A CineNation Halloween
A majority of our generation grew up during a time when a lot of cable networks started airing month-long programming that dealt with Halloween. Disney Channel had special Halloween-themed episodes along with Halloween-themed Disney Channel Original Movies (like the beloved Halloweentown series). ABC Family (formerly Fox Family) had their 13 Nights of Halloween and networks like AMC showed a number of films centered around Halloween (you know like Halloween). You even have the Travel Channel creating Halloween shows nowadays (I’m looking at you Ghost Adventures). So, we thought that for our first group post we should tell you all about some of our favorite things to watch around the Halloween season.
HUNTER BARCROFT
So I kind of hate scary movies… Well I guess hate is a strong word, but I’ve just never been a big fan of obscene gore. So I’m here to mix this up a little bit and give you guys some recommendations that aren’t necessarily scary, but still involve the paranormal/ occult.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years (example: Ben, before we made him see a movie in a real theater) then you know that there is a reboot of this classic comedy on the horizon. Murray. Akroyd. Ramis. Weaver. Hudson. Moranis. You’ve probably seen this movie a thousand times, but you and I both know you’ll watch it a thousand more. This is a comedy of biblical proportions; Old Testament, real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
This is the movie of all zombie movies. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy (with brief appearances from Chris Martin and Martin Freeman) are basically everything you need to make a funny, timeless comedy. This is the first of Edgar Wright’s “Blood and Ice Cream” trilogy, and it is surely worthy of a watch every Halloween for the rest of time. It just really doesn’t get much better than this.
Black leather jackets, an 80’s hair-metal soundtrack, and Kiefer Sutherland beating up on The Corey’s make this campy vampire movie an immortal classic. Seriously, this is some great stuff. It’s pretty much The Goonies meets Stand by Me. Some amazing terrible effects and equally great dialogue make this a must-watch this Halloween, next Halloween and the Halloween after that. “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach; all the damn vampires.” But you can stomach it. You’re going to love it. You’re going to crave it until you just can’t take it anymore. Get your holy-water filled SuperSoakers ready. This movie is going to take a bite out of you.
In the golden age of the Mockumentary, this film will end up being a classic 20 years from now. This is the story of 3 vampire roommates who live together in Wellington, New Zealand. As it turns out, vampires have chores and bills to pay just like everyone else. I watched this movie with my roommate one night about a month ago, and we have since watched it about 5 times. It seriously never gets old. The jokes are so layered that you find something new to laugh at every time you watch it. They fight, they bite, and you will laugh every second of this film’s 86 minute runtime. We’re werewolves, not swear-wolves!
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video
You’ve done the dance. Arms up at 90 degree angles, swaying side to side, fingers hooked like claws. In a world where music videos are all but dead, why not enjoy some golden nostalgia from a time when MTV played music, not reruns of Teen Mom? The narrative of this music video actually plays out like a film, and has probably the most famous dance choreography of all time. Serious, this music video started a phenomenon that still very much exists today. I just danced to a Thriller remix at a dance club last month. Either I’m going to some lame dance clubs, or this song will never, ever get old.
ANNA CATLEY
Full disclosure — I’m notoriously bad with scary movies. I spent the entirety of The Woman in Black (2012) hiding behind my coat, practically in tears and I still get nightmares from seeing The Grudge (2004) at a sleepover once when I was thirteen. And to this day, I still refuse to watch Scooby-Doo on Zombie on Island (1998) due to some light childhood traumatization. With my qualms surrounding scary movies in mind, I generally balk at the usual jump-scare variety. Really, my less-is-more preference for Halloween usually has me gravitate towards films with more of a searing, unsettling creepiness. And there’s no film more deserving of that description than my first Halloween pick, Charles Laughton’s American Gothic masterpiece The Night of the Hunter (1955).
In the film, Harry Powell (played by Robert Mitchum) is a sociopathic “reverend” who preys on easily impressionable women, instilling a fear of God in them in order to murder and rob them. The Night of the Hunter mainly follows two young children harbouring a secret treasure and striving against all odds to hide it from Powell. Endearing right? But this isn’t a feel good movie — prepare to have your skin crawl at every turn with Mitchum portrayal of a holy yet poised hatred. Not only is The Night of the Hunter one of the most beautifully shot films of all time (I’m lookin’ at you, German Expressionism), it also has a place in my heart as the absolute creepiest. Don’t believe me? Check out the scene below, which has Powell singing a haunting hymn to lure young children away from a protective Lillian Gish. In the film, a beautiful hymn takes on the role of menacing siren song.
Further watching: M (1931), Blue Velvet (1986), There Will Be Blood (2007)
My second Halloween pick is another “oldie but a goodie” — Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), which I will forever cite as the film that persuaded me never to have children. Mia Farrow plays Rosemary, mother to a satanic fetus, and neighbour to a devil-worshipper played by Ruth Gordon (i.e. the Maude of Harold and Maude fame). In the quintessential disturbing scene, a drugged Rosemary is impregnated by the devil. NOW a scene that our generation will likely associate instead with This Is the End (2013), which features Jonah Hill in the Rosemary role, and a shadow with a monster dong in the devil role.
Further watching: The Omen (1976), The Shining (1980), The Ring (2002)
And for my final pick — Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981), which is more of the typical Halloween fare. You know the story…college kids spend a night at a remote cabin and accidentally awaken demons who possess each person one by one. It’s a classic. But The Evil Dead is really more comedic than terrifying. The complete foulness of the entire film with its decomposing layers of rank zombie puss creates images so grotesque and impossible which, for me, overrides the ‘horror’ of it. Sam Raimi is unapologetically disgusting and certainly not shy of blood, or really any variations of bodily fluid. In fact, The Evil Dead beats you over your most likely bloody stump of a head with its excessive gore. Check out one of my favourite scenes below!
Further watching: The Cabin in the Woods (2011), The Conjuring (2013), Evil Dead II (1987)
THOMAS HORTON
I have a confession to make: I am a recovering horror film detractor. Around my pre-teen and teenage years, when most people are developing their taste for horror movies, I turned up my nose at the entire genre. I mostly blame the rise of torture porn. I was in middle school when the first Saw film came out, and it immediately became the film to watch during middle school sleepovers. My parents, who fostered most of my love of film, were not really horror fans, so the films I started watching with my friends were my introduction to the genre. And I was not impressed. *disclaimer: I have grown to begrudgingly respect the first Saw as a film…though I’m still not happy about what it did to the genre.* All I was seeing was blood and guts being sprayed everywhere. Where was the suspense? Where were the emotional stakes? *disclaimer #2: I may have been a pretentious middle schooler, but that’s a topic for another article.* In my mind, none of the so-called horror of my generation could live up to the only horror I had been raised with: the films of Alfred Hitchcock. But slowly, during college, thanks to roommate’s DVD collections and my first experiences with cable TV, I came to appreciate some of the classics and some new films that I felt captured the essence of the genre. So, when Halloween rolls around every year, here are some of my go-to films:
Psycho is my original, my first, the one that will always have a special place in my heart. Back when I thought all horror movies were garbage, it was because I couldn’t find a film in the genre that I thought was as good as this one. Psycho was probably the first real horror/suspense film I ever saw. It was the first film I ever wrote about critically for the Film as Art class I audited at the local community college during high school. Some people might say this film is outdated, but I think it holds up beautifully. *those people can go watch the Gus Van Sant version. Have fun with that.* The pacing of the original is perfect, driven along by Bernard Herrmann’s manic score. And say what you will about “old-fashioned” acting, but we’ll have to agree to disagree. Anthony Perkins’ performance as Norman Bates will always be one of the greatest. You’ll find throughout my list that I love a sympathetic villain, and Norman is one of the originals. He’s a lost boy, innocent and charismatic, but with a terrifying darkness trapped inside him. The shower scene may be the most famous, but I still get chills from the scenes that Perkins carries. And don’t even get me started on that terrifying smile during the final scene of the film.
For me, the scariest thing in any horror movie is the idea that anyone can just snap at any moment. And Jack Torrance snaps big time. I’m sure this film will show up in someone else’s list in this article, *disclaimer #3: at this time I’m the only person who has submitted their list, so technically I had it first* so I won’t go into too much detail. Brilliantly acted, beautifully shot, and 100% unnerving. The Shining is the one film I make sure to watch every Halloween, and it always leaves me just feeling weird inside.
So a few years after my conversion to a horror fan, I was still pretty skeptical about new horror films. It was 2010 and everything was found footage. There’s only so much shaky camcorder horror I can handle. Then a friend picked this up at a Redbox, and I unexpectedly found myself enjoying it. I’m a fan of both Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson *insert yet another Fargo Season 2 plug* and I really enjoyed the pacing of the movie. I’ve heard a lot of negative reviews say it moves too slow, but I found that the film built suspense in a way that paid off with a general sense of unease. Plus I love LOVE LOVE the appropriation of pop music into the horror genre. And this film has one of my favorites.
As a cynic who likes to point out the perpetual flaws of the horror genre, I knew this was the perfect film for me after the first hilarious scene of dialogue. Cleverly mis-marketed as a traditional horror film, this joint effort by Joss Whedon and a then still relatively unknown Drew Goddard (just look at him now) is actually a biting satire of all the horror tropes. If you’ve ever yelled out “You’re so stupid!” or “Isn’t that convenient?!?” during a horror movie, this is the film for you. With a stellar cast, including a pre-super Chris Hemsworth and brilliant banter between Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins, this movie has worked its way into my Halloween routine. My only regret: I really wish we had been able to see Kevin let loose on the cabin.
This film is basically holy text in my home. I literally can’t remember a time when I couldn’t quote Young Frankenstein by heart. This film represents the collaboration of some of the greatest minds to ever grace the world with their comedy. Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Marty Feldman…have you ever loved a movie so much that you can’t even think of anything to say about it? That’s happening to me right now. I’ll just leave you with one of many classic scenes.
WILL CLAYTON
Disclaimer: this list is my personal five favorite films within the horror genre and are ranked in no particular order.
Who says that horror films cannot be both frightening and fun? The Cabin in the Woods is the ultimate deconstruction film. It takes apart all the elements that make up a traditional American horror film and explains the basic formula of how horror films operate, whilst being wildly entertaining film in its own right. It is both a celebration of the horror genre as well as a sharp critique of audience expectations of the genre; the Dark Gods that must be appeased through the actions of the film are a stand in for the audience, who get quite upset when horror films do not play out according to convention. The Cabin in the Woods, if the audience is aware of the joke, is also incredibly funny. I found myself laughing hysterically when watching this movie in theaters while the rest of the audience looked at me like I had lost my mind. If you enjoy meta-theater and appreciate the horror genre, you should enjoy The Cabin in the Woods.
Rarely do I ever watch a horror film and immediately watch it again after the credits roll. The Babadook had that kind of effect on me. The story is about a mother and her son while they deal with a gloomy and lurking dark presence in their lives, Mr. Babadook. What ultimately makes this film so worthwhile, even for those that do not particularly like horror films, are the thematic elements and overall craftsmanship. The Babadook is really a film about repressed emotions, guilt, pain, loss, and anger. Sometimes, the things that haunt us the most and are the most monstrous are ourselves. This movie is an instant horror classic.
Movies about demonic possession feel tired and boring when compared to the grandaddy of the genre. Perhaps no other horror film is quite as disturbing both in imagery and story than The Exorcist. A little girl finds herself the victim of a increasingly strange and violent events, leading her mother to turn ultimately turn to the Catholic Church when medical science fails. The priests determine that the girl, Regan, is under attack from a demonic entity and sends a trained and highly experienced exorcist to drive the spirit out. The use of religious elements and iconography, along with the symbolism that religion provides a final refuge for those that cannot find solace or help anywhere else, is expertly handled and highly effective.
I am an avowed fan and great admirer of Stanley Kubrick. His entire filmography is a masterwork of film technique. By this I mean that Kubrick’s use of lighting, cameras, sets, and sound do most of the work in telling his stories. At its most basic, The Shining is about a haunted hotel and cabin fever. At its deepest, it is a story about alcoholism and the suppressed violence within people. Whenever I talk about design and symbolism in movies, I use The Shining as my chief example. The film is so rich in detail that there are full-length movies about all the theories surrounding this movie and its interpretation. If you enjoy image based horror, The Shining is the benchmark.
Sometimes the most terrifying thing about a movie is a strong sense of atmosphere. Rosemary’s Baby might not be considered frightening by gore and monster fetishists, but the paranoia and conspiracy within the film will make anyone look twice at weird chanting noises and overly interested neighbors. Rosemary and her husband move into a new apartment building and are warmly accepted by their eccentric and elderly neighbors. When Rosemary becomes pregnant, after a disturbing and hallucinatory episode in the bedroom with her husband, she begins to feel sick on a level outside the norm for a typical pregnancy. She also begins to suspect that something about her neighbors is not quite right as they practically keep her prisoner in her own apartment and take a keen interest in her baby. Rosemary’s Baby is great for those that want a strong horror film that does not resort to jump scares, instead using atmosphere and character development to build tension and tell a story.
BRANDON SPARKS
Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays growing up. I mean I got to dress up as the wrestler Mankind one year for trick-or-treating. And I was a great Mankind. Anyways, movies and television were a major part of my childhood. Holidays were always a favorite time for me growing up because that’s when good things came on television. In November around Thanksgiving, The Wizard of Oz on TBS (or TNT) was always a family tradition. And like most families, movies like A Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas were part of the annual Christmas festivities. Halloween was no different. I had a lot of childhood favorites like Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown series, and Disney’s Tower of Terror (Yeah, I was a Disney kid). But, as I got older my taste started to develop a lot more. Now, I was never really into the blood and gore of horror films. For some reason, it never appealed to me. I was always into the more suspenseful movies. Those were always the movies that scared and entertained me the most. So, in honor of the Halloween season, here are a few of my favorite movies to watch during this time of the year.
Wes Craven’s Scream was a film that I was introduced to during my high school years. Now, I was never really been a fan of gory films that were all the rage during my early years (you know like ten years ago). Scream, however, was one I loved. It is smart, witty, scary, and entertaining. The opening scene of Scream was shocking and brilliant for the time. Out of all of the teen horror films of 1990s and 2000s, I feel this is the one that truly holds up. Scream revitalized a tired genre that was full of sequels and watered-down horror stories. Granted, a number of horror films still tend to follow this trend. Even Scream made three sequels, two of which are pretty solid. Sadly, I feel some people nowadays don’t appreciate the jolt of adrenaline this film gave to the genre. By Scream 3, the series fell into the same categories of the films they were poking fun at. Since so many films have imitated Scream, audiences might never truly understand the impact the film. But, Scream is Wes Craven’s horror masterpiece. And this is a guy who made a number of great ones.
The Shining is about a struggling writer who takes a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel during the hotel’s winter months. Him and his family live at the isolated hotel as some things slowly begin to affect their lives. People have already talked about the greatness of The Shining, so I will try to keep it brief. A lot of people talk about Dr. Strangelove or 2001: A Space Odyssey when discussing Kubrick, but this is truly Kubrick’s most underrated masterpiece. If you are a Kubrick fan then you have to watch this film for both the storytelling aspects and the technical achievements (Kubrick showed just what you could do with the Steadicam). You also get to see a great performance from Jack Nicholson. Jack has played a number of crazy characters, but this one might take the cake. His performance is unnerving and frightening. Nicholson is an actor who we always see a little bit of himself in each of his characters and that is even true when it comes to his portrayal of Jack Torrance. From repeat viewings of this film, I start to wonder why my mother let me watch this movie when I was ten years old. Anyways, it’s a slow-moving film, but that adds to the sense of doom that surrounds the characters within the film. If you want a psychological horror film, then this is for you. The Shining is an example of a horror film that doesn’t need blood to terrify you. Also, if you are a filmmaker or lover of films, then check out the short documentary Making The Shining, which was an intimate look into the making of film and it was directed by Stanley Kubrick’s daughter, Vivian.
Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel The Silence of the Lambs is one of the best horror films of all time. The first time I watched this movie was when I was in middle school. I watched it on the USA Network, so a number of things were cut out of the film. I also watched it during the day. Neither one of those things mattered because the movie still terrified me. It is a dark and twisted film with memorable performances by Jodie Foster, Ted Levine, and Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the most talented actors of all time, but he will always be known as Hannibal Lecter. There are very few actors who are connected to a role as much as Hopkins is to Lecter. Lecter isn’t the villain of the film, but he is still terrifying. We listen to every word he speaks with anticipation because Hopkins portrays the character in a calm, but menacing way. It is a brilliant film all-around. Great screenplay, great performances, and great direction. If it’s your first viewing of the film, then it will keep you guessing at every turn.
Psycho is not just one of my favorite films to watch around Halloween, but it is one of my favorite films of all time. People can argue all they want about what the greatest Hitchcock film is, but this easily his most known film. The shower scene is one of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history (who directed it though?). That scene was easily one of the most shocking moments ever seen on film to a 1960 audience. Psycho is a film where everything clicks. The story, the acting, the direction, and the memorable music. Everything works. The backbone of the film, though, is Anthony Perkins’ portrayal of Norman Bates. Perkins’ performance is subtle, but there are so many layers to the character of Norman Bates. If it weren’t for the performance of Anthony Perkins, the film would not have terrified audiences the way it has done for 50 years.
Going to throw a curveball here with a childhood favorite of mine. The Halloween Tree is a cartoon film adaptation of the popular novel written by Ray Bradbury, who also narrated the film. It is technically a television movie, but it’s a good one. It actually won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. The movie is about a group of young kids who travel the world and time itself in order to save their friend from dying. In the process, the four main characters learn the history and significance of Halloween around the world. The puppet master of the entire film is Mr. Moundshroud (voiced wonderfully by the late Leonard Nimoy) who takes the characters from place to place in order to catch their friend, Pip, because Pip stole a magical pumpkin from Moundshroud’s Halloween Tree. Watch it, it will make sense. Maybe. But, I loved this film because when growing up it was relatable for some reason. The animation is beautiful to me. The animation reminds me memories from my childhood growing up in a Southern town I can still remember certain images from this film, even though I haven’t watched it in a while. I fell in the love with the film after watching it countless times on Cartoon Network. I watched it so much that I eventually bought it on VHS. It was a childhood favorite of mine, so I will always have a special place for it.
Honorable Mentions (making lists can be hard):
Ghostbusters
Halloween (1978)
Young Frankenstein
The Blair Witch Project
Hocus Pocus
It Follows (one of the best horror films I’ve seen in awhile)
So, that’s some of our favorites. Feel free to comment below and tell us what movies you like watching during the Halloween season.
