Ten overlooked British Gothic Horrors
Are you tired of the inevitable watching of Friday the 13th every Halloween? Well, fear not! We’ve compiled a list of 10 British Gothic horror films which we feel have been overlooked.
The Skull is a 1965 British horror film, directed by Freddie Francis, where an occult collector, played by Peter Cushing, acquires the possessed skull of the Marquis de Sade. Warned by a fellow collector, played by Christopher Lee, Cushing falls under the artefact’s influence during the new moon, spiralling into madness and death.
The City of the Dead (aka Horror Hotel in the U.S.) is a 1960 British horror film where a college student travels to the eerie, fog-shrouded village of Whitewood, Massachusetts, to research witchcraft on the recommendation of her professor, played by Christopher Lee. She soon discovers the town is inhabited by an immortal coven of devil-worshipping witches who require a virgin sacrifice to sustain their leader, a witch burned at the stake three centuries prior. Ultimately, Nan goes missing, launching her brother and fiancé upon a dangerous rescue mission.
Rebecca is a 1940 psychological drama wrapped in romance and mystery. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted from the novel by Daphne du Maurier, the film follows a young woman who marries a charming widower. Struggling to adjust to her new life, she uncovers secrets regarding the widowers first wife, who dies under mysterious circumstances.
Nightmare (aka, Here’s the Knife, Dear: Now Use It) is a 1964 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis. Starring Jennie Linden and Moira Redmond (who really steals the show) it focuses on Janet, a young girl in a finishing school who is plagued by nightmares concerning her institutionalised mother, only to find her nightmares become real when she sees a strange woman pacing the halls.
The Innocents is a 1961 gothic psychological horror film starring Deborah Kerr and Michael Redgrave. Based on the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw by the novelist Henry James, it follows a governess who watches over two children and comes to fear that their large estate is haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.
Dead of Night is a 1945 British supernatural horror anthology film starring Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave. An architect, visiting an English country house, realises the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread and finds himself stuck in his recurring nightmare.
Plague of the Zombies is a 1966 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Films and stars André Morell, Jacqueline Pearce, John Carson and Michael Ripper (of course). Set in a remote Cornish village afflicted by a deadly epidemic, the story centres on a medical professor and his colleague, who uncover a sinister plot involving voodoo rituals that reanimate the dead as enslaved labourers in a tin mine controlled by the ruthless Squire
The Haunting is a 1963 gothic supernatural horror film starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and a pre-Bond Lois Maxwell. Based on the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, it follows a scientist attempting to unravel the mysteries surrounding an ancient mansion by experimenting with a select group of people who have experienced the supernatural. The Haunting combines paranoia with sheer terror, and stands as one of the greatest supernatural horror films ever made.
Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon in the USA) is a 1957 British horror film, directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. Based on the 1911 story The Casting of the Runes by M.R. James, it follows a sceptical American psychologist who travels to England to expose an occultist leader. After a colleague dies investigating the group, the psychologist soon realises the supernatural is real and races tosave his life before time runs out.
From Beyond the Grave is a 1974 British horror film, produced by Amicus Films and starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors, David Warner and Angela Pleasence. The story revolves around a series of customers who buy or steal from Temptations Limited, an antiques shop whose motto is “Offers You Cannot Resist”. With tales ranging from the barbaric to the ridiculous, this is an entertaining anthology, and leaves the viewer certainly rooting for the shop’s proprietor.
