Last week, fans of obscure TV movies and Larry “Dr. Giggles” Drake were elated by the release of Dark Night of the Scarecrow on DVD (and Blu-Ray) for the very first time. It was definitely one of the finest horror flicks ever produced for the small screen, during an era—unlike today—in which there was actually quite a bit of genuinely scary stuff to be found on the tube. Here’s a look at the ten finest original fright films ever broadcast on television.
ABC gave us this deeply unnerving thriller about the spirit of a dead kid who keeps telephoning the living, featuring a very young Michael Douglas. A note to those interested: it’s available on DVD under the title “Shattered Silence”.
9. The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde (1968)
Five years before Jack Palance and horror TV producer extraordinaire Dan Curtis teamed up on the better-known Dracula TV movie, they brought this fine adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale to ABC. Believe it…or not.
8. Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)
More psychological than most film treatments of Mary Shelley’s novel, this NBC two-parter featured an all-star cast, including Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir John Geilgud, Tom Baker, Agnes Moorehead and that ever-dependable TV fixture, Jane Seymour.
7. The Curse of the Blair Witch (1999)
For once, the Sci-Fi Channel actually got it right when it comes to original movies. For my money, this “mockumentary” was way more effective than the actual Blair Witch Project itself. It’s also the most recent entry on this list, which tells you the direction TV horror has gone in the last decade.
6. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
In this entry from the peacock network, Drake plays Bubba, a mentally challenged man killed in cold blood by some scumbag cops who falsely accuse him of raping a little girl. The horror twist? Bubba just so happened to be disguised as a scarecrow at the time of his murder—so naturally, he returns in that guise to exact a bloody vengeance.
5. Werewolf (1987)
One of the earliest efforts by the fledgling Fox Network, this underrated gem was expanded into a full-blown series. Despite its obvious co-opting of the whole “man-accused-of-crime-wanders-from-town-to-town-transforming-into-a-rampaging-creature-and-inadvertently-helping-people” gimmick from The Incredible Hulk, it’s still a great watch. Sadly, it’s also the only entry on this list that’s still not available on video.
4. Gargoyles (1972)
A long-time fan favorite, CBS’s nightmare-inducing tale of hideous creatures awakened from their ancient slumber to wreak general havoc boasts some of the earliest work by the late special effects master Stan Winston.
3. Salem’s Lot (1979)
Directed by Tobe Hooper, this two-part effort from CBS can be held right up there with some of the best vampire flicks ever made, regardless of screen size. The truly terrifying Nosferatu-inspired Barlow and his creepy guardian played by James Mason completely make up for the fact that the hero is played by one half of Starsky & Hutch. It’s still by far the best of the endless Stephen King TV adaptations (with “It” coming in a distant second).
2. The Night Stalker (1972)
Another TV movie that spawned an equally excellent series, Carl Kolchak’s original caper—in which he matches wits with a Vegas vampire—kicked off one of the most beloved and influential phenomena in the genre’s history.
and finally, the number one made-for-TV horror movie of all time….
1. Count Dracula (1977)
Originally aired by the BBC, this miniseries came to the United States as part of “Great Performances” on PBS, and is regarded as one of the most effective adaptations of Stoker’s novel ever attempted, and possibly the best. Featuring Louis Jourdan in the lead and Shakespearean actor Frank Finlay as Van Helsing, it is also quite possibly the most faithful (sorry, Mr. Coppola). Pretty intense for TV, it was even edited for its original U.S. airing, with one infamous scene (in which the Brides make a late night snack out of an infant) completely removed to protect delicate American sensibilities.
For more news and opinions on the world of horror, including a breaking story on the NOES remake, the ten most infamous lines in horror movie history, and the third part of the history of horror television, check out Brian’s daily blog, The Vault of Horror.
FINALY dark night has come to dvd. this is one of those films that has been one of my "what was that movie called". going into my collection right next to the wraith.
Wow...you guys need to chill out. These lists will never directly cater to your likes because they are opinions. You really need to understand that people will have opinions that differ from your own. If you don't like it, you don't really have to read it.
Bro_mole, i think we all know that the list is ONE person's opinion, duh. we are allowed to give our opinions too.
anyways, i'm excited that Dark Night is finally coming on to DVD. i watched it online recently and it STILL stands up as an atmospheric and creepy movie!
Dark Night of the Scarecrow, The Night Stalker, Salem's Lot and Werewolf all excellent choices, and all helped cement my interest in horror in one way or another.
My list has to include Bad Ronald, Midnight Offerings, Don't be Afraid of The Dark, Don't go to Sleep, and Wes Craven's Chiller. If you haven't seen them they are worth checking out
You know you guys at BD put these lists together just to see what we say. I mean, you do know that you are forgetting a lot of good shit. Where's The Woman in Black and When a Stranger Calls Back and It. As well as some other flicks you see us mentioning here. But you are right - it does get us talking.......
Good list. This is the first time this guy has actually posted a list of any merit. You actually sound like a genre fan with this one, instead of a smartass Internet cliche. Maybe you're learning? Good assortment of flicks here, nontheless.
Uh, the DVD for Dark Night of the Scarecrow has only been announced, not actually released (got me excited there for a minute). And I know this list is only for fun, but not including Trilogy of Terror or Duel is unacceptable.
Hey coldblood, these lists are put together as one person's opinion and obviously they won't hit everybody's top picks. Hell, I know I would have put it together differently and I'm sure MrD would have too. The discussion after is half the fun and we love seeing what you guys think and would add. That's the point of these articles, some fun discussion to change things up a bit. Thankfully for every "fuck this list" there are a few actually productive opinions and comments.
If any staff members read this, I have a suggestion for a future list. Do "The 10 Most Overrated Horror Films of all time" and "The Best Foreign Horror Films of all time."
Thanks to all. It's tough to confine these things to ten only. Unfortunately, there's really no way to make everyone happy, without maybe doing a top 67 or something. Please keep in mind these lists represent my opinion only. What else could they represent? It's not like sports where you can definitely list the top 10 home runner hitters of all time. It's all subjective, folks. Hope you still enjoy reading!
I agree that Trilogy of Terror should be on the list. I couldnt sleep for a week when I saw that as a child. Nice to see Salems lot though...I think it holds up better than some of the Theatrical Stephen King adaptations. Heck it holds up better than alot of Movies! And that scene in BBC's Dracula where he pulls out the baby for his ladies...just gave me a chill and I have never forgotten it. I think I was 6 or 7?
Thanks for not adding 'It'. That always gets too much credit. pennywise is amazing, but the rest of the cast blows and the running time is unbelievably hard to get through.
I didn't feel the need to include "It" because I did not really like "It". Tim Curry is great, but as a whole its no great shakes, and completely falls apart at the end with the "giant spider vs. asthma inhaler" sequence. Salem's Lot is head and shoulders above it.
Another great one is "Something Is Out There." More sci-fi in some ways, but has some genuinely scary/shocking scenes and a surprising amount of gore for a TV movie.
Uh, how about the most watched sci-fi movie original? ALIEN APOCALYPSE come on, it was fun. it had The Bruce. What more do you want? aside from Evil Dead 4... Sam...
man, i thought i was the only one that remembered Gargoyles. i fuckin love that movie but i've never been able to find it on dvd. also, i seriously wish they'd bring werewolf the series out on dvd, i remember watchin that shit when i was a kid and i loved it.
killrobot; I know I said "fuck this list", but I also expressed an opinion before that - twice in fact. I know they do these lists to get us talking. So I said something..... Normally I always say "fuck the Prom Night remake" (it's kind of my calling card), I thought 'fuck this list' would be a nice change. :)
Haha, gotcha. Yeah I saw your comments, I actually meant to lump your comment in with the "productive" ones when I replied. Anyways, I agree with keeping IT off the list, but I definitely would have bumped "The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde" off there too.
Yeah, Trilogy Of Terror should've made the list, as well as The Night Strangler. And lest we forget the dumbest movie ever made for TV, The Werewolf Of Woodstock!
Remove: Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde, Frankenstein: The True Story, Curse of The Blair Witch, The Night Stalker and Count Dracula and replace with: Don't Be Afraid of The Dark, Trilogy of Terror, It, Ants, and The Dark Secret of Harvest Home! Other worthy mentions: Devil Dog: Hound From Hell, The Devil's Triangle, When A Stranger Calls...BACK!, Day of The Triffids ( BBC miniseries), Home For The Holidays and Tommyknockers. -RHR
Mr. Boogedy, yes! I'm so happy somebody else remembers that movie! And of course, "IT" really should be on this list, but at least it got an honorable mention.
You see. They come up with this bullshit list just to get us talking. The people at BD know this list blows, and they knew it would get us to respond. Kudos to them. And fuck the Prom Night remake.
Salem's Lot was a good one. A friend of mine, to this day, still gets creeped out by the boy in the window. Good stuff!!! There was one that came out with Jennifer Jason Lee & the guy that played Mr.Peltzer in Gremlins called Buried Alive. It was a decent flick. I think it came out on USA network or something. Not sure!!! "We've got Jason upstairs & Cujo in the backyard"-----Buried Alive.
I enjoyed Curse of the Blair Witch more than the movie itself. I'm a doc hound. I've got over 400 hrs. of doc footage about horror, supernatural, ufo's, bigfoot, lochness monster, ect. Don't ya' just love that shit? If only Universal would get their shit together & release The Shark is Still Working. Over three hours of footage made by fans, for the fans. Can't fuckin' wait!!!! "When he runs, you drop that rope, or you'll lose your hands"-----Jaws.
"When Michael Calls" (also known as "Shattered Silence") is actually really awful. I watched a VHS tape of it last October. Here's the review I wrote at the time:
Today I watched a VHS tape of a 1972 made-for-TV movie that was originally broadcast under the title When Michael Calls but is known as Shattered Silence on home video. It's about a woman named Helen who receives phone calls from someone claiming to be Michael, her nephew who died fifteen years earlier.
Shattered Silence is pretty awful on many levels: at the end when the viewer learns what's really been happening, the motivations and methodology of the "bad guy" make little sense. The plot includes a couple of murders in which the guy revealed at the end as the antagonist had no reason to want the victims dead. The only interesting aspect of the film is the phone calls from "Michael," some of which are genuinely chilling like one in which he screams "I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead." Don't waste your time on this one despite the promising premise.
Like a lot of people here, I was surprised "Trilogy of Terror" wasn't on this list. I mean come on, it's a classic!!
I would also add "Fear No Evil" from 1969 starring, strangely enough, Louis Jourdan.
NO STAND NO IT NO OTHER STEPHEN KING MOVIES besides salem's lot u should have put the shity remake up
no nightmares and dreamscapes
this site just keeps on selling out wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wasn't Mazes & Monsters a "Made-For-TV" movie? I only remember it because once my mom saw it, I wasn't allowed to play D&D anymore...lol.
Salems Lot was one of my favorites as a kid. I barely remember it being a TV flick. And V was a fav too. Besides the movies they made for it, wasn't it a half-ass series too?
I thought these were good choices. The only one that I think could have been on here is "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". I think I heard Del Toro was even thinking about making a remake of that one. As far as "Werewolf" goes I am still pissed and waiting for that to come out on DVD. Excellent series.
I concur with coldblood. I suggested a greatest deaths list a few months back. My #1 is, of course, Quint's death in the movie Jaws. The scene where you see Quint's face as he's reaching for Brody's hand, is the purest look of terror that I've ever seen in a horror film. Marilyn Burns in the original (& best) Texas Chainsaw Massacre is second. In my humble opinion of course. She's the ultimate screamer of horror. Another great death scene is the exploding head in the film Scanners. So Classic!!!
The Marilyn burns comment is only based on her performance(purest look of terror). I know she didn't die in the film. Just clarifying that!!! A couple o' more cool deaths: Jack's death in An American Werewolf in London. The Nazi's melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jason's NATURAL demise in Friday 4. Just a few among hundreds.
Duel isn't made for TV or atleast when I watched it that didn't seem to be the case. Now I really want you guys at BD to look at 2006's Jekyll that was so damn good it was awesome stuff. Anyway I believe "the Stand" and the New Andromeda strain deserve shout outs not places on the countdown but shout outs atleast
And concerning horror comic adaptaion:
Crow was a short story then a movie THEN a comic. Dark Knight isn't horror it's a crime drama taken to the edge of what is not considered insane. And lastly Spawn is not a demon he's a guy who is covered in a demonic symobite
Great List. But "It" should have been there (except for the stupid monster at the end,.... then again, maybe you're right). "Invasion" sucked. How about "Aztec Rex" from the Scifi channel?
I call shenanigans on this list. Yeah, you don't want to go with the obvious, I get it - like people who make a top 10 list of horror's greatest who leave out the Exorcist or the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Tough titty. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Trilogy of Terror are two of the 2 best TV horror movies ever made, not to mention the top 10. Besides, Curse of the Blair Witch was only like an hour-long promo. Try again.
I think Juon AKA THe Grudge (which was first a made for TV movie) is to me the scariest one made.
I think the Randy Quaid Frankenstein was a better movie than the Deniro one that came out that year and that one was a TNT original film.
Peter Benchley's, The Beast, was decent for a t.v. flick. It was on NBC in '96. It could've used some additional editing of un-necessary footage. Maybe a little more o' the red stuff as well. William Petersen & Larry Drake starred in it. Not too bad for a t.v. thingy, but a few more tweaks were needed. I'm Quint's Machete, & I approve this comment!!!!
Hi all, first post, long time follower of B-D.
Maybe no one has mentioned this one: "Something Evil". First televised in early 72, (I was 9 and NOT well after seeing it, lol). Very rarely shown again, if at all. Glowing eyes by a window, a chilling baby's cry and some mysterious jars in a barn are some of the details I can recall. Oh, yeah, it was directed by some guy named Stevie Spielberg.
Any one remember it?
Salem's Lot (1979) Starring David Soul, Lance Kerwin, the complete 183- minute version is definatly the best horror tv-movie ever made. The shame is that most people have only seen the much shorter less than 2 hours version. The remake wih Rob Lowe was garbage.
Here are some tv-movies that scared me in my youth:
Something Evil (1972-tv), starring Sandy Dennis, John Whitaker. Something about the heart in the jar in the kitchen cabinet that scared me so.
The Stranger Within (1974-tv), starring Barbara Eden. Every book this woman touched her unborn baby would absorb the knowledge of and she had this thing about salt.
Satan's Triangle (1975-tv) starring Kim Novak, Alejandro Rey, Doug McClure. 'Til this day, that tv-movie still gives me the creeps. Should be on DVD, but is not.
Trilogy of Terror (1975-tv), Starring Karen Black. One of the stories has Karen Black being terrorized by a stabbing voodoo doll. They made a 1996 sequel.
The Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977-tv). Karen Black in the best performance of her career. This should be on DVD too, but is not.
I think an honorable mention should go out to The Deliberate Stranger with Mark Harmon as Ted Bundy. The scenes where he is putting on the charm to get girls into his car just to go into a rage after they are there are truly creepy. Not available on DVD but worth tracking down an old VHS.
In 1969 there was an excellent TV movie with Louis Jordan, Caroll o'connner, Linda Day George and Wilfred-Hyde White called FEAR NO EVIL...directed by Paul Wendkos...I wish I could find a copy...it was eerie as hell!
Another good one was SOMETHING EVIL...starring Sandy Dennis and Darrin Mcgavin directed by Steven Speilberg! Really pretty good!
I was also impressed by the TURN OF THE SCREW adaptation with Valerie Bertinelli.
But, FRANKENSTEIN-THE TRUE STORY is the best!
Where is IT!?? I am glad that Dark Night of the Scarecrow was on there. That seems to be a forgotten movie to people who dont know their horror movies. Im proud to own it.
Nice list. I think Gargoyles is great, shlocky fun. Salems Lot (Full Version) is a truly great film. It is one of my favorite vampire flicks. And OMFG! Thanks for listing the BBC Count Dracula. I grew up watching that on PBS. I LOVED it but in my later years was never able to remember how/where I saw it. Very cool! Would have to add Trilogy of Terror to my own personal list. That little figurine thing scared the crap out of me!
There was a film called "Death in a Small Town" that was about Charlie Starkweather. Pretty good, I caught it on Lifetime if you can believe it. Most Lifetime movies are chick-flicks, but this one was surprisingly good.
YES! Thank You The Curse Of The Blair Witch is there but where The Omen 4
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