Love & Horror
My Top 5 Love Stories in Horror and Sci-fi
Valentine’s Day is here so I thought it would be fun to name the top love stories in Horror and Sci-fi films. I came up with these 5 picks but I need your help. Give me some more ideas for Love in Horror Films (not horror in love stories).
5) Frankenstein and his Bride – The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
There are few heartbreaking scenes in horror as poignant as the one where the Frankenstein Monster is rejected by his newly reanimated bride. Love is supposed to heal all, but even from his own kind there is no love in this world for the monster. Despite all the face make-up you can see the humility and dejection in the monster‘s actions and movements; praise to Karloff for his ability to act through this creature design. His bottom lip quivers; one tear falls from his eye as he pulls the lever that explodes the castle.
4) Verden Fell and Lady Ligeia – The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
“Man need not kneel before the angels, nor lie in death for all eternity, save only for the weakness of his feeble will…” E.A. Poe
These are the last words spoken by Verden Fell’s wife, Ligeia before she dies. Verden visits Ligeia’s graveside often and speaks of her returning from the tomb. To his new wife’s dismay, Verden’s behavior becomes even stranger when they move into his Abbey after their honeymoon. Rowena begins to believe that Ligeia has already returned in the deep hours of night, stalking the halls and towers of their home, perhaps hiding by day in the body of a mysterious black cat. This fine Poe adaptation is a remarkably underrated film and one of Price’s classic character portrayals. Love can never die, but it can kill.
3) Seth Brundle & Veronica Quaife
Aka: Veronica and BrundleFly – The Fly (1986)
It tugs at your heart, every time Veronica goes to see her love, scientist Seth Brundle, and finds he has become more fly-like than human. To her horror, Veronica finds out she is pregnant. Seth kidnaps her with plans to enter the telepod and become the ultimate family unit – man, wife and baby, sharing one body. Now that is true love and true love can certainly transform a person into something… better. Donuts, anyone?
2) Count Dracula and Mina – Bram Stokers Dracula (1992)
Love never dies, it just comes back to bite you in the… neck. Dracula could have easily mesmerized her and taken control, to gain what he wanted. But Count Dracula wanted Mina to fall in love with him again and discover her past life without his supernatural influence. He risks life and limb for this love to flourish, and it does in the end, just in time for him to die his final death. The film leaned heavy on the romance between Dracula and Mina, more so than in the book.
1) King Kong and Ann Darrow – King Kong (1933)
He took her to the ends of the earth and to the top of the world, but still, this love was not acceptable in a modern world. He risked it all for his love, and lost it all. This is your basic Beauty and the Beast story, reinvented for the 19th century. If Kong could only speak… “What’s with all the screaming? Come on, you like me, You’re just playin’ hard to get. Look, I’ll beat up this pteradactyl. How you like me now?”
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So tell me, what are your favorite love stories in this genre?
Let me know and I will add films to the list.
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Honorable Mentions/ Readers choices:
***Curt and Julie – Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)
Great suggestion from Creature With the Atomic Brain
***Oskar and Eli – Let the Right One In (2008)
Another great suggestion from Porkchop
***Francesco and ‘the woman’ – Cemetery Man (1994)
aka: Dellamorte, DellAmore
OK, this should probably be in my Top-5. It also contains one of the most bizarre sex scenes (in a graveyard) I’ve ever seen in a horror film.
Thanks, Rob!
***David and Nurse Alex – An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Great choice offered by Brian, Hard Ticket to Home Video
***May and Adam – May (2002)
(& Polly & Petey & whatever that thing is at the end)
Never seen this but read the synopsis and seems like a good choice.
I am definitely going to have to see this. Recommended by The IPC
***Yu & Hai’er – from the ‘Going Home’ segment of ‘3 Extremes II’ (2002)
Never saw this one either. Recommended by GaryLee
***Mark and Anna – Possession (1981) Gotta’ see this one again!
And in my ‘got a clue’ moment of the year, I’ve just realized that Sam Neill has been in a lot of horror and sci-fi movies! Recommended by Jeff
***Eban and Stella – 30 Days of Night (2007)
Okay, late entry, but had to get this one in. Recommended by my tech-challenged RLF, Tommy.
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Thanks to everyone that contributed to this list and for making it one of my most veiwed posts at Parlor of Horror. I have to check out a few of these that I have not seen and ya’ll should do the same. Unless there are any late entries, this list is done, and I am moving on. Happy Valentine’s Day – 2-14-2013
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