Scary movies

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Today is Halloween. Politically speaking, the scariest thing I can think of is a Giuliani presidency (or any Republican presidency, for that matter, but a Giuliani victory next November would unleash genuine horrors upon the world), but why concern ourselves with such nightmares today? You'll all be out at parties tonight, dressed up in some costume, or out with the kids trick-or-treating -- or doing whatever it is you do in support of Celtic paganism (Samhain) -- but if you're looking for something to do right now (say, you're at work and looking for something to occupy you, or you're at home and want to sit back and relax), why not check out these two incredible films: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922)?

The former may be the first horror film ever made, a masterpiece of cinematic expressionism by Robert Wiene -- about a creepy doctor, sleepwalking, and murder. The latter is the story of Dracula, also an expressionist masterpiece, by F.W. Murnau. They are both quite short -- Caligari runs about 51 minutes, Nosferatu about 84 minutes -- and they are both silent (with music and intertitles, of course). And they are both amazing. (If for some reason the videos don't work here, go here and here.)