Realistic Horrors of the 1930-70s?

[MortSahlFan]

"Wake in Fright" would be a good example. It could all be true - nothing supernatural, no CGI... "The Housemaid" (1960) is another example, but I didn't like it. "Rosemary's Baby" would NOT be a good example (I won't spoil why)... "Eyes Without a Face" and "The Face of Another" (even better) are very good, and have been classified under this category.

"Fist in Pocket" (Bellochio) might be one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Italy, 1965ish.

The original "M" might fall under this category, but I think many would consider it a thriller/mystery, but its great.

[zomgmouse]

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Psycho are two that spring to mind. Also stuff like The Hills Have Eyes, Freaks, The Plumber, The Driller Killer... not within your timeframe but Funny Games absolutely fits within this (except maybe one particular scene), Angst (both Austrian) and Hounds of Love, Killing Ground and The Loved Ones (all Australian). You're Next. Would very much encourage you to look outside of your timeframe!

Also many giallos which are firmly non-supernatural (while toying with the idea) but still very much horrors, e.g. Blood and Black Lace, Deep Red, though I guess they're not necessarily "realistic".

I suppose anything with a serial killer might count here really! Or kidnapping/abduction/etc.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Carry On Screaming!

[thenoise]

The Wicker Man - nothing supernatural going on there, just some people with unusual religious beliefs. Nevertheless usually regarded as a horror film (although it's actually a folk-horror-musical).

[Dr Rock]

Theatre Of Blood.

[Blumf]

Carnival of Souls (1962)? Woman going made with guilt and/or

Spoiler alert

a dying hallucination

[close]

[Fr.Bigley]

British Pathe- Newsreel- 1939-1945

[holyzombiejesus]

"Wake in Fright" would be a good example. It could all be true - nothing supernatural, no CGI... "The Housemaid" (1960) is another example, but I didn't like it. "Rosemary's Baby" would NOT be a good example (I won't spoil why)... "Eyes Without a Face" and "The Face of Another" (even better) are very good, and have been classified under this category.

"Fist in Pocket" (Bellochio) might be one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Italy, 1965ish.

The original "M" might fall under this category, but I think many would consider it a thriller/mystery, but its great.

You've done this thread before, just 18 months ago!

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,73027.0.html

[NurseNugent]

Would The Collector count?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Collector_(1965_film)

[MortSahlFan]

Would The Collector count?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Collector_(1965_film)

Sure... Great movie, too.

I would add "Onibaba" (1964)

[Shit Good Nose]

Also many giallos which are firmly non-supernatural (while toying with the idea) but still very much horrors, e.g. Blood and Black Lace, Deep Red, though I guess they're not necessarily "realistic".

Problem with all those giallos is it's always the one with the leather gloves wot did it.

[Mister Six]

Bollocks to the timeframe - 1986's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a good one. And from two years earlier, Combat Shock (released by Troma, weirdly) is a grimy, dark flick about a traumatised Vietnam vet slowly going mental in New York.

And more recently (and less grittily), The Invitation is a good psychological horror movie about a dinner party in which things might be horribly wrong.

Spoiler alert

Especially good for "real world" value in the way it treats violence - when people get hit or shot, they don't shrug off the injuries and carry on, they collapse, get concussion, go into shock or die.

[close]

[Artie Fufkin]

The Blood On Satan's Claw - 1971

[thenoise]

Combat Shock (released by Troma, weirdly) is a grimy, dark flick about a traumatised Vietnam vet slowly going mental in New York.

Saw this last year. Add it to Eraserhead and Trainspotting as a film that is very bad to watch when you've recently had a baby (deformed baby wont stop crying and drives main character nuts).

[Shit Good Nose]

Saw this last year. Add it to Eraserhead and Trainspotting as a film that is very bad to watch when you've recently had a baby (deformed baby wont stop crying and drives main character nuts).

On a sort of similar note (although not horror, so apologies for the slight diversion) I had to bail about half an hour into Tully because it touched such a raw nerve with our experience of pregnancy and the first few years after little Nose was released from the hellgate, I just couldn't carry on watching it.

[prwc]

The Sadist (1963) might fit the bill well. Low budget and minimal as hell, yet all the more effective for it. An incredibly tense little gem.

[Dr Rock]

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a good one.

I only just realised Henry is Starlord's 'daddy' Yondu.

[Mister Six]

Fuck me, so did I! Watched that way before I knew who Michael Rooker was.

[zomgmouse]

Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker might feasibly fall under this category though I'd really call it more of a thriller.

[Crabwalk]

Witchfinder General, Straw Dogs, Peeping Tom, Ken Russell's The Witches... loads of British horrors fit the bill.

[Cuntbeaks]

The Haunting (1963) - inner dialogue, sound effects and a breathing door combine to create terrifying unseen forces.

[ASFTSN]

The House With Laughing Windows

[chveik]

what's wrong with drakalas and frankingsteins?

[Cuntbeaks]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre.


Every time.

[dissolute ocelot]

Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946) is an early, creepy serial-killer drama. The Innocents (vague posh sinister goings on from Turn of the Screw), Martin (George Romero maybe-vampire, maybe mentally ill), The Birds (Hitchcock; to add to Psycho; it's not really clear if there's something supernatural or birds are just cunts). If you don't like Rosemary's Baby would Repulsion (1965) be an acceptable alternative, assuming it's all in the mind? And surprised nobody's mentioned Don't Look Now (although for my money it's not particularly scary).

[Mister Six]

Don't Look Now has psychics in it, so wouldn't count, I guess.

[Artie Fufkin]

Martin (George Romero maybe-vampire, maybe mentally ill),

Yes! Loved that when I saw it. Must have been about 14ish? Creeped the fuck out of me.

[Larry Heliotrope]

The Vanishing. All too horribly plausible  But it has to be the original Dutch one, not the lamentable US remake by the same director.

[Dex Sawash]

The Holocaust \tag

[MortSahlFan]

The Vanishing. All too horribly plausible  But it has to be the original Dutch one, not the lamentable US remake by the same director.

I saw the original (Spoorloos) and yeah, it was pretty good.