Day 31 Trick or Treat

In 1978 John Carpenter put a man in plain coveralls, a William Shatner mask, and created the Halloweenseries. Little did Carpenter know that his $325,000 movie would earn over $150million and spawn a new genre of horror films, after this no teenaged babysitter would ever be safe on the big screen again.

When Halloween was set to be broadcast on television in 1981 the censors deemed several sequences of the film to be too graphic for viewing audiences. Coincidentally Halloween 2 was being film at the same time, and additional footage was shot to replace the sequences the censors did not approve of. This version of the film features the replacement footage as well as the original footage, creating an extended cut of the film with more details on the background and mental illness of the killer.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure sharing 31 of my favorite horror films with all of you. I feel that the past 31 films are some of the best (and worst) fright films that the cinema has offered us, it was not an easy list to assemble, and I am well aware that I left out many classics. Thank you for joining me in this trip through cinema horror.

Happy Halloween, and if you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road, next to an insane asylum, down by the abandoned amusement park, off the corner of Terror Drive and Dead Mans Notch, stop and pick him up. After all, he might have candy.

Day 30, there’s no way of knowing which direction we are going

For 37 years Gene Wilder has terrified children and adults alike in his portrayal of Willy Wonka. Wonka, an eccentric candy maker decides to open the doors of his ultra secretive factory for one day, and only allow children to visit him. Wonka is without a doubt in my mind the inheritor of all the morality lessons, destruction, and violence that the Brothers Grimm ever wished to impart to children.

This movie is as much musical as it is nightmarish visual masterpiece. Every cast member sings and dances, some with more style and skill then others. No matter how much Wilder and Fred Astaire have in common, his skill is over shadowed by the antics of the Oompa Loompas. Singing and dancing midgets with bright orange skin and hair that only the Joker would approve of. Some call this movie horror, some call it a classic, some obsess about its comparison to the novel by Roald Dahl, and some prefer Johnny Depp.



Tune in tomorrow, when 31 days of horror concludes. What will be the movie selected for Halloween? Will it be one of your favorites? Will it scare you? Will you even bother to tune in? Or will Oprah Winfrey ban the whole thing as “indecent and immoral? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Day 29, having dinner with an old friend

Silence of the Lambsis a delicious example of a movie where the supporting actor over whelms the main characters and steals the attention of the audience. When asked about this movie, most people do not mention Buffalo Bob, or the FBI they simply render an impression of Hannibal Lecter flicking his tongue quickly over his lips. This is a movie that gets into your head, just as the villain of the movie does to the hero of the movie.

Ever since Jack the Ripper terrorized White Chapel, serial killers and lunatics have given audiences a perverse thrill. Silence of the Lambs brings the audience two killers in one movie, all from the safe warm perspective of a young FBI agent. It’s a guilt and calorie free ride, where the audience is rewarded with the exciting possibility of a sequel. Really, what chef could ask for a better complement then the audience doing their best impression of Oliver Twist as they say; “Please sir, can I have some more?”

Day 28, the Pumpkin King

Werewolves, ghosts, witches, vampires, the Boogie Man and musical numbers, it must be a horror movie. Only Tim Burton could imagine a story like The Nightmare Before Christmaswhere Halloween is prepared and exported to our world by fantastical creatures of our darkest nightmares. Disney was reluctant to release this movie, as they thought its content would scare children, so they released it under their Touchstone Pictures. Little could they suspect the pop cultural impact this movie would have on audiences.

This stop motion animation film is a tribute to some of Burton’s favorite movies and cultural icons. Jack Skellington’s dance moves are reminiscent of Fred Astaire; Halloween Town itself is a tribute to the German Expressionist film era, while Christmas Town could have been drawn by Dr. Seuss himself. With a basic story, extremely detailed animation, catchy tunes, and an on screen torture scene with Santa Claus this movie should fit nicely into your Halloween viewing schedule.

Day 27, Suspiria

Suzy Banyon is a talented dancer from New York City who has just received an invitation to a prestigious dance school in Germany, it’s the chance of a lifetime, and it may be the end of her life. Italian horror director Dario Argento’s Suspiria is a very rarely seen piece of horror movie history. An innocent young girl follows her dreams, and quickly finds herself at odds with a murderous witches coven.

Argento’s film draws the audience into the world of his characters. Garishly colored sets, harsh lighting, and a soundtrack that burns your eardrums, make the viewer feel as if they are a part of Suzy Banyon’s story. If visual and audio assault is not enough to turn your stomach, this movie brings you unsettling events that will leave their mark on you. A fleeing young dancer falling into a room filled with razor wire, a seeing eye dog turning on it’s master, and a chilling sequence with death brought on by shards of a stained glass window. American audiences rarely see Argento’s films, but they have made their mark on horror movie history.

Day 26 Stay the night

What would Halloween be without its master of ceremonies, Vincent Price and his House on Haunted Hill? During his career Price played many a role, comedian, voice over artist, gourmet cook, and horror movie icon. In an era where Bug Eyed Monsters (BEMS) were pulling in box office bucks, Price left his mark on Hollywood for all time.

Frederick Loren and his wife Annabelle do not have what you would call a “successful marriage”, but they sure do know how to throw a party. If their guests can survive one night in the only true haunted house in the world, they will win $10,000. The only catch is the ghosts aren’t the only real threat, their fellow guests are. Plot twists abound in this classic campy horror film classic. Ghosts, skeletons, vats of acid, and the eternal question, do ghosts exist?

Day 25 George C Scott’s house is haunted

When his wife passes away John Russell moves into an old mansion to spend some time alone with his thoughts, and stumbles into his very own ghost story. Russell soon discovers that he is not alone, and that his unexpected houseguest has a story to tell. Part mystery, part ghost story, and a dash of paranoia mix together to make an intelligently creepy horror film.

George C Scott’s presentation of widower Russell shows a man lost in his own misery, a man unable to reconcile the tragic events of his own life, yet his drawn to uncover the truth behind the specter that haunts his house. Windows open when they should not open, a ball bounces down a stairwell without a hand to throw it, and a wheelchair lurks in the attic. Can a man seeking peace find it in the search for a decades old murder victim?

Day 24, Death is just the beginning

HP Lovecraft returns to 31 Days of Horror with Re-Animator, a cult favorite movie based loosely on the serial novella Herbert West, Re-animator this film has been both shocking and amusing it’s audience since 1985. Director Stuart Gordon made the decision to modernize the story, but thanks to a young actor named Jeffery Combs the production was able to keep in tune with the feel of one of Lovecrafts’ most popular pieces.

Combs portrayal of West is detached from morality, and humanity and he quickly draws his naive roommate into his experiments at re-animating dead flesh. Scientific curiosity, college hormones, peer pressure, and egotism quickly cause events to spiral downward into a frenzy of imaginative violence and surprising levels of gore. Quite possibly the only movie I’ve ever seen that features a walking, talking headless corpse, and a homicidal cat returned to life attacking its former owner.

Day 23, A Modern Prometheus

DoctorVictor Frankenstein had a dream, a dream to conquer death and disease. Not all dreams work out for you the way you would like them too, sometimes you only create the number 2 box office draw movie monster. If torch-wielding mobs had their say, Frankensteinwould be the number one monster of all time. Pieced together from bits and pieces of murderers, thieves and whatever parts were on hand, Frankenstein has smashed, crashed and torn his way through as many movie theatres as the Prince of the Undeadhas.

Over the years many cinematic scientists have attempted to follow in the footsteps of Boris Karloff, some have succeeded,and some have missed the mark. Rarely does a parody outshine an original, but director Mel Brooks surpassed all expectations and gave us the 1974 comedy gem Young Frankenstein. Luck was with Brooks during the filming as he stumbled across the actual props used in the Karloff film. One year later, the film world would be changed forever as a door was opened that could never be closed again.

Day 22 Vampires on Parade

Call him Dracula,or Vlad the Impaler, or even Nosferatu. There is no doubt that vampires rule the month of October as kings of the night. More movies have been made about vampires then about any other of the classics of cinema monsters. With origins born in folklore vampires have threatened almost every culture on earth, but when an image of a vampire comes to mind, our minds conjure up an image of Hungarian born actor Bela Lugosi.

Any great icon spawns imitators, and Lugosi was not without his bastard children. John Carpenter brought us Vampires,a violent obscenity filled tale of modern day vampire hunters that comes complete with its very own Baldwin brother. Joel Schumacher brought us the tale of the deadly vampire teenagers of Santa Carla. Because no genre is complete until Mel Brooks mocks it movie audiences were subjected to Dracula, dead and loving it,a forgettable film which makes one think fondly of Count Chocula. Keep your crucifix close, the undead are out and about in Hollywood.

Day 21, Bark at the Moon

A werewolf does not knock on your door to introduce itself, it howls. When a TV news anchor is offered an exclusive interview with a reported serial killer, she cannot pass up the opportunity. Little does she realize that she is about to leave the world of humanity and enter into the world of primal animalistic rage.

Communities gather together to defend themselves against the parts of the world that they fear. The parts of the world that threaten their lives, and the lives of their children, this is a community of werewolves living in what looks like an ideal vacation destination. Humanity and beasts have something in common, they both fear and destroy what they do not understand. Humanity covers the globe and dies under tooth and claw, werewolves are few and require a silver bullet to destroy. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Day 20, Zombie

In 1979 director Lucio Fulci knew where the winds of horror were blowing, they were blowing towards Zombies. This film has no relation to the George Romero series, but the director hoped that he could profit off of Romero’s fan base. Fulci copied Romero in many ways, but not in everyway. These zombies were the result of a cursed island, an island where nearly the entire movie takes place.

American audiences were promised ‘barf bags’ when they bought a ticket to this movie, as it’s level of gore was promised to be excessive. A strong special effects budget produced a movie best known for two memorable scenes. This is the only movie to feature an underwater zombie vs. shark fight. A real live shark, not a special effect, bites a zombie and they fight it out. The other sequence is a slow scene where a zombie drags a victim toward a shard of wood that pierces her eyeball in slow motion. This is not a zombie movie for the faint of heart, or the faint of stomach.

Day 19, Aoooowwwwoooh Werewolves of London

Director John Landis was traveling through Eastern Europe when the idea that would become An American Werewolf in Londoncame to him. As the story goes he saw a group of what looked to be gypsies practicing a ritual over the grave of one of their family. They told him it was to prevent the dead from returning to the world of the living. His 20th century method of thinking saw these rituals are leftovers of a forgotten time, and a movie was born.

What if a 20th century American was bitten by a werewolf while crossing the Scottish Highlands? Would that man believe what had happened? Or would his logical modern mind deny the foolish myths of the past. It’s safe to assume that he denied the truth or else there would not have been a movie featuring Rick Baker on the make up effects. The movie was filmed on location in London, and features much local color making it an excellent time capsule of both cinematic horror history and British history.

Day 18, One of us, one of us

While not specifically written to be a horror film, Freakshas developed quite a reputation and cult following. Director Tod Browning filmed this movie in 1932 in only 3months. He made a crucial decision in the casting that would make this a movie unique in cinema. Browning decided to not use make up to create his circus of freaks, and instead he cast real sideshow circus freaks. Birth defects, deformities and medical conditions were the heroes of this film. While the people that society would consider beautiful had motivations and aspirations that painted them clearly as the monsters of this film.

While the performances are genuine and delivered with a sincerity that cannot be faked, audiences did not take kindly to this film. MGM studios decided to cut half an hour of footage from it, footage that has since been lost. One pregnant audience member tried to sue MGM, claiming that the shocking visuals she had seen caused her to suffer a miscarriage. The film was banned in the United Kingdom for 30 years, and mostly disappeared until the 1960’s when it resurfaced at midnight showings as a counter culture cult hit. This is one truly unique film.

Day 17, Freelance Bio Exorcist for hire, works cheap.

He’s the self-proclaimed leading bio exorcist of the afterlife, and he’s been sighted in Winter River Connecticut. Beetlejuicewas a commercial success for Tim Burton filled with the kind of horror movie imagery you can only find at a carnival scare ride. When young newlyweds pass away in a car accident, they discover that the afterlife is even more heavily laden with paperwork and forms then the world of the living had been.

Tim Burton grew up at the movies and B monster movies were his favorites. He resurrected the genre with this film, but with a budget. Burton arrived in cinema at the perfect time for a man of his unique talents. He was able to intermingle his love of horror movies, black comedy, and darkly themed artwork catapulted his career into unexpected high gear. If you’re looking for a horror movie that will keep you amused from start to finish, then just call his name three times.

Day 16, Only found in the most sincere pumpkin patch

Halloween isn’t just about the dead and horror, it’s about tricks or treats. It’s about getting together with your friends in the neighborhood and going door to door in costumes asking for candy. Unless you’re a visionary dreamer named Linus, then Halloween is about proving your sincerity to the Great Pumpkin. No mater how many times your sister Lucy calls you a blockhead.

Since it was first aired in 1966 there has not been a year when this was not shown on television. It is as much a part of a modern Halloween celebration as candy corn, jack o lanterns, or sacks over flowing with candy. Is the Great Pumpkin anymore real then Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny? Does it matter to you? I suppose it would only matter if you got a rock.

Day 15, Treehouse of Horror

Every year Fox television blesses us and curses us at the same time with a new installment of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. Some years the tree is solid and sturdy, other years the tree is flimsy and rotten to the core. Over the years we’ve seen parodies of The Shinning, Nightmare on Elm Street, and even Harry Potter.

While the movies that they mock aren’t for kids, the Simpsons are chock full of monstrous mirth and merriment. If you consider that most frightful productions aimed at kids involve the words Goosebumps, haunted acre wood, and Wishbone this DVD series is a bright ray of horrific amusement in an otherwise bleak and bland wasteland of childish Halloween amusement.

Day 14, Halloween is kids stuff

Pipkin and his friends do everything together, and they always trick or treat together. Pipkin is never late, in fact he is always the first one there, but this year he’s late. There is an ambulance at Pipkins’ house, he’s being taken to the hospital, or is he? Pipkin is seen in the distance, and the chase is on. Pipken disappears into a strange house owned by a strange man named Moundshroud and they see his Halloween Treeand the friends soon realize that what they had perceived to be a game is far more series then they had ever expected.

Ray Bradburry’s 1972 novel The Halloween Treeis a novel that fulfills two children’s lessons at the same time in a humorous fashion. The novel is a fantastical view of the history of the various traditions and holidays that have become known in America as Halloween. Pipkin and his friends also take part in a coming of age journey, as Pipkin is dying and his friends must attempt to save his soul from becoming a part of Moundshrouds’ collection. Sadly, this movie has not been released on DVD used VHS copies are your best chance to hear Ray Bradbury narrate his classic novel.

Day 13, Lord of the Gore

In 1957 one man in New Zealand saved the world from the threat of the Sumatran Rat Monkey. It was not until 1993 that a filmmaker named Peter Jackson finally revealed his story. Dead Aliveis the name under which he released this information critical to homeland security. Little did the world release how dangerous the bite of one vicious little Sumatran Rat Monkey could be.

Did anyone ever expect that New Zealand could possibly export a filmmaker like Peter Jackson? That it would be possible a low budget gore filled horror moviemaker would one-day rise to create the Lord of the Rings film series? Dead Alive has incredible special affects, repulsive ideas for violence, and a sense of humor that makes this a movie your gag reflex will never forget.

Day 12, I've seen better film on dishes.

You’ve Got Mail. Consider this movie, Meg “Oh My Gawd Am I Cute” Ryan and Tom “I’m a safe guy” Hanks falling in love over an American Online Email Program.

Absolutely Horrifying please don’t watch this movie or any like it.

Day 11, Evil Dead Trilogy

1981’s dark horse movie Evil Deadintroduced the world to Bruce Campbell and Sam Rami. Evil Dead made very little money on its own but people with important names and large checkbooks loved it. 1987 brought the world many important things that have nothing to do with Evil Dead: 2. Rami lost the rights to his creation, and had to start over again, sort of, but with more money. Campbell returned and reprised his role as the beaten down everyman hero known only as, Ash.

In 1993 an Army of Darknesslaid siege to American cinema. Rami and Campbell returned to the screen with a surge of zombie ridden horror comedy unseen by any audience before. Bad jokes, sprays of blood, references to classic mythos, and a chainsaw hand are the only way to top the two previous movies. If you see one Bruce Campbell movie this year, he won’t care which one it is, because he’s getting royalty rights for it. Give him some sugar baby.

Day 10, It’s a lovely day for an exorcism.

Her name is Regan, and she hasn’t been acting like herself of late. After numerous visits with psychiatrists, uncomfortable medical tests there are still no answers to what could be wrong with the young girl. Her mother makes an unusual choice, a choice based partially on her belief structure, and partially on psychiatric science. An Exorcistis called in to see Regan.

Seeing this movie on DVD does not do it justice. This is a horror movie best seen in the dark, alone, and without the comfort of your favorite chair. Many directors have copied it many times, as have many scriptwriters. Accept no substitutions; see the original, alone, in the dark, and skip the sequels.

Day 9, What is your pleasure sir?

As the old saying goes, better the devil you know. Horror movie fans had grown comfortable with the red horns, the brimstone, the fire, and the damnation. In 1987 Clive Barker’s Hellraiser ripped the movie screen to bloody ribbons. When the puzzle box was solved, Pinhead appeared promising untold ecstasy and exquisite pain to his victims and surpassing box office expectations.

With it’s sadomasochistic inspired imagery Pinhead and his Cenobites were a shot of adrenaline into the heart of horror devotes’ the world over. The movie spawned 6 sequels, a comic book series, action figures, and all manner of fetish clothing. If you ever see an annoying pale 21year old in a floor length leather dress, you have no one to blame but Clive Barker.

Day 8, He has his father’s eyes

Rosemary Woodhouse wants to have a baby,but not as much as her neighbors want her to have a baby. Mia Farrow shines as the naive expectant mother who watches as her life spirals out of her control as her creepy, yet well intentioned neighbors offer their advice and help with her pregnancy. Once Rosemary and her husband Guy move into their new apartment building everything seems to fall into place for them. Rosemary questions their newfound luck, but Guy dismisses her apprehension. Of course Guy would dismiss her concerns, he in league with their neighbors dark coven. Rosemary is pregnant with the son of the devil.

The movie was filmed in and around the famous upper west side of Manhattan apartment co-op, the Dakota and its’ signature is all over this film. The hallways and doorways seem narrow, and confining, leading the audience to feel as trapped and oppressed as Rosemary does. Director Roman Polanski’s decision to use existing structures and no sound stages gave this movie more then realism, it gave it an air of believability. Every young couple worries if they are making the right decision, Rosemary’s terror and doubt forces one to wonder if this could be a true story.

Day 7, From the Boris Balkan collection

Horror is not always obvious, sometimes one must do research to find true horror. Secret societies have existed for longer then the page has held print, and many of these societies have survived to the present day. Over time a society may drift from its founders wishes, and become a parody of itself. Sometimes the truth behind a secret society was never a part of the society at all.

Johnny Depp stars in Roman Polanski thriller, The Ninth Gateas a rare book dealer hunting across Europe for the one true copy of a book reported to be written by Lucifer himself. Polanki kept many elements from the original book The Club Dumasbut removed the plotline involving a search for a rare Three Musketeers manuscript, and as such felt that the movie needed a new title. This is a movie that the advertising campaign failed to paint a proper picture of. Audiences went expecting demons and hellfire and were greeted with dramatic tension and suspense bordering on film noir.

Day 6, Lived any good books lately?

Select members of the human race have always known that the ancient ones will return to our verdant sphere. These learned scholars and madmen were arrogant enough to believe that the only vessel for the return of the ancient ones would be the dread priest Cthulhu (who sleeps in R’lyeh, darkness eternal). For centuries these accursed men kept watch for signs of the rise of the city of R’lyeh, none of them envisioned that a writer from New England named Sutter Cane would usher in the end of everything, through a mass produced pulp novel, and a movie based on it’s text.

In the Mouth of Madnessstars Sam Neil as an insurance fraud investigator looking into the disappearance of famed horror novelist Sutter Cane. Really, what is more horrifying then an insurance investigator? When Cane goes missing on the eve of the release of his reported masterpiece, crowds begin to riot, with axes. Is Cane a prophet of the ancient ones, channeling their dark perverse gospel into the printed page? Or are his legions of fans emotionally unbalanced and prone towards mass hysteria? Only John Carpenter knows.

Day 5, His Fathers Son

To some men, there is nothing more important then living up to your fathers expectations. Finding that right girl, and finishing the dreams that dad wasn’t able to finish. In The Dunwich Horror, Dean Stockwell plays Wilbur Whateley searching for that perfect girl, played by Sandra Dee to continue his father’s work.

H.P. Lovecraft wrote short stories that were not meant to be adapted cinematically. Roger Corman was best at making cheesy exploitation horror flicks, but a strange kind of chemistry was forged in this film. Excessive use of flashing light, odd camera tricks, and a creepy leading man has built a film that only a fan could enjoy. See it with someone who doesn’t have tentacles.

Day 4, You've Got Red on You

There comes a time in a mans life, when he must rise to the challenge. When he can see the future laid out before him in a crystal clear, this is not one of those times. She’s leaving him, his best mate is a fat slob, and the dead are walking. It is time for Shaunto take charge of his life.

For decades movies have been made showing mans struggle against the walking dead. The first popular movies were written to make audiences laugh, and to show couples falling in love with each other. One man brought all three genres together, and he used a cricket bat to do it.

Day 3, Night of the Living Dead

In Night of the Living Dead,the unburied dead are walking and seeking human victims. They could be your neighbor, they could be anyone. The terror was right next door to you, and it was hungry for your flesh. Damned Communists, they were everywhere in 1968, but now they want to eat you. Director George Romero offered little explanation to the horror of his ghouls, but he did hint that that radiation caused his ghouls to walk. A common theme in 1968, what could be worse then radiation? Aunt Bertha returning from the dead to eat your face, that’s what could be worse!

Romero used some pretty basic and stereotypical archetypes, yet made one deviation. Romero cast the leader as a black man. In 1968 this was shocking, it stood out like a sore thumb and audiences loved it. Once the characters realize that they are trapped by a small army of ghouls, tension mounts. The story ceases to be a struggle of life vs. death, but a fight for possession of the only rifle in the house, and people begin to make mistakes. One by one they begin to die, not due to bullets but due to human flaws and the tearing mouths of the ghouls.

Day 2, In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

In 1979 movie going audiences were gobbling up popcorn in front of any screen with space ships and alien creatures, just as they had 20 years previously. But Alienwas not their fathers Bug Eyed Monster. Ridley Scott, drawing upon the space monster movies of his youth, took H.R. Gigers alien creation and gave it life on the big screen. Catapulting Sigourney Weaver to stardom and reminding the Star Warsgeneration that not all aliens are cute and fuzzy.

The deep space mining ship, the Nostromo is a maze of poorly lit, smoke filled passageways that the beast prowls through. One by one the crew members meet gruesome ends at the hands of the never named alien monster, where the audience barely sees the monster. There is nothing more terrifying then the unknown, what is the beast, why is it doing this, and how can it be stopped?

31 Days of Horror

Day 1, Enter the Chainsaw


In 1974 director Tobe Hooper gave the horror genre a shot in the arm with his low budget independently produced film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Hooper loosely based his film on the real life cannibal Ed Gein, Hooper also said that the inspiration for the film came to him as he tried to think of a quick way to exit a crowded hardware store. Hooper’s realistic and shocking depictions of violence caused the film to be banned in the United Kingdom and Australia for over a decade.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre changed the horror movie industry and gave birth to the genre of the Teenager Slasher Flick. What Norman Bates began in Psycho,Leatherface and his chainsaw picked up and became perhaps more iconic an image to American horror than a lone woman screaming in the shower. Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Chucky, and countless forgettable characters owe their existence to this classic.