SCARY MOVIES WITH SINGLE WORD TITLES (1945 - 1985)

 

Here's a macabre Saturday Night Special concept for you, a list of scary movies with one word titles, and no "The's" invited.

To choose a one word title for a horror film, you need a strong word, a single word that invokes terror, dread, confusion, or somehow gives you the creeps just thinking about it like "IMPULSE" is a good place to start. The added daggers in this title card are just frosting on the cake combined with one of the creepiest characters William Shatner ever played!

And speaking of "MACABRE," the Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as "Dwelling on the Gruesome," and I'm pretty sure that's what Schlockmeister William Castle had in mind when he made this 1958 monsterpiece of horror!

 

"ROPE," it's a simple word really, but when it's the title of an Alfred Hitchcock film, then it takes on multiple new meanings. Hitchcock must have liked one word titles, because quite a few of his films fell into this category, starting with his most famous, "PSYCHO," and  including such titles as "NOTORIOUS," "SPELLBOUND," "SABOTAGE," "SUSPICION," "BLACKMAIL," and...

 

......."VERTIGO!" I get dizzy just thinking about it!

Then it just starts getting weirder and more psychologically difficult like

"TORMENTED" from 1960.

     

This 1977 Mario Bava movie has been released as more than one title like "Beyond the Door II," or "The Demon Is Nuts," but this is the simplest and  most shocking one,

"SHOCK."

 

 

Then there are titles that just scream fun like Freddie France's "HYSTERIA" from 1965.

Here's another one-word masterpiece from Alfred Hitchcock in 1972, that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy, "FRENZY!" 

 

 "SEIZURE" from 1974 is another comforting title because after all, 

"It's a children's story!"

 

After the seizure, the "DEMENTIA" sets it!

This 1955 classic was also known as "Daughter Of Horror."

Then you end up in this happy place from 1946.

"BEDLAM"

 

Let's see, then there's "SUCCUBUS," another fun family film from Jess Franco in 1968, that is literally defined as

 "a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men!"

 

 

So let's take a little "DETOUR," and "Get back on track, Jack," because in 1945, what was better than going to movie that you had no idea where it was headed?

 

Next is the "Are These Really Even Words?" Department, where they just made something up, and you had to go to the movies to find out what it even was, like "GOG" from 1954.

Believe it or not, "KRONOS" is still not a word some 67 years later!

Nor is the title of the 1962 film "ZOTZ!"

 

 

Some one word titles are very descriptive, like with 1982's "PIECES,"

 what else do you need to know?

 

Or how about "RATTLERS" from 1976? That title pretty much says it all!

 

 Now this 1966 title has charisma and plenty of mystery to it, because anything could happen in matter of  "SECONDS!"

 

For one word, it just doesn't get much more ominous than "QUICKSAND,"

and Mickey Rooney just sinks deeper and deeper into it in this 1950 film.

From 1968 we have "CORRUPTION," which is defined as "Dishonest or Fraudulent Conduct by Those in Power," so you immediately know this film's going to be a barrel of laughs!

I'll leave you with Argento's "CREEPERS" from 1985, because why not?

You're sure not going to expect sunshine and lollipops with a title like that!

Interestingly enough, this film was originally released as another single word title,

"PHENOMENA."

SCORPION THUNDERBOLT / IFD Films and Arts - 1988

Happy Friday the 13th! I have 2 black cats, so, I'm set... I recently picked up this title from Hong Kong, and, wow, what a wild 'n' weird flick. There is so much craziness going on that it will wear you out. It's about a human sized snake that terrorizes Hong Kong with all the bloody condiments.

I have a cool musical sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our crazy monkey, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here are some moments from... SCORPION THUNDERBOLT!

The snake woman takes her first victim... The many dark scenes make it hard to see what's going on a lot of the time.

Back at the college, the instructor discusses the recent murders with interesting illustrations to explain the wounds on the women victims.

Then, these two weirdos show the instructor what they found swimming in the bay! Must be some radio activity in the water there, you think?!

Here's the mean old snake woman witch dealing with her problem.

This flick has hundreds of extras to fill up the frame!

I'll leave it to your imagination to where this super drunk ass hole is aiming those billiard balls on this tied up, spread eagled little lady...

Oh yeah, the movie stars hunky American, Richard Harrison. Richard was part of the group of strongmen that made their mark with the sword and sandal movies in the sixties. And, his very first acting credit was a pilot in KRONOS in 1957!! He's SCORPION THUNDERBOLT.

Our other heroes get a car full of vipers to drive around in, what fun!

Anyway, Richard has to go into the bad guy's lair and deal with all the kung fools to get to...

The last of the scum of the Earth! Eegah!! is here tomorrow to kung fu up another movie 4 U.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA - Frankie Avalon - "Theme Song" (1961)

"Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" is an epic film of classic proportions, and just might arguably be the best of all the submarine flicks! You got your Walter Pidgeon, Regis Toomey, Peter Lorre, Michael Ansara, Frankie Avalon, Joan Fontaine, and Barbara Eden all for the price of one single admission!! The bargain of the century and another great 'Submarine Halloween' tale!!!

They say the theme song sung by Frankie Avalon was a hit, but I don't remember it, although I do remember "Venus" quite well!

It's a great song, and the later trumpet playing bit is way too much!!! The song was written by prolific musician and songwriter Russell Faith!! One of the few songs you can actually call nice, and get away with it! The rest of the soundtrack was composed by Dungeon stalwarts Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter, whose names conjure up titles like "Kronos", "Sadist", "She-Devil" and "IT!" I never did figure out exactly who is playing the trumpet!!

The Pre-Jeannie Barbara Eden makes this one fantastic voyage!!

Researching "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" on the Internet or just on IMDB, a person can get totally lost following leads with snippets of information here and there. Stuff like this:

The star of this film, Walter Pidgeon had a career that went all the way back into the silent movies dating back as far as 1926!!!! Can you even imagine? It gets better! In 1928 Walter was in a film entitled "The Gateway Of The Moon" that was directed by one John Griffith Wray who had been directing films since 1913 until his death in 1929. That means he had a career as director way back then for 16 years!!! And what in the Heck was genius Director Irwin Allen thinking when he allowed this shot!! Cut!!!!!

Some of the men on board are getting pretty uptight about the situation, and if you don't know what the situation is, then you must have been living in the Bat-Cave for the last forty years or so, and you really need to go get yourself a copy of this film!!!

It's really fascinating how they smoke inside the sub for the whole movie, the place had to smell like a Las Vegas casino or worse!

And on top of that, The Captain smokes stogies in bed, and damn near sets the whole place on fire!!!

If you rent or buy the DVD, it has some great production stills like this, that show you a bit of what they had to go through to film this Monster!!!! Cranes, water, and Scaffold City!!!!