recap: all of my favorite halloween movie picks

Don't forget to say your "white rabbits x3" for good luck this month, and honor your saints today if that is your thing. Here is the list of all my favorite Halloween flicks this year, last month. Just because Halloween is over, that doesn't mean you can't watch a scary movie. They're always in season.

Castle of Blood, The Return of Dracula, Poltergeist, Trilogy of Terror, Rosemary’s Baby, The Innocents, The Stepford Wives, Eye of the Devil, What We Do in the Shadows, The Legacy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 73-70’s T.V. Movies, Mad Monster Party?, The Omen, Village of the Damned, The Bone Collector, Beetlejuice, City of the Dead/Horror Hotel, Little Shop of Horrors, Horrors of the Black Museum, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Birds, Bunny Lake is Missing, Spirits of the Dead, The Company of Wolves, The Shining, Wolf, Suspiria, Eyes Without A Face, Only Lovers Left Alive.

favorite movie #61 - halloween edition: the return of dracula

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #61 - The Return of Dracula (1958) - Another film that impressed and scared me as a kid was The Return of Dracula, with Francis Lederer starring as the bloodthirsty count. The vampire film ditched the usual Transylvanian setting for bright, suburban California. I originally saw the film on my family's black and white television, so didn't know about the color insert scene until many years later. I think what scared me most was the sheer banality — Dracula could be someone posing as an uncle and living upstairs. He could gain access to your bedroom at night if you were so foolish to sleep with the window open. The last scene was pretty gruesome, too - I probably hadn't seen anything like it at the time. Lederer is effective, too —  just the right amount of charm and outsider-ness to make the squeaky clean characters find him off-putting. Bonus — the whole, remastered film can be viewed on YouTube.

favorite movie #60 - halloween edition: castle of blood (danza macabra/danse macabre/castle of terror)

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #60 - Castle of Blood (Danza Macabra) (1964) - I grew up on horror films, mainly watching them with my dad (who must have loved them too, and always turned them on) and family on television on Creature Feature or Thriller Theater. One of my earliest memories of having the bejeesus scared out of me is this Italian dubbed masterpiece from 1964, Castle of Blood. For years I thought its title was Nightmare Castle, another Italian gothic horror film starring the wonderful Barbara Steele. It was also pretty sexy for its time. I recently tracked it down — it's available to view on YouTube (in English, French or Italian). The plot is both simple and fantastic.  In a pub, a journalist (Georges Rivière) accepts a bet from Lord Blackwood (Umberto Raho) and Edgar Allan Poe (!) (Silvano Tranquilli) that he can spend the night in a haunted castle on All Hallow's Eve. All during the night various ghosts re-enact their gruesome deaths, and he falls in love with the beautiful, ghostly Elisabeth (Steele) who tries to help him escape ...

related:
halloween memories — barbara steele
a life-long love of scary movies

fright nights

Last month I indulged my love of scary movies and held my own, informal spook-a-thon. I am more a fan of atmosphere and dread than blood and gore, which is why the majority of films are more ghostly than violent in nature. Here's a rundown of my top picks:

Crimson Peak. (Creepy and gorgeous).

The Last Man on Earth. I wanted to see if I'd like this Vincent Price classic, based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend (which also gave birth to The Omega Man and Will Smith's I Am Legend). I did. Black and white and eerie zombie/vampires are as creepy as ever.

The Conjuring, The Enfield Haunting, and The Quiet Ones. Haunted houses and possessed kids. All movies had great casts and were OK, if you're in the mood for a haunting. But I had more fun finally reading The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. What a great, unsettling read.

The House at the End of the Street. Jennifer Lawrence is the reason to watch this teen-Psycho movie. It's too predictable to really be fun or scary, I'm afraid.

Scarlet Johanssenn's tour-de-force in Under the Skin. What a wonderfully icky movie. Almost a silent picture, with some times lush, sometimes gritty visuals. And a perfectly haunting soundtrack. A definite successor to The Man Who Fell to Earth, I can't recommend this spooky sci-fi/monster mash highly enough. It's hypnotic, sometimes hard to see and always hard to understand. I loved it.

"Need a lift?"

Scarlet Johansson, on the beach, in one of the most chilling scenes in Under the Skin.

throwback (halloween) thursday: halloween marathon: house on haunted hill

Originally published 10/10/13:

House on Haunted Hill begins with Elisha Cook Jr. and Vincent Price, each speaking directly to the audience, setting the mood of the movie and the evening to one of creepy horror. Adding to the spooky atmosphere are shots of the exterior of the haunted house — Ennis House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright a prime example of his Mayan Revival architecture.

A disembodied Vincent Price, "Welcome to the House on Haunted Hill"

Frederick Loren (Price), "I am Frederick Loren, and I have rented the House on Haunted Hill tonight so that my wife can give a party. She's so amusing. There'll be food and drink and ghosts, and perhaps even a few murders. You're all invited. If any of you will spend the next twelve hours in this house, I will give you each ten thousand dollars, or your next of kin in case you don't survive. Ah, but here come our other guests."

The five, presumably greedy "guests" are good-looking test pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), newspaper columnist Ruth Bridges (Julie Mitchum), the house's owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook, who is spookier than most of the spooks), suave psychiatrist Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), and pretty young thing Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), who works for one of Loren's companies. Also in attendance, besides the host, Frederick Loren, is his wife, Annabelle. The two aren't exactly a loving couple.

Frederick Loren, "Don't let the ghosts and the ghouls disturb you, love."
Annabelle Loren,"Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk!!!!"

House on Haunted Hill is all in good fun. The guests show up to the party each in their own individual hearse. Each person is supplied with a gun for their own protection. There is a vat in the basement filled with acid. Ghouls and ghosts appear to be on hand to help each of the guests into the netherworld. When the film was first released, director William Castle (The Tingler, Homicidal, The Old Dark House) used a gimmick called "Emergo" in theaters to further scare the audience — a skeleton was made to fly over the audience at a key moment during the film. It is rumored that Alfred Hitchcock, after seeing the success of the low-budget black and white horror movie, applied similar principles to his next film, Psycho. It is true that the sets and design of House on Haunted Hill do share the same production values as Hitchcock's television series, which may be the more direct ancestor of both films. Although dated, and undeniably goofy, thanks to the always wonderfully eloquent Price, House on Haunted Hill is still great Halloween viewing.

throwback (halloween) thursday: scary monsters and super creepy kids

October is almost halfway gone, and I haven't really indulged in the Halloween spirit yet. Here's a post from last year, when I was in the middle of a Halloween movie marathon, that I hope will help jumpstart my spooky mood. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing some of these scary movies again, either.


scary monsters and super creepy kids
(post originally posted on October 24, 2013)

After watching a bunch of scary and spooky movies in honor of this spooktacular Halloween season, especially The Awakening and The Haunting of Julia, it occurred to me that more often than not, especially in ghost movies, the chills are centered around a child, whether dead or alive. This most likely touches on all of our inner children, as that is what most reacts to the things that go bump in the night, what truly scares us. I tend to prefer such movies, which focus more on the psychological aspects of fear, as opposed to slash and gore-fests.

The kids from Village of the Damned

Some of the best horror movies are kid-centered. Here are some of my favorites:

Creepy kids from another world:

Village of the Damned (1960)

Rock-a-bye Rosemary's Baby

The Devil made them do it:

Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Omen (1976)

Brother and sister in their haunted house with an uninvited guest

Hold that ghost:

The Uninvited (1944)
Don't Look Now (1973)
The Shining (1980)

Clowns never cease to be super-creepy: Poltergeist

Poltergeist (1982)
The Others (2001)
ParaNorman (2012)

Can you come out to play in 'Salem's Lot?

Vampires and Witches, oh my:

'Salem's Lot (1979)
Let Me In (2010)

There are plenty more, but ones that I don't really want to see again, like The Exorcist, Audrey Rose, and The Ring. Have I forgotten any of your favorite creepy spooky kids?

throwback (halloween) thursday: selecting a costume

Sometimes a search for a costume is more fun than whatever you end up with.

throwback (halloween) thursday: the squirt

Ninja sushi chef

It glowed in the dark, too

As Aragog the Spider (poor Ron!)

The (not so) Wicked Witch of the East

Pretty kitty and cute hot dog

finger on the retro pulse

It's funny how when you haven't thought of something for a long time and then it's suddenly everywhere. During our Halloween movie marathon I introduced my nine year-old daughter to the classic television show, The Munsters. She absolutely loved it, from Herman's childish behavior but sweet personality, to Lily's take-charge attitude and glamor to Grandpa's wacky inventions. She was less impressed by Marilyn (poor Marilyn!), but adored Eddie, who is about the same age as she is.

We watched most of the show's two seasons and I know we will check it out again from time to time. So color me surprised when the other day we ran across these at a local toy store. Maybe Netflix showing all of these sold series is having a sales impact as well. It's funny that they chose to "outfit" The Munsters in one of the few episodes, "Hot Rod Munster," where they don't wear their typical costumes.

happy halloween!

halloween marathon: sleepy hollow

Although the original Halloween challenge was to watch a scary movie a night, I have found myself drawn to television shows as much as movies this month. Thanks to switching from conventional digital cable to Apple TV and subscriptions with Hulu and Netflix I am, interestingly, seeing a lot more of the new fall television season than I have in the past. One of my favorite new shows is Sleepy Hollow, a spooky drama (very) loosely based on Washington Irving's 1820 short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Apart from the Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow the series bears little to no resemblance to Tim Burton's more miss than hit 1999 film of the same name. I can't be the only one enjoying the show, as it has already been renewed for a second season.

The good guys of Sleepy Hollow, L-R: Katia Winter, Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones

The show starts off with a bang when Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), a Revolutionary War soldier and special agent for General George Washington rises from the grave, waking up in the current Sleepy Hollow. But Ichabod is not alone — the Headless Horseman (and according to the show's mythology, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Death) is also in town, and wastes no time, killing the town sheriff August Corbin (Clancy Brown). Corbin's protege, Lt. (pronounced the British way by Ichabod, "lef-tenant") Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), finds herself not only trying to solve her mentor's murder, but having to team up with Crane, a man from another time, to try and prevent the forces from evil from taking over Sleepy Hollow and the rest of the world.

The show has a nice balance of chills and humor, and the two leads have good chemistry. They also look great, as do the various sets and locations (the show is filmed in North Carolina). Sleepy Hollow can also laugh at itself. There has been a bit of internet chatter on why Ichabod is still sporting the same duds so many episodes into the season — can't Abbie or someone get the guy to a Gap? But that question was addressed finally in episode five, "John Doe," with Ichabod explaining that he felt more comfortable in his "old" clothes.

Apart from the two leads, some familiar faces are also on hand. Clancy Brown (Highlander, Carnivàle) may have lost his head in the first episode, but that doesn't rule out his returning to Sleepy Hollow at some point. John Cho (Star Trek Into Darkness, Harold & Kumar films), who is on Team Bad, has managed to hang around and cause trouble after his grisly end. Orlando Jones plays it mostly serious as Abbie's new boss, police chief Captain Frank Irving. In a rare television twist, Abbie doesn't try to keep her boss in the dark — Irving is aware of Ichabod's time traveling journey and even enlists his help, when necessary, such providing translation for a lost boy who only speaks Middle English ("John Doe").

Abbie and Ichabod in the woods

The Headless Horseman

The captain's endorsement allows Abbie and Ichabod to have some pretty free reign in their local investigations. Realistic? Not even a little bit. Sleepy Hollow, is at times, completely nuts. But entertaining? Absolutely. How else could they visit the original lost colony of Roanoke, or participate in an American Indian scorpion biting/mind bending ritual that allows the pair to enter the dream world of the Sandman (episode three, "For the Triumph of Evil")?

So far the only element of the show that isn't completely working for me is Ichabod's wife Katrina (Katia Winter), who, unbeknownst to him, was a witch, and helped pave the way for his resurrection. She can come to him in dreams, and at some point will undoubtedly show up in Sleepy Hollow. Potential love triangle? This show could go in many directions. But for now Ichabod and Abbie must concentrate on not letting the Four Horseman stage a reunion tour, and that's proving plenty of fun to watch.

halloween marathon: grimm

Grimm has been one of my favorite shows for a while. I like its Buffy and Angel-esque quirky cast, and take on monsters. Showrunner David Greenwalt was co-executive producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also worked with co-creator Jim Kouf on Angel, so they are no strangers to the weird and wonderful on television. Grimm's characters are constantly researching new ways to fight or kill a threat or to cure someone from a curse or attack. But mostly it's just plain fun. Its fairytale roots are not overplayed, like the boring and belabored Once Upon a Time.

I think Nick makes a pretty cute zombie — is that wrong?

The third season opener, "Ungrateful Dead," picked up right where last season left off, with our hero Nick (David Giuntoli) in a zombie-like state, his friends and colleagues trying to find and save him while trying to reverse the mass-zombie-fication of Portland, Oregon. In a sub-plot, former monster Adalind Schade (Claire Coffee) went through a series of gruesome trials with gypsy Stefania (Shohreh Aghdashloo) to once again become a Hexenbiest, Grimm's version of a very, very creepy witch. Grimm pushed its continuing plot threads to the forefront in this episode, ditching its monster-of-the week format for non-stop action. Or maybe Nick was the monster-of-the-week. Regardless, "Ungrateful Dead" was a great start to the season.

If you've never watched Grimm, it's a cop show-meets-the-darker-version-of-Grimm-fairy-tales. While on the job, Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt started seeing strange things — unusual people and creatures. He soon discovered that he is descended from a line of monster-hunters, "Grimms," whose job is to protect the human population from the supernatural or "Wesen" that share our world. He also soon learns that not all Wesen are evil or dangerous, as he befriends former Big Bad Wolf, or Blutbad, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and spice shop owner Rosalee (Bree Turner), who is a foxlike creature called a Fuchsbau. Nick tried, for a while, to keep his demon-hunting a secret from his partner Detective Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) and girlfriend Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch), but soon everyone in his inner circle joined him in his fight to protect Portland. The show has created its own mythology of Wesen creatures, introducing a new and interesting creature almost every episode.

Monroe and Rosalee face off with their fellow zombie citizens

"Ungrateful Dead" began with Monroe, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch), and Rosalee, who were tasked with figuring out how to use their one-on-one zombie potion cure on an ever-expanding population while Nick's boss Police Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz), Hank, and Sergeant Wu (Reggie Lee) tried to contain the invasion. Their solution was clever and the gang then shifted their focus to the walking dead Nick. Being a Grimm made Nick more than just your garden-variety zombie, which led to some interesting altercations with both baddies and innocent Portlandians.

Monroe and Rosalee are still the cutest Wesen couple on the planet, and Juliette was back and fierce as Nick's number one squeeze — and a formidable woman to have on anyone's team. Hank and Renard have an uneasy alliance, with Hank still unsure how much to trust his part-Hexenbiest captain. Will Wu ever get completely briefed on the creatures that live in his city? Does it matter? He's still a hoot, providing some of the best one-liners in the show, although that prize had to go this episode to Monroe. After they had administered their cure to all of the screaming and moaning zombies that they had rounded up and sealed in a large shipping container, one of the cops in riot gear asked how they would know if it was safe to open the door,

"It's like popcorn, when it stops making noise, it's done."

Nick's book of Wesen creatures provides lots of clues

Previews for the rest of the season already reveal that the gang will get Nick the required potion to end his zombie days, but that the experience has left him with a difference. He has always been more sympathetic to the Wesen world than any other Grimm before him, but maybe now being one of "them" may make him even more unique. We'll have to wait until next week to find out, but Grimm is already off to a great start. Plus, another plus for Angel and Buffy fans — Alexis Denisof (Wesley) has been cast as Renard's first cousin. Will he finally get to play a baddie?

more halloween fun

Here are some more fun Halloween images from the recent party and travels: