HOWL O'WEEN (Halloween)

[Badfinger]

Oh man, that's amazing.

[agorman]

Went as Dale Cooper. Really it consisted of me doing my hair and shaving my beard, but my date and I both really wanted to do Twin Peaks.

[Ben X]

Halloween is over, losers, it's Christmas for the next two months now.

[Badfinger]

 

I'm a bear. The news is all bad.

[RubixsQube]

Completed costume, with Dallas (myself), Ripley (with Weird Al wig), Brett (no cigarette), and Snow White's Queen there in the background.  

[BusbyBerkeley]

I went as Baseball Bat Man from The Raid 2. SO was Hammer Girl. It was rad. 

[syntheticgerbil]

So, the big Halloween party I'm going to is tonight, and I'm putting the finishing touches on my costume:

 

 

Neato! Where do those patches come from?

[RubixsQube]

I bought those arm patches from this amazon account, but I had to make the rest of the patches and badges and such out of paper and cardstock from images on the internet. 

[Patrick R]

Soooooooo scarrrrrrry!

 

Best Month of the year Has Returned.

 

I think I want to try to do two horror/spooky/halloween-themed film recommendations every day this month. One feature, one short. We'll see if I can keep it up or if this is just late night manic episode Patrick talking.

 

10/1

 

Night of the Demon (1957)

(AKA Curse of the Demon)

 

Not just the source of that sample in

, but the final "true" horror film of master Jacques Tourneur. Tourneur spent most of his career as a B-movie journeyman, hopping from noirs to westerns to war films and everything in between, but he made his bones in the 40's as the go-to director for RKO's short-lived horror division lead by famed producer Val Lewton, There he refined a talent for making classy horror films that played with light & shadow and the power of suggestion. Films like I Walked With A Zombie and Cat People elevated the language of the genre, and the stories it was capable of telling.

 

With Night of the Demon Tourneur spun the M.R. James short story "Casting the Runes" into an entertaining but sophisticated tale of a skeptic confronted with a demon's curse. Tourneur's powers of light and shadow had diminished none in the twelve years between this and his previous horror effort, and there are quite a few effective scares in this, along with some very cheesy but endearing special effects. It doesn't take a leap to see this as the progenitor of films like The Ring and It Follows.

 

Where can I find it?
A DVD with both the original British and truncated American cuts is readily available on Amazon, and it's available digitally on Amazon and iTunes.
 

 

 

The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)

 

The most memorable Edgar Allan Poe adaptations have always been those that took his rock solid premises and ran with them, tuning everything up to a fever pitch. This animated adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart", with it's highly subjective point of view and fractured expressionist style, is a perfect example of that. In 7 minutes James Mason runs through an abridged retelling of Poe's tale that emphasizes the narrator's manic hatred and paranoia. Really wonderful and creepy. This is the canonical cinematic adaptation of Tell-Tale Heart.

 

Where can I find it?

[namman siggins]

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh sheeeeeeit.

Thank you.

[Dewar]

I think I'm going to finally give up trying to throw a party at my place this year and just go find a bar to invade, then maybe a small film party the weekend after since that was so much fun last year. Anyone have any ideas of a pair of "Older original film contrasted with newer spoof" such as watching Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein, followed by Dracula and Dracula: Dead and Loving it?

[Patrick R]

I think I'm going to finally give up trying to throw a party at my place this year and just go find a bar to invade, then maybe a small film party the weekend after since that was so much fun last year. Anyone have any ideas of a pair of "Older original film contrasted with newer spoof" such as watching Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein, followed by Dracula and Dracula: Dead and Loving it?

 

If your guests have a strong stomach for insane cartoonish gore, you can follow any number of zombie films with Peter Jackson's Dead Alive (AKA Braindead).

 

Other thoughts:

 

• Just Before Dawn and Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (redneck slasher in the woods and a deconstruction of the redneck slasher trope)
• Them! and Tremors (50's giant ant movie and 90's giant worm monster comedy)
• Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead (original classic and a funny punk-filled spin-off that spawned the brain-eating zombie trope)
• The Changeling and Housebound (haunted house with a dark secret and a comedic version of that same idea)
• Brides of Dracula and What We Do In Shadows (Hammer vampire coven and hilarious New Zealand mockumentary about a vampire coven)

[Dewar]

I think Dead Alive might be a little too much for our crowd. I was also trying to think of the best zombie movie to pair with Shaun of the Dead. The obvious choice (from the title) is Dawn of the Dead, but from what I recall about those movies they aren't really that much the same. The part I enjoyed about the Dracula pairing from last year is seeing how Leslie Nielsen's performance (and much of the script writing as well) was directly copying from the original movie. It made so many odd choices in Dracula: Dead and Loving it (unpopular Mel Brooks film, but one of my favorites) make sense.

[Patrick R]

10/2

 

Messiah of Evil (1973)

 

Probably the quintessential California horror film. I described this to Argobot as "like a horror version of Joan Didion's 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem'", and that's probably overselling it a bit. Didion's prose is eloquent and precise, while this film (which was assembled by a French producer out of the bones of an unfinished horror film called The Second Coming) is decidedly not. But what it does have is an all-encompassing anxiety about California, and that Didion dread that something tragic and cataclysmic happened there in the 60's, something toxic that then worked it's way back east across the the rest of the country.

 

Definitely one of those instances where the low production values add to the overall mood. The electronic score is incredibly rough and eerie, the scenery and sets are forboding, and the temple of the damned is a Ralphs supermarket. Honestly, that sums it up right there. The rivers of all evil flow in the aisles of a Ralphs.

 

How can I watch it?

It's on Amazon Prime, and the DVD is pretty cheap too.

 

 

The Legend of Beaver Dam (2010)

The less I spoil about this five minute horror-comedy short the better, but I've been in at least three horror film festivals that sprung this on unsuspecting audiences and the reaction every time is always huge. Totally wonderful.

 

How can I watch it?

It's available for purchase on iTunes, or you can watch this version that played on Bravo TV for free on Youtube. The only real difference is that they muted a few basic cable unfriendly swear words.

[Patrick R]

I think Dead Alive might be a little too much for our crowd. I was also trying to think of the best zombie movie to pair with Shaun of the Dead. The obvious choice (from the title) is Dawn of the Dead, but from what I recall about those movies they aren't really that much the same. The part I enjoyed about the Dracula pairing from last year is seeing how Leslie Nielsen's performance (and much of the script writing as well) was directly copying from the original movie. It made so many odd choices in Dracula: Dead and Loving it (unpopular Mel Brooks film, but one of my favorites) make sense.

 

That sort of direct parody is pretty rare. But if you're looking for something that's right in that lane, Leslie Nielsen and Linda Blair made an Exorcist parody called Repossessed!. Beyond that, there's Scary Movie, which is a pretty direct spoof of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. And Student Bodies, a slasher parody made in 1981 (with an onscreen counter that keeps track of the body count), so it's mocking a limited number of slasher movies that existed, mostly Prom Night and Halloween. 

 

It's kind of impossible to track down a good copy of I Was A Teenage Werewolf but the Larry Cohen comedy Full Moon High is a very Mad Magazine take on that.

 

Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein (which also contains Dracula and the Wolfman) would pair well with a later Universal monster mash movie like House of Dracula, but it only came a few years after those films.

 

Shaun of the Dead isn't a direct parody of anything, though knowing about the genre will nudge you towards in-jokes ("We're coming to get you Barbara!" and the restaurant he forgets to make reservations for is called Fulci's). Actually, it's the fact that there's never really been a horror-comedy like it that makes it such a classic.

 

Of the suggestions I made in the previous post, I'd say that Just Before Dawn and Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil probably comes closest to a 1 to 1 parody, but it definitely lacks that Mel Brooks level of specificity.

[Dewar]

Hmm, I like the idea of doing the Exorcist. A screening of that at college was one of the first dates with my wife, so it would be extra special.

[namman siggins]

If your guests have a strong stomach for insane cartoonish gore, you can follow any number of zombie films with Peter Jackson's Dead Alive (AKA Braindead).

Other thoughts:

• Just Before Dawn and Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (redneck slasher in the woods and a deconstruction of the redneck slasher trope)
• Them! and Tremors (50's giant ant movie and 90's giant worm monster comedy)
• Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead (original classic and a funny punk-filled spin-off that spawned the brain-eating zombie trope)
• The Changeling and Housebound (haunted house with a dark secret and a comedic version of that same idea)
• Brides of Dracula and What We Do In Shadows (Hammer vampire coven and hilarious New Zealand mockumentary about a vampire coven)

Classics right here.

I also recommend american werewolf in london; a solid horror film with a great sense of black humor

[miffy495]

Second for What We Do In Shadows. One of the funniest things I've seen this year easily. Having Murray from Flight of the Conchords leading a werewolf pack was brilliant.

[Patrick R]

10/3

 

A Bucket of Blood (1959)

 

Roger Corman was not a great artist. He made his mark on film history by making movies faster and cheaper than anyone else, not better. But one of the reasons he's still so beloved today is his sense of humor. No film is a better example of that dark humor than A Bucket of Blood.

 

A Bucket of Blood is about Walter Paisley (played by Corman stalwart Dick Miller, who you will at least recognize from Gremlins), who is also no great artist. But this simple-minded waiter quickly becomes a sensation among the beatnik art crowd when he covers a cat he accidentally killed with clay and calls it a sculpture. But as the demand for his art rises, so does his need to murder. Supremely fun and silly, with the best role of Miller's career.

 

How can I watch it?

This is actually in the public domain, so you can find a dozen uploads of it on YouTube.

 

 

The Haunted House (1921)

 

Buster Keaton was the greatest silent film comedian, and is maybe the greatest film comedian of all time. In this 20 minute short he plays a bank clerk who confronts a stick-up gang who are holed up in a haunted house. Great special effects and a spooky mood are the cherries on top of what is already one of Keaton's better shorts.

 

How can I watch it?

[jennegatron]

omg a bucket of blood is one of the best movies i watched in my horror cinema class in college. please everyone watch it.

[Patrick R]

10/4

 

Pontypool (2008)

 

A logorrheic zombie apocalypse, where people become infected by words. This is maybe the most semiotic-based horror film of all time, ripe with potential readings. Is it exploring the genre's communication breakdown tropes? Is it about Orwellian double-speak in the age of the War on Terror? Is it about the zombification of social media, with masses of hordes basically retweeting each other, endlessly recycling content?

 

Or maybe it's just a paean to the power of suggestion. Pontypool is one of the most wildly original horror films of the century, but maybe the most impressive thing about it is that it juggles all those ideas while still being quite effective and scary. For a movie that entirely takes place inside a radio station, where the zombie apocalypse is only heard and not seen, it's astounding how many genuine thrills and scares it can achieve, just from listening to people calling in from the outside. A bonafide new classic, as entertaining as it is brilliant.

 

How can I watch it?

It's on Netflix Instant, and is available to rent digitally from iTunes.

 

 

Lights Out (2013)

 

Look, I'm going to be honest with you. This two and a half minute horror short is one of the scariest short films ever made. It's really really creepy and also there's a really good jump scare. If you are like me, and can get an overactive imagination when turning the lights out at night, imagining things hiding in the shadows, you maybe shouldn't watch this. This movie made my partner leave the hall light on for three months.

 

And maybe all that warning will have built it up so much that it ends up not living up to the hype.

 

How can I watch this?

You maybe shouldn't, but

[Bjorn]

10/4

 

Pontypool (2008)

 

A logorrheic zombie apocalypse, where people become infected by words. This is maybe the most semiotic-based horror film of all time, ripe with potential readings. Is it exploring the genre's communication breakdown tropes? Is it about Orwellian double-speak in the age of the War on Terror? Is it about the zombification of social media, with masses of hordes basically retweeting each other, endlessly recycling content?

 

Or maybe it's just a paean to the power of suggestion. Pontypool is one of the most wildly original horror films of the century, but maybe the most impressive thing about it is that it juggles all those ideas while still being quite effective and scary. For a movie that entirely takes place inside a radio station, where the zombie apocalypse is only heard and not seen, it's astounding how many genuine thrills and scares it can achieve, just from listening to people calling in from the outside. A bonafide new classic, as entertaining as it is brilliant.

 

How can I watch it?

It's on Netflix Instant, and is available to rent digitally from iTunes.

 

Pontypool remains my favorite intelligent horror movie of the last decade (Tucker and Dale takes the prize for dumb fun).  I suggest it to people whenever possible.

 

 

 

I watched Nightbreed for the first time in 20+ years tonight.  It was okay, the costuming and makeup is fabulous and the underpinnings of an epic story are there, but it's pretty much a hot mess in a lot of other ways.  And this was the Director's Cut.  I enjoyed it for nostalgia sake, but I think I'd be hard pressed to ever want to watch it again. 

[Patrick R]

I watched Nightbreed for the first time in 20+ years tonight.  It was okay, the costuming and makeup is fabulous and the underpinnings of an epic story are there, but it's pretty much a hot mess in a lot of other ways.  And this was the Director's Cut.  I enjoyed it for nostalgia sake, but I think I'd be hard pressed to ever want to watch it again. 

 

The only time I ever saw Nightbreed was when they were touring a very rough version of the Cabal cut around, trying to drum up interest for the eventual director's cut DVD. It was far from an ideal way to see it (most of the new footage was ripped from VHS dupes), but I remember being distinctly unimpressed. It felt like a horror Star Wars prequel.

[Apple Cider]

Is anyone dressing up? I never go anywhere, and I'm not really on candy duty but I thought it might be fun to wear a costume in some way. My choices are someone from Steven Universe (thinking Greg or Steven) or maybe Neptune from We Know the Devil. 

[Mangela Lansbury]

I'm thinking of wearing an R2-D2 sock, a C-3PO sock, a Wookiee hat, and a smugglers vest and shiny gold booty shorts under a big brown robe. Just be all the Star Wars. All of them.