AITH STAFF HALLOWEEN MOVIE PICKS!
Arrow Note: AITH wouldn’t be the mucho
groovy site that it is today without the kick ass, horror loving team
(Learn
mroe about them here) that I have on my
side. Here are their wiser than wise “Movies to watch on Halloween” picks!
– PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Buy the DVD here
Plot:
Want a great flick to
watch this Halloween? Well look no further than the work of horror master John
Carpenter. It’s not the movie you think either. I’m talking about PRINCE OF
DARKNESS. It’s one of my favorite films of Carpenter’s simply because instead
of dealing with nameless evil, it deals with Absolute Evil. Yup, this is the
closest Carpenter is ever going to get to THE OMEN and THE EXORCIST in his work.
Review:
Granted evil is
mostly represented by a vial of green water in this, but I doubt you’ll ever
find being squirted
in the mouth any creepier (get your minds out of the gutter folks)! Basically
what’s going on is that something called
The Sleeper is awakening in the bowels of an ancient church.
The ever reliable
Carpenter staple Donald Pleasance
plays a priest who needs to stop the evil, of course! He recruits a scientist
buddy and off they go with a bunch of grad students to figure
out what’s going on, and how to stop it. What follows is actually one of
Carpenter’s more cerebral flicks. They discover ancient texts with math that
hasn’t been developed yet…containers that are locked from the inside…and
video footage from the future keeps popping up in people’s dreams.
But don’t worry, there’s also
slit throats, bodies covered in disgusting boils, heads getting banged in and a
flock of creepy homeless
people led by Alice Cooper. Plus that’s not even getting into the mirrors and
the bugs. I also can’t really
get into the coolest part of the movie, which is the base concept behind The
Sleeper. That’d take all the mystery out of it, and the mystery is well
realized and eerie all at the same time. Suffice to say it’s one of the cooler
alternate explorations of mainstream theology that I’ve encountered in film.
On the downside is the
distressing lack of nudity. It’s also a movie you actually have to pay attention
to because much of what makes it work is the slowly building atmosphere and
uncertainty. Not always the best if all that your drunk friends want are
breasts and cats jumping out of closets. But if you love movies that challenge
you think while also scaring the hell out of you, especially with a religious
bent – check out PRINCE OF DARKNESS this Halloween. I guarantee you’ll be
freakin’ out every time you stand in front of a mirror for the next week.
– PET SEMETARY
Buy the DVD here
Plot: The shite goes down like this: Louis
Creed and his family move into a nice farmhouse in Maine, which just happens to
be on one of the busiest roads in America where cemi-trucks roar by all day
long. They also happen to be just a short walk away the neighborhood Pet
Semetary, where generations of family pets are buried.
Beyond the Pet Semetary
is a sacred Indian burial ground that has evil and bad juju written all over it.
Disobeying Pascow the friendly ghost’s warnings, Louis buries the recently
deceased family cat in the Indian burial ground, where it turns out that things
buried there don’t stay dead. When aMack truck plows down his 2 year old boy,
Louis turns to the soiled ground beyond the Pet Semetary to help him grieve,
bringing what appears to be his boy back to life. Bad goes to worse from here…
PET SEMETARY is one of my all time favorite scary
movies to watch on Halloween. Directed by Mary Lambert,
SEMETARY is a tale of death that only Stephen King could tell, revolving around
the Creed family, their cat Church and all the bad things that can happen when
using a sacred Indian burial ground.
So why is this a Halloween classic of mine?
You have everything you could possibly want in a fright fest here: creepy ghosts
with premonitions; zombie cats unexpectedly jumping onto
screen at odd moments (a cheap scare, but a scare none-the-less!); Fred Gwynne
(from THE MUNSTERS folks!); a zombie 2 year old with a menacing attitude lurking
around in the dark, armed with a scalpel and a hunger for killing; a horrid cemi-truck
accident; a grotesquely deformed sister with serious back problems; and one
spooky as hell Pet Semetary, armed with lots of fog and dampness.
But maybe more than all that, Maine in the Fall screams Halloween to me, and
that’s exactly where this story takes place. Curling up with this flick on
Halloween night, witnessing the horror of a 2 year old killing machine slicing
achilles tendons, as well as the story of Zelda, the twisted chick in the back
room, is enough to creep you out and tingles every disturbed nerve in your body.
There’s nothing fun about this movie. It’s about as scary and uneasy as they
come, making you stare death directly in its ugly face and is therefore just the
ticket on Halloween night. So crack a beer, turn out the lights and prepare for
the SEMETARY, and remember: Sometimes dead is better….
THE EVIL DEAD 2
Buy the DVD here
Plot:
In a recap/remake of the first film, Ash and his main squeeze Linda head up to a
cabin owned by Prof. Knowbly for a little romantic getaway. At the cabin, Ash
unknowingly (stupidly?) summons demons which play with his head (and possess his
hand). After offing his possessed girlfriend, Ash is joined by Knowbly’s
daughter and company, who have to find a way to send the demons back from where
they came. Chainsaw and boomstick in hand, Ash proceeds to clean house.
Do I really have to answer this?Take the genius of Sam Raimi, the King himself
Bruce Campbell, throw in slapstick horror and gallons of Karo syrup and you get
the sequel to one of the all-time best horror movies ever. It really is all
Bruce in this one.
The guy spits out one-liners and dishes out Deadite pain like nobody’s
business, and the cheesy over-the-top gore and acting styles make this a
hilarious flick to watch with your buds. Many drinking games have spawned from
this flick (heck, the entire series, for that matter), and it doesn’t take a
genius to figure out when to knock one back.
Highlights include Bruce beating the crap out of himself with his hand (with
some help from Sam undercranking the film), Sarah Berry’s horrid
screaming that comes off as more or less hilarious/annoying than frightening,
Ted Raimi (Sam Raimi’s kid brother) and his ass hanging out of a latex body suit
and of course, the one liners. I swear, the first time I heard Bruce say,
“Swallow this!” and then blow away a Deadite was so hilarious I damn near wore
out the only VHS copy Blockbuster had. Thanks to Anchor Bay, fans have the
definitive edition of the movie on DVD.
If you missed out on the initial
release of the film on DVD, by all means grab the newly-released Book Of The
Dead 2 Edition of the film, complete with a slick new transfer. If you’re like
me, and you already had the previous version, go out and get it anyways! Watch
the film, then go back and watch it with the commentary by Bruce, Sam, co-writer
Scott Spiegel and KNB boy Greg Nicotero. Trust me, you’ll piss your pants you
laugh so hard. A must-have for any horror fan to have.
– HALLOWEEN
Buy the DVD here
Plot: The
story a young, slightly crazy, homicidal maniac who hacks his sister up and is
committed to an Insane Asylum. Feeling as though, he has been unjustifiably
imprisoned, Michael Myers breaks out of the asylum and begins his hunt for a
young, hot babysitter.
As he
makes his unwelcome return to Haddonfield, he faces quite a few obstacles, most
of which he disposes of easily. However, his main threat is Dr. Sam Loomis, the
man who was Myers doctor, knows of his intentions and is on a mission to stop
him before Haddonfield’s population goes from 26 to 0. As the bodies amount, so
does the tension and suspense. How does this horrific tale of Halloween carnage
end? Does Michael kill his young prey or does Dr. Loomis find a way to put an
end to the horror?
Review: So maybe it is an easy flick to
pick, but how can one not go with a film that personified the Halloween
atmosphere. I can remember watching this film at a young age and being
mesmerized by it. Screw “Trick or Treating” I said to my mother, do you not see
what masterful cinema this is?
Every
31st of October, I would find my self trapped in John Carpenter’s mystical world
of Horror Happiness. From the opening sequence, where an innocent “Trick of
Treating” Michael Myers goes ape shit and brutally hacks his sister to pieces,
your trapped. From then, ensues a classic game of cat and mouse, with dead
bodies, of course.
The
film epitomizes not only the Slasher genre but also the perfect Halloween film.
Of course, you have the Halloween undertones through out. But beneath all of the
candy and masks, you have a homicidal maniac ripping through people left and
right. I can remember jumping approximately three feet in the air when Michael
rises from the presumably dead state he was in. Chilling and masterful, I make
it a yearly event to watch not only my favorite movie of all time, any genre but
possibly “The Perfect” film to watch on Halloween!
– FRIGHT NIGHT
Buy the DVD here
Plot: Charlie Brewster’s (William
Ragsdale) life is turned upside down when a very handsome, suave, and
charming man named Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) moves into the
Victorian home next door to him. One night while being a “peeping tom” and
spying on Jerry’s latest sexual conquest through his binoculars, Charlie makes a
horrifying discovery and finds out that Jerry is a cold blooded vampire.
The situation takes a turn
for the worst when Jerry also knows that Charlie knows his deadly secret and he
threatens Charlie by telling him he plans to kill him the next night. Desperate
for reinforcements, Charlie seeks help from Peter Vincent, (Roddy McDowall)
“the great vampire killer” (who really is just a cheesy horror macabre host
who just got fired from a television station.) Thinking Charlie is crazy, Peter
ignores Charlie until Charlie’s loving girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse)
pays Peter to humor Charlie and go to Jerry’s house to prove to Charlie that his
next door neighbor is not a vampire. All’s fun and games until
Mr. Vincent and Charlie’s close friends find out one by one that Charlie was
telling the truth all along. Horror and mayhem ensues.
Review: Fright Night is a cult classic in my books. Not only
was it a vampire movie with originality,
it was one of the first vampire films that actually took place in its time.
Most vamp movies before that had mostly taken place in the 19th century gothic
era. (Yawn, been there, done that, have the bite marks on my neck to prove it)
Also, as frightening as
this movie was, it was also pretty funny at parts,(e.g.”You’re so cool,
Brewster!!) which in my opinion made me feel even more freaked out when the horror actually
appeared onscreen. The onscreen chemistry between the two heroes, Charlie and
Peter Vincent was marvelous, and Chris Sarandon,(my very first crush!)
was also perfectly cast as the sexy yet menacing vampire, Jerry Dandridge.
When this film was released
in 1985, the horror genre was completely taken over at this point by slashers.
No one wanted to see ghouls and monsters; they rather just watch some helpless
woman get stabbed to death by some psycho in a mask. Fright Night was a
refreshing change for horror , for it successfully resurrected the tired vampire
genre. This film also spawned many great 80’s vampire flicks such as Near
Dark, Vamp, and The Lost Boys. Fright Night makes a
perfect Halloween movie because it combines the perfect amount of thrills,
chills, laughs, 80’s nostalgia, and special effects makeup(that has been lost in
movies today, due to the over usage of CGI) Overall, this movie is a scream!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
FROM THE AITH STAFF!