Halloween Drive-in Double Features #2
Halloween Drive-in Double Features #2
We’re in full swing of the spooky season and well into October. I’ve watched a little better than one film a day, so far. How about you? Are you keeping up with one scary movie a day? If not, think of the health benefits. Horror movies get your pulse really soaring and your heart really beating. Your blood circulates faster and your sweat glands get a good workout too. In my humble opinion, watching horror movies is better than going to the gym!
Beverages? Check. Snacks? Check. Lights turned out? Check. Ok, it’s spooky time!
Ghosts-A-Popping
1408 (2007) & Ghost Story (1981)
In 1408, John Cusack is a paranormal investigator who not only doesn’t believe in ghosts, he doesn’t believe in anything. One night in the Dolphin Hotel’s infamous Room 1408 sets him straight. Based on the short story by Stephen King, available here: Everything's Eventual from HMCPL. In Ghost Story, the Chowder Society, a group of older men who swap scary tales, face a horror from their past when a mysterious young woman comes to town. It is based on the classic novel by Peter Straub, available here: Ghost Story from HMCPL.)
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Sharks Gone Wild
Jaws 2 (1978) & Bait (2012)
Jaws 2 picks up where the original movie left off, with Chief Brody still running around Amity Island trying to convince everyone there’s another mechanical shark eating swimmers, and the town fathers keep saying, “Brody’s just been out in the sun too long. There’s nothing to worry about.” People tend to forget about this one for some reason. Probably the finest Jaws rip-off ever made. In Bait, a tsunami floods a coastal town in Australia and sharks trap shoppers in a super market. It might sound silly but this one delivers some first rate shark shocks. Cleanup on Aisle 7, indeed!
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The Future’s Not Too Bright Show!
Logan’s Run (1976) & The Terminator (1984)
In Logan’s Run, life in the year 2274 is perfect. You get whatever you want whenever you want, until you turn 30 and partake in the ceremony of “Carrousel.” Carrousel is a passing over into the next phase of one’s existence. (It’s actually more like being pushed into a giant bug zapper that kills everyone to keep the population under control.) Logan makes a run for it, leaving the safety of the city only to discover what lies in the dead-lands beyond. (Is that a library still standing in this future world?) The Terminator is a flick most everyone has seen, and it’s always worth watching again. The greatest time-warp killer-robot horror flick ever made. (Anyone who is a fan of the series, here’s an Easter egg from the last one, Terminator: Dark Fate. Since this could be considered a spoiler, if you haven’t seen Dark Fate, don’t call it. But if you have seen it, give it a call- 1-888-512-1984. Tell Carl Rob sent you.)
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The Terminator on DVD from HMCPL
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Crazy Parental Units Gone Gonzo
The Stepfather (1987 & 2009) & Mom and Dad (2017)
The Stepfather from 1987 is one of the most tense and harrowing thrillers from the late ‘80s, about a man in search of the perfect family. It’s not quite a slasher movie, but more a Hitchcock type shocker where we just wait for stepdad Jerry to lose his mind. "We need a little order around here!" The 2009 remake isn’t too bad either, but it suffers from being a little watered down when compared to the original. Mom and Dad centers on parents falling victim to a virus that turns them bonkers and they attack their children. Only one man could pull this one off, and that man, of course, is Nicolas Cage!
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Mannequins on Vacation
Tourist Trap (1979) & House of Wax (2005)
Is there anything creepier than a mannequin? A seemingly human figure caught frozen in a moment of time? (Well, maybe a mannequin dressed like a clown, but that’s another nightmare for another time.) In Tourist Trap, a group of young people break down near a seemingly abandoned gas station/wax museum where the kindly owner’s crazy brother Davey runs around turning people into displays. Don’t let the PG rating fool you, this one delivers real scares. House of Wax sees more vacationing young people meeting grisly ends in a town completely populated by wax figures.
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Tourist Trap on DVD from HMCPL
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Childhood Trauma from The Mouse House
Watcher in the Woods (1980) & Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
Back when Disney had very few live-action hits, they tried a little bit of everything, even horror. Watcher in the Woods terrified more than one kid whose parents thought nothing about taking them to a Disney flick. A family moves into a new country house and strangeness from the woods haunt them. It features a very young Kyle Richards, years before her days with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Something Wicked This Way Comes is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s beloved novel (available here: Something WIcked This Way Comes from HMCPL ) that is way better than what most people give it. The film offers even more childhood trauma for many kids who barely survived Jim Nightshade and William Halloway’s tarantula nightmare.
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Watcher in the Woods on DVD from HMCPL
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Something Wicked This Way Comes on DVD from HMCPL
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Nature Amok!
Grizzly (1976) & Crawl (2018)
In Grizzly, an oversized Grizzly bear runs rampant in the Georgia woods and eats a little bit of everything, and everyone, that gets in his way. It’s Jaws with claws. Crawl delivers an adrenaline shot of cheap thrills as a woman is trapped in her father’s house by a giant CGI alligator during a tropical storm. Nothing you have to think about, just watch, scare-jump in your seat and enjoy.
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Bizarre Vamp Frights
Let the Right One In (2008) & A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Let the Right One in is a disturbing Swedish vampire flick about a centuries old vampire stuck in the body of a young girl. (Of course, it was later remade.) A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night takes place in an Iranian ghost-town where a vampire feeds on the town’s seedier residents. Described as “The first Iranian Vampire Western,” it was the first feature of celebrated visionary director Ana Lily Amirpour. (It is worth noting that while it is presented as a foreign film, set in a Middle Eastern city with Persian dialog and English subtitles, Amirpour, who is from England, shot the film completely in Taft, California.)
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New Terrors of 2020
Let’s Scare Julie (2020) & Halloween Party (2020)
These are both brand new movies, available only from Hoopla, for those looking for some brand new chills to thrill to. Let’s Scare Julie concerns girls scaring a new neighbor in a prank that goes wrong. The gimmick here is that the film takes place in one long shot with no cuts. Halloween Party sees young people investigating the mysterious death of a friend and discovering a dark secret about their school. Watch out for the Balloon Babies! I haven’t seen either of them so if you watch them let me know how they are.
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The 100% Grade-A Texas BBQ Show!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) & The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1987)
Texas is a state that takes both its award winning BBQ and power tools very seriously. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic. Not for wimps. Don't eat the BBQ. The first sequel has Dennis Hopper acting as crazy as the cannibal family. It gets pretty disgusting. The saw is family. Don't eat the chili. Both are from the late Tobe Hooper.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on DVD from HMCPL
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For more recommendations for scary movies, scary novels and an interview with bestselling horror author Grady Hendrix, check out the podcast I co-host with Michelle, The Two Librarians Walk into a Shelf. It can be found: Anchor , Apple Podcasts , Breaker , Google Podcasts , Overcast , Pocket Casts , RadioPublic , and Spotify.
10 DVD Horror Movie Grab Bags are available for Curbside Pickup at the Madison Library Branch throughout the month of October.