Hey everyone! It's officially Halloween weekend with only three more days left in the month of October. That means it is time for the final post in my ongoing '31 Days of Halloween' and this one is clearly the most important of them all. Plenty of us love to engulf ourselves in the horror genre throughout the entire month but when it gets to the final days of Halloween everyone and their mothers are looking for something good and scary to watch. Don't settle for AMC Fear Fest this weekend, as much as I have great nostalgia for the ongoing Halloween tradition who really needs all of those commercials and terrible TV edits? Instead, treat yourself to any of the films included on this list and get ready for the best holiday of the year.
October 29:
Double Feature!
Young Frankenstein (1974) & Creepshow (1982)
Directed By (Young Frankenstein): Mel Brooks
Directed By (Creepshow): George A. Romero
Kick off your Halloween weekend by easing into the genre with some comedic macabre, Young Frankenstein and Creepshow play as great double feature of classic horror comedy. Starting with Mel Brooks masterpiece spoof of one of the classic universal monsters, Young Frankenstein stars the amazing Gene Wilder in one of his most iconic roles. Playing the grandson of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein who denounces his grandfather's work. His resentment ultimately leads him to make the same mistakes as his father's father and leads to a raucous good time. From there move into the classic horror anthology film Creepshow, written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero this film is a perfect Halloween watch. The two bring five separate tales of horror and suspense together in one film to deliver all different kinds of scares, laughs, and suspenseful moments. Together, these two films will perfectly ease you into the holiday weekend.
October 30:
Double Feature!
Tales of Halloween (2015) & Trick'r'Treat (2007)
Anthology Horror
Directed By (Trick'r'Treat): Michael Dougherty
It is now Halloween eve, the night before and you want it to feel like it is now Halloween. To do so there is no better films to watch than these two perfect halloween horror anthology films. Tales of Halloween was actually just released a week or so ago and impressed me so much it has become and instant holiday watch. Bringing together ten different horror directors they each tell their own tale of holiday horror taking place in one small American suburb on halloween night. I have reviewed the film in full which you can find here, but take my word for it that this will not disappoint.
The second film of this double feature is one I am sure you all have been looking for all month in my '31 Days of Halloween' and that is Michael Dougherty's Halloween anthology masterpiece Trcik'r'Treat. This film tells the intertwining stories of four different groups of people. Ranging from serial killers to demonic children ghosts this film takes the spirit of Halloween to the next level. All of the segments are interwoven with the help of one of the best horror icons Sam, a little demon boy who appears on halloween to ensure people are following tradition and respecting the dead. Anyone who doesn't meets an untimely and horrific death. This movie is everything horror fans want out of a Halloween horror flick and watching either this or Tales of Halloween come Friday night will have you more than ready to dawn your costume the very next day.
October 31: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Triple Feature!
Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), &
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Horror
Directed By (Halloween): John Carpenter
Directed By (Halloween II): Rick Rosenthal
Directed By (Halloween III): Tommy Lee Wallace
Yupp, Halloween day is reserved for Halloween, is anyone really surprised? John Carpenter's original Halloween is one of, if not the greatest slasher flick of all time. Within this movie Carpenter created the most iconic horror killer in the history of cinema and in turn he changed the way horror films were made. He took what Hitchcock did with Psycho and built off of it to find a whole new level of suspense horror that audiences didn't know existed yet. The film shows little to no blood and you never actually see a knife go into anyone but it still stands as one of the scariest movies ever made. Carpenter built suspense in a way that we simply do not see in the genre anymore and this film deserves every ounce of respect it receives come this time of year. Watch halloween II afterward to get Carpenter's complete "Michael Myers" story. The sequel doesn't come close to the genius of the original but is still a solid slasher in its own right.
Halloween isn't complete until you have watched Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the weird and at one time bastardized third installment of the franchise. The only film in the series that doesn't feature Michael Myers it has grown over time to have a large cult following, especially come this time of year. When it was first released the film was panned for not having the iconic killer and telling a story that had absolutely nothing to do with the film before it. What audiences didn't know at the time was that Carpenter and companies plan was to turn "Halloween" into an annual holiday anthology franchise, bringing a new tale of horror to the series each and every Halloween.
The Michael Myers story was one that Carpenter wanted to tell over two films and then they wanted to move into something else after that. Season of the Witch was their first and only attempt at doing so and it unfortunately failed due to a lack of a certain white mask. Over the years the film has grown in popularity, especially since the inception of social media the film is now one of the most talked about movies on twitter come October every year. The movie tells the story of a sinister mask maker who has a plan to massively kill the children of the world come Halloween night. It's great holiday fun and if you have never given the film a chance due to bad word of mouth I highly suggest checking it out to form an opinion of your own. You will find that the first three films in the Halloween franchise play as a fantastic holiday triple feature.
Well that's all for my '31 Days of Halloween', I can't believe the month is already coming to a close. It has been an amazing month of holiday fun and great horror and I hope you all have been enjoying yourselves and watching plenty of movies. Have a happy and safe Halloween and until next year this has been 31 Days of Halloween for your viewing pleasure. As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later
