Amazon Prime's The Manor starring Barbra Hershey and Bruce Davidson, tells the story of Juliette, a 70-year-old former dancer who commits herself to a nursing home that isn't what it seems to be. The film is a scary, creepy thriller, much in the 'old dark house' mode, with a supernatural twist thrown in. This has been a popular genre for many decades with audiences.
Subtle horror, as opposed to the slasher genre, has been making a comeback in the last decade, with The Conjuring series and filmings of Shirley Jackson novels The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. If a viewer enjoys this genre, there are many more examples to see.
Lady In White (1988) - Stream On Max Go
It's 1962 in Willowpoint Falls, a town with unspoken secrets. Young Frankie is locked in a school closet overnight where he witnesses the ghost of a murdered little girl and the man who killed her, and someone tries to kill him. Soon, the ghost is following him everywhere.
Atmospheric and creepy, Lady in White captures the feel of a small town, one that has been getting by on ignoring what is happening in their own community. A heavy feeling of dread hangs over the town and all its residents. A quiet stillness that pervades as townspeople deny truths and watch each other out of the side of their eye. There are three versions on the Blu-ray disc and the director's cut is recommended.
1408 (2007) - Rent On Vudu
Mike Enslin is a cynical guy and a failed novelist who now writes ghost guides about 'haunted' hotels and inns. He checks into room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel, a room not accessible to guests, to write about it for his guides. Those that check-in, though, never check out.
"Hotels are a naturally creepy place... Just think, how many people have slept in that bed before you? How many of them were sick? How many... died?" This Stephen King adaptation, with John Cusack as the writer and Samuel L. Jackson as the hotel manager, is about not a "naturally creepy place," but, as Jackson puts it, "An evil f******g room!" It's scary, creepy, at times jarring, and shocking in its horror.
The Legend Of Hell House (1973) - Rent On Vudu
A team of paranormal investigators takes on the case of Belasco House, AKA 'Hell House,' a home where 27 people died years before, and where a previous team of investigators was wiped out.
It's an intense film full of evil spirits, paranormal events, an old dark house, and the legend of a murderous and vile man who disappeared after the massacre in the home. The ensemble of British and American actors is very believable as a team of believers and skeptics, the house is suitable creepy and shadow-filled and the atmosphere is intense.
Ghost Story (1981) - Rent On Apple TV
A story of old men known as the Chowder Society is being haunted by memories that they cannot escape. In their youth, a group of boys picked up a young lady and killed her. After keeping the secret for decades, they are being haunted and killed off.
This is a story of revenge and of the sins of youth being visited on the aged. It features great performances from some of Hollywood's classic stars such as Melvyn Douglas, Fred Astaire, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., all of whom are charming, snd heartbreaking at times. It's nice to see the old pros at work and is worth watching just to see them interact. It's incredibly creepy and sure to keep the viewer up at night.
The Others (2001) - Not Available To Stream Or Rent
"Sometimes the world of the dead gets mixed up with the world of the living." Grace rents a rundown mansion with her two children in Jersey, waiting for her husband to come home from WW2. Her children are allergic to sunlight, so the curtains are kept closed and the house is perpetually dark. When new servants arrive, unexplained things start to happen.
Something of a throwback to the old-fashioned dark house ghost stories, The Others has an incredibly creepy atmosphere, helped along by the large rooms filled with oppressive shadows and damp coldness. The horror builds in intensity throughout the film as the shadows close in on the characters and the truth about the situation is finally revealed in a twist ending.
Stir Of Echos (1999) - Stream On AMC+
As a joke, a man gets hypnotized at a party. Somehow, a switch is thrown in his mind so he's now receiving visions and communications from the dead, particularly of a missing girl. His life starts to fall apart as the visions become more and more demanding.
The always impressive Kevin Bacon plays the lead character, and the viewer watches his life disintegrate as the visions become nightmarish and threatening. It's psychological horror as well as a mystery story as the ghost demands Bacon find out who killed her. The atmosphere intensifies as the visions become more urgent and oppressive.
Rebecca (1940) - Not Available To Stream Or Rent
The iconic Alfred Hitchcock (director of Psycho) adapts Daphne Du Maurier's novel and turns it into a Cinderella story. But it's an incredibly strange and oppressively creepy version in the Hitchcock manner. A young woman marries a man haunted by the death of his former wife, Rebecca, whose presence is felt in every room of the family manor.
This is a classic for a reason. The film is framed as a 'Cinderella' story but is actually a horror story of the hold a personality can have from beyond the grave. While the actual Rebecca is never actually shown, her presence is felt throughout and forms an inescapable, oppressive pall in the film. While Rebecca was not considered a horror film at the time, it has taken on that reputation since, with Dame Judith Anderson's performance as Mrs. Danvers taking the film from psychological horror to actual horror.
The Shining (1980) - Stream On HBO Max
Stephen King's classic book becomes one of the creepiest movies of all time. Writer Jack Torrence takes a job as a caretaker at an empty hotel during the winter, taking his family with him and the hotel starts to drive him mad.
This Stanley Kubrick adaptation of King's novel has become a modern horror classic, scarring people since its original 1980 run. Nearly every horror scene has become famous and heavily copied or parodied over the years until they're near cliches. But in context, they can still be incredibly intense and scary. Great performances, cinemaphotography, and intense atmosphere make The Shining special.
The Haunting (1963) - Stream On AMC+
An adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, which was one of the most oppressively creepy books ever written, the story concerns a diverse group of investigators moving into a mansion, Hill House, to investigate its reputation as one of the most violent and deadly haunted houses in the country.
Filmed in black and white, The Haunting is a psychological horror and character study of a person descending into madness, pushed there by both real and unreal ghosts and terrors created by the mind. The film creates an atmosphere of suspense, keeping the viewer on the edge while drawing them into the horrors to come. The film is regarded by directors Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese as one of the best horror films ever made.
The Changeling (1980) - Stream On Tubi
A new University of Washington professor moves into an old manor house outside Seattle. Every night at a certain time, loud banging is heard but no cause can be found, so the professor investigates the rich family who had owned the house, and the secrets they kept.
Filmed partly in Seattle, The Changeling is a fall film that's dark, gray, wet, and full of creepy dread. It's a horror movie, and a mystery one as well, as the professor -a fantastic performance by George C. Scott- investigates the house and the family that once owned it. The viewer follows the search and his growing sense of horror at the story he uncovers. Proclaimed by several filmmakers as the scariest movie ever, this is truly an underrated gem and one that deserves more viewers.