to bed... with Janet Leigh! I was thinking, what possessed these people for them to make that film...

Giant killer bunnies?

The Fly was a good one.


I don't know if I would call Cat People (scared the crap out of me), The Birds, and The Exorcist (scared everything out of me) B-movies though...
 

Anatole Ghio

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maestrowork said:
I don't know if I would call Cat People (scared the crap out of me), The Birds, and The Exorcist (scared everything out of me) B-movies though...

In the old days, a B picture was the second film in a double bill. The A picture was what brought people to the theater, so more money was invested in them. Consequently, their quality tended to be a little better from the top to the bottom: better directors, better script, better scenic design, more time to film the movie, better soundtrack.

Using that definition, The Birds and the Exorcist were A films, while Cat People was a B film... yet all of them are classics in their own way.
 

Torin

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Gehanna said:
well that and I once heard Jello was made from ground up horse hooves. Yuck!

Boiled, actually.

Check here. I quote below. :)

Gelatin is obtained by boiling the skin, tendons, and ligaments of animals. As a result, it contains protein, collagen (a primary component of joints, cartilage, and nails), and various amino acids. It has long been a key ingredient for providing support for "jelled" desserts, salads, frozen drinks, and soft candies such as Gummi Bears. (In fact, the word gelatin is derived from the Latin "gelatus," meaning stiff or frozen.)

There are vegetarian sources of gelatin nowadays, but for the longest time, this was where it all came from. Yummy!

Torin
 

awatkins

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Creature from the Black Lagoon. I don't know what year it was made, but I remember watching it with my mom and little brother when I was six or seven (lo, these many years ago!). Scared me so bad that I jumped up and turned the TV off when the Creature came up out of the swamp the first time. Woohoo!

(Was that a B movie?)
 
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