The Horror...The Horror...

My first obsession when I was a wee lad way back in the 20th century was horror films. I'd have to say they were possibly my first movie crush, the genre that led me down the path to geekdom. I watched them whenever, wherever, however I could anytime of the day or night. Once my friend Albert and I made his house as dark as we possibly could as we watched HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL in the middle of a bright sunny afternoon. Back then, there were only a handful of TV stations to choose from and I'd always insist on watching channels from the Bay Area because they showed the best stuff. I'd rush home from school since KGO in San Francisco played some choice morsels at four in the after noon. Late at night, KPIX ran their best of the best way after midnight. Antenna reception was questionable especially in the daytime, but I'd brave a couple of hours of snow and static to get my fix. The Sacramento stations just didn't have the programming I craved until the great Bob Wilkins Show came to my rescue when it premiered Saturday nights on KCRA.

Horror films were more accessible on TV, but I craved the movie-going experience. That was a leap to the major leagues as far as I was concerned. Once I was old enough, off I went and I never looked back.

Stockton's Fox California (now the Bob Hope Theater. Yes, really) was the best place possible to see

scary movies, it being the only true movie palace in town. In fact the Fox was like a giant screening room in an old castle, kind of murky, always cold and actually rather spooky. It's where I was able to finally see films from Hammer Studios, producers of the Christopher Lee Dracula series, Peter Cushing Frankensteins and so many more gloriously gory delights. When I saw John Gillings’ PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, one of the scariest Hammer productions ever, the chilly Fox auditorium was such a perfect atmosphere that I felt like I was right in the picture, a graveyard in gloomy old Cornwall. I spent an entire Saturday-I mean day and night-at a marathon showing of five Edgar Allen Poe adaptations from the Roger Corman days at American International including TALES OF TERROR and TOMB OF LIGEIA. By the middle of the fourth film, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, I was getting a little woozy, but I toughed it out.

I earned my geek merit badge by entering a Halloween costume contest at the Fox in a vampire get-up I created for myself. With makeup I applied at home, I honestly looked a little like Bat Boy. I headed downtown to the Fox by bus, ignoring the bewildered stares of the other passengers because I was too busy convincing myself of my impending first place finish. What I didn’t count on was that the contest was to be judged by applause and I just didn’t have any friends in the audience. You see, I went by myself as I often did and this had turned into a popularity contest. The winner was a kid with a whole bunch o’ buddies who clapped, hooted and hollered like there was no tomorrow. His costume was a hat.

And how did I rank in the contest? Well, there were crickets in the Fox California that day for I didn't receive a single solitary clap. After the walk of shame off the stage, I headed for the restroom to wash the makeup off my face the best I could. I returned to my seat and wondered why I entered at all. I did so on an impulse without informing anyone of my actions. Sure, I would have reveled in the joy of winning, but I didn't and just moved on. I actually wasn't sad. This was something I found that I had to do for myself so I just went ahead and did it. Ultimately, I was rather proud of lil' ol' me so I sat back and enjoyed the show. After all, it was a horror movie and right then and there, life was good.

Such were the origins of a geek like me.

Hollow Weenie

The first holiday of the season isn't really a holiday at all, is it? Defend Halloween all you want. The truth is that Halloween is about as real as Valentine's Day. I won't get into the cynical  discussions about crass capitalism revolving around these two, complaining that they're both just blatant marketing ploys for the candy, greeting card and costume industries. Who gives a royal hoot in Hell? They're just pagan celebrations that happen to give the economy a boost while injecting a little fun in your life. You get to play dress up, get the crap scared out of you and hopefully get a lil' sumpin'-sumpin' at the end of the night.

I've always liked Halloween from a geek standpoint because it used to be the only time of year when horror films were actually celebrated by those other than the core group of fans. October 31 became the time we could come out of our parents' basements and freely enjoy the cinematic delights of the macabre with everyone else. Then the next day, let the wedgies re-commence.

Therefore I'm going to suggest a few tricks and tricks for your All Hallow's Eve viewing pleasure. While there is a dearth of choices out there, here, from the Cinema of My Mind's Eye, are some recommendations for your own spooky film festival. In the words of Count Floyd, "It'll put goosebumps on your goosebumps!"

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE and NOSFERATU

A recent movie about movies is E. Elias Merhige's delicious wicked take on the making of the silent vampire classic NOSFERATU starring John Malkovich as director F.W. Murnau and Willem Dafoe in his Oscar nominated performance as Max Schreck. The conceit of this pic is the assumption that Schreck was a real vampire. Double your pleasure with the original NOSFERATU, but only if played afterward to see how well the former pays homage to Murnau and Co. No tolerance for silent film? Try Werner Herzog's incredible remake of NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE with Klaus Kinki, a guy who could have been BFFs with Schreck.  This also works to a lesser extent with Bill Condon's film about director James Whale, GODS AND MONSTERS with Ian McKellan and that director's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE and NOSFERATU are both available on Amazon Prime Video.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and THE TINGLER
Back in his heyday in the Fifties and Sixties, William Castle was a genuine Hollywood character of epic proportions. A former carny, Castle used the same showmanship and bombast to get butts in movie theater seats with a series of schlocky horror films complete with marketable gimmicks like Percepto (theater seats that were wried to vibrate during key scenes in the movie). He even promoted himself as a lower-case Hitchcock, though he actually did make it into the big leagues by producing one authentic masterpiece, ROSEMARY’S BABY. Two of his best directorial works gave Vincent Price’s career a much-needed kick in the ass. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL was the most frightening movie I had ever seen as a kid. When it played on TV one summer afternoon, the neighbor kids and I tried to make the house as dark as we could so that we could get the living crap scared out of us. It actually worked. I still think it works on certain levels and always enjoy the performances of Price and a more spaced out than usual Elisha Cook Jr. THE TINGLER is amazing, a wild story involving a creature that inhabits the human body that will kill you if you don’t scream when you're frightened. Two highlights: Vinnie takes an acid trip and, though black and white, the film contains a fairly effective color sequence.

CURSE OF THE DEMON and BURN, WITCH, BURN

Witchcraft in the 1950s is featured in these two sensational British programmers, neither one of them Wiccan friendly but both hold up really damn well. The demon in CURSE, directed by Jacques Tourneur, was unseen in its original British version, but when released to the States, a monster was created for us dumb ‘Mericans. Fortunately, the creature wasn’t a hack job and turned out quite terrifying. WITCH, based on Fritz Leiber’s novel CONJURE WIFE also delivers the goods, particularly in the climax with a giant eagle.

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

Remember when the walking dead were summoned by voodoo? Yeah, it wasn’t stemmed in reality like it is nowadays. Here are two excellent examples of old school zombies ina pre-Romero world. PLAGUE is Hammer horror par excellence. WALKED is one of produced Val Lewton’s best and directed by CURSE OF THE DEMONS’s Tourneur. Both are creeptacular and feature zombies the way they are meant to be: slow.

Fast zombies. That's about as stupid as cute sparkly vampires.                                                                   

There you have it, kids. See you in the back row...oh, oh, oh, oh...at the late night double feature picture show.

Happy Halloween

Oh yeah.

Boo!