Welcome to Part Two of my scary movie recommendations for October. Up next is "Deep Rising" (1998), a horrific but weirdly fun creature feature set on a stranded cruise ship. I do not enjoy the ocean, and as a confirmed landlubber my idea of hell is being stuck on a cruise ship, so this film is especially scary for me! You can watch this one on YouTube here.
If, like me, you find dolls to be profoundly creepy, then you will truly appreciate the terror of the movie "Dolls" (1987). Six people find themselves suspiciously stranded near an old mansion with a storm approaching, and have no choice but to seek shelter there. The elderly puppet maker and his wife seem hospitable enough, but the sheer number of dolls and puppets throughout the house is unnerving, and as the night progresses this unease proves to be justified. You can watch this movie on Dailymotion here.
Next in line for your viewing pleasure is "The Fog" (1980), a John Carpenter classic about the vengeful ghosts of a ship's crew who appear out of the fog to wreak havoc in a small coastal town, some of whose residents are descendants of those who were responsible for their tragic deaths. You can watch it for free on TokyVideo here, but I strongly suggest you do not watch the 2005 remake, which is a major disappointment.
Believe it or not, I have another horror anthology to recommend (I told you this time period includes quite a few anthologies!). "From Beyond the Grave" (1974) is in my opinion another one of the better offerings - I actually think that all four of the short stories are equally well done. And as a big fan of Peter Cushing, I was pleased to see that he plays a pivotal role in this film. I could not find this one free online, but it is available on a few streaming sites.
For a more lighthearted film, my next choice is "Galaxy Quest" (1999), which shamelessly parodies the original Star Trek television series, but in a mostly affectionate way. While the movie is not especially scary, the space alien villains are hideous and nasty, so I feel I can include it here. This is another film that is available on streaming sites but not for free anywhere online that I can find.
The final movie for Week Two is "Ghostbusters" (1984), another fun and not too scary movie about a team of scientists who decide to specialize in removing pesky ghosts for a (substantial) fee, coincidentally at the same time that an evil force has caused spooks to run wild in New York City. A new sequel to this long-running franchise was just released this year, so the original has been available for viewing on multiple streaming sites, as well as cable television networks on occasion.
Okay, that's it for now, and next week I will (hopefully) remember to cover the movie recommendations for Week Three! 👽👻🎃💀👿
Since I forgot to post about my recommendations for last week, this week I will quickly run through the films for the past two weeks. Without further ado, let's get started! I reviewed my first choice on the list in a previous post, so today we start with the second movie listed, which is the horror anthology "Asylum" (1972). In general, horror anthologies do not get much love, and for good reason, as some if not all of the included short tales can be less than perfect. However, I personally feel that, if done right, the horror genre can be more effective in a shorter format as it can be difficult to maintain the proper amount of unease and terror for the entire length of a movie or novel. The best movie horror anthology in my opinion is "Dead of Night" (1945), which showcases some of the best short horror fiction in its vignettes, but I think "Asylum" is one of the better offerings as well. You can watch it for free on YouTube here and decide for yourself if you agree:
"Beetlejuice" (1988) is up next and surely needs no introduction, as the sequel was just released recently and the original has been available for viewing on multiple sites. I have yet to see the new movie, but always enjoy watching the first one as I find it highly entertaining. I am probably also one of the few to find Delia Dietz's house remodel to be far preferable to the Maitlands' bland style!
"The Blair Witch Project" (1999) is notable as one of the first found footage horror movies and the one that popularized the style. Despite its limited budget the movie became quite a hit. It is available for viewing on several streaming services, but not for free.
I love a good ghost story, and "The Changeling" (1980) is considered by many to be one of the best. A New York composer (George C. Scott) loses his wife and daughter in a horrific car accident, prompting him to move to the West Coast to escape his tragic memories. He rents an old mansion and soon comes to find that it is haunted, but by whom, and why? If you want to find out, you can watch the film on YouTube here.
For a completely different change of pace, "Creature" (1985) is a space alien film obviously inspired by the movie "Alien" (1972), which was my first recommendation on this list. Even so, I find the two movies to be just different enough to like both. Watch this one on YouTube here and see what you think (assuming that you have already seen "Alien", which is not available free online).
The 1970s-1990s was a great time period for horror anthologies, and "Creepshow" (1982) may be the one best known to most people. This is one of those anthologies where the quality of each segment is variable (I definitely have my favorite and least favorite of the five offerings), but the good ones are very good so I do enjoy this movie. A couple of interesting facts - the film was directed by George Romero and several of the stories were written by Stephen King. Also, most of the filming was done in and around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area (even in my hometown, as I grew up in a Pittsburgh suburb, so I have a special fondness for this film). I could not find this one free online, but it is available on several streaming sites, including Shudder. Interestingly, "Creepshow 2" (1987) is available on YouTube here, and there is some disagreement among horror enthusiasts as to whether the sequel is better or worse than the first film.
The next movie on the list is "Cube" (1997), which is an early version of the more recent escape room movies. Seven people find themselves trapped in a chamber of constantly shifting cube-shaped rooms, some of which are booby-trapped, with no memory of how they came to be there. They must find a way to escape without getting killed, but the potentially fatal rooms are not the only danger they face. I like to think of this movie as an example of mathematical horror, because these people must solve a complex mathematical problem to escape, and what could be more horrifying than being forced to do math? You can watch the movie on YouTube here.
Since this post is getting rather long, I am separating it into two, so this one will be followed by another covering the movie recommendation for Week Two. See you there! 👽👻🎃💀👿
Last year I posted an alphabetical list of mid-century scary movies for Halloween in the left side bar of my blog, so this year I am listing recommendations of scary movies from the 1970s-1990s. And what better way to start the spooky season than with the movie "Alien" (1979), which still ranks as one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. It is also one of the first films I can recall that features a strong female protagonist as well as a grittier and more realistic setting for a story set in outer space.
Next week I will discuss the newest editions to my list, and will include any links I find to sites for viewing these films free online if possible, although with these more recent movies free viewing sites are more difficult to find (unless you belong to a streaming service, which I do not).
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