The great reason to have a home media movie library is, when, at the end of the day the news, or life in general, fills you with a sense of hopelessness and despair, you can just reach up to the shelves and pick out scenes in films that immediately cheer you up. I admit that lately I have a desperate need to put something on my TV that will usher in a good night’s sleep. Usually I put on scenes of the Nicholas Brothers (and I have a go-to pile of nearly every dance number they filmed). I try to end with their dance on the staircase in Stormy Weather that is so jaw-dropping and sublime it brings tears to my eyes.
But recently I have begun to pull down different horror titles with delightfully daffy dance sequences from the usual ones I have loved and written about before. (See here). Some are spot-on creepy, others intentionally goofy but some are unintentionally hilarious. So, if you are weary of re-watching M3GAN’s hallway dance- check some of these 10.
Abigail. Six criminals abduct the young daughter of a wealthy mobster from her ballet class and whisk her off to a crumbling, abandoned mansion. Unfortunately, for them, this tiny ballerina is a fearsome vampire. The scene where the little bloodsucker Abigail (Alisha Weir) telepathically takes over the body of one of her kidnappers (Kathryn Newton), forcing her body to mimic Abigail’s own wild, spastic dance, is indeed a sight to behold.
Prom Night. Four high school seniors are stalked by a masked murderer who witnessed them cause the accidental death of a friend. As prom night approaches the killer plots to make them all pay for their crime in this 1980 slasher movie starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Her wild disco dance at the prom will make you pray for the ax-wielding killer to strike while she is flailing around out on the dance floor.
Creepshow. Omnibus of horror tales by Stephen King, directed by George Romero and presented like scary comic book entries. Father’s Day stars Leslie Nielsen, who rises from his grave on his birthday hunting for his entitled birthday cake and killing his greedy relatives one by one. Ed Harris plays one of the avaricious pack and has this loony, funky dance that is just a scream.
Once Bitten. Lauren Hutton plays the “Countess,” a 400-year-old vampire who must drink the blood of three virgins on Halloween to retain her youth and beauty. Jim Carrey, in one of his earliest film roles, plays the virginal Mark, who wants his girlfriend Robin (Karen Kopins) to be his first, but the Countess keeps slightly biting him to ensure control. The two women battling for him have a “dance-off” showdown at the High School Halloween dance that is ludicrous and hilarious.
Sympathy for the Devil. Joel Kinnaman plays David, an expectant father driving furiously to the hospital. A stranger- the Passenger (Nicolas Cage) jumps in the back seat of his car, and at gunpoint forces David to go on a frightening road trip. A stop at a diner cause the Passenger to drop some change in the jukebox and then Nicolas Cage does this jaw-dropping dance and sing-a-long to Alicia Bridges’ I Love the Nightlife while wielding a gun at the terrified customers.
Slumber Party Massacre II. Crystal Bernard plays Courtney, the younger sister of the survivor of the driller killer from the first film. She is haunted by weird dreams of the murderer who actually is reincarnated as a rocker (Atanas Ilitch) who attacks a slumber party she is at. He’s decked out in head-to-toe black leather (with fringe), sunglasses, and a cherry-red modified guitar with a working electric drill he uses to impale his victims. His rockabilly dancing number “Let’s Buzz” is a wild highlight of this crackpot sequel.
The Fearless Vampire Killers. Gothic horror comedy directed by Roman Polanski, who appears in the film as the clumsy assistant to an aged vampire hunter (Jack MacGowran). Set in the 19th-century, they try to save the tavern keeper’s beautiful daughter (Sharon Tate) from a castle full of the undead. The scene of the great ball, where scores of powdered-wig-wearing vampires are dancing is really quite exquisite and creepy.
Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge. Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) is a teen beset by nightmares of the razor-fingered glove-wearing Freddy Krueger after he and his family move into the house where Nancy Thompson lived (from the first film). Homoerotic subtext permeates the film, and one feels sympathy for what actor Mark Patton suffered through during the snarky aftermath of the film’s release. But one has to love the scene where he is cleaning up his room, slips a cassette tape into his boom box and launches into a hip-shaking, suggestive dance all around the room. It’s “gay” in all the right way.
The Living Corpse. The first horror film made in Pakistan, this 1967 marvel was also X-rated at the time. It’s about a Professor searching for the elixir of eternal life, which he discovers and it transforms him into a vampire. Shamelessly ripping off Horror of Dracula, typically for a Pakistan film there are also musical and dance interludes. My personal favorite is when a man visiting the castle comes upon a fetching vampire maiden who does an elongated come-hither dance before attempting to bite down on his neck. The head vampire stops her and tosses her a small baby to chomp down on instead.
Pearl. Director Ti West did a prequel to X that was exhilarating as it was genuinely unsettling. It starred Mia Goth as Pearl, living a sad, unhappy life on a farm with an invalid father and a bitter, hateful mother. She dreams of Hollywood stardom and gets her chance to try out at an audition by a film company traveling through town. Ti West’s film was lensed like it was a bright MGM musical and was wonderfully demented. Mia Goth infuses her character with such heartbreaking, frightening intensity that it blew my mind. It was one of the most naked and raw performances I’ve seen in years. Her dance at the audition includes her fantasy that’s it’s a Technicolor Hollywood triumph but we cut to her actual dance which is spectacularly bizarre and gut-wrenchingly sad.
You’ve outdone yourself this week dennis! I hope you had as much fun writing this article as I did reading it.