My Halloween Post

Since The Husband has given me a prominent link on his snazzily updated blog, I guess I'll have to start posting again. Here goes...

Halloween is my most favorite time of the year, and to get in the spirit of the season I try to watch as much Halloween related television programming as possible. I'm a fan of horror movies, particularly the classic 1930's Universal monster movies. I'm not so much into blood and gore slasher flicks. I lean toward somewhat whimsical, fun creepiness (I'm a die hard Munster's fan, if that gives you any idea.) I was ultimately disappointed with this year's Halloween TV programming, but I saw a few things that got me in the Autumn mood. What follows is a brief version of what I have and haven't been watching.


The scariest thing I saw this Halloween:
The documentary film Hell House. Well, the film wasn't scary, but the ridiculously out of touch hard core Texas Christians in the film are scary. It's about this Halloween haunted house church production that scares people into converting to Christianity. There are different stages with themed performances such as: a gay man dying of AIDS who goes to hell for not repenting (being gay is bad ya'll, mmmkay?), a girl who aborts a baby and goes to heaven when she asks for forgiveness, a school shooting scene where a kid commits suicide, a rave scene that results in date rape... you get the picture. And so all these heinous unchristian acts are taking place and we see the consequences of not asking Christ for forgiveness. It's actually a pretty good tactic, for people who are easily controlled by fear. But the thing that made it scary (and absurdly funny) is the Satanic ritual sacrifice scene. Instead of a pentagram, the huge backdrop is a Star of David. I guess being a Christian does not make on an expert of etymology.


The most beautiful thing I saw this Halloween:
A silent Swedish film from 1922 called Witchcraft Through the Ages. It's GORGEOUS.

The most traditional things I saw this year:
1) The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! (Poor, poor Linus. By the way, just last night Jason mentioned hearing or reading about someone who is posing the idea that Charles Shultz was a sad, depressed person. I've always thought it was blatantly obvious that the mission statement of any Peanuts comic and/or cartoon is "Life is futile. Suck it." Meaning Shultz wasn't the most optimistic person in the world. That's why I respond to it so much.)
2) The Nightmare Before Christmas
3) Ghostbusters

The most childish things I saw this Halloween:
1) Casper. Before Christina Ricci got big boobies and had them shrunk back down again.
2) Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the WereRabbit

The things I had never seen until now (but should've seen years ago):
1) Psycho
2) Halloween I
3) Halloween II
4) Hellraiser
5) The Pit and the Pendulum
6) Misery
7) The Fog

The classics I didn't see because they're in my collection and I watch them year round:
1) Dawn of the Dead
2) The 'Burbs
3) Frankenstein
4) The Wolfman
5) Dracula
6) Bride of Frankenstein
7) Beetlejuice
8) 28 Days Later
9) Nosferatu
10) Shadow of the Vampire
11) The Shining
12) (I have more horror movies than this, but I'm too lazy to go look through my collection just for the sake of listing them. I've already made it pretty obvious that I'm cool, probably cooler than you, and I needn't impress anyone by namedropping move titles.)

The things I wish I had seen but didn't because I didn't catch them on TV:
1) The Witches
2) Hocus Pocus
3) The Frighteners

The most awesome NEW fright flick I saw at the theatre:
30 Days of Night

Something else I watched:
Gods and Monsters (It counts as Halloweeny because it's about James Whale, director of two Frankenstein movies. And Brendan Fraser is HOT.)

Other:
Golly gosh, there are SO MANY good movies that one can watch in celebration of Halloween, it's impossible to list everything. I mean, you've got the Abbott and Costello Meet (insert monster here) classics, the cheesy 80's things like Pumpkinhead, CHUD, Creepshow, American Werewolf in London, Fright Night... Of course there's Blacula, Polish Vampire in Burbank, Vampire in Brooklyn, and the myriad other vampire spin-offs. I'd also include some Hitchcocks in my Halloween list (although my favorite, North By Northwest, is more of a suspense thriller than horror.) Of course there's Ed Wood, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Clive Barker, John Carpenter... And what about alien movies? There's a shit ton of those.

What about it, gang? Are there any classics I missed? What's YOUR list of all time best Halloween/horror movies?

I will leave you with a quote from my favorite classic. Can you guess which one it is?
Even a man who is pure in heart
and says his prayers by night,
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.