With Halloween fast approaching I'm looking forward to catching some old horror flicks. One thing i've noticed as i get older, they don't play as many scary movies during the lead up to halloween. I remember catching stuff like carrie, the exorcist, poltergeist, etc., on tv from about mid-october until the big day. Now not so much.

Anywho my post is really about wondering how many of you are planning on dusting off your old vhs tapes/dvd's of horror classics and doing the horror movie countdown to halloween?
I bought the Nightmare on Elm Street collection on bluray to start me off!

without naming any specific movies, i would advise that you check out AMC if you get it up there as they go above and beyond the call when it comes to halloween movies!

AMC is Good they always got good movies repeated frequently a lot around holidays

It's funny if your getting bent with a group of friends and watch Halloween (Michael Myers appears outta nowhere and then starts walking slowly )( Screeching Music) :Lol:

HALLOWEEN is still a classic, John Carpenter's most popular movie that he'll be remembered for when he passes off into the great future maximum security prison in the sky. (But not his best horror effort IMO, that would be THE THING.)

The sequels can eat my shit. Wow they were stupid and crummy.

Speaking of Carpenter, recently I rewatched one of his more obscure efforts in THE FOG, his horror follow-up after HALLOWEEN. When horror movies, partly inspiredby HALLOWEEN, drove deeper into gore and violence over mood and suspense, Carpenter tried to go the reverse. And I think he made a good movie, even if logically it doesn't quite add up. (Martin Scorsese is a notable fan.)

Best bit however is the opening, John Houseman telling a ghost story (and plot device to give exposition about dead pirates that shall soon cause havoc) and God what great potent imagery he draws up with his words over a campfire. Perfectly sets the mood for the movie to come.



Why can't modern horror movies be inspired by that instead of torture porn and those stupid Japanese-people-crawling-out-of-your-body pictures and gorefests?

Ronnie, I bet you really enjoyed Halloween III, huh? AKA the one that had nothing to do with the Halloween franchise. I've caught it a few times on AMC's annual marathons and can't ever force myself to look away.

One of my favorite "scary" movies - though it's clearly more dark comedy - is Beetlejuice. (I'm only saying his name once.)

I've watched it so many times since I was little, and it's still a favorite. This scene alone makes it worth it for me:

Beetlejuice is one of my favorites. I still keep a figure of him on a shelf over my desk in my workroom (where I am right now). Even dressed up as the character back in the early 1990's (it was Halloween) when I was teaching at a local college. Ran around the campus that way causing quite a stir, but I was physically prevented by the security staff from barging into the office of the college president. He was a stuffy old shit with no sense of humor anyway, so I guess it really didn't matter. I may have a photo or two somewhere. I'll see if I can unearth one.

Anyway, Antenna TV has been showing a few older horror movies in the middle of the night. Within the last couple of days, they aired The Tingler with Vincent Price. Their promos also advertised the original The Blob, but they ended up showing the remake (oh well...).

See if they're carried on cable systems where you live:

Antenna TV

They are also carried over-the-air in many areas by local broadcast affiliates - so, luckily, here in Brooklyn I can get this channel as an over-the-air digital signal without needing cable.

I've got so many classic horror films on old VHS tape, that I could probably start watching them and not have to watch "real" TV again for at least a year.

Of course, I also have more than my share of pure drek, too...

Signor V.

I remember reading about "The Tingler" in Stephen King's "Danse Macabre", and I believe the original release had some sort of gimmick where there was something in the seat that was supposed to tingle you when the victims were tingled. I'm not imagining that, am I??

I love the original "Halloween" and also the sequel. I also love the original "Scream" before that franchise got so silly. There's a George C. Scott movie that scared the crap out of me when I was 16 or so about a haunted house, but I can't remember the name of it.

And, of course, "The Exorcist". Oh, it was just SO terrifying, so beyond anything anyone had ever seen before. There were stories in the news about people throwing up, having heart attacks, pregnant women being turned away from theaters. The hype was just incredible.

Halloween is a classic. In the early 90's i remember one of the U.S. stations splicing the first two and airing it as a mini-series (edited version of course). It was awesome!

One movie that i used to like watching late at night on Halloween when i was in my teens was "Blair Witch Project." It did give me the creeps.

THE CHANGELING. (and that was pretty good.)

AMC is showing Halloween this week I believe. I like Halloween, IT, Child Play series,Friday the 13th series, Texas Chainsaw.

SV, I would LOVE to see that photo of you in costume! I was actually wanting to dress up as him this year, so maybe I can get some ideas from what you did. I recently stumbled upon a photo of a really crazy couple costume someone made, based on the movie: Isn't that awesome?

Antenna TV sounds great, though I don't think I have it. All we've got is the Family Channel marathon and AMC's Fear Fest. The Family Channel is reliable for the fun classics like Beetlejuice, but most of it's kid-only. And it seems like AMC used to show a lot more variety in their past marathons than they do now.

No, you're not imagining it. Here's the whole story, off the top of my pointy little head:

The film was produced and directed by William Castle, who almost always had some sort of outrageous gimmick associated with his films (at least, in their initial release) which would certainly guarantee the films (and him) a lot of publicity from the press. He called the gimmick for this film, "Percepto."

The actual "tingler" itself was a ridiculous-looking rubber thingy that could only be "neutralized" by screaming. At the climax of the film, the creature gets loose in a theatre showing an old silent film, almost kills the projectionist, and the film breaks. We, the audience, are in total darkness (just like the moviegoers in the film) and we hear Vincent Price's voice telling us that the tingler is loose in this theatre and we all have to scream for our lives. In the blackness, we can hear all sorts of pandemonium on the film's soundtrack, as everyone is screaming and shrieking.

However, originally a select few seats in the theatre were wired to give off a small electric shock at this point to "lucky" patrons, so, in the pitch darkness of your local cinema, you were supposed to be fooled into thinking there really was a real, live "tingler" scuttling about between the seats.




Fun, eh?

Oh, and here's the "monster" - it wasn't really animated, or anything (that would've cost money!). It was just dragged across the floor by "invisible" wires.



Interestingly enough, with all the interest in retro horror and sci-fi films (the good, the bad, and the just plain schlocky), a replica of the original tingler prop is currently being marketed:



Yessir, just the thing to find flopping around under the tree when you wake up on Xmas morning! It's available through Amazon, but when I saw the price tag of $59.95, it immediately became apparent why The Tingler would have people screaming for their lives.


Signor V.

Thanks, SV! I knew you would have the information! And we all want to see the photo!

I was just talking about The Tingler with a friend, who had never seen it. The theatre promotion with the Tinglr chairs was as classic as the movie.

i have talked about this movie before, but it deserves a second mention, especially around halloween time. in my opinion, its the top zombie movie ever made! enjoy...

I'll be dusting off two classics:

"Bride of Frankenstein" is the all-time class act of horror films, and one of the greatest movies ever made. It has everything, starting with Karloff's finest performance: pathos, wicked humor, stark Expressionist sets, a first-class supporting cast...you name it.

Murnau's "Nosferatu" (1922)is the hands-down champ in the Dracula genre. None of its successors has ever matched the eeriness and the pure fright Max Schreck brought to the title role.

Excellent choices, TB! True classics from the Golden Age. Got 'em both in The Archives. (Hell, I can probably recite the script to Bride of Frankenstein from memory - but I still love watching the film.)

Again, great films for Halloween, or any time.


Signor V.

Not a movie, but in the spirit of Halloween, probably the most famous Halloween song.


TIS

I started watching my Elm Street blurays and have started looking on amazon for a few more scary movies to watch over halloween.

I'm curious about THE OMEN movies...are they any good? Should i buy the collection, or just get the first one?

Personally speaking, I liked the first one a lot. A very good cast for this sort of movie (Gregory Peck!!) including a number of familiar British faces (Patrick Troughton and David Warner immediately spring to mind, though I know there are others). Some pretty startling makeup effects as well, especially when you consider when the film was made, and the audience it was aimed at. I would recommend this one.

The second film was okay, but I think it fell a bit short of the original. A good cast helped, and this film certainly had that. Also, a particularly gruesome makeup effect which I will not disclose if you haven't seen the film yet.

The third film didn't do anything for me. Sam Neill is alright, I guess, but my overall opinion of the film is simply that - my opinion.

So, this brings us to the point of all this: Buying DVDs. Personally, if you could borrow the discs from a friend, or public library or something similar, I would do that and save my money. Unless, that is, you are an absolute fiend for the "Omen" films and must buy them at any cost.
You can always say the Devil made you do it.


Signor V.

I thought the first OMEN was ok. Might be due a rewatch, but that one never caught my imagination. Part 3 I didn't mind, if just for Sam Neill being good as a shit-eating villain who enjoyed being evil.

One spooky old horror film that I can absolutely recommend is Horror Hotel (known in the UK by its original title, City of the Dead). A spooky story of witchcraft, filmed in black and white and released here in 1960.

Though public domain copies have been floating around for a number of years, the film has recently been remastered and restored and looks beautiful in widescreen. I understand the slightly longer British release print is now available as well, but even slightly shorter, it's still a good film.

Its very low budget led the producers to be quite visually creative, resulting in a very eerie atmosphere. Two excellent British actors, not that well-known on these shores, add quite a lot: Valentine Dyall (known years ago on Doctor Who as the Black Guardian), and Patricia Jessel (probably best known for her role in the film version of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum). The musical score is quite unique, too: Part jazz, and part... well, all I can say is you'll have to hear it for yourself, starting with the opening titles.

Oh, and did I mention - the star is Christopher Lee. He plays a professor at a small college who specializes in the history of witchcraft.



I do want to point out that this is not a Hammer film, so it is quite a bit more restrained in its use of gore. A couple of scenes will definitely make you jump, though!

Lots of memorable lines, too.

I highly recommend this one.


Signor V.

Watching the original "Halloween" on AMC right now and answering the door for Trick or Treaters.

SB, you have trick or treaters this early?

I could go for a good horror flick or two but checking the tv listings I don't see that many. The Halloween series has been on all week and I see Elm Street and Friday 13 will be on.

I wouldn't mind less of slasher type films and more horror/suspense like The Omen, Poltergeist or some Stephen King.

In my area I never get trick/treaters at my door so I'll just curl up on the couch and find something to watch. Of course the candy I do have is all mine.

TIS

Netflix has a good collection of Halloween themed movies I'm gonna watch tonight.

Now that's the way to do Halloween, TIS! Somehow all our good chocolate disappeared and now all we have left are Tootsie Rolls... no surprise there.

I love getting to see all the kids' costumes, though. The funniest was an older guy dressed as a French maid.

As for Halloween movies, I've been taping my favorites from the marathons, so I've got "It" on now.

Hey Gina! How ya doing?

I scanned thru the channels and thre were a few popular horror flicks but I've seen them fairly recently. I decided to go with a 2007 remake of "Halloween."



TIS

Doing good, and hope you are too! I feel like I've seen parts of every Halloween movie so many times, and yet I've never seen the later ones straight through.. it's always part of a marathon so I just catch bits and pieces. "The Shining" is on TV now, so I think I'm set... at least until the twins show up.

Here's a film I forgot to mention - if you like horror films, mob movies, and a bit of humor thrown into the mix:

Innocent Blood

This 1992 film was directed by John Landis, and features a great cast, including Robert Loggia as a mob boss who becomes a vampire and Don Rickles (!) as his Bruce Cutler-inspired lawyer. There is a little gore, though, but the film is a lot of fun.

If you haven't seen this one, it's worth checking out.


Signor V.