Film Noir Review: 10 (More) Film Noir-Horror Crossovers

10 (more) film noir horror crossovers

Horror and noir are the crazy cousins ​​of cinema. Dark in style and content, they approach the worst elements of humanity from different angles, although they often arrive at the same morbid goal. Given the similarities between these two styles, it’s not surprising how often filmmakers mix them together.

We here at Classic Movie Hub already have a Whitman sampler of noir horror crossovers available for you to watch during the Halloween season, but there are so many choices that we decided to take a page out of the horror genre to take and to create a follow-up contribution. With that in mind, here are 10 (more) film noir horror crossovers to consider.

The seventh victim (RKO, 1943)

The seventh victim is a terrifying contribution from director Mark Robson and producer Val Lewton. The latter previously had genre boundaries with classics such as Cat people (1942) and The leopard man (1943), but here he drives the feverish uncertainty of the unknown to the breaking point.

The film describes the efforts of Mary (Kim Weston), a woman who is desperately trying to save her sister from a shadowy cult organization. There are genre-defining images littered throughout the film, be it the iconic portrayal that was anticipated Rosemary baby (1968) or the terrifying shower scene that feels like a preamble Psycho (1960). There is an abundance of chills and amoral thrills here, and it’s matured like fine wine.

Nightmare Alley (20th Century Fox, 1947)

Nightmare Alley has gotten a boost lately thanks to the release of the Criterion Collection and the upcoming remake of Guillermo del Toro. The Oscar-winning director may seem like an odd choice to direct a film noir, but one only needs to look at the 1947 version to see that del Toro’s grotesque aesthetic perfectly matches the source material.

Nightmare Alley is a nihilistic masterpiece that chronicles the rise and fall of Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power), a manipulative carnival screamer who betrays everyone he knows and pays the ultimate price. The film features Power’s best performance ever, and the ending is one of the most devastating in all of noir.

The night has a thousand eyes (Paramount Pictures, 1949)

Edward G. Robinson is most commonly associated with gangsters, but he was often best when he played insecure men. One of these fascinating men is John Triton, the “Mental Wizard” at the heart of The night has a thousand eyes. Triton’s ability to predict the future is not a shame, but the price paid for accuracy is that he’s helpless to save those who matter to him.

Things take a lewd perspective when Triton’s best friend Whitney (Jerome Cowan) discovers he can benefit from these morbid revelations. We’re not spoiling the ending, but Noir director John Farrow does a good job of keeping viewers guessing until the end.

Dementia (images of exploitation, 1955)

dementia is a strange little movie. It follows the nightmarish experiences of a young woman during a single night in Los Angeless Skid Row and has no dialogue or identifiable plot. It makes up for these shortcomings with a cooling atmosphere and an ominous rhythm that becomes hypnotic.

Horror films often explain too much, but dementia is terrifying because so little is revealed. It makes sense in some kind of dream logic, and one could easily draw a parallel between the film and David Lynch’s abstract noir forays like Abandoned highway (1997) and Mulholland Dr. (2001).

Les Diaboliques (Cinedis, 1955)

A groundbreaking French film, Les Diaboliques tells the story of a woman and her husband’s lover who conspire to murder the man. However, as soon as they commit the crime, they lose sight of the corpse and begin surreal encounters with those around them. The movie’s disorienting tone is its greatest asset, as you can never really tell where reality ends and the main womens nightmarish headspace begins.

Similar to The seventh victim, there are countless elements here that have inspired generations of domestic horror films. The premise and the sterile atmosphere of director Henri-Georges Clouzot were an integral part of the creation Psycho and the popularization of the “plot twist” in modern pop culture.

The Hunter’s Night (United Artists, 1955)

Charles Laughton is rightly considered one of the greatest supporting actors of all time. It’s a shame, however, that he never felt compelled to do a second directing, considering how brilliant his first turned out to be. The hunter’s night is a Gothic hybrid of horror and noir that puts the audience in the perspective of scared children.

Laughton’s direction is remarkably secure and realized for a rookie, as is his ability to produce strong performances. Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish are perfect as sacrifices and matriarchs, while Robert Mitchum, with his tattooed knuckles and sincere pull, delivers one of the scariest performances ever made for a movie. Love it or hate it The hunter’s night makes a great impression.

Psycho (Universal Studios, 1960)

In his book Dark cityhistorian Eddie Muller points out Psycho as swan song for the classic film noir. He claims that the film’s first act, which deals with Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her decision to steal money, is a classic noir premise. It is only when Marion’s search is abandoned and she is murdered in the bathroom of the Bates Motel that the film takes a violent turn into something else; something new.

For these scientific reasons Psycho justifies inclusion in the list. The film is always recognized as horror, but Hitchcock’s manipulation of classic noir tropes to the point of casting Leigh as a vulnerable woman in a motel (Touch of evil, anyone?) makes it an important cultural bridge as the noir matured well into the 1960s.

The Caligari Cabinet (20th Century Fox, 1962)

The cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) was a groundbreaking film in German Expressionism. It set out many of the core themes and values ​​of the style and eventually laid the groundwork for American film noir. It’s fascinating to see what American producers did with the 1962 remake.

Caligari’s cabinet, as it is renamed here, dispenses with the more unusual designs of the original and focuses more on the disturbing tone. It plays more like a Twilight zone Follow with noir trims, and a damn good episode at that. The ending can’t be too different from the original, but the solid finish helps keep it looking good.

Laura Mars Eyes (Columbia Pictures, 1978)

Faye Dunaway was a talent personified, and in the 1970s Laura Mars’ eyes is just one of many films that can attest to this. She plays the eponymous Laura Mars, a fashion photographer who is beginning to have visions of violent murders. Her attempts to prevent the murders before they happen lead her to team up with a skeptical cop (Tommy Lee Jones) who may be hiding a secret of his own.

The film purposely feels along the lines of Hitchcock / DePalma, so one would never guess that the journeyman’s director was Irvin Kershner. In truth, the film bears the fingerprints of its screenwriter John Carpenter, who loves to fuse the pulp genres of his youth. Coupled with the impressive main performances, this is a horror noir that you can’t take your eyes off of.

Manhunter (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 1986)

The world of Hannibal Lecter has always been on the verge of film noir. It flirts with a lot of the same tropes as classic noir, but it always easily gets past it to focus on horror or broader drama. The only time Lecter really felt part of the noir was when Michael Mann deigned to create the neon masterpiece Manhunter 1986.

The film is utterly terrifying, not only in the grotesque portrayals of Lecter (Brian Cox) and the Tooth Fairy Killer (Tom Noonan), but also in the twisted headspace that allows FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) to track them down . The darkness of the film is oppressive, and the setting for the finale is littered with so many neon lights and creepy sound effects that you could swear it was a haunted house. The FBI’s work has never been so scary.

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You can read all of Danilo’s Film Noir Review columns here.

–Danilo Castro for Classic Movie Hub Danilo Castro is a film noir specialist and contributing writer for Classic Movie Hub. You can read more of Danilo’s articles and reviews in the Film Noir Archives or follow Danilo on Twitter @DaniloSCastro.