PART ONE
First up we have David Gelmini, Robyn Fraser, Mal Jutley, Paul Risker and Iain MacLeod sharing what they like to settle down with in the run-up to Halloween.
Since I am a lifelong horror fan, Halloween is undoubtedly one of my favourite times of the year, and I love to watch as many horror movies as possible throughout the spooky season. One particular favourite of mine is Rob Zombie’s THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, which I have viewed countless times.
Released in 2005 and serving as a sequel to Zombie’s HOUSE OF 100 CORPSES, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS finds the murderous Firefly family on the run after the police raided their farmhouse. The film was praised for its strong performances, particularly from Bill Moseley as the psychotic Otis Driftwood, its memorable kills, and its engaging family dynamic, as the trigger-happy Fireflys evaded police and bounty hunters, while also slaughtering anyone who crossed their paths. And the script features some of the wittiest and most hilarious dialogue you are ever likely to hear in a film of this kind, as Zombie clearly knows how to make his killers sound hilarious. Despite the fact they horrifically maimed and killed innocents, you will genuinely care about the Firefly family when you watch THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, as their bond as a family really did feel genuine and unbreakable.
I also love watching John Carpenter’s original 1978 HALLOWEEN around the Halloween season. Quite simply one of the best slasher films ever made, the film absolutely deserves to be recognised as a masterpiece. It features brilliantly imaginative cinematography which almost makes you feel as though you are being stalked by a killer, a great soundtrack, strong performances from its leads, and a stunningly powerful ending which you are not likely to forget. Michael Myers is also presented as an unstoppable killing machine who refuses to stop until he murders his victims, which makes him one of the most memorable horror villains ever to have graced our screens. Although its legacy has been somewhat tarnished by the endless myriads of sequels and reboots, the original HALLOWEEN is quite simply a film which horror fans cannot live without.
Other films I love to rewatch around Halloween include the original LIVING DEAD trilogy, which are quite simply the three best zombie movies ever made, and the original BLADE, because it is always great to sprinkle in some action along with the suspense. The original ALIEN from 1979 is also worthy of being rewatched as many times as possible, because it literally is a film which is perfect in every way imaginable. With so many great films on offer, the Halloween season really is the perfect time for horror fans to relax with their favourite classics.
David Gelmini
My go-to movie, whenever I need something comfortingly familiar but still disturbing, is EVENT HORIZON. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it, and I find something new to love – and fear – every time. Also on my frequently-watched list is THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, as complex and fascinating to me now as when I first saw it.
EVENT HORIZON is visually breathtaking, and the sets and special effects have held up excellently, almost 30 years on. From the interior of the deep space research ship, to the long view of the wormhole it creates, to the infamous ‘blood-orgy’ scene, nothing looks dated or ridiculous, and nothing gets in the way of that all-important suspension of disbelief. I really care about the characters, too. The crew of the recovery ship Lewis & Clark is immensely likeable, tight-knit and protective of one another. Everyone is professional and sensible, they make good decisions … and still they can’t stop the horror from happening. And what horror it is, that ‘dimension of pure evil’ they are continually being pushed closer to! In this Hell there is no Devil to be fought, and no demons to do battle with. Just a state of chaos, madness and endless suffering. The crew deserves better, and that is the bleak, brilliance of the film. Hell, here, is not a punishment for the wicked, and a place that the good may escape. Hell is chaos and suffering, and anyone – no matter how moral, how likeable, how innocent – could land up there.
As for my second pick, I was fifteen when I watched THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, and I’d never seen anything like it. This beautiful, dreamy film was my first encounter with symbolism and layered meaning, and the first I’d seen that demanded so much mental effort from the viewer. I loved the message, too, that ‘if there is a beast in men, it meets its match in women’. What a thing to hear, as a young girl in conservative South Africa, where we were taught to be careful, modest and scared of pretty much everything!
Robyn Fraser
So thinking about the Horror films I usually watch during Halloween, I asked myself, what do I like to rewatch and is something I’ll happily sit down to, knowing I’ve seen it lots before? I realised I actually rewatched FINAL DESTINATION (2000) a lot, a close second being SCREAM (1996).
So when it comes to Halloween, I like a comfort watch, something engaging, familiar and a total blast and despite having seen it multiple times, FINAL DESTINATION never disappoints. I watch it again, because sometimes horror movies have that soothing effect of knowing where you're heading and the pay off isn't the surprises or kills, it's the appreciation of them. I love this franchise and how it puts a fresh new coat of paint on horror movies for me. I had watched it in the cinema upon release and it was something that got everyone talking on the way out. It's a classic film to watch at Halloween either alone with some snacks or with a group of friends just being rowdy throughout it all....oh wait, imagine introducing someone to this for the first time, their reaction? That is why Halloween is the perfect time to revisit FINAL DESTINATION!
The second pick is SCREAM (1996) Imagine a Halloween party, you’ve got everyone round, someone’s even dressed up as Ghostface, you know it's gonna be a fantastic night. Its ticks all the boxes of a slasher with nods to the OG of slashers HALLOWEEN (1979). SCREAM also holds a personal soft spot too, back in uni, someone with a clipboard walked up to me and asked, "Do you want to go to a test screening of the new Wes Craven movie". Now this is before smartphones and the internet was fledging at best, I just took the person on their word, I could have ended up in the back of van for all I know! For the life of me I cannot remember the changes between what I saw to what was released (it was almost 30 years ago) but I was there and SCREAM went on to be hugely significant!
Other notable mentions that go down a treat at Halloween? Well you can’t go wrong with THE CRAFT (1996), simply due to the nostalgia of this movie and how significant it became and also early Wes Craven fun can be had with SHOCKER (1989) which is just such an 80’s film you have to watch this for its schlocky-ness and well, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) because who doesn’t want want Freddy Krueger round their house on Halloween slicing up teenagers (there’s a theme in this article right?). One final offering would be the THE OMEN (1976) because you may as well get the devil child round while you’re at it!
Mal Jutley
In all honesty, I don't have a go-to choice. If I were to throw film and streaming/TV series suggestions into a hat, they'd include: Joe Dante's THE ‘BURBS, Ingmar Bergman's THE HOUR OF THE WOLF, the TREEHOUSE OF HORROR anthology episodes from The Simpson's, John Carpenter's THE THING to name a few.
However, if I were to have a definitive go to film, it would be Carpenter's HALLOWEEN because it's the first horror I watched that scared the hell out of me. It actually reduced me to a terrified wreck for quite some months later and the music alone filled me with dread. It's so simple, yet so effective, and that whole idea of whether Myers is the embodiment of pure evil is endlessly fascinating. And it's a timeless classic!
Paul Risker
At this time of year, I always seem to come back to a couple of childhood favourites that I first experienced in what we now refer to as “Spooky Season.” Maybe it’s a futile attempt to recapture my long, long lost youth but Halloween seems the perfect time to revisit these particular works.
In the hazy autumn days of 1989, 2000AD reached its six hundred and fiftieth prog. Found at the back of the prog was a strip titled THE DEAD MAN, illustrated in stark black and white, this was a tale set in a future irradiated America, following a badly scarred figure who has lost his memory after crawling from a lake of acid. Donning a trench coat, fedora and rifle, he ventures across the hellish desert trying to recover his identity. Starting out as a sci-fi western, it gradually became a full-on horror story as the presence of two ghastly spectres became tied up with the mystery of his identity, culminating in a shocking twist that goes down as one of the greatest in comic book history. It’s a tale that still provides a thrill every time I read it and seems perfectly suited to the season as the nights grow colder and longer.
Also making a great impression on my youth was Lamberto Bava’s immortal gonzo classic DEMONS. I still remember my nine year old self getting a fright when turning the VHS box over in the video library only to be confronted with this putrid…thing covered in pus and slime leering from the back of the box with the biggest amount of fangs in one mouth I had ever seen. One of the first Italian horror films I ever experienced, the style, OTT gore and that kick-ass soundtrack (Billy Idol! Saxon! Go West!) had me completely hooked. For myself, this is perfect Halloween entertainment. Its delirious plot unfolds at a whipcrack pace and the neon-lit, gloopy effects provide the ideal onscreen accompaniment for the witching season in all their gory glory. As Halloween seems in danger of becoming yet another season overrun by commercialisation, DEMONS provides a fun, full-on shock to the system.
This is also the time of year I dig out my now vintage copy of Stephen King’s CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF. While it is one of the great authors' slightest tales, Bernie Wrightson’s full blooded painted illustrations accompanying each chapter make it worth pulling down from the bookcase to fully experience this story of a young boy coming face to face with a werewolf in his small town. More recently I’ve found myself adding HAUSU to the Halloween playlist for more spooky insanity. Nobuhiko Obayashi’s surreal haunted house tale has it all; flesh eating pianos, floating decapitated heads, muscal sequences, a little bit of karate, an evil cat and so much more. It really is quite mad and essential in its own right.
Iain MacLeod
