The Village of the Damned (1960)

A creepy little horror flick from England based on John Wyndham's 1957 novel The Midwich Cuckoos. In the village of Midwich all the inhabitants inexplicably blackout for a period of five hours. They wake up unharmed except that every fertile woman in the village is impregnated. When the children are born they turn out to be creepy little blonde Nazis with the ability to read minds and the ability to control adults. George Sanders plays a man initially curious and supportive of the other-worldly children, but also the man who must eventually save the day. All in all, a suspenseful film, and a great example of the stiff-upper-lip British horror film. While these children are ravaging the village, the villagers always dress impeccably, drink tea at the proper hour, and thoroughly and calmly analyze the situation.

The House of the Devil (2009)

Charlene came in when I was halfway through this movie and asked me how old it was. I could easily have told her 1979 and there would have been nothing about it to indicate it wasn't. But no, it was made last year, and it perfectly replicates a mid-budget horror film from the late seventies or early eighties. Not only that but it's a horror film that would have been a classic, one that for most of its running time builds up a slow sense of dread, then all hell breaks loose in the final act. Really good stuff. If I had been alone at night watching this, I probably would have turned it off.

The director was Ti West, and the main girl is played by Jocelin Donahue, who is the spitting image of Margot Kidder, circa 1981.