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8 Classic Film Noirs Every Horror Fan Should See

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As a whole, film noir is impossible to define. It’s not your average genre and to many, it’s not a genre at all. It’s a cinematic movement that happened at a specific time for specific reasons – WWII anxieties being one of the major catalysts. But trying to pinpoint exactly what film noir is tends to sap all the fun out of watching it. It was birthed out of the American pulps, stylized by German filmmakers, and named by the French. Those are certainties. But for all the talk of femme fatales and fedoras, noir is incapable of being pigeonholed.

Probably the best description of film noir I’ve ever heard is also a loose one. Author Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) said, “In Shakespeare, men fall from thrones. In noir, they fall from the gutter.” It’s a breed of working class tragedy where any sense of security and stability are ripped from the characters; usually causing them to do some dirty deeds and lose their humanity in the process. Whether you live in the big city or the ‘burbs, doom is coming for you.

It’s that sense of oncoming dread – not detectives or dames – that drove many of the best noirs. It’s that same anxious dread that makes noir akin to horror, another genre that means different things to different people. And if you love them both, here are eight noirs of the classic era you’ll want to curl up to come nightfall.

And no, I did not “forget” Cat People. That film’s been covered on plenty sites already. I hoped to highlight a few under appreciated gems with this piece.

SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR (1947)

Secret Beyond the Door... (1948) Directed by Fritz Lang Shown: Michael Redgrave, Joan Bennett

A Gothic Freudian nightmare from maestro Fritz Lang, Secret Beyond the Door follows the whirlwind romance between Celia, a beautiful trust fund kid, and a wealthy architect named Mark Lamphere, played by Michael Redgrave (The Innocents, Dead of Night). Up to this point, it sounds like a melodramatic snooze. But Mark has a particularly morbid hobby: he builds exact replicas of rooms where notorious murders have taken place. He believes that their design can dictate the actions that take place within. Homicidal symmetry, if you will. Mark shares all of his rooms with Celia…except one. What’s behind door number seven? Celia’s just dying to find out (sorry, couldn’t help it).

STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940)

Stranger on the Third Floor

Wholly unique amongst the early WWII noirs, Stranger on the Third Floor is a pitch-black son of a bitch spearheaded by striking cinematography and a performance by the almighty Peter Lorre. It’s the tale of a journalist named Mike who gets his big break when he witnesses a murder and fingers the killer, played by perpetual loser Elisha Cook Jr. (Salem’s Lot). But doubt soon begins to creep in and Mike isn’t sure he’s sent the right man to the gas chamber. And the real killer may be lurking in the apartment above…The keystone of the film is a hallucinatory dream sequence in which Mike himself is found guilty of murder. It’s an incredibly dark nightmare with German expressionistic aesthetics to spare.

WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)

Witness to Murder

Completely overshadowed by Rear Window in 1954, Roy Rowland’s Witness to Murder shares a similar voyeuristic plot. While it may not be as polished as Hitchcock’s film, it’s choked with suspense nonetheless and has the benefit of starring queen bee Barbara Stanwyck (The Night Walker). She plays Cheryl, an independent career woman who may or may not have witnessed a murder in an apartment across the street. It happened in the flat of Mr. Richter, a refined sadist who begins to gaslight the hell out of Cheryl – driving her mad and straight into the loony bin.

THE HITCH-HIKER (1953)

The Hitch-Hiker 1953

This lean, mean thriller was the only film noir of the classic period directed by a woman, Ida Lupino, a versatile artist who starred in a trillion films/TV shows. Taking place almost entirely inside a car, The Hitch-Hiker features one of my favorite villains, reptilian killer Emmet Myers. What makes him so scary is a physical handicap that gives him a drooping eye that never closes. After two fishing buddies pick him up hitchhiking, Myers pulls a gun on them. With his droopy eye, the two men are never sure if he’s sleeping or screwing with them – begging them to make a move so he can plug them. Under this constant threat, the men slowly begin to unravel.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947)

Nightmare Alley

The story of an ambitious circus charlatan and his lover, Nightmare Alley is set in the dark underworld of carnies and the suckers they fleece. Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) plays said charlatan who backstabs one of his fellow carnies and uses her mind-reading gimmick to propel himself into stardom. The rapid fame and fortune don’t satisfy Stanton enough and, like in many great noirs, what goes up must come down HARD. The scene where Stanton’s web of lies unravels is an eerie, ghost-like moment that would be right at home in any gothic horror film.

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945)

Spiral Staircase

I’m cheating a bit here, as The Spiral Staircase is more of a “dark house” mystery than a noir in the traditional sense. Directed by German transplant Robert Siodmak, this creepy tale is a masterful exercise in suspense and atmosphere with one helluva one-two punch of an ending. A serial killer is loose, targeting young women with disabilities, and he’s got his sights set on Helen, a mute housekeeper working in a labyrinthine home that contains one, you guessed it, spiral staircase. Suffocating in claustrophobia and tense as hell, this simple, but effective Gothic mystery is definitely one to check out if you love a creepy whodunit.

THE DARK MIRROR (1946)

The Dark Mirror

Another one from Robert Siodmak, The Dark Mirror is a spiritual forerunner of Brian De Palma’s Sisters and Twins of Evil (minus the vampire). When a well-to-do doctor is murdered, all signs point to Terry Collins as the culprit. But the investigators quickly learn of Collins’ identical twin sister, Ruth. Both twins (played by Olivia de Havilland) provide bulletproof alibis for one another – until one of them spirals into psychosis. And like in the best horror films, The Dark Mirror has a wonderfully dark, ambiguous ending.

DECOY (1946)

Decoy 1946

The strange, sadistic Decoy has one major horror flavor going for it: the undead. Margot’s bank robber boy toy goes to the gas chamber before he can tell her where he stashed the loot. So she decides there’s only one way to find out where it is: bring him back from the grave. She seduces a prison doctor, snatches her man’s corpse and well…you’ll just have to watch it. His resurrection unleashes a tornado of double-crosses, murder, and good ol’ American greed. Believe me when I say Margot is one of the most ruthless femme fatales in all of noir and that Decoy is right up there with the meanest of the lot.

Patrick writes stuff about stuff for Bloody and Collider. His fiction has appeared in ThugLit, Shotgun Honey, Flash Fiction Magazine, and your mother's will. He'll have a ginger ale, thanks.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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