Do They Hold Up?: Classic Horror Movies
Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980).
By IA KETSBAIA
This Halloween, why not put aside those recent A24 or Blumhouse films and try streaming a classic bit of horror cinema? I sampled three legends of the genre to see if they still hold up by today’s standards.
The Shining (★★★★★)
The iconic line “Here’s Johnny!,” improvised by Jack Nicholson in his role of Jack Torrance in this 1980 film, should ring a bell. Almost an immediate association is made between those two words and one of the most critically acclaimed “scariest movies of all time”: The Shining.
The title is deserved, and if there’s one thing scarier than the film itself, it’s the hair-raising soundtrack. The wonderfully composed music by Béla Bartók is just one of the many strong choices Stanley Kubrick made when directing this movie.
The Shining introduces a family of three who take on the role of winter caretakers of the Overlook Hotel, which of course proves to be haunted. Jack accepts the job despite being informed that the previous caretaker had an unexplained mental breakdown, killing his family with an ax and, in the end, killing himself as well. Chilling, right? Not for Jack.
The family, consisting of wife Wendy (Shelly Duval) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) settle into the hotel. Over time, their dynamic wilts. Jack becomes engulfed by solitude and succumbs to the mindset of a homicidal maniac.
Nicholson really works to get an Oscar in this film, with amazing face contortions, cold stares, Jim Carrey-like outbursts, and unsettling stares into the camera lens, creating a subtle yet wildly intense depiction of his character.
That said, Kubrick's directing should not go unnoticed. Becoming absorbed by Kubrick’s terrifying wide frame shots, the viewer seems to feel as if they are in the room themselves. In scenes of young Danny tricycling his way down the empty halls, the camera aligned to his height pulls us into the hall right alongside him.
Kubrick is known for creating striking films that viewers adore, but he sometimes leaves us with questions, and that is the case here. Even in the end, the film hints at something confusingly surreal behind the hotel’s character, an idea that is never satisfyingly explained.
Still, The Shining is a well-directed classic and an extremely enjoyable film to watch. The acting and camerawork are way ahead of their time, and the scare factor is strong, making it definitely worth a watch in today's age.
The Bates Motel from Psycho (1960).
Psycho (★★★★☆)
A piercing violin followed by a classic ‘60s female scream? Now, that’s Alfred Hithcock. Hitchcock is historically cherished as the master of suspense. But to be completely honest, for the first 30 minutes of this film, all I was getting was…nothing.
Early on, a soft-spoken working woman by the name of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals the money of an old man who flirts with her. She runs away with the $40,000 in hopes of finding her “own private island.”
The drama starts slowly, and the classic suspenseful music comes in at inconvenient times, almost drawing the viewer away from the film. But as the pace quickened, I developed a soft spot for the old-timey feeling of this 1960 movie. The entrance of Norman Bates’s character, fantastically played by Anthony Perkins, was when things finally got interesting for me.
Bates initially comes off as shy and philosophical, but his true character is revealed through his suspicious behaviors: taxidermy, spying through holes in walls, and swift smile drops.
That night, Marion is killed and the audience is shown the murder. Obviously, it’s Bates. Except…it’s not.
The plot develops, with multiple attempts at an investigation. Public investigator Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) is assigned to the case. Marion’s sister Lila (Vera Miles) and her husband Sam (John Gavin) are ready to help find out the truth.
There are moments where our master, Hitchcock, extends the suspense well. For example, I enjoyed the switches between Lila and Sam’s separate roles in the investigation process and the way the rising tension is dragged out. But the film’s acting is overdramatic and the scare factor is not exactly high — more ominous than horrifying.
I liked Hitchcock's clarity in the end, providing an explanation to a plot that I wanted to experience all over again. Due to the age of this film, it could be easy to dismiss it. However, I am certain that in its time it would have been an amazing film, and truth be told, it still very much is.
The Omen (★★★★☆)
Gregory Peck was one of those actors who could seamlessly go from enjoying a lovely Roman holiday alongside Audrey Hepburn, to advocating for a wrongfully accused Black man in a 1930s Southern courtroom, to raising an adopted boy whom priests claimed was the child of Satan.
In The Omen (1976), directed by Richard Donner, Robert Thorn (Peck) chooses to secretly adopt a baby after his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) delivers a stillborn child. Robert does not inform Katherine of the adoption, and the family goes on to live peacefully. For at least the next six minutes of the film.
Throughout the movie it becomes clear that Donner is a fan of zoom-in shots, constantly capturing raw facial expressions among his actors, specifically through their eyes. Donner’s musical selection is a non-traditional techno-y surreal melody that I loved; it creates uneasy scene after uneasy scene.
As the film progresses, there are plenty of instances of tension between characters. A fantastic example of this can be seen when the child (Damien)’s babysitter focuses on him, almost hypnotically possessing him and causing Damien to send his mother falling from the second floor. The kid seems to be in a trance but manages a smile.
I enjoyed the flips in Donner brings out, often from horror to sympathy. In one notable scene that really struck me, Katherine seems to worry that the child is not hers and may harm her. Panicked, she repeatedly begs Robert to not let the child hurt her. Peck uses his eyes and amazing facial expressions to communicate his concern for his wife. Pretty soon, the pace quickens and we are gifted with character realizations that heighten the stakes of the film.
Overall, The Omen is an intriguing, well thought-out mystery with hints of horror that can still terrify an audience beautifully.