Happy Hallowe'en 2015!

Happy Hallowe'en, everybody!

Meh. Horror is dead.

Happy Hallowe'en 2014!

Happy Hallowe'en, everybody!

Happy Hallowe'en 2013!

It's here! It's Hallowe'en 2013!

The big non-event has finally arrived on a Thursday when nobody can do anything for it.



I'm completely burnt out by horror this month anyway, so I'm going to have a long hiatus. There are no new theatrical releases on my radar until at least March 2014, and I'm bored with these lacklustre straight-to-DVD horror movies and "hobby horror" crapfests.

I was going to write about Empire Pictures and Full Moon, but I can't be bothered to do it anymore. In fact, I can't be bothered to write reviews of anything. After over 2000 reviews, and more online "fights" over them than I can remember, I think I've finally grown out of it.

We only had one theatrical horror release in October, and it was that soulless "Carrie" remake. I think that's what finally killed the genre for old school horror fans such as myself. Let the new kids on the block gush over their slew of shitty movies which I'm never going to watch. I'm not going to waste any more of my time.

No more remakes, sequels, and clones for me.

As far as I'm concerned, horror is dead.

No more Twitter, no more Facebook, or any of the other social networking sites which don't send any traffic back to Blogger anyway. The internet "horror community" (what a joke!) is too full of cliques of cyberbullies and trolls all fighting among themselves, and I'm leaving them to it. The internet is not the fun place it used to be where you could make a few pretend friends and hang out when you were bored.

I'm done with it.

The Good Witch Marathon

No exciting horror movie review today because I've been watching "The Good Witch" marathon on the Hallmark Channel instead.

The new one—"The Good Witch's Destiny" (2013)—is on at 9pm.

In case you wonder why I watch these TV movies, here are some lovely pictures of Catherine Bell.

4 days left until Hallowe'en!

Paranormal Asylum: The Revenge of Typhoid Mary (2013)

"Mary Malone (aka Typhoid Mary) was committed to a NY insane asylum to live in solitary after being blamed for spreading Typhoid Fever in the early 20th Century. After decades in isolation she died alone on North Brother Island. Now, nearly 100 years later, two best friends and aspiring filmmakers are setting out to find out what really happened. What starts as a simple investigation turns into a battle for survival, as they discover Mary may be dead, but she's certainly not gone."

If you've been wandering around Walmart recently, you've probably seen this DVD a few times and wondered if it's worth watching. That coverart looks spooky, doesn't it? I bet you think it'll be shit-yer-pants scary! But let's cut straight through the chase here, it's not!

"Paranormal Asylum" is also nothing to do with the "Paranormal Activity" movies or even The Asylum's "Paranormal Entity", but you have to give the filmmakers credit for deliberately creating a confusingly named product which someone is going to buy by accident eventually. The thing is, the plot is nothing like any of those movies unless being a clone of "Grave Encounters" or its sequel counts in any way. Unfortunately, I haven't watched more than 5 minutes of either (except on fast-forward), so I can't say for sure. The word on the street, however, is that "Paranormal Asylum" is an even lower-budget knock off of that already low-budget crap, and I have no reason to doubt it.

Judged on its own merits, "Paranormal Asylum" is absolutely bloody terrible. The story barely makes sense, and the camerawork is so godawful that it's tiresome to watch. It's as if whoever filmed it has no idea how cameras work, how to frame anything, or how to position themselves for the best view. Couple that with the editing which cuts too quickly between shots, and it often becomes nauseating to boot. While I can accept that some of the earlier footage is supposed to look amateur due to small cameras being set up everywhere, in scenes where it's not supposed to be obvious that anyone is holding a camera (and close-ups take over which swing back and forth or whirl around characters), it's actually worse!

Like most low-budget horror movies, the acting is okay in some places and non-existent in others. It's so varied this time though, it makes me wonder if there was ever a complete script involved or if scenes were made up as they went along. Apart from a load of exposition, the rest of the dialogue sounds like it belongs in the cut scenes of a computer game or some crappy Japanese cartoon. Maybe it's just because Nathan Spiteri (who plays Andy) has that kind of voice and delivery, but it's more likely to be because everything is so disjointed and hastily thrown together.

Tying up your possessed fiancée and confining her to bed always ends well.

A somewhat hilarious scene (which isn't meant to be) is when Michelle (Laura Gilreath) gets possessed by the spirit of Typhoid Mary and turns into a flickering escapee from one of those bad '80s computer game movies. Watching her teleport between steps all the way to her car amused me for all the wrong reasons, and I couldn't take anything seriously after that. It's a shame because Laura Gilreath is uber hot and tends to perk things up considerably otherwise. There's no nudity, but at least she strips down to her bra and knickers eventually.

The other main character, Mark (Aaron Mathias), who has the best (albeit far too brief) supernatural encounters, does slightly better overall, despite taking approximately 47 minutes to realise that he's been seeing ghosts! Aaron Mathias seems to be a likeable chap with the right kind of borderline leading man looks to stand out although he doesn't do anything very memorable here. I suppose he does "scared" well enough, but he's the only one who is likely to be affected by any of the jump scares.

Outside of the threesome, minor characters randomly come and go with no rhyme or reason behind their appearances other than how Andy sets up appointments with them for Mark. How Andy knows any of these people remains a mystery within another mystery, especially as the ability to tell a story is not this movie's strong point.

I'm not going to spoil the ending for you because it's as stupid as everything else. Although it ties this mess together in the best way it can, it's completely out of left field and really not worth suffering through the rest of the movie to get to.

The artwork is the best part!

In that case, I'd hate to see a paranormal film that gets it wrong!

And some movies are better off not being made.

Don't confuse it with this:

For the love of God, make this cloning stop!

It's just as bad though.

My Top Ten Sexiest Ghost Films

Since I'm always getting accused of sexualising women (as if that's a bad thing!), let's have another top ten list of hot chicks to upset the prudes even more.

This time, it's mostly about the dead 'uns, but not in a creepy, necrophiliac way.


1. Ghost Story (1981)

Ah, Alice Krige. Whether she's Eva Galli or Alma Mobley doesn't matter. She a free spirit whose attractiveness leads to tragedy, but she still has her wicked way with two brothers... from beyond the grave!


2. Haunted (1995)

David Ash (Aidan Quinn) and Christina Mariell (Kate Beckinsale) do the nasty before he knows she's a ghost. But since Ash is a paranormal investigator, I doubt that prior knowledge of her supernatural status would have stopped him. And she's Kate Beckinsale, guys!


3. The Haunting Passion (1983)

Julia Evans (Jane Seymour) gets ravished by a romantic spectre. Who cares if it's a TV movie which leaves more to the imagination than it shows? Who even cares if ripoff artists are selling it on bootleg DVDs for over $100 on Amazon? "The Haunting Passion" allowed a whole generation of horny pubescent boys to see Jane Seymour have orgasms all over the place.


4. Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007)

Lesbian ghosts (Oksana Borbat and Xeniya Fesenko) bring out the best in Michelle (Cerina Vincent), you know what I'm saying? If you have no idea what I mean, it's time for you to "Return to House on Haunted Hill" again!


5. Prom Night II (1987)

Probably the sexiest ghost from the late '80s, it's Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage). Give or take some minor possessions, she's behind all the naughtiness in this movie.


6. The Others (2001)

It's not just because Nicole Kidman is hot. Oh no, it's not that simple in a list like this. Don't forget that Christopher Eccelstone turns up half-way through to give her a good seeing to. Now that's sexy!


7. High Spirits (1988)

"Skelping takes a lot out of you," unless you're Darryl Hannah and it makes your performance in a comedy-horror (which isn't funny or horrific) a million times more memorable!


8. The Legend of Hell House (1973)

Technically, Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) isn't diddled by a ghost, but she thinks she is. Gayle Hunnicutt gets all horny later too, which makes Emeric Belasco's possession something other than just rampantly heterosexual. Well, we are told that orgies occurred in Hell House, so Belasco must have been a right greedy bugger in his prime.


9. The Shining (1980)

I think we all know what happens when Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) thinks he's going to have sexy-funtime with Lia Beldam. It's hot until she changes unless you're into granny porn... and then it's even hotter!


10. The Entity (1982)

Again it's not technically a ghost who gives Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey) a rough time—it's a demon—but it's not as if she doesn't get any pleasure out of it at all. Plus it's Barbara Hershey naked with invisible (compressed air) fingers prodding her boobs! What's not to like?


Bonus: American Horror Story (2011)

The young version of Moira (Alexandra Breckenridge) has lots of saucy moments in the first season of "American Horror Story", but the brief faux-lesbian scene with Elizabeth Short (Mena Suvari) has to be the icing on the cake! It's hard to believe that this aired nearly two years ago. Bring back Moira!


Can you think of any more?

My Top Ten Sexiest Witches

In case you've forgotten. Hallowe'en (when referred to by its original Gaelic/pagan name "Samhain") is one of the four big witches' sabbats. What the other ones are, I have no idea, but they probably all end in "mas", "ane" or "fumblebum". Witchcraft outside of a closed society is a load of bullshit anyway.

But with the big day approaching, what better way is there to celebrate the non-event/non-holiday than with a top ten list of the sexiest witches I've ever seen?

Okay, so trying to stuff four bags of Funyuns in your mouth at the same time and then washing them down with Tizer is equally entertaining, but I'm a blogger and this is all I've got. Enjoy!


1. Willow (Britt Ekland) from "The Wicker Man" (1973)

I honestly don't care if she's fully clothed, topless, or using a body double, Willow is the sexiest little witch ever! I would have kicked the bloody door down or smashed a glory hole in the wall if I'd been in Edward Woodward's place!


2. Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) from "Dark Shadows" (2012)

I'd never even heard of Eva Green before I watched "Dark Shadows" last year, but as she's very unlikely to repeat her sexy performance in anything else, I don't suppose it matters. My God, she's hot! Angelique likes things a tad too rough to be my number one though.


3. Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci) from "The Brothers Grimm" (2005)

It's a pity that "The Brother's Grimm" is such a crappy movie apart from having the most beautiful woman in the whole world in it. There's definitely something supernatural about the way Monica Bellucci never ages.


4. The Witch (Cassandra Gaviola) from "Conan the Barbarian" (1982)

Back in the days of renting VHS tapes from Blockbuster, I wore the section with Cassandra Gaviola and Arnie out so badly by rewinding and pausing over and over again that they had to buy another copy! I only know this because they made me pay for the one I wrecked.


5. Mater Lacrimarum (Ania Pieroni) from "Inferno" (1980)

While it's true that I also like Moran Atias in "Mother of Tears" (2007) because she gets nude, I couldn't find a decent (SFW) picture of her online. Ania Peroni is equally sexy as Hell, plus she has a cat. Purrfection!


6. Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty) from "Charmed" (1998)

Since it's all about "The Power of Three" with the Halliwell sisters, I wouldn't turn any of them down, but Shannen Doherty (in the middle) is the one who really does it for me. I've watched every season of "Charmed" and still don't know the names of the other sisters!


7. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Ordinarily, Willow is a bit of a mouth-breathing drudge, but the day she turned into evil Willow, everybody perked up! It's hard to tell whether she's hotter as a bad vamp or a bad witch, but being bad is always good for Willow!


8. Muriel (Famke Janssen) from "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (2013)

48-year-old Famke looks a bit worn here, but you can't deny that she's gorgeous for her age! That kinky black outfit with feathers kinda rocks too! She can keep it on or take it off, I'm hers either way.


9. Bonnie (Neve Campbell) from "The Craft" (1996)

The best bit for me is when she turns her hair blonde! "OMG, that's like so kewl! LOL" Neve Campbell looks fantastic as a blonde, but I couldn't find a screencap which didn't pixellate badly when resized. This is just the standard pretty Bonnie after her fizzog is fixed.


10. Princess Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) from "Black Sunday" (1960)

It was too difficult to find a photo of Barbara Steele from "Black Sunday" which wasn't scary-looking, so I gave up and used this one. It's not her sexiest moment in the film, but bizarrely, the bit where parts are falling off her is.


Just to make up a full coven of thirteen, here are three bonuses:


Bonus #1: Circe (Bernadette Peters) from "The Odyssey" (1997)

She gets between Armand Assante's knees and blackmails him into sleeping with her to save his men. I know that's the story of Odysseus and everything, but most of us wouldn't have needed such coercion. "Odysseus, the only way I will turn your soldiers back into men is if... you take me to bed," she purrs. Alrighty then.


Bonus #2: Medea (Maria Callas) from "Medea" (1969)

It's been so long since I've seen Pier Paolo Pasolini's adaptation of Euripides' play that I'd forgotten how beautiful Maria Callas used to be. From the IMDb: "It's a movie about a woman who beheads her brother, stabs her children, and sends her lover's wife up in flames. For Maria Callas, it's a natural." And yes, Pier Paolo Pasolini is the same director who made "Salo", in case you wondered.


Bonus #3: Morgana Le Fay (Helen Mirren) from "Excalibur" (1981)

When it comes to John Boorman's "Excalibur", it's usually Cherie Lunghi who floats my boat, but I can't deny Helen Mirren her finest hour either. Incest with King Arthur is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sexual nastiness in Morgana's mind, and her scenes with Merlin (the late Nicol Williamson) are priceless. Let's say the "Charm of Making" together: "Anáil nathrach, ortha bhas betha, do cheol déanta..."


Who are your favourites? And why?

American Horror Story: Coven

"A young girl, Zoe, is shattered to discover she possesses a strange genetic affliction tracing back to the dark days of Salem. Zoe is whisked away to Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, a mysterious school in New Orleans devoted to safeguarding the few remaining descendants who share this unique bloodline. Harboring a secret agenda, Fiona Goode, the most powerful witch of their generation, returns to town, reigniting old rivalries with the Coven's deadly enemies, the Voodoo."

"American Horror Story" is back with a third season! Meh. To be honest, I've been so caught up in horror movie reviews that I'd forgotten it even existed. I rarely watch television anyway if I can possibly help it.

Although I didn't like the second season as much as the first, and I didn't know they'd made another one until it suddenly appeared last night, I felt duty bound to at least watch the first episode and ogle Sarah Paulson. I'll not be watching any more until I can buy the whole thing on DVD because I loathe commercial breaks with every fibre of my being.

If "Coven" isn't enough of a clue for you, the oh-so-witty title of the first episode—"Bitchcraft"—reveals that this season is all about witches. Think of it as "The Craft" meets "Harry Potter" meets "Suspiria" meets "The Skeleton Key" with lots more pop-culture witchcraft references thrown in for nerds on message boards to feel clever about spotting. As it's set in New Orleans, it's probably also going to have a ton of Anne Rice stuff in it which I'm never likely to notice.

The biggest news is that Kathy Bates has joined the ensemble cast as the notorious serial killer Delphine LaLaurie, who is so "notorious" that I had to use Google to find out who she was. Call me ignorant if you like, but I don't know anything about famous American witches other than the place name of the Salem witch trials, and I could count the serial killers I've heard of on the fingers of one hand. Neither is really my thing. Aside from what I've learned from movies, I have about as much interest in witches, serial killers, or American history as I have in sticking an unpeeled orange up my arse.

As far as I can tell from one episode and the trailers, "Coven" looks like it's going to be a taco fiesta, In other words, it's severely lacking in any male characters who aren't disposable. Evan Peters turned up just to be killed off (thank you!), but with the knowledge that Lily Rabe's character can resurrect the dead (even though she was killed off too!), he's bound to return. Be prepared to see your Twitter feed explode with angry trending Tweets from Evan Peters' tweenage fangirls if he doesn't!

Obviously, my least favourite horror clique in the world are already stomping their little feet with glee and squealing about "Girl Power", and that's more than enough to put most horror fans off "Coven". But let them have their moment away from making sandwiches because you can guarantee that very bad things are going to happen to the witches in this show. One of them (played by Emma Roberts) has already been gang-raped by frat boys, another burnt at the stake, and I can easily predict the poetic justice that will end Jessica Lange's career as a "Supreme" witch. I'm thinking it will be the same as the end of Hammer's "She" (1965) but with better effects.

For those who stay with it, "Coven" promises to be another mixture of unpolitically correct dialogue and MA-14 situations which push the limits of what the TV censors normally allow. Based on previous seasons, I highly doubt that there will be any taboo subject which is too distasteful for them to cover, especially as the return of the Down Syndrome girl from the first season and the morbidly obese star of "Precious" (2009) complete this Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk freakshow. Hopefully, there'll actually be some horror in it this time too!

"American Horror Story: Coven" will air every Wednesday on FX at 10pm. Check out the official website for further details.

Monsters Wanted (2013)

"In early 2011, Rich Teachout quit his lucrative job to focus on creating a one-of-a-kind haunted attraction. He and his partner Janel dedicated every moment, ounce of energy, and dollar to making their 'Scream Park' a reality. 'Monsters Wanted' is the story of their self-proclaimed madness and the industry, culture, and people who share it."

Moving on as quickly as I can from the fictional haunted attraction of "Hallows' Eve", I highly recommend "Monsters Wanted"—a documentary about the Asylum Haunted Scream Park in Louisville, Kentucky—in case you've now got a desire to see the real thing without leaving the comfort of your chair. Nearly everything you've ever wanted to know about the trials and tribulations of setting up a "Scream Park" or "Haunted House" attraction can be found here.

Auditions for actors provide the documentary with its name, but there's obviously more shown in "Monsters Wanted" than hiring a few kids to play dress-up and scream, "Boo!" at the top of their lungs. This is about a group of Hallowe'en obsessives planning, constructing, and running a short-term entertainment business, although enough time is devoted to the actors to see how they're as mad as hatters too.

One masochistic guy who hammers nails into his nostrils and lets people staple playing cards to his face almost deserves a show of his own, while another complete nutter called "Chainsaw Pete" would fit in well with the highly amusing but mentally subnormal reality TV characters that Brits already know and love from Channel Four's documentaries. "Chainsaw Pete" comes across as a dangerously infantilized person who doesn't care if he injures himself or other people with his rambunctious performance, and sure enough, he does indeed manage to injure one of his co-workers before the end of the show.

Aside from that, the real fun happens when communications break down and the financial problems take their toll. Stress often brings out the worst in some people! Thus, the little bit of contrived drama which comes from a surprise visit by a building inspector, who could close the attraction down for not having the right permits, is easily eclipsed by the violent arguments between the event organisers. Due to what must have been embarassment after the fact, the most volatile organiser refused to allow his image to be used in this documentary and is pixellated/voice-changed (but not censored in other ways) as a result. His tantrum is hilarious!

While the focus is mainly on the stresses and strains that Rich and his girlfriend Janel go through as they try to turn their expensive hobby into a money-making business, there are shopping trips galore for things which you probably didn't know existed even in America. A trip to a "Hallowe'en Props" convention where the sky's the limit when it comes to how much you could spend on animatronics and other effects is one of the best parts, since due to the darkness, you don't really see much of the finished "Asylum Haunted Scream Park" in action.

Apart from the night scenes, the camerawork is adequate for a documentary, and there are some clever "Fringe"-style 3D captions which count down the days remaining. Some of these computer-generated captions look like they are embedded in buildings or the ground instead of floating in mid-air, which is an indication of the attention to detail that went into the editing.

Some people have noted that a five minute section devoted to other Hallowe'en attractions in the area feels out of place, but I didn't have a problem with it. My only gripe is that it would have been nicer if "Monsters Wanted" had finished with a walkthrough of the whole attraction using a handheld camera to give a first-person perspective, but perhaps it was technically too difficult or there were rights issues which prevented that from happening. Maybe, just maybe, the organisers would prefer it if you experienced their attraction in person.

If you want to visit the "Asylum Haunted Scream Park", check out their website at http://www.asylumhaunts.com for details.

Hallows' Eve (2013)

"Years after a tragic accident leaves a young child scarred for life, the people responsible pay - with their lives."

When I saw that Danielle Harris had top billing, and then noticed the huge similarity between the little girl (Isobel Rose Costello) who gets run over by a tractor in the opening scene and Danielle Harris at the same age, I expected something a lot different than the horrible mess that "Hallows' Eve" turned out to be. It may sound too predictable, but I honestly thought that Danielle Harris would be all disfigured like she was in Rob Zombie's "Halloween II" and be revealed as the psycho killing the now grown-up bullies in revenge for her face.

Maybe that's one of the red herrings which is designed to sell the mystery element of this feeble attempt at a slasher movie, and I've probably already spoiled the ending for you by telling you that it isn't how things play out, but I don't care. "Hallows' Eve" is so bad that it doesn't deserve to be watched by anyone, and is certainly not worth renting or buying. Unless you've recently become the recipient of a brain transplant operation involving a drunken chimpanzee, the lack of a cohesive story is excrutiating to get through. Even my cats who have brains the size of walnuts couldn't cope with this and left me to it.

There are too many characters to keep track of, and as usual, there's not one of the "teenagers" who isn't such a nasty piece of work that you don't just want him or her to die horribly, but the story jumps all over the place and is completely unsatisfying. Lots of boobs and blood, and an incongruous dream sequence half-way through which adds more gratuitous nudity, is nice but doesn't help matters. It's almost impossible to follow what's going on until the very end, and by that point, you'll be unlikely to care.

Don't worry, babe, you can still get a job in indie horror movies.

Among the cheap gore effects, uncreative kills, and bad camerawork lurk several horror c-listers including Ashley C. Williams and Tiffany Shepis, plus a bunch of male "actors" who are harder to recognise. Apparently, one of them was in "Pumpkinhead" (1988), but the rest vary from being hangers-on in the "indie scene" to fully-fledged TV actors who have some actual talent. Who's who or and who plays who, I couldn't possibly tell you even with the cast list in front of me. They all have generic character names like Nick, Todd, Dave, Brad, and whatever the female equivalents might be. I may be wrong about this because I was bored out of my mind, but I don't think that any of them call each other by name other than the disfigured girl being Eve.

How and why known genre actors get involved in half-arsed projects like this which can do them no good is the biggest mystery. There may be a very small financial reward, but no big-wig is going to look at their work in "Hallows' Eve" and think, "Oh, I really must hire that one for my next muti-million dollar blockbuster!" In fact, it's more likely to be the opposite. Movies like this kill careers, they don't make them! The only excuse anyone can use is that you could put Oscar award-winning actors in this low-budget trash and they would still come away from it reeking of shit because of the script. Having said that, Tiffany Shepis gets the best of the bad lines, and Danielle Harris doesn't have enough screen time to disgrace herself.

The only good thing I can say about "Hallows' Eve" is that setting it in one of the "Haunted Attractions" which a lot of farmers tend to set up every year in America is an original touch. I've been to a few of these Hallowe'en events, so the location felt real to me, and I liked it. Sadly, that's all I enjoyed about this movie other than what you can see in the image below and the bath scene which preceded it.

Definitely a long-leggedy beastie!

Three more weeks to Hallowe'en, Hallowe'en, Hallowe'en. Three more weeks to Hallowe'en. This film sucks ass.

Hallowe'en Horror DVDs in Poundland

Breaking news from the UK!

According to Poundland's Facebook page, your local Poundland should have one of these displays by now.

The 12 titles available are:

Bride of Chucky (1998)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Halloween II (1981)

KFZ: Kentucky Fried Zombies (2009)
- aka "Die-ner (Get It?)"

Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Halloween III (1982) - aka "Halloween III: Season of the Witch"

Nazi Zombies (2006)
- aka "Horrors of War"

Amityville 3 (1983) - aka "Amityville III"

The Shrine (2010)

The Cellar Door (2007)

Infection (2010) - aka "Infection: The Invasion Begins"

$la$her$ (2001) - aka "Slashers"

If you buy all of them, you will have 6 well known horror movies plus 2 average ones and 4 absolutely horrible turds which you've probably never heard of before.

The ones which aren't even worth a £1 are "KFZ: Kentucky Fried Zombies", "Nazi Zombies", "The Cellar Door", and "Infection".

"The Shrine" isn't a bad movie despite being nothing to do with James Herbert's novel. It's an average clone of "The Wicker Man" and "The Ruins".

"Slashers" also might be fun for people who like "The Running Man" and similar movies in the "deadly reality TV show" subgenre.


Get them while you can!

And don't forget to point out the grammatical error on the display's header card!

My Top Ten Hallowe'en Horror Films

In previous years, I've gone through just about everything I like to watch during October, but I'm bored with doing that. Every day is Hallowe'en for me to some extent, and there's nothing special about one day compared to any other. Such is the life of a horror movie reviewer.

For the sake of making a definitive list of "must see" horror movies for Hallowe'en, however, here's my top ten. Click the pics to see what I had to say about them before.


1. The Amityville Horror (1979)

As a child of the '70s, I read all the books about Amityville in the years before the movie was made. It's a pity that none of it was true, but "The Amityville Horror" still holds up well. Margot Kidder was gorgeous back in the day.


2. Dracula (1958)

Hammer's best horror movie. Simple as that. Christopher Lee and lots of hot bloofer ladies. Ignore the rubber bats on strings, this is class!


3. The Wicker Man (1973)

You can't have Hallowe'en without recognising its pagan origin, and "The Wicker Man" is my "go to" movie for all things British and pagan. Britt Ekland topless is a bonus.


4. The Legend of Hell House (1973)

I prefer this to "The Haunting" because of Roddy McDowell. He steals the show despite a valiant effort from Pamela Franklin and horny Gayle Hunnicutt. There's a lovely black cat in it too.


5. The Haunting (1963)

A little bit dated now but still creepy. It's the definitive haunted house movie and a certified classic. I would never have known about it if it hadn't been for the late James Herbert talking about it on a Hallowe'en TV show.


6. The Changeling (1980)

This would be higher up the list if it wasn't for the mystery element. I've found that I can only watch it every couple of years because I know the ending too well.


7. The Others (2001)

The twist dooms this movie to being another that's hard to watch more than once, but it's all about Nicole Kidman as perfect eyecandy for me. As a remake of "Voices" (1973), it's a successful upgrade.


8. Lady in White (1988)

It's a supernatural murder-mystery set during Hallowe'en, and that's more than enough to justify it. It's also very well done. Easily Frank LaLoggia's best movie and full of nostalgia for those who like that sort of thing.


9. The Fog (1980)

The prologue with the old captain telling the ghost story by a campfire makes this movie a lot better than it should have been. Sexy Adrienne Barbeau in her lighthouse radio station is the other good reason to watch it. I always fast-forward through the cringeworthy bits with Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis.


10. Carnival of Souls (1962)

It's really a rip-off of "The Hitch Hiker" episode from "The Twilight Zone", but it's a little bit more adult. Eerie stuff and very accessible since it's in the Public Domain.


What are your Hallowe'en favourites?