The final batch of classic horror movies for Spooky Season 2023.

1906 – The Witch – AKA The Old Hag – a silent short where nothing happens for half the runtime and we aren’t overburdened by title cards and the need to understand what’s going on. The second half is pretty phantasmagorical. But just because a movie is 117 years old doesn’t make it intersting.

1921 – The Haunted House – a pretty tepid Buster Keaton comedy allegedly about a haunted house… but spends ten of its twenty minutes buried in a gag about sticky money. At least Scooby Doo cribbed heavily from its chase sequences at the end. 

1957 – The Giant Claw – the derpiest of giant killer bird puppets is attacking our airplanes. What will the square-jawed military men and scientists do? They’ll reverse the polarity to get through its anti-matter shield…. because of course they will. Good creature feature fun.

1968 – Witchfinder General – a pretty terrific Vincent Price horror about phony witchfinders in the 17th century. It’s more of an action/adventure film than horror… but the horror is colored by how believable Price is playing a historical villain. 

1971 – The Abominable Dr. Phibes – a gleefully sadistic little Vincent Price flick that has the DNA of later horror all over it (especially Seven and Saw). Surely this film was bashing against what was tolerable in horror at the time. It was very enjoyable.

1983 – The House on Sorority Row – a pretty conventional and underwhelming ’80s flasher flick. I have nothing else to say.