happy halloween

Happy Halloween, dear readers.

lurch

So I'm dressed as Lurch for work party Halloween. Are y'all dressing up this year?

if you have ghosts: shared cinematic experiences

I asked If You Have Ghosts to share some of his horror favorites. (They are all favorites of mine as well!).

Many of the films that impacted me at an early age were introduced by older cousins who did an amazing job not only in selecting which to introduce to an impressionable young person but made each viewing an event as well. Not all of those films were horror, but I was asked to write a list for Halloween / October so these are.

The theme of this list--aside from every film being great to watch at any time of year--is shared cinematic experiences. Whenever I show people these movies, they are usually accompanied by a story of the first time I saw them.

These are fairly obvious selections, but they hold up and I'm not trying to be hip about it. Also, not a “top” anything, just what I thought of first.

Dawn of the Dead (1978):

I could only hope to have somebody as badass and resourceful as Peter Washington (Ken Foree) around in an apocalyptic-survival scenario. Romero's zombie films attempt to make a cultural statement (this one on consumer culture making us all zombies) but are successful beyond that due to their quality. Horror, humor, a great score by Goblin--no question this would be on the list.

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935):

I love the original as well, but Bride is my favorite of the two. The atmosphere of the original Universal horror films was beautiful and holds up wonderfully. To think that there was a time when a movie could be marketed and fill theater seats simply by hinting that the "monster" would speak...

The Shining (1980):

One could watch this during a snowstorm at any time of the year and be horrified. I wonder if the audience is truly supposed to sympathize with the Torrance family, as I did not. For me, the saddest character death was that of Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers). He just went to the hotel to check up on everybody.

The Thing (1982):

Many consider Halloween to be John Carpenter's masterpiece, but I have never held it in such high regard. Certainly, it introduced an iconic mask and score, but as a horror film in its entirety, it is not so significant for me.

The true masterpiece in his career would come just a few years later with The Thing. Location, amazing practical effects, a cast interacting perfectly and absolutely convincingly given the story's scenario and a great score by Ennio Morricone. Not to mention Carpenter's films with Kurt Russell were his best. The blood-test scene still features one of the greatest uses of tension I have seen in any film, horror or otherwise.

An American Werewolf in London (1981):

I can only name two truly great werewolf movies and though I love the original The Wolf Man, I prefer this one. Great use of practical effects, intelligently selected and placed music cues and humor. The nightmare sequences and victim visits still have the ability to inspire a "What the Fuck!?" moment from new viewers.

Night of the Living Dead (1968):

Some things, you don't have to explain. This one is truly horrific and aside from films such as White Zombie, which introduced the Voodoo Zombie, was the first to introduce the type of zombie we all know today, the Living Dead, to a broad audience.

That's it for now. Time to load up on pumpkins, candy and head to the crafts store to make some hanging ghosts for the balcony.

Follow If You Have Ghosts on Twitter.

don't fear the reaper

This is one of my favorite sequences (skip to 8:11 on the video) in a horror film: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Annie Brackett (Nancy Loomis) being followed by the Shape (Nick Castle), listening to "Don't Fear the Reaper" in Halloween. Debra Hill (the director and scriptor of this particular scene) captures an ominous transition from day to dusk. I watched this film last night and instantly got in the mood.

Happy Halloween! Tell me what your favorite horror scenes are.

underdog horror flicks

In celebration of upcoming Halloween, I thought about my Top 10 underdog horror flicks. Here are 10 oft-forgotten-about horror gems.

Tourist Trap (1979) is an enjoyable, campy film with Chuck Connors as the owner of a spooky roadside museum populated with life-like mannequins. The score by the great Pino Donaggio is one of the film's highlights.

A handful of ghost stories are told in an old farmhouse in the moody Dead of Night (1945). Naturally a ventriloquist and dummy doll figure in the creepiest one. It's an interesting, curious picture that remains influential.

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) is ridiculous 1980s horror fun. Remembered less but far and away better than its predecessor. Endearingly pays tribute to Carrie and chock full of bad 80s fashion.

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A strange film obsession of mine that will never go away. In Bert I. Gordon's Empire of the Ants (1977) a group of prospective buyers of phony Florida real estate are attacked by menacing giant ants. And all of it is played straight. Pamela Susan Shoop utters one of the better lines: "they're herding us like cattle!"

The Boss's sister, Pamela Springsteen is winning as the tormented camp counselor Angela in Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988). The original is a favorite as well.

Much more well-known now with no thanks to its terrible remake, Black Christmas (1974) still holds up well as a slick, creepy phone-caller-is-in-the-house horror film. Margot Kidder's performance and the film's ending are both bizarre.

Unlucky passerbys are dead meat in the bizzaro pro-vegetarian horror film Motel Hell (1980). Over-the-top but very unnerving.

William Castle's The Tingler (1959) is pretty avant-garde for B-horror movie standards. A "metafilm" with audience participation gags, literal shocks and some trippy sequences. Somewhat uneven but Vincent Price is magnetic.

Malevolence came and went in 2004. It's pretty dark, and the plot is somewhat preposterous but it delivers good scares.

Similar to The Fly, The Alligator People (1959) is another fun entry in the science-gone-wrong genre of the 1950s. Scream queen Beverly Garland at her best.

What are some of your underrated horror flicks?