Well, if you like those sorts of movies too, here's a list of ten I love and recommend! Just in case you're craving some dark, moody, shadowy goodness yourself right now. Links go to my own reviews so you can learn more about those titles if you'd like.
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988) Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) help Sir Henry Baskerville (Kristoffer Tabori) uncover the dark truth behind his forbear's death out on the wild and gloomy moors. I crave this every October, really. Some years, I make myself watch a different version, just to make this more fresh the next year, but this is my favorite fall watch. I often reread the book in October too.
2. Jane Eyre (1983) Lonely governess Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) finds understanding, companionship, and love with Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) in this pitch-perfect BBC miniseries that absolutely kickstarted my devotion to the book it's based on. (If you don't have time for all four hours, the 2011 version is my other favorite, and it's half as long. If you want to go really classic, the 1943 version is shrouded in shadows and mystery.)
3. Hamlet (2011) Hamlet (Bruce Ramsay) suspects his uncle Claudius (Peter Winfield) killed Hamlet's father before marrying his mother (Gillian Barber), and he spends the night after their wedding trying to find out. They trim all of Hamlet down to 1 hour and 27 minutes, give it a neo-noir feel, and it is spectacular. However, please note that it is rated R for some easy-to-skip adult scenes. (If you can't get your hands on this version, or don't want to deal with the adult content, the 1948 Olivier and the 2009 Tennant versions both have excellent shadowy vibes and are tamer.)
4. Laura (1944) Detective Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews) tries to solve the murder of a beautiful woman named Laura (Gene Tierney). Her family and friends all insist she was lovable, intelligent, talented, and altogether wonderful... so why did someone want to kill her? This is my favorite noir film, and it has one of the best twists in any movie I've ever seen. Go into it not knowing much more than this and prepare to fall in love with Laura yourself.
5. The Phantom of the Opera (2004) A beautiful young singer (Emmy Rossum) reunites with her childhood sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), but her mysterious singing mentor (Gerard Butler) turns out to be an obsessive, possessive killer who wants her for himself. The whole production is over-the-top lavish, dripping with candlelight and shadows and emotions.
6. Dead Again (1991) An amnesiac woman (Emma Thompson) keeps having nightmares about scissors. A kind P.I. (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help her recover her memory. And then they discover they may be the reincarnations of two doomed lovers who lived back during the Roaring Twenties, and solving that long-ago murder may be the only way to secure their own peace and happiness. This one is also rated R because Robin Williams cusses a LOT in his few scenes, and there's some violence. It would clean up easily with a filtering service, though.
7. Rebecca (1940) A young bride (Joan Fontaine) is haunted by the suspicion that her new husband (Laurence Olivier) still loves his dead first wife, Rebecca. Such a fascinating look at doubt, obsession, misconceptions, and consequences. It's one of Hitchcock's best.
8. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) A teen girl (Theresa Wright) adores her visiting uncle (Joseph Cotten) until she begins to wonder if he's connected to a recent string of murders. Another masterpiece about doubt and fear from Alfred Hitchcock.
9. Cry Wolf (1947) A widow (Barbara Stanwyck) thinks her late husband's uncle (Errol Flynn) is hiding a terrible secret. It turns out he is, but it's not the secret she's expecting. There's murder and madness and a gloomy old manor house dripping with shadows -- and also combative romance, just to keep things peppy.
10. Meet Joe Black (1998) Death (Brad Pitt) takes on a human body to experience life, manipulating an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) into helping him. Death romances the man's daughter (Claire Forlani), tastes peanut butter for the first time, and learns what it means to be both human and kind. This one is PG-13 mostly for a short and easy-to-skip love scene.
Have you seen any of these? What are some of your favorite non-scary movies to watch in the fall?
Neat list!
ReplyDeleteI just finished rereading "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in my new Sherlock Holmes omnibus collection. The descriptions are so beautifully atmospheric--I had forgotten how powerful they are.
Katie, I haven't had time to reread Baskervilles this October, and I'm missing it. It's such a perfect read for this time of year. And yes, the descriptions are really something else!
DeleteI love Meet Joe Black. The father-daughter scenes makes me cry every time.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, yeah, Meet Joe Black has some really great parts. I love the "death and taxes" thing. And I often quote "Sixty-five years. Don't they go by in a blink." Only I'm not 65 yet, so I'll just substitute my actual age.
DeleteThat movie poster for Rebecca only has one C in her name! Interesting! Good list, and the need to see that version of Hamlet is very strong!
ReplyDeleteDKoren, well, that's because it's a foreign poster for Rebecca, and they spelled it weird for Reasons, I expect. But it had the right look for the graphic, lol!
DeleteYeah, bits of that Hamlet have been running through my head of late, for various reasons. It was a big favorite of my friend Cheryl, and now that she's gone, I've been wanting to rewatch it in her memory/honor.
Mmmmmm, now I want to re-watch Laura. And Jane Eyre. But especially Laura. I never noticed it before, but it really does have the perfect atmosphere for an autumn movie pick.
ReplyDeleteEva, well, I almost always want to rewatch Laura. And Jane Eyre :-D
DeleteI've only seen a few of these! I'll have to check the rest out. The Hound of Baskerville is perfect for this time of year!
ReplyDeleteSkye, well, a few is better than none! And yes, I think The Hound of the Baskervilles is especially suited to this time of year because it even takes place in October :-D
DeleteWow, what a great list! I simply must see Dead Again and Cry Wolf. I've reviewed the original "Meet Joe Black" from 1934 with Frederic March, Death Takes a Holiday, but haven't seen the remake. Thanks for these intriguing recommendations, Rachel!
Delete-Ari from The Classic Movie Muse
(I was having trouble commenting with my user name)
Thanks, Ari/Muse! I like Death Takes a Holiday pretty well, too. But I like Meet Joe Black better. It's a little more plausible in Death's reasons for pretending to be human AND in his reasons to stop... and it has a happier ending, I think.
DeleteI hope you like Dead Again and Cry Wolf! :-)
This list is great! I'll need to see The Phantom of the Opera. Have you ever watched the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963), with Patrick Mcgoohan? I never have, but I've heard great reviews on it. Thanks for this list.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tack! I hope you dig Phantom when you see it. Nope, I've never seen the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh -- in fact, I don't think I'd heard of it before this!
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