who were the best horror movie stars? are they given enough credit?
By umart13
@umart13 (841)
Ireland
July 8, 2008 5:25pm CST
I had a nice discussion on MyLot.com today about the old horror movie stars.
We started talking about Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and how the critics did not have much time for them, even though they were serious actors. So I decided to start this topic as it interests many of us.
Have you any favorites that you can remember?
Should there be some sort of posthumous awards for their contribution to cinema?
1 response
@fmuldowney (139)
• Ireland
11 Jul 08
We lived in the same time zone. My memory of horror starts go to the beginning, Lorre, Boris Karloff, Chaney etc etc. I was never a fan of horror films as there is only a few that were really good or memorable, Psycho, Exorcist, The Omen, The Birds, Alien perhaps, but none have really got a touch of a horror star. Most horror characters become likeable over time, like Hannibal Lector but was he really frightening, or more panto style bad guys. Ill end by saying Klaus Kinski is the one, as he scares me in any role he plays ;-)
@umart13 (841)
• Ireland
12 Jul 08
Hi Frank, well you do have a horrorible memory (boom boom! Basil Brush!). Yeah! Lon Chaney Jnr was a fine actor. Boris Karloff was a spooky type anyway. Would have been interesting to see what he was like in real life. Bela Lugosi was a bit of a nutter. I don't think I would like to be buried in my Dracula costume... Did you like Vincent Price???... I don't think much of the acting in The Omen, The Birds or Alien. Anthony Hopkins is superb as Hannibal Lector, but he was even better in Magic, if you can remember that! That was spooky!....### As for Klaus Kinski, I recently saw a discussion on German TV about a one-man-show that Kinski did in the early seventies, based on improvisation. The show ended up as a shouting match between him and the audience and he threatened after the show, never to go on stage again. What was weird though is that none of the experts are sure to this day, whether Kinski had instigated the whole event and was really pushing acting to new limits. Kinski remains an enigma!
