31 Days of Halloween Horror

31 hand-picked, Halloween horror movies to celebrate the whole month through.

All of the films on this list take place exclusively on, or around Halloween. No Freddy’s or Pinheads here. Just straight up Halloweeniness.

Need a good film for you Oct. 24th shindig? Looking for an October Double-Feature for the family? Looking for that spooky, Halloween Night date movie to make her shriek into your arms? Take a peak, there’s plenty of suggestions to go around.

Fair warning: Not all of them are good. Some are downright awful. But they all take place on Halloween

Oct. 11th: Satan’s Little Helper (2005)

This weird little straight-to-DVD movie is surprisingly enjoyable, if you like that sort of budget-less tongue and cheek business.

I know what you’re thinking, cause it’s the same thing I thought when I ran across this one on Netflix Instant a few years back: look at this fucking thing. How can this be good?

And it’s not. Well, it’s not good, by standard definitions, but its pretty fun none-the-less. And granted, not everyone is gonna have the same enjoyable reaction I did, but despite it’s trappings, it’s actually pretty funny with a novel and Halloweeny concept.

Young Dougie loves his video game “Satan’s Little Helper,” so naturally, when he sees a masked man setting up “fake” bodies on the front lawn for Halloween, he believes the man is Satan and promptly begins assisting him in his Halloween preparations.

So Dougie and Satan run around on Halloween engaging in all manner of havoc. Ya know, murder, attempted rape, ambushes. Halloweeniness.

It’s filled to the brim with black humor and Halloween goodness and makes for great October viewing. Get on this one Weeners, it’s widely under-viewed.

Oct. 10th: Primal Rage (1988)

1988 was a hell of a year for fans of Halloween horror. Of the 31 films on The Shindig’s countdown, 4 were released that year. That’s pretty ridiculous.

What’s more, the 5 year run from 1985 to 1989 is straight holding it down, producing almost a 3rd of the films on this list. What can I say? The 80’s were awesome.

For evidence to that effect, one need look no further than tonight’s installment, 1988’s second offering, Primal Rage.

Sure the producers could have just jammed their story about scientists creating a “rage virus” into any point on the calendar, but they choose Halloween, and God bless ‘em for that.

When a foolish collegiate muckraker decides that blasting a laboratory monkey in the face with a seizure-inducing amount of flash photography is a good idea, the creature breaks loose and attacks him. Thus the stage is set for the virus to spread all over campus. Let the madness ensue!

See the virus, which evidently spreads through biting, makes people completely loose their shit, raging out on everything from baseball coaches to street signs, cops and even rapists. Yeah, they kinda ooze and bleed out and shit, but it’s really the batshit-crazy aggression that’s the highlight.

Of course, all of this comes to a head at the college’s annual Halloween ball, complete with the requisite live band you’ve never seen at any school dance you ever attended.

What sets Primal Rage’s “Halloween Party” sequence apart however, is the amount of time we get to spend just wandering around. It really gives you a chance to see and appreciate all of the crazy costumes on display, and there are some seriously awesome costumes at this party.

While not what any average citizen would categorize as “good,” or “worthwhile,” or probably even “watchable,” I think it’s a bit more competent and engaging than something one might label “so bad it’s good.”

I’m not trying to mislead anyone though, it’s definitely an 80’s horror film, and not one of the nice, flashy ones. It’s made cheaply and acted poorly, but honestly, it’s not horrendous. In fact, I think its got a lot going for it, and it feels a bit more atypical than your average paint-by-numbers, cash and grab slash.

So, if 80’s horror films just flood your fore-brain with a sensation you simply can’t explain, and satiate that longing for a look and feel that’s gone from modern horror movies, then Primal Rage all amounts to a surprisingly enjoyable and Halloweeny-ass selection. What more can you ask for?

Happy 10th, Weeners!

Oct. 9th: Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Towing the line back toward the straight and narrow horror for night #9, The Shindig presents Dark Night of the Scarecrow.

Though in fact a made-for-TV movie, Dark Night of the Scarecrow packs more creeps than your average latter- day Hollywood effort, and is responsible for the entire “killer scarecrow” sub-genre, for whatever that’s worth

Originally broadcast by CBS on October 24th back in 1981, this fan favorite has become a holiday staple, and with good cause. It’s genuinely creepy, suspenseful and well paced, if a little heavy handed at times. It also features solid performance’s for some fine actors including Charles Durning (Dog Day Afternoon, The Fury, When a Stranger Calls) Lane Smith (the prosecutor from My Cousin Vinny), and a brief appearance from Larry “Dr. Giggles” Drake.

The story concerns a Southern imbecile named Bubba Ritter (Drake) whom the small-town townsfolk don’t much cotton to, particularly because of his unnaturally close relationships with the children.

One afternoon, while playing with the young Marylee, she is mauled by a guard dog. When Budda carries the little girl’s corpse back to her parents home, the shit hits the fan. A posse of angry hicks roll hard on Bubba’s homestead demanding blood. Fortunately, Bubba’s mother has already stashed him away in a field, disguised as a scarecrow.

Unfortunately, neither the posse, nor their bloodhounds are fooled, and they proceed to unload their leaden vengeance into the prone body of the frightened Bubba.

Turns out, Marylee wasn’t actually dead though. She was just unconscious, and (thanks to Bubba) was able to get the medical attention to save her life. Looks like a couple of dumb hayseeds feel a little sheepish now. No matter, they’ll just justify their shitty behavior by concocting some yarn about how Bubba was attempting to attack them with a pitchfork.

And whaddya know, it works. Not guilty, and the vigilantes walk free.

Or do they? This is a horror movie, now, and revenge is always just around the corner,…particularly if that corner is a grave.

Soon, a scarecrow, not unlike Bubba is mysteriously appearing, and the posse are mysteriously dying, one by one.

Sure, it’s not terribly gory, but a horror film never needed to be gory to be good. What commences is a spooky and effective supernatural revenge tale that’s sure to make any October night feel right.

Oct. 8th: C.H.U.D II: Bud The Chud (1989)


On its own, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud isn’t such a bad effort. It’s a fairly enjoyable, somewhat humorous piece of late 80’s camp not unlike (but nowhere near the quality of) Night of Comet or Night of The Creeps.

Honestly, if you told me some guy just wrote a zombie send-up script and the studio said “Hey, let’s slap the name C.H.U.D. on this fucker and put our pockets on Shrek,” I wouldn’t be surprised.

Despite haphazardly inserting the word “Chud” everywhere without any C.H.U.D.s in sight and then sending this turkey straight to video, that might have worked.

But Unfortunately, it’s presented as a sequel to C.H.U.D., and it’s pretty piss poor and disappointing in that regard.

However, C.H.U.D. II does have a few things going for it:

  • Its got Eric Mardian (Brian Robbins) from Head of The Class – that’s pretty solid.
  • Plus, there’s Robert Vaughn hammin’ it up as Colonel Masters – always a pleasure.
  • And that’s to say nothing of genre heavy Gerritt Graham’s (Phantom of the Paradise, Terror Vision, Chopping Mall) inspired turn as the titular C.H.U.D.
  • And if that wasn’t enough, its got one sweet ass Shindigger in Kipp Lennon’s Bud The Chud.
  • But above all, it takes place on Halloween night.

And though its Halloween quotient is rather low considering, its back loaded with some genuine Halloweeniness. There’s a full-on high school Halloween dance climax, plus a pretty fun trick of treating sequence with a blink-and-you’d-miss-it cameo from Mr. Big Time, Fred Krueger, dream crasher. So we better take the 8th and recognize.

Yeah, they don’t look or act anything like C.H.U.D.s. Hell, half the time the characters are referring to them as zombies, and for all intents and purposes, they might as well be. And yeah, maybe it’s trying too hard to be funny and coming up short 70% of the time, but it’s Halloween goddammit, and if that ain’t a good enough reason to tough it through this somewhat enjoyable sequel(?) then there isn’t one.

Stay tuned for Bud The Chud later in the Shindig. Until then, forget you’ve seen C.H.U.D. at all. While you’re at it, forget this is even a sequel to that movie (which shouldn’t be too hard) and enjoy some Halloween camp.

Oct. 7th: The Worst Witch (1986)

Years before J.K. Rowling stole her main character’s name from John Buechler, Jill Murphy was busy crafting more material for Ms. Rowling to pilfer.

First published in 1979, Murphy’s children’s series The Worst Witch concerned the young Mildred Hubble and her misadventures at Miss Cackle’s Academy For Witches.

Yep, that’s right. A British woman wrote a series of kid’s books about a witch school. In the 80’s.

In 1986, British television produced the first novel into this 7th night entry for our Halloween festival.

The Worst Witch stars a young Fairuza Balk, British Avenger and Bond Girl (and Bond Wife) Diana Rigg, and creepster extraordinaire Tim Curry.

It’s an odd piece of shot-on-video 80’s weirdness that actually gave me the the creeps in my youth, when I would catch it around Halloween on HBO.

That’s mostly thanks to Mr. Curry and his Halloween visit to the Academy, where he sails in on the biggest cape this side of a Spawn comic and sings the weirdest fucking Halloween song you can imagine, all to some of the greatest chroma key effects 1986 could muster.

If you’ve never seen The Worst Witch, or that sequence, I highly recommend its viewing. The impatient souls among you can visit it on YouTube. I have yet to master the art of hot linking from my phone, so simply copy the text: Anything Can Happen On Halloween – into a YouTube search.

Make no mistake, although it hasn’t showed up yet, Anything Can Happen On Halloween makes it’s appearance on the playlist a bit further down the road. I’ll post some gifs of that madness when the time comes, as currently my laptop is doing its best impression of HAL-9000.

Until then, celebrate the 7th with a little Halloween gold called The Worst Witch.

Oct. 6th: Jack-O (1995)

I never said they’d all be good. I simply said they’d all, at some point, take place on Halloween.

And this goofy-ass Pumpkinhead knock-off delivers in that department, at least.

Do I need to say more about Jack-O?

Yes. Yes I do. But I’ll have to do that tomorrow. I’m too tired to think about this ridiculous film right now.

Happy,…October 6th?

Oct. 5th: Rockula (1990)

Ok, so I passed out after getting home from work and almost blew my streak only 4 days in. Thanks to the wonder of 80’s Monster Comedies however, we have our 5th day entry, and our Halloween festival marches on with Rockula.

I’ve talked about Rockula and my love for it on the playlist before, and I certainly will again, and here Ralph is providing more than just Halloween music, but a film that’s plot hinges on the Holiday itself. Sounds like an October winner to me.

It’s late, and in a pinch I’ll do cheesiest thing ever and quote myself:

“Ralph (played by Dean Cameron, aka Summer School’s Chainsaw) is a typically 80’s “friendly” vampire. Ralph’s got a problem though. See, 400 years ago Ralph failed to save his beloved Mona from a ham bone wielding pirate who murdered her on Halloween. After which, a terrible curse befell Ralph. He must relive this trauma ever 22 years, as Mona is reincarnated and Ralph is given another chance to prevent this tragedy. A chance which he always seems to squander.

However, in the late 80’s, Mona is resurrected as a musician, so Ralph becomes Rockula to win her heart. And maybe keep a close eye on her to finally prevent that Halloween/ham bone/pirate murder.”

It’s pure 80’s cheese that features another charming turn from Dean Cameron. It may not be overflowing with Halloweeniness, but there’s enough here to satisfy an early October night.

Oct. 4th: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) & Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Friday Night Double Feature!

We’ll start off this double feature with the 1949 Disney classic The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

Though wonderful in and of itself, The Wind in the Willows adaptation isn’t exactly necessary viewing for our purposes, and one could skip straight to the incredibly faithful adaptation of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Positively brimming with Halloween and autumnal atmosphere, the tale of Ichabod and The Headless Horseman is essential holiday viewing. Its classical animation is further enhanced by some fantastic sound design and Bing Crosby’s great narration. Plus, ole Bing gives us a Halloween song for the ages.

 

If just viewing the Disney cartoon feels a bit brief however, follow it up directly with 1999’s undervalued Sleepy Hollow.

Sure, it may not be a terribly faithful adaption, but Tim Burton’s love letter to the classic Universal and Hammer Horror’s of old is rich with a sinister beauty I think no fan of Halloween can deny.

Factor that together with a fine performance from Johnny Depp plus 18 awesome decapitations from Kevin Yagher and you have a truly memorable horror effort from the typically more quirky, light and sentimental Burton.

Now I’m not sure, off-hand, if Halloween is actually ever mentioned in this live action revamp, but few movies look as much like Halloween as Sleepy Hollow.

While it’s certainly not my favorite Tim Burton film (that would be Ed Wood) or without it’s share of flaws (some poor plotting with a sticky 3rd act that disappointingly grounds the supernatural aspects more than I would have liked) there aren’t many movies that I think are as gorgeous to view. Half the time I watch it without the sound just to look at it. If I had to pick a movie to live inside forever, I’d choose Sleepy Hollow, without question.

With its incredibly seasoned and talented supporting cast, beautiful cinematography and absolutely jaw-drawing production and set design, Sleepy Hollow is in a Gothic class all of its own, and should definitely grace your eyes at some point in October for a truly seasonal escape.

Oct. 3rd: Spaced Invaders (1990)

Skewing away from the Horror a bit for night #3, we have the decidedly childish but exceedingly Halloweeny Spaced Invaders.

An inept group of Martians intercept a radio transmission from Earth and believe an invasion is underway. Not wishing to miss out on the spoils, they land in Illinois and eagerly attempt to meet up with their comrades. They are, of course, mistaken.

Not only does this silly film take place entirely on Halloween (leading everyone to assume these Martians are simply children in really kick-ass costumes) but the radio transmission they receive is merely a Halloween broadcast of Orson Welles’ War Of The Worlds. Now that’s just damned Halloweeny.

While not the ideal pick for All Hallo’s itself, there’s more Halloweeniness on display here than most horror movies taking place on the same night. Some funny gags, some great voice-over acting and some great animatronic work and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a light, non-horror October evening. So why not the 3rd?

Oct. 2nd: Idle Hands (1999)

Jumping in a different direction for night number 2 comes this late 90’s horror-comedy which got slammed by critics upon it’s initial release.

Fair enough. Any movie that feels this cake in the stank of the late 90’s (the worst part of that decade) and features The Offspring ought to get taken down a peg. But it’s not entirely unenjoyable, and its got some fun moments of gore, humor and of course, Halloween sprinkled throughout.

The story, if you’re unfamiliar, involves a young stoner named Anton, whom’s “idle hands” do the Devil’s work when one becomes possessed right before Halloween.

Tragedy ensues when Anton’s hand kills his parents and jis best pals. So naturally, much like its clear inspiration Evil Dead 2, he lops it off.

Problem solved, right? Naw.

This only makes matters worse, as the marauding hand goes on a rampage all over town leading up to a pretty fun high school Halloween party that could only take place in the fictional confines of Hollywood.

Some great make-up effects, fun supporting characters, and a wonderful physical performance from Devon Sawa make this horror comedy a fun watch. With the added touch of ambiance and Halloween, it’s a sure-fire October bet.

So take a few rips tonight and join Anton, his zombie buddies and a disembodied hand for some Halloween havoc.

Oct. 1st: Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Such a great movie this is to usher in the season that even it’s title sets the mood for what is to come.

This adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s story of the same name was brought to us by Disney during a period where they produced more mature titles to offset their image of being  strictly purveyors of children’s animation.

Set in Green Town, Illinois in late October, two young boys encounter Mr. Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival, which enters their burg under the cover of night and sets up with supernatural speed.

Seemingly magical at first, soon Mr. Dark’s carnival exudes a sinister force that seems to infect the whole town and it inhabitants.

Light, creepy and perfectly Halloweeny, the film builds slowly with tons atmosphere and is the perfect way to start any October off right. Something Wicked This Way Comes indeed.

31 Days of Halloween Horror

Halloweeners rejoice! Your season is upon yo!

For the christening of our hallowed month, I thought I’d begin my 31 days of Halloween Horror movie list.

Numerous bloggers and Internet “news” outlets will surely be posting similar lists, if not in truncated form, with a dozen or so horror movies perfect for the holiday.

Anyone halfway versed in horror can toss anywhere from 5 to 31 suitable genre movies your way in the spirit of the season. Hell, one could conjure completely different lists of movies a few years running and still knock it out of the park each time.

But how many of those lists will be exclusively Halloween movies? Welp, at least 1, cause that’s how The Shindig rolls.

So forget about Freddy and Friday, pass on Pinhead and leave Leatherface in the lurch. This year, celebrate the eve of all Hallo’s with 31 tailor-made titles.

Like the playlist, the order here is by no means rankly or definitive. You could sock any one of these titles closer to, or further away from Halloween as you’d like. I’ve place them in terms of personal preference during the month and generally Halloweeniness, simply for orderings sake.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how many gifs and songs I’ll be able to post this month, a disappointing sensation for a Halloween themed blog, I know, but this movie list is my consolation, as fashioning simple text posts once a day is something I can probably manage.

So keep an eye on The Shindig for suggestions on filling your October movie nights with maximum Halloweeniness.