Horror Classics 1

Volume One of the Horror Classics series contains four chilling tales of horror and ghoulish suspense. CARNIVAL OF SOULS: Made in 1962 on an extremely low budget, this Herk Harvey-directed classic has become legendary for its ability to create truly creepy atmospheres with virtually no special effects. A young woman (Candace Hilligoss) is involved in a car crash when her car falls off a bridge while drag racing with some friends. After she pulls herself from the river, she moves to a new town to take a job as a church organist. Meanwhile, a distinctly eerie and hollow-faced man seems to be following her wherever she goes, while an abandoned lakeside amusement park beckons her with an almost gravitational pull. The effective organ score enhances the film to great effect, as do the bleak landscapes of Utah's salt flats.ATOM AGE VAMPIRE: This Italian film deals with a mad scientist who must kill young women and rip out their glands in order to restore a sexy dancer's disfigured face. The film's real suspense, however, comes from the scientist's own struggles with his Jekyll-and-Hyde-like transformation into a lizard-man, his fights with the dancer's trench-coated boyfriend, and his battles with his own jealous assistant.CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA: A mobster hits on a plan while smuggling a deposed general and a fortune in gold out of Cuba on his yacht: He and his crew will scare the general and kill his guards by faking the attacks of a sea monster, keeping the gold for themselves. Unfortunately, a sea monster actually is attacking them, leading to all sorts of complications. NIGHTMARE CASTLE: Barbara Steele has a dual role in this Italian production about a mad scientist who tortures his unfaithful wife and her lover to death, only to have them return from the grave for revenge. A score by Ennio Morricone adds to the suspense.