Before I get going with this week's manifesto, think back to when you were in, say, eighth grade. Now warp ahead to being a senior in high school. Remember that time period? It felt like it took a f**king ETERNITY to get from point A to point B then. When you're younger, time moves in slow motion. These days? It feels like just yesterday that I was still living in my parents' house and this here blog was under one of its previous failed incarnations. However, I did crank out that life-time Friday the 13th retrospective, something that I can safely call the best thing I've ever done on here. So there is that.
But yeah. Adult life. It flies by, and it sucks.
Anyway, Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. If I was a kid, no doubt I would be all kinds of jazzed about that prospect. These days, I always head back to my childhood home for candy detail to soak in the spectacle on the greatest street in the history of Halloweens, but I've told this story many times already. If you're like me (and if you're reading this blog, count yourself in my mutant category), October 31st is a day when you soak in horror movies every waking moment. If you're like me, you have a pretty established playlist. It always consists of Night of the Living Dead, the first two Hellraisers, and then I close out the day with a Halloween I and II nightcap. But somewhere in the middle of all that, I always toss in a wrinkle, something that people don't typically think of when it comes to Halloween-day viewing.
And that's what we're looking at today, kids. Yeah. Lead-in. Read up for five alternate flicks to check out on Halloween day.
Trick r Treat (2007)
I don't know if it's entirely accurate to call this movie underrated. Just about everyone who has seen it loves it, and it definitely has that "cult classic" thing going on, but you'd be surprised how many people don't know about this one. Sitting on the shelf for a long period of time before seeing the light of day on DVD shelves, this is an anthology horror flick that aims to please, presenting a group of stories all based around Halloween day itself - two things that had been neglected for far too long by the film-makers of the world. Two of the stories are definitely a lot stronger than the others, and I'll leave it up to everyone to decide which ones those are. But the atmosphere contained within Trick r Treat, as well as "Sam," the puppet/mascot/villain guy in the costume that you saw on the DVD cover, make this a really good movie to check out to break up the monotony of Freddy, Jason, Pinhead and Michael that typically make up the day.
Jack the Ripper (1959)
This is one that I GUARANTEE isn't on anyone else's "Halloween Day watching" list. Released during rock and roll fever, this is a very, very, VERY fictionalized version of the legendary English serial killer mystery. And as goofy as this movie is, it played a big part in me becoming something of a Ripperologist myself. And when I say Ripperologist, I mean that I own exactly two books on the subject and have read them. I saw this movie LATE at night on AMC many moons ago, and there's just something about it that I really dig. As I said before, this is 1959 we're talking about, leading us to the unintentional hilarity of an 1888 detective rocking a 1950s-style Elvis do. With the writers subscribing to the vengeful "harlot killer" murder theory, it unspools its mystery in a pretty satisfying way. And it's got one of the most out-there endings to a horror movie I've ever seen that actually had to be edited down to protect everyone's eyes back in 1959.
Bay of Blood, a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
If you've got yourself a gathering of people on Halloween, this is a good one to show just for the history lesson. More inquisitive people might wonder where the exploits of all the '80s slasher icons came from, and they owe a HUGE debt to this Italian slasher flick directed by Mario Bava. One of the first true "body count" movies in existence, this movie shocked audiences in its day with its rapid fire, slam-bang, one gory/graphic murder after another style of suspense. It lends itself really well to Halloween-day viewing for first-time watchers, something that I can report with my expert eyes (LOL) as I watched the movie for the first time on Halloween day for that very purpose. Now, I will admit that there is a pretty long section in the middle involving various characters playing and conning each other that almost derails the mood entirely, but the first 20 minutes combined with the final series of shocks are a real crowd pleaser. Check this out.
House by the Cemetery (1981)
More Italian horror and splatter, courtesy of one of the masters of the genre, Lucio Fulci. When you're looking at a movie suitable for viewing on Halloween day, it goes without saying that "party movies" are high on the list. But this is one movie that will just scare the living daylights out of you. It combines several of the best-known horror tropes out there - we've got a haunted house, a zombie, and a mad scientist all rolled up into one somewhat incomprehensible but always tense entry in Fulci's "Gates of Hell" trilogy. Of course, a big part of the plot of this movie is something that would have absolutely traumatized me had I see the movie when I was younger, as it gives us perhaps the most literal translation of the "monster in the basement" story (involving a goddamned KID as the victim, no less) in any movie I've ever seen. BRRRRR. Give this one a watch if you want to give your Halloween party-goers a serious case of the creeps.
and finally...
Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)
It's highly likely that the original Return of the Living Dead ranks pretty high on most aficiandoes' best-movies lists, and rightfully so. Charles O'Bannon's movie had a simultaneously humorous and creative take on the zombie movie (and it feels infinitely refreshing these days). But for mysterious reasons, I've always preferred the sequel, even though I know that it's a FAR less impactful flick. What can I say? I just like goofy. And this is most assuredly one GOOFY movie, complete with zombies dropping one liners and a plot involving a zombie teenage bully that must be seen to be believed. This flick is just total fun from start to finish - there's no social gobbledygook that zombie movies (and TV shows) typically get way too caught up in, instead going for total entertainment. Whether it hits or misses for you is a bit iffy, but this movie hits for me in a big way. And it's even got a punk rock version of "Monster Mash" over the end credits.
You know the drill by now. No closing paragraph. Stay safe, have some good scares, and VIVA HORROR.
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