To some people it’s sinister, to some it’s just a bit of fun, to some it’s a genuine holiday with a history. Much like Valentine’s Day or even Christmas people either love it, or hate it for various reasons, usually commercialism.
Personally, I love it, and actually wish it would become bigger. While I don’t agree with over-priced costumes being sold (and usually imported from a dodgy factory in China) I like the fact it’s an excuse to dress up and have a party. I like the pumpkins, I like the brief acceptance of a darker side to imagination, I even like the little trick or treaters who go through the effort to get a few sweets – an innocence that often seems lost these days.
My favourite thing about Halloween though is the films. I LOVE horror films, and it is possible the most creative genre of film, tied in with science fiction.
The greatest ever horror film is a debate that can go on for ages.
Personally, I love The Exorcist, The Shining, Halloween, Alien (and Aliens), The Thing , Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, The Lost Boys and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to name but a few, as well as more recent films such as The Sixth Sense and 28 Days Later. The output of Japan (and other Asian countries) over the past decade or so has been impressive, a lot of which has been remade i.e Ringu. There are the classic Hammer horrors, great TV series and great horror comedies such as Ghostbusters.
Successful horror films almost always have sequels as well as they become a franchise complete with a merchandise range (synergy), and they usually depreciate in quality, but the characters and films live on forever as a result, and just when you think that’s enough a remake usually comes along. Nearly everyone will have heard of Halloween, Friday the 13th, Saw and to a lesser extent the likes of Hellraiser and Phantasm. The music can also define a film, from Goblin’s score on Suspiria to John Carpenter’s own Halloween theme. A shift seemed to happen – from 70s creativity to 80s gore to 90s postmodernism to 00s shock, time will tell what this decade holds for horror.
One thing I love about horror movies is how there are so many of them out there. At some point everyone seems to have had a stab (pardon) at them. Few genres can be done on a low budget and be successful – and horror is a great training ground for start-up directors, allowing them to be creative and use ingenuity. Of course you also get some absolute stinkers. And thanks to Youtube, a whole heap of efforts have ended up online, films that would probably never be seen unless your local cinema was generous enough to screen it for a few days.
Whilst Youtube-hopping last week I came across a few clips and trailers for such films (and many full movies if you explore a little). There are the ‘just bad’ variety (i.e. Blair Witch Project 2), and then there are the ‘so bad they’re quite good’ variety. Enjoy;
There are plenty of full movies too (links not provided) provided by such channels as HorrorU4Got and TVTerrorLand. Night Ripper, Evil in the Woods, The Lift, Out of the Body, Terminal Choice, Demon, Sea Serpent, The Jar, Disconnected, The Beast Must Die, and The Kindred were just some of the titles I saw, as well as the recommended Society.
