Night of the demon/Curse of the demon 1957 - The significant horror classic

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IMDB Rating: 7,6

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Main Cast: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham

"One of the finest horror films ever made, Curse of the Demon is a frightening, fast-paced, and unrelenting chiller that only gets better with passing years and repeated viewings. Directed by Jacques Tourneur from the M.R. James story Casting the Runes, Curse stars Dana Andrews as a psychologist out to disprove the black magic of co-star Niall MacGinnis. Peggy Cummings also stars as the daughter of a scientist killed by the title creature during the shocking opening. Tourneur was a master at scaring an audience by the power of suggestion, and Curse accomplished this with one exception: the producer insisted the 'demon' had to make its appearance at the beginning and ending of the film. That aside, the film is a masterful collage of fine filmmaking from its sharply written story, characters, and dialogue to Clifton Parker's spine-tingling score and the spectacular special effects, highlighted by production designer Ken Adams' terrifying demon. The performances are excellent across the board, with Andrews solid as the boorish non-believer who refuses to become convinced of the curse placed on him. MacGinnis' character is the real gem, a devilish trickster whose devious delight in the black arts hides a surprisingly bratty and less-than-sinister bad guy. This character was loosely based on the famed occultist, Aleister Crowley." - www.allmovie.com

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Ugetsu monogatari 1953 - A subtle blending of realistic period reconstruction and lyrical supernaturalism

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IMDB Rating: 8,1

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Main Cast: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito

"Based on a pair of 18th century ghost stories by Ueda Akinari, the film's release continued Mizoguchi's introduction to the West, where it was nominated for an Oscar and won the the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion award (for Best Direction). Displaying all of the hallmarks of Kenji Mizoguchi's quietly affecting style, this landmark film has been one of the most highly praised Japanese movies, garnering the admiration of such directors as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Mizoguchi's fluid camerawork expands this otherworldly tragedy into a profound meditation on the transience of human life. In one of the film's most noted scenes, Genjuro relaxes in a hot spring as his beautiful spirit-lover disrobes. The camera coyly pans away, tilts downwards, and tracks along the ground. The barren ripples of ground dissolve to a Zen rock garden; then the camera tilts up to reveal the couple picnicking at a lakeside park. In this one elegant device, Mizoguchi evokes not only the passage of time but also emptiness and impermanence, as he passes the viewer through an unpeopled space. His signature lyricism frames unfolding human dramas as one small part of life's immutable ebb and flow. A brilliant summation of Mizoguchi's motifs and visual poetry, Ugetsu remains one of the masterpieces of world cinema." - www.allmovie.com

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Topper 1937 - The film that set the standard for supernatural comedies

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029682/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Main Cast: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Eugene Pallette, Arthur Lake, Hedda Hopper

"By 1937, producer Hal Roach was hoping to wean himself away from the Laurel & Hardy-Our Gang slapstick on which he had built his studio's reputation by delving into the 'screwball comedy' genre. Roach selected the racy Thorne Smith fantasy novel Topper for adaptation, and the result was one of the most endearingly funny films of the decade, inspiring controversy on its 1937 release. The gentle, whimsical comedy about friendly ghosts was scorned by some for morbidness and for indulging in the supernatural. In fact, Topper was the first feature film about ghosts that succeeded both at the box office and among critics. A husband and wife killed in a car accident return as spirits, visible only to their friend Cosmo Topper. The ghosts are prone to misbehaving but are well-intentioned and helpful. Every Hollywood ghost story that followed owed something to Topper's clever spirit and fanciful imaginings.
Though special effects abound in Topper, most of the humor derives from the embarrassed reactions of Roland Young as he tries to fend off the flirtatious advances of the ghostly Marion and the benignly strongman tactics of the spectral George. Adding to the fun are Eugene Pallette as a flustered house detective and Arthur Lake as a pratfalling bellboy. The musical score by longtime Hal Roach composer Marvin Hatley is perfectly attuned to the zany goings-on (including snatches of background music from Roach's earlier Laurel and Hardy comedies), while Hoagy Carmichael appears briefly on screen to introduce the film's signature tune, 'Old Man Moon'.
Inspired by the Thorne Smith novel The Jovial Ghosts, Topper was a hit that remained popular for more than a generation, inspiring the sequels Topper Takes a Trip and Topper Returns and a 1950s television series. Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, and Roland Young are the three stars, with Young getting an Oscar nomination." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/topper-v50462/

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