Movie Theme of the Month: Halloween/Horror Films

Have you ever had trouble finding a movie, not sure what you want to watch. Well sirdizzy.org is here for you starting this month we will be hosting a movie of the month club. First up since its the month of October we will start with kind of a history of horror films, a list of Halloween films that will take you an entire month to get through and hopefully leave you scared of the dark and with shivers down your spine.

Ok we need to start with the classics, Dracula (1931) I know there is a number of very will done silent films done before this like Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera and Nosferatu but I am not that big of a fan of the silent era. I mean once you grow an appreciation for film yes I think you need to see stuff like Gold Rush, Blackmail, Modern Times and the like but will stick to the sound era for our little experiment. Dracula is the birth of the Universal monster line of films and pretty much kicked off 30 years of classic films like the wolfman and creature from the black lagood. Bela Legosi is awesome in the film and pretty much invented how Dracula spoke and the image we think of when we think of Dracula.

Next up Bride of Frankenstein (1935) sure it might be good to start with the original Frankenstein but Bride is easily the best of the Frankenstein movies. And once again the actor cast as the monster pretty much invented the visual and what we think of when we think of Frankenstein's monster. Boris Karloff is amazing in the film. And unlike the Frankenstein we get to see the monster speak, friend friend. I would also recommend Son of Frankenstein Karloff's last venture as the monster before handing off the reigns.

Now you need to probably see at least one film from each of the iconic Universal Monster line. Next up was the Mummy (1932), you may have seen the remake starring Mr Brendan Frasier which I would also recommend. Heck watch them back to back I like to see the original then the remake its always fun to see how far we have gone in 70 years.

The Wolfman (1941) is the next in the line of Universal monsters. After watching this classic pop in my favorite wolfman movie ever An American Werewolf in London (1981). Don't forget to howl at the moon as well.

The 1950's was the outerspace and creature era. Many of the films are quite funny to watch but are an important as far as there impact on modern cinema. One of my favorites is the Blob (1958), Beware of the Blob! It creeps, and leaps, and glides and slides across the floor. These kinds of cheesy movies always make me laugh. Other notables from this era are The Invasion of the Body Snatcher's (1958) and Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Ed Wood film of such fame for how bad it is.

Now many people classify Hitchcock as a horror director, this not true I feel he only made one horror film ever but for the sake of our list I am going to name two. First up is Psycho (1960) this the film I don't consider horror persay but it is a fantastic movie to watch in the month of October and shows the genius that was Hitchcock in getting a shot. then we will follow that up with The Birds (1963) this is the one film that I feel is Hitchcockian horror and while not the best of his films the Birds is a popular movie than many know of.

The zombie movie first came alive in Night of the Living Dead (1968) and no one has ever done it as well as Romero. Dawn of the Dead (1978) and its remake (2004) are also both great films in this vein. As well as 28 Days Later (2003) and Shaun of the Dead (2004) for the sheer spoof factor.

Then the era of slasher films began first with Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973), then Friday the 13th (1980) and finally A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). while I am not a big fan of any of these three franchises they are all part of what has shaped the landscape of horror films. finally we need to enter the modern era of slasher films in Scream (1997) that takes no pretense as to what it is and enjoys being so. The rules of horror films can be learned here. They are what I like to call Horror schlock, fun to watch but not much else to them.

Now while many might consider Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981) slasher films I do not. These are the kind of films slasher films could be if they really truly tried.

And if you need to take a break from slashers we can do some films from the 1970's that involved some good ole possession. The Exorcist (1973) has to be considered by far the best of the bunch but lets not forget The Omen (1976) and maybe cap it off with Carrie (1976).

Now we need some really good ghost stories. So we will start off with Amityville Horror (1978) and 13 Ghosts (1958). Now while the remake of Amityville might be ok to see as they did a pretty good job on it, you just need too skip the remake of 13 ghosts as its pretty bad and just watch the original. Follow this up with the original Haunting (1963) and the remake with Liam Neesom (1999). And cap the whole ghost story off with the Ring (2002).

Now what would a horror fest be without some cheese. you have to start with one of my favorites directed by Mr. Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson long before he was famous the Frightners (1996) starring Marty McFly himself. I mean it's got Peter Jackson and Michael J Fox and its about vidictive ghosts how can you go wrong. Followed by Followed by Bubba-Ho tep (2002) and Army of Darnkess (1993) from the king of cheese Bruce Cambell himself just to finish up the whole cheese line.

Lets not forget the serial killers though. Lets start with Silence of the Lambs (1990) the masterpiece that made us afraid of lotion. Followed by Seven (1995) with the creepy Kevin Spacey and even a biblical lesson or two. Capped off with American Psycho (2000) Cristian Bale's break out film.

Finally we need some good ole fashioned scares. Lets start with the Shining (1980) and the incomparable mister Nicholson, Here's Johnny. followed by Poltergeist (1982) and something from this year 1408 (2007) because nobody does horror better than Stephen King.

Now anytime during this horror athon you grow scared or weak in the knees lets add some slapstick horror films. Start with Albert and Costello meet Frankenstein (1948). Also our good friends did meet many of those famous Universal monsters but frankestein was the best of the bunch, Others you might want to check out is when they met the Mummy (1955), Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (1953), and the Invisible Man (1951).

Lastly we can go with some Mel Brooks fun with Young Frankestein which should just have you in giggles.