Horror Favourites – Mark Hartley

Mark Hartley’s Girl At The Window starring Radha Mitchell of the Silent Hill franchise is out now and we managed to grab the great director for a talk about the horror movies he loves the most.

Best known for his genre-focused exploitation documentaries, Hartley’s most notable work includes Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation; Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films and Machete Maidens Unleashed!

In GIRL AT THE WINDOW, Amy (Ella Newton) and her mother (SILENT HILL’S Radha Mitchell) move to a new home. Amy sees weird activity – her neighbor comes and goes at strange hours and she hears screams. Is her new neighbor and her mother’s new love interest the serial killer that’s killing her classmates?

From filmmaker Mark Hartley this serial-killer-next-door thriller has plenty of kills, gore and suspense that will keep horror fans hooked.

Below Mark lists 6 of the scariest films he has ever seen:

“NIGHT OF FEAR (1972)

I felt obliged to include an Australian title in this list. Directed by Ozploitation maverick Terry Bourke, NIGHT OF FEAR was shot as a TV pilot for an anthology series called FEAR. It told the gruesome story of a deranged hermit who sets traps for victims – then terrorizes them, rapes them – and then feeds them to his rats. Not so difficult to believe it ultimately couldn’t find a place in the 1972 network TV line-up. Instead, it went out theatrically in Australia (quite an achievement considering its 54-minute running time). The film anticipated both THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE HILLS HAVE EYES and it’s remarkable how much common horror DNA they all share.

THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)

During the early 80s this was a staple of the midnight-to-dawn movie marathon on Melbourne’s channel 9. I set the alarm countless time and snuck out of bed to watch this superior creep-fest about “the Mount Everest of haunted houses”. Written by genre giant, Richard Matheson, and featuring great performances (especially from Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin) this was quite simply the scariest film I had ever seen.

JAWS (1975)

I first saw JAWS on a double bill with the half-decent JAWS 2 at the Phillip Island town hall during the school holidays. Phillip Island is a holiday destination in Victoria, Australia, very similar to Amity Island.

I’ll never forget the absolute shock of seeing the eyeless corpse of Ben Gardner emerge from the hole in the hull of his wreck… it certainly ruined that island holiday.

DRESSED TO KILL (1980).

Brian DePalma is one of my favourite filmmakers and DRESSED TO KILL is my favourite of his many great films. For my money it includes his best set pieces (the art gallery, the elevator murder) best use of split diopters, best cast and best music score.

It oozes with style, transcends being slavishly Hitchcockian – and showcases a master craftsman at the height of his talent.

I was lucky enough to have DRESSED TO KILL composer Pino Donaggio score my film PATRICK (2013) and I’ve embraced split diopters as part of my film aesthetic thanks to this movie.

PSYCHO II (1983)

For my money, the greatest film sequel isn’t THE GODFATHER PART II or THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK – it’s PSYCHO II.

The film’s director, Richard Franklin, was a friend and mentor to me – but that bias aside this is a genuinely great movie. Initially planned as cash grab cable fodder, Franklin and writer Tom Holland crafted a follow up that was both respectful and fright-filled.

The film is full of inspired Hitchcockian set-pieces, terrific old-school matte paintings courtesy of Albert Whitlock, a beautiful score by Jerry Goldsmith and a stellar performance from Tony Perkins (alternating between twitchy and heartbreaking). Ultimately, the film’s greatest achievement is the sympathy it evokes for poor Norman Bates. You genuinely do not want the character to pick up a butcher’s knife again (can you imagine hoping that Jason or Freddie didn’t have any kills in one of their franchises sequels?!).

I’ve encouraged lots of filmbuffs to give the film a go – and they all come back to me with the same response – “Wow – I didn’t think it would be that good!”

THE ORPHANAGE (2007)

This was quite simply a jaw dropping cinematic experience. It’s the most perfect horror film I’ve ever seen. Everything from the heart wrenching performances to the dazzling cinematography to the grand production design to the haunting score is mesmerizing. Then on top of that it is truly chilling (the clairvoyant scene with Geraldine Chaplin is a showstopper). I walked out of the screening knowing I’d never be able to make a film as good – but determined to work my hardest to at least try and compete.”

Girl At The Window is put now on Digital and VOD