Editorials
Your Alternative Halloween Watchlist: Hidden Halloween Favorites
The Halloween season always serves up the perfect excuse to binge horror movies all month long (as if we needed it). There’s only so many Halloween themed horror movies, though, and cable TV tends to replay the same set of classics year after year. Luckily, there’s a ton of horror movies that are set around Halloween and utilize some Halloween iconography, be it ghosts, pumpkins, vampires, or boogeymen, but they’re a little more covert in their seasonal flair. These hidden Halloween favorites straddle the line between holiday and horror, making them enjoyable year-round but especially during October. So, if you’re in need of something different to watch this Halloween season, here’s a list of hidden Halloween horror favorites worth adding to your watchlists.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
This made for TV movie originally aired on CBS on October 24, 1981, making it a true seasonal horror movie. Directed by the author of Audrey Rose, Frank De Felitta, Dark Night of the Scarecrow tells of Bubba (Larry Drake), a sweet but mentally challenged man who is best friends with young Marylee. When Marylee is attacked by a dog, a group of townspeople already appalled by Bubba’s friendship with the girl instead blame and slaughter Bubba. It’s not until the deed is done that they learn Marylee survived her attack, and the truth behind it. The judge lets the four vigilantes off the hook for their crime. Not long after, a mysterious scarecrow begins stalking Bubba’s killers, one-by-one, enacting vicious vengeance. It’s all set during the Halloween season, with only a small scene in a school Halloween party and a finale set in a pumpkin patch indicating that this Halloween fare. Nothing says Fall like a scarecrow, right?
The Changeling
Ghost stories are always a perfect pairing with Halloween, and The Changeling is among the best. George C. Scott stars as John Russell, a man who moves into a secluded, historic mansion in Seattle following the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. Naturally, strange phenomena begin to occur shortly after John moves in, and John soon discovers the original tenants had some major skeletons in their closet. It’s spooky, quiet, and keeps you guessing until the end. The Changeling is set over The Halloween season, but it’s such a minor detail of John’s isolated, haunted story.
Lady in White
A perfect choice for the burgeoning, young horror fan, Lady in White is a 1960s set ghost story that kicks off on Halloween. Young nine-year-old Frankie (Lukas Haas) is locked in the school’s cloakroom on Halloween by bullies, forced to spend the night alone as a result. He witnesses a young ghost reenacting her murder and pleading for help. When he too is attacked by the mystery assailant that murdered her, it kick starts a murder mystery that plummets the town in turmoil and reveals spooky ghosts that are more than they appear to be. A layered story with social weight, this story has a little bit of everything for both young and old alike.
May
Lucky McKee’s directorial debut stars Angela Bettis in the titled role. May is a lonely young woman desperate to connect with people, and that desperation builds into horrifying levels as the story progresses. Bettis is captivating in this role; May is someone you both root for and are wary of as she loses her grip on reality. Halloween figures pretty prominently into the story, too. There are smaller details, like May’s attempt to forge friendships with candy, but the finale takes place during Halloween night and May really gets into the spirit.
Hell Night
Halloween isn’t explicitly mentioned in this slasher meets haunted house horror movie, but it doesn’t really need to. Four college pledges start their night at a huge costume party but are then forced to spend their night in a deserted spooky mansion in a hazing ritual. What could go wrong? The mansion isn’t as abandoned as they think. Hell Night stars Linda Blair as lead protagonist Marti Gaines, and it’s not exactly her best work. But the set pieces are fun, and the slasher aspect delivers something different from the norm. This is also the film where Chuck Russell (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) began his long-running collaboration with Frank Darabont.
House II: The Second Story
For those in the mood for festive, silly fun, this sequel should do the trick. Skipping any continuity from the first film, this sequel takes a kitchen sink approach with its spooky house. Jesse (Arye Gross) inherits his family’s old mansion and discovers that the rooms act as various portals to different places across time and space, and a certain Aztec crystal skull is the key. Dinosaurs, cavemen, wild west gunslingers, an undead grandpa, and a cute caterpillar puppy round out this wacky horror comedy. The best part? It takes place over Halloween, with a Halloween party factoring into one big chase scene.
Neon Maniacs
This ‘80s monsters fest features a group of homicidal monsters that live under the Golden Gate Bridge by day but come out at night to slaughter. When a teen escapes their clutches, they spend the rest of the film hunting her down and killing anyone in their path. Each monster has a personality and costume of his own, from samurai to mad doctor, which makes their final battle set during the high school Halloween dance a perfect cover. Creatures, silliness, and an ‘80s synth score are a perfect complement to the holiday backdrop, and a great Halloween party viewing entry.
Deadly Friend
Wes Craven’s sci-fi horror movie, about a teen and his robotic friend, really kicks into gear on Halloween. When Paul loses his robotic bud BB, he’s devastated. When he loses his would-be girlfriend Samantha (Kristy Swanson), he decides to rectify both losses by merging the two. Of course, tampering with technology leads to deadly consequences. Aside from the holiday factoring into the plot in a major way, Deadly Friend is worth a watch for the infamous basketball scene alone.
Slugs
This ooey, gooey gory creature feature about toxic waste spawned slugs is from the mind of Pieces’ Juan Piquer Simon. These killer slugs are downright gruesome in their kills, making for some really fun surprises. This small town has no clue what’s happening, and only health worker Mike Brady is on the case. The kills are much more isolated and spread apart at first, but they really ramp up their attack on Halloween, when everyone is out and about in costume. Making this a perfect seasonal watch.
Sinister
Michael Myers may be the reigning Halloween boogeyman champion, but “Mr. Boogie” Bughuul makes for a creepy runner up. When true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves into a new home with a murderous past unbeknownst to his family, he finds a box of Super 8mm footage labeled “home movies” that’s really a series of horrific murders of previous families captured on camera. The discovery of the footage seems to coincide with his son behaving rather strangely. Sinister is spooky and atmospheric on in its own, but Ellison’s children getting excited to celebrate Halloween is a small, subtle reminder that this is a great seasonal selection for October.
V/H/S
A horror anthology is the cinematic equivalent to trick or treating- some segments are treats and others feel like a mean trick. This anthology, in particular, is especially Halloween appropriate. Connected by a wraparound that sees a group of misfits hired to break in and steal a rare VHS tape, this found footage style horror movie offers five separate segments in addition to the framing narrative. The final segment is titled “10/31/98,” and takes place on, you guessed it, Halloween. Directed by Radio Silence, this segment has a group of friends head out to a Halloween party, in costume, only to wind up at the wrong house. They think the haunted activity is all part of the Halloween festivities and realize too late the error of their ways.
Ginger Snaps
Let’s face it; Halloween needs more werewolves. Luckily this modern classic delivers. Ginger Fitzgerald has more than puberty to contend with when she’s bitten by a werewolf, and her slow transformation brings about changes both physical and in personality. It’s up to her younger sister Brigitte to stop it, if she can. This fall set horror movie kicks off its third act on Halloween, with the holiday serving as a perfect cover for Ginger’s full transformation. Everyone else thinks it’s a cool costume, but for Ginger it’s a new way of life.
Livid
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s follow up to brutal horror film Inside is inexplicably still without stateside release. It is, however, easy to find on DVD as long as you have a multi-region player. Lucie is an at-home nurse, and the last stop on her roster is a remote mansion inhabited by bedridden recluse Mrs. Jessel. Mrs. Jessel is rumored to have a treasure hidden away somewhere on property, so Lucie and her friends sneak in on Halloween night to steal it. What they find instead is a night full of unexpected terror, and Maury and Bustillo deliver a fun entry in fantasy horror. Look for fun homages to Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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