Happy Halloween Viewing

And after a whole month’s worth of build up – Halloween is finally upon us! Yay!!!

Those of you who have followed any of my blogs probably already know that I am a huge movie buff. I’ve even taken to posting here every Sunday what Hollywood’s newest releases are and which films were top at the box office the previous week. All of this probably stems from my years of screenwriting and all of those film study classes I took in college. Regardless of the reason, I do so love, love, love movies. Well, I love good movies. I hate bad ones. Then again, who doesn’t?

But Halloween is a different time of year. Even bad, campy movies are ok at Halloween. Mostly. There are still some movies that are so bad, not even Halloween can save them. Of course, I can’t name names, though I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But I digress.

Recently, I was blogging about the old Vincent Price movies I used to watch with my grandfather when I was younger- HOUSE OF USHER or the HOUSE OF WAX or HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. (Just noticed, he did a lot of ‘HOUSE’ movies. Hmm.) Anyway, back on topic - still to this day, the final image of THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM will give me nightmares. And since I’ve written this today, I’ll probably have a nightmare tonight because that final shot just flashed in my mind. Perfect!! Just what I needed!

However, that nostalgic blog got me thinking along another path – what is the best movie to watch on Halloween? What has all the elements people are craving on the spookiest night of the year? I know that will depend on the person, but still – it’s a valid question.

I’ve never been one for slasher films. No gore for the sake of gore. But that’s just me. The lone exception to this would be the original HALLOWEEN, if one considers that a true slasher movie these days. There was something so inherently chilling about Michael Myer’s expressionless mask and the fact that he was silent as a mouse that just made chills race down my spine. Then add in John Carpenter’s creepy music, and I’m at the edge of my seat for the rest of the night.

Still, I think my favorite scary movies are more suspenseful than scary. How is that for turning the topic around? But it IS my blog post. I can switch it around if I want to.

Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense and I can watch and re-watch all of his films many times over. Truly he was a genius. My favorite Hitchcock film is one of his less famous ones - REBECCA. Then again – I simply adore Laurence Olivier. His talent combined with Hitchcock’s direction make this a masterpiece, in my humble opinion. (Now I know all my critique partners are laughing themselves right out of their chairs. “Humble?” But, yeah, I said humble.)

So, now I’ve told you what I like. What about you? What is the best movie you can watch on Halloween? I promise to watch the film that gets the most votes.