It was on November 3, 1954, that the atomic-powered dinosaur Godzilla made his big-screen debut in Japan as the king of the monsters in the now-classic kaiju film Gojira (which became Godzilla when it reached the United States). And today, 68 years after Toho Studios first unleashed their monster, he’s still as popular as ever.
At its heart, Gojira is a metaphor for the horrors of radiation sickness and widespread destruction experienced by the Japanese citizens as a result of the US dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to force an end to World War II. But it didn’t take long for audiences to look beyond the message and also recognize it as an outstanding monster movie, and to make Godzilla a worldwide icon.
So, how can you celebrate this special day? Well, you could have your own, personal movie marathon. In addition to the original Gojira and the long list of Toho-produced films that followed (including Destroy All Monsters, King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Return of Godzilla, and the most recent, Shin Godzilla), you can watch Legendary Pictures’ trilogy of Godilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). Plus there’s the Toho-Netflix animated trilogy Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge (2018), and Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018). There’s plenty of Big G adventures to enjoy.
With regard to the original Godzilla movies, the art you see up top is by my friend Bob Larkin, who you might recognize as the cover painter for the Pan novels Blood Feud and Blood Reign. Bob did this cover for Marvel Comics’ Monsters of the Movies, a short-lived series that was meant to be their answer to Famous Monsters of Filmland, which was the gold standard of horror entertainment magazines covering movies and TV shows from the 1950s to the early 1980s. This particular image was done to promote issue 5’s cover story, “Godzilla: Tokyo’s Greatest Nemesis,” an overview of the Toho movies from the original up to 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon. Bob provided covers for five of MotM’s eight issues.
And speaking of the talented Mr. Larkin, if you’re a fan of great art, Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, has a book you might just be interested in…
The Bob Larkin Sketchbook is a collection of some of the incredible pencil drawings by the legendary cover painter for Doc Savage, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Star Trek, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, and many other pop-culture icons. What you’ll discover when you see this collection is how wide-ranging his subjects are. Sci-fi, horror, Westerns, pulp adventure, crime fiction, movie merchandise, even wrestling stars—as we say on the book’s back cover, there really is little that he hasn’t painted.
The sketchbook features three pieces created especially for it: the Pandora Zwieback cover art you see here; a portrait of Patricia Savage, the fightin’ cousin of pulp fiction’s top-tier adventurer, Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze; and a two-page spread in which Doc faces off against another Golden Age crimefighter—The Shadow!
The Bob Larkin Sketchbook is available in print and digital formats. Visit its product page at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.
Welcome back to Horror Street, my ongoing journey in search of awesome yet spooky graffiti art on the streets and little-traveled corners of New York City!
Today is Halloween, as you’re obviously aware, so who better to scare the back streets of NYC than Oogie Boogie, the malevolent ghost haunting producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick’s stop-motion-animation classic The Nightmare Before Christmas?
I came across this particular specter as I strolled along Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn’s East Williamsburg neighborhood in September 2021, during my pandemic-inspired wanderings through the less-populated industrial areas of New York City. No way to identify the artist, unfortunately—it had been tagged by others who no doubt painted over the signature. Still, it’s a great piece of art, and perfect for getting you into the holiday mood!
Be sure to check out my previous Horror Street entries. And stay tuned for further installments of Horror Street—there’s plenty of macabre graffiti art to be found on the streets of New York, if you look in the right creepy places!
Not interested in the classic (and some not so classic) horror films we’ve looked at this week for your Halloween viewing list? Not to worry! There are other places you can go to build your own spooky binge-a-thon (in other words, streaming services), so here are some suggestions for picking and choosing:
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949): It’s not Mr. Toad—whose story is a partial adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s novel The Wind in the Willows—that horror fans are here for in this two-part Disney animated feature, but rather Ichabod Crane and his spine-chilling encounter witrh the Headless Horseman in this lively adaptation of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” featuring the voice of Bing Crosby, who not only narrates but performs the jazzy tune “The Headless Horseman.” (He was a big deal back in the day; ask your grandparents. Or your great-grandparents.) Streaming on Disney+.
Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015–2018): Here’s something for older viewers. This sequel to the Evil Dead trilogy of movies (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Army of Darkness) finds often reluctant but always self-absorbed hero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) dragged back into a confrontation with the unholy Deadites that made his life a living hell thirty years ago. Sure, there’s plenty of gore on display, but at heart it’s a comedy-action show that just happens to feature a guy who straps on a chain saw to replace his missing right hand—that he himself cut off all those years ago, when it tried to kill him! All three seasons are streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021): It’s as close as the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets to a superhero horror film, but that’s no surprise when the director involved is Sam Raimi of the Evil Dead trilogy, Drag Me to Hell, and Darkman fame (as well as the early 2000s’ Spider-Man 1–3). Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and new sidekick America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) are chased across the multiverse by a Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) turned bad, and she doesn’t care how many people she has to pulverize, turn into string cheese, or neck snap to get her way. And then there’s the ghoulish debut of Zombie Strange—not to mention a guest appearance by Ash vs. Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell! Streaming on Disney+.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966): A Spooky Season classic. It’s Halloween, and while the majority of the Peanuts Gang go trick-or-treating (“I got a rock,” moans eternal sad sack Charlie Brown as he checks his haul), his best friend, Linus, goes to the pumpkin patch to await the arrival of the Great Pumpkin, Halloween’s answer to Santa Claus. But is the Great Pumpkin real, or just a figment of Linus’s overactive imagination? Written by Charles Schultz, directed by Bill Melendez, and starring the vocal talents of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Sally Dryer, and Kathy Steinberg. Plus a fantastic score by jazz master Vince Guaraldi. Streaming on Apple TV+.
Morbius (2022): Yes, I know it got a lot of Internet hate, but this horror-antihero translation of the Marvel Comics “science vampire” to screen really isn’t as bad as they say—at least not until the completely unnecessary post-credits scene that so desperately (and badly) tries to tie it to the MCU Spider-Man franchise. Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) is Michael Morbius, a scientist battling a rare genetic disease with a special treatment he’s develoepd—one that involves using vampire bats. As you’d expect, the treatment has some unexpected—and unwanted—side effects… Costarring Matt Smith (Doctor Who, House of the Dragon). Streaming on Netflix.
Q, the Winged Serpent (1982): An oddball classic of 1980s horror filmmaking. There’s a giant winged lizard living in New York City—and his nest is right in the legendary Chrysler Building! Q is actually the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the deity worshipped by a modern-day cult that’s been sacrificing New Yorkers in his name. Can the NYPD shut down the cult andfind a way to kill a living god? Written and directed by Larry Cohen (It’s Alive), and starring Michael Moriarty (Law & Order), David Carrdine (Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2), Richard Roundtree (Shaft), and Candy Clark (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Streaming on Shout Factory TV.
Silver Bullet (1985): If you can overlook the terrible monster effects in this adaptation of the Stephen King/Bernie Wrightson illustrated novella Cycle of the Werewolf, you’ll find an enjoyable thriller about a young boy who discovers there’s a lycanthropic killer on the loose in his town, and realizes he might be the only one to stop it—well, him and his sister and uncle, who not only come to believe him, but offer assistance for the big showdown. Adapted by Stephen King himself, directed by Dan Atlas (The Walking Dead), and starring Corey Haim (The Lost Boys), Gary Busey (Predator 2), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Everett McGill (Dune), and Megan Follows (Reign). Streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku, and Google Play.
Trick ’r’ Treat (2007): What’s Halloween without a few tales of terror? This cult-classic anthology, written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), stars Brian Cox (X-Men 2), Anna Paquin (X-Men), and Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2–3), all celebrating Halloween in their own special ways, with candy, spooky surprises, and copious amounts of blood! And just wait until you meet that charming little boy, Sam—he’ll be verydisappointed if you don’t have any treats to hand out… Streaming on Amazon Prime.
Wendell & Wild (2022): The comedy team of Key & Peele—actor Keegan-Michael Key (The Predator) and award–winning director Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope)—reunites for this brand-new stop-motion-animation flick from director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline) about two demon brothers. Costarring Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible), and James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China).
Werewolf by Night (2022): The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this special, based on the comic series of the same name, not only introduces Jack Russell, the titular creature of the night, but also the Marvel screen debut of the shambling swamp monster known as The Man-Thing! Directed by Michael Giacchino (who also composed the music), and starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Laura Donnelly, and Harriet Sansom Harris. (Fun fact: Werewolf by Night the comic series was where Marvel’s latest live-action superhero, Moon Knight, made his first appearance—perhaps there’s a chance for a future encounter?) Streaming on Disney+.
Witch’s Night Out (1978): This weird little animated special from Canada involves a witch whose Halloween monster party is interrupted by angry neighbors who don’t want monsters living in their town. Things get worse when her magic wand is used by others to cause further tension, but in the end everyone learns to live in harmony. Written by John Leach and Isobel Jean Rankin, directed by Leach, and starring the vocal talents of Gilda Radner (Saturday Night Live) and Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek). Streaming on Shout Factory TV.
And thus we come to the end of this Halloween viewing series for 2022. I hope you enjoyed it, and that there’s something for you and your family to watch. Or perhaps you might want to create your own Halloween programming from your personal horror movie collection—you of course have one, don’t you?
Unlike its parent company, the AMC Network, IFC—the Independent Film Channel—has a bit more choice in its All Hallows’ Eve programming than a loop of Halloween franchise movies. Sure, IFC’s list is comprised of well-known, not-too-terrifying box office hits, but at least you’ve got a couple of big-time winners (Gremlins, Jaws) in the mix, as well as a talking man-eating plant that can really carry a tune!
7:45 a.m.: Lake Placid (1999): Witness Golden Girl Betty White in all her foul-mouthed, laugh-inducing glory in this tale of a giant crocodile running rampant in Maine, pursued by sheriff Bill Pullman (Independence Day), paleontologist Bridget Fonda (Single White Female), and big-game hunter Oliver Platt (Chicago Med). Written by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal) and directed by Steve Miner (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later).
9:30 a.m.: Little Shop of Horrors (1986): The screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical (itself based on the 1960 Roger Corman–produced movie that started it all) finds Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters) and Ellen Greene (The X-Files) trying to outsmart an evil talking extraterrestrial plant—Audrey II, voiced by music legend Levi Stubbs of the R&B group the Four Tops—hungry for blood…and world domination. Directed by Frank Oz—perhaps best known as the voice actor behind Ms. Piggy of The Muppets and Yoda of Star Wars fame—and featuring music and lyrics by the powerful composing duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast).
11:45 a.m.: Pet Sematary (1989): Based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King (aren’t they all?), Fred Gwynne (the original Herman Munster of The Munsters), Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and Dale Midkiff (The Crow: Salvation) star in this adaptation directed by Mary Lambert (Mega Python vs. Gatoroid) with a screenplay by King himself. A family moves to a small Maine town and discovers a pet “sematary” (according to the misspelled sign on it) behind their house. It’s a special place where burying your deceased pet there usually means they come back to life—but not in a good way. As ol’ Herman ominously intones at one point: “Sometimes, dead is bettah…”
2:15 p.m.: Gremlins (1984): Directed by Joe Dante (The Howling, Piranha) and written by Chris Columbus (who later became a Harry Potter movie director), this tale of Christmas presents gone wrong proves that not everyone should be given an exotic pet as a gift—especially if you’re going to ignore the care-and-feeding instructions. Starring Zach Galligan (Waxwork), Phoebe Cates (Drop Dead Fred), and Hoyt Axton. Music by composing legend Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of the Apes, The Omen).
4:45 p.m.: Jaws 2 (1978): Not sure why the sequel runs first, but…okay. (Must be an AMC effect on the programming.) Roy Scheider and Lorraine Gary, stars of the original Jaws, return to deal with the chaos created by another shark that’s eating the residents and vacationing families of Amity Island. The other returning character, Murray Hamilton’s Amity mayor Larry Vaughn, remains just as dumb as a post when it comes to acknowledging shark attacks during tourist season as he was the first time, which means it’s up to Brody to handle this on his own.
7:30 p.m.: Jaws (1975): Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones) directs Roy Scheider (Jaws 2, The Punisher), Robert Shaw (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad), Richard Dreyfuss (CE3K), Lorraine Gary (Jaws 2, Night Gallery), and Murray Hamilton in this mega-hit adaptation of the bestselling novel by Peter Benchley (who also cowrote the screenplay), about a town terrorized by a large, hungry, and surprisingly smart great white shark that apparently can’t be stopped from feeding on the locals and tourists. Featuring an amazing score by John Williams (of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones fame). It’s the summer movie that made people afraid to go to the beach.
10:15 p.m.: Gremlins (repeat broadcast)
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at movies you can stream to create your own Halloween viewing party. Stay tuned!
Rerun channel MeTV—home to Star Trek, The A-Team, and The Andy Griffith Show, among other old-school series—doesn’t have Halloween programming, but they do celebrate the holiday in their own way, so here are the highlights of what they’re offering tomorrow (all times listed are Eastern Time):
9:00–10:00 a.m.: Bugs Bunny and Friends: It’s a special collection of “horror”-themed Loony Tunes cartoons, starring Bugs, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Witch Hazel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and others: “Hyde and Go Tweet,” “A Witch’s Tangled Hare,” “Big Game Haunt,” “Shishkabugs,” “The Phantom Ship,” “The Haunted Mouse,” and “Hyde and Hare.” What, no Gossamer cartoons? Geez, MeTV, don’t you know by now that monsters make the most innnn-tuh-restin’ people?
6:00 p.m.: The Three Stooges: Moe, Larry, and Curly (and also Shemp) face off with the supernatural in the shorts “Idle Roomers,” “If a Body Meets a Body,” “Dopey Dicks,” “Spooks,” “Creeps,” and “Who Done It.” Eye pokes, face smacks, and gut punches abound—but it’s all in fun, kids.
8:00 p.m.: Svengoolie: Count Yorga, Vampire: The much-loved horror-movie host presents this 1970 fright flick starring Robert Quarry as the titular undead royal in a very loose adaptation/knockoff of Dracula, moving the action from 19th-century England to late 1960s Southern California. There’s no extra charge for all the corny jokes Sven will be inserting into the broadcast.
10:00 p.m.: Sventoonie’s Scary, Merry Halloween: Sventoonie, the Red Tuna of Terror—basically a puppet version of Svengoolie—hosts this holiday special in which, according to MeTV, he “is determined to give Halloween all the joy and traditions that Christmas has, including the cult classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” Well, you do what you can with public domain material, right?
11:00 p.m.: Star Trek: “The Doomsday Machine”: This Norman Spinrad–scripted Season 2 episode has nothing in common with the Spooky Season (that would be the episodes “Catspaw,” with its witchcraft overtones, and “Wolf in the Fold,” about Jack the Ripper), but it does have an unstoppable monster of sorts in the form of a giant machine that smashes planets and then eats them for fuel. It’s up to Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to figure out a way to stop it.
12:00 a.m.: Kolchak: The Night Stalker: “Mr. R.I.N.G.”: Reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) tracks down a murderer that turns out to be a runaway android. It’s not one of the better episodes of this one-season horror series that inspired The X-Files, but McGavin is entertaining, and it features a guest appearance from Julie Adams, the female lead of the classic “Gillman” film, The Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at IFC’s Halloween programming. Stay tuned!
For years, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has offered a wealth of classic horror movies during its October-long celebration of the Spooky Season, and this year has been no different. Here’s what they’re running, all day long and into the night, on Halloween:
12:15 a.m.: Haxan (1922): This black-and-white silent film from Sweden (its title means The Witch) is a documentary-style examination on demonology, witchcraft, and superstition, with the sort of dramatized “reenactments” you’ll find in “reality shows” these days on the Travel Channel (aka Ghost Central) and the History Channel (aka the Alien Home Base).
4:00 a.m.: Eyes Without a Face (1959): Not the Billy Idol pop hit from 1984, but a French horror movie about a plastic surgeon determined to undo the damage his daughter suffered in a car crash, by any means necessary—even if that means targeting women whose faces he’ll use for possible skin transplants…
6:00 a.m.: The Bat (1959): Horror legend Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched, The Twilight Zone) star in this murder mystery about a costumed killer known as The Bat, based on Mary Roberts Rhinehart’s 1908 novel The Circular Staircase.
9:00 a.m.: Horror Hotel (1960): Another horror legend, Christopher Lee (Count Dooku of Star Wars, as you younger viewers might know him), kicks off a TCM mini ChrisLee-athon (five movies in a row!) as he contends with witchcraft and Satan wosrshippers in a Massachusetts town.
10:30 a.m.: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957): Christopher Lee returns to the screen, this time to star as the Monster in this Hammer Films adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Costarring Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin of Star Wars, to you younger viewers) as the Monster’s creator, Victor Frankenstein.
1:30 p.m.: The Mummy (1959): Christopher Lee shambles from the tomb as the bandaged monster in Hammer Films’ answer to Universal Studios’ classic Mummy flicks atarring Boris Karloff. Costarring Peter Cushing as the archaeologist determined to send the Mummy back to the afterlife.
3:00 p.m.: The Devil’s Bride (1968): Christopher Lee investigates Satanic doings in 1920s London, in this adaptation by author/screenwriter Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man) of the 1934 Dennis Wheatley novel The Devil Rides Out.
4:45 p.m.: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972): Christopher Lee’s immortal Dracula and Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing (the latest descendant) mix it up again in this seventh entry in Hammer’s Dracula series. Costarring Stephanie Beacham (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Christopher Neame (Lust for a Vampire), and Caroline Munro (Captain Kronos—Vampire Hunter)
6:30 p.m.: The Plague of the Zombies (1966): A 19th-century English village gets overrun by zombies in this Hammer production, starring Andre Morell (The Hound of the Baskervilles), Jacqueline Pearce (Doctor Who), and Diane Clare (The Hand of Night).
8:00 p.m.: The Bride of Frankenstein (1935): Holy AMC—running the sequel before the original? What is it with these programming guys? Boris Karloff stars as the misunderstood Monster who’s searching for love and companionship, with Elsa Lanchester as his intended bride (and as Mary Shelley, in the film’s prologue), and Colin Clive as their creator, Henry Frankenstein. Directed by James Whale.
11:15 p.m.: Frankenstein (1931): The movie that made Boris Karloff a horror legend. In this Universal Studios’ adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) meddles with forces beyond his control, piecing together parts of corpses to form a Monster that will come to be hated—and learn to hate in kind. Directed by James Whale. Costarring Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye—Professor Van Helsing and Renfield, respectively of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, released that same year.
12:30 a.m.: The Invisible Man (1933): Director James Whale steps away from Frankenstein’s Monster for this adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel about a scientist (played by Claude Rains) who’s created an invisibility formula, experimented on himself with it, and is ultimately driven mad.
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at MeTV’s Halloween-themed programming for this coming Saturday (they don’t have anything for Halloween itself). Stay tuned!
Movies! has really gotten into Halloween this year, with Spooky Season–themed movie marathons running in October—a day of vampire films, a day of ghosts, a day of alien invaders, even a day of Vincent Price! Their Halloween schedule is sort of a blend of those topics, but every one is a classic. Okay, maybe not Earth vs. the Spider, but that has its charms, too…
Here’s what Movies! is offering for All Hallows’ Eve (all times listed are Eastern Time):
6:00 a.m.: Fiend Without a Face (1958): Marshall Thompson, Kim Parker, and Kynaston Reeves battle an atomic-powered invisible monster that likes to collect brains and spinal cords in order to create an army of similar horrors.
7:35 a.m.: Earth vs. the Spider (1958): Ed Kemmer and June Kenney try to save a town from a giant spider out to kill everyone. How’d it get so big? No one knows, but like the Fiend Without a Face, it’s probably nuclear related; irradiated monsters created by atomic bomb testings were all the rage in the 1950s (for example, Godzilla, Them!, Tarantula).
9:15 a.m.: The Blob (1958): Steve McQueen, Aneta Corseaut, and Earl Rowe have to deal with a big jelly monster from outer space that’s come to destroy their town—and eat everyone in its path! It practically oozes terror!
11:00 a.m.: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941): Spencer Tracy stars as the two-sided monster, Lana Turner as the woman Jekyll loves, and Ingrid Bergman as a pretty barmaid who draws the lascivious eye of the beastial Hyde in this adaptation of the classic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson.
1:30 p.m.: House of Wax (1953): Horror legend Vincent Price is a renowned sculptor turned madman (hey, it happens) who now runs a wax museum. Phyllis Kirk (The Twilight Zone), Charles Bronson (Death Wish), and Carolyn Jones (the original Morticia of The Addams Family) costar in this lavish flick about an artist who uses his gifts for revenge—and murder! It was originally presented in 3-D, so don’t be surprised when objects are hurled toward you at certain points.
3:30 p.m.: The Haunting (1963): Based on the classic Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House, Julie Harris (The Dark Half), Claire Bloom (Clash of the Titans), Richard Johnson (The Monster Club), and Russ Tamblyn (Twin Peaks) star in this frightfully entertaining story involving a paranormal investigation of a haunted house that goes horribly wrong. Directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
5:55 p.m.: House of Dark Shadows (1970): Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett, and Grayson Hall star in this adaptation of the then-popular gothic soap opera, directed by creator Dan Curtis (The Night Strangler, Trilogy of Terror). Frid is Barnabas Collins, a lovelorn vampire smitten with a woman who resembles his long-ago greatest love; Joan Bennett is a scientist who might find a way to restore his humanity—if only she wasn’t so jealous of Barnabas’s true love… (Fun fact: The movie was shot in Sleepy Hollow, New York—home to the Headless Horseman!)
8:00 p.m.: The Fog (1980): Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween Ends), her real-life mother Janet Leigh (Psycho), Hal Holbrook, John Houseman, and Tom Atkins (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) star in this film by director John Carpenter (Halloween, Christine) about a sleepy little West Coast town suddenly overrun by ghostly pirates—and not a Jack Sparrow to be seen!
10:00 p.m.: The Howling (1981): Dee Wallace Stone (Halloween), Patrick MacNee (The Avengers), Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore), and Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager) star in this adaptation of the Gray Brandner novel, about a TV news reporter who, after being traumatized by an assault by a serial killer, travels with her husband to The Colony, a secluded resort, to rest. But the residents of The Colony and its surrounding area all share a terrifying secret, and it doesn’t take a full moon to bring out the beast in them… Directed by Joe Dante (Piranha, Gremlins) and featuring a screenplay by John Sayles (Alligator, Eight MenOut) and Terence Winkless, and amazing transformation effects by Rob Bottin (Game of Thrones).
12:30 a.m.: Black Christmas (1974): Olivia Hussey (Batman Beyond), Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey), Margot Kidder (Superman), and John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) star in this slasher by writer/director Bob Clark, about sorority sisters being stalked by a murderer during Christmastime.
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Turner Classic Movies’ programming. Stay tuned!
Like Freeform, AMC never really has a lot of variety when it comes to their annual Halloween playlist—in AMC’s case, if they’re not pushing one of their horror series (typically the zombie apocalypse The Walking Dead, now entering its final season), they’re running the Halloween franchise movies on a loop, usually out of order (as demonstrated below, with Halloween 6 kicking off the marathon for some reason) and with no sign of 1981’s Halloween II or 1982’s Michael Myers–less Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
(Keep in mind: As far as the makers of the most recent trilogy—Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends—contend, none of the other movies in the franchise exist in their timeline, except for the original, 1978 Halloween. Confusing, eh?)
Anyway, here’s what AMC is offering for All Hallows’ Eve (all times listed are Eastern Time):
12:15 a.m.: The Walking Dead: An episode of the long-running TV series adapting the comic book series created by writer Robert Kirkman.
1:22 a.m.: Interview with the Vampire (2022): An episode of the new TV series adapting Anne Rice’s novel.
2:26 a.m.: The Walking Dead: Another episode of the TV series.
9:00 a.m.: Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995): It’s the end of a film trilogy begun in Halloween 4–5, so naturally AMC runs it before the other two installments. Michael is on the warpath (isn’t he always, though?), intending to kill Laurie Strode’s daughter, Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brandy). The final film appearance of Donald Pleasance (Halloween, Halloween 4–5, Escape From New York) as Michael’s gun-toting psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, as he passed away after H6 was shot.
11:00 a.m.: Halloween: Resurrection (2002): Another case of broadcasting idiocy, as this sequel to Halloween H20: 20 Years Later runs first. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael have their “final” confrontation, but it’s not the end of the story as Michael shifts his attention from targeting high school kids to college girls. Costarring Busta Rhymes (The Rugrats Movie), Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian), and supermodel Tyra Banks.
1:00 p.m.: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988): Ten years after stalking Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode on Halloween night (well, technically seven years, considering 1981’s Halloween II took place the same night) and a failed box office attempt with Halloween III to make the series an anthology rather than a repetitive one-note killing spree, Michael picks up where he left off, only this time he’s after Laurie’s young daughter, Jamie Lloyd (future scream queen Danielle Harris, in her film debut), and only his nemesis, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance, returning to the franchise) can stop him.
3:00 p.m.: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989): Michael’s back—of course—and he hasn’t given up on killing Jamie Lloyd. Tunnel vision matched with singlemindedness—that’s always been that boy’s problem…well, that and the homicidal rage. Donald Pleasance and Danielle Harris return, in a story to be continued in the previously broadcast Halloween 6.
5:00 p.m.: Halloween (1978): The John Carpenter–directed classic that started it all. Fifteen years after he stabbed his sister to death, Michael Myers breaks loose from the sanitarium in which he was locked away and goes on a killing spree on Halloween night in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis as “final girl” Laurie Strode and Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis. Is Michael really the boogeyman? He just might be…
7:00 p.m.: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998): Director Steve Miner (Lake Placid, Friday the 13th Parts 2–3) sends Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) back to Haddonfield twenty years after her traumatic encounters with Michael, accompanied this time by LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea), Michelle Williams (Venom), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises). Guess who’s waiting for them…?
9:00 p.m.: Halloween: Resurrection (repeat broadcast, now in its proper sequence placement)
11:00 p.m.: Halloween (1978; repeat broadcast)
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Movies! TV Network’s programming. Stay tuned!
Halloween is almost here! Sure, it might look like Christmas is almost upon us, what with stores already decorating their aisles for yuletide and the Spooky Season stuff relegated to the back shelves, but for the rest of us it’s still the time to celebrate all things macabre. So what better way than to watch horror movies?
Starting today, we’ll take a look at what some of the cable channels are offering for programming on that special day. We begin with Freeform…
There aren’t many surprises involved in Freeform’s annual “31 Nights of Halloween” programming schedule—it tends to be a handful of popular, not-very-scary, family-friendly movies that you’ve no doubt already seen, run over and over again and occasionally interspersed with episodes of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror. The biggest shakeup this year came early in the month when they ran the very adult Get Out, Halloween (2018), A Quiet Place, Happy Death Day, and Happy Death Day 2U over two nights—and then quickly returned to the less stressful playlist.
So if you’re in the mood for “comfort food” spooky films, here’s what Freeform is offering for Halloween (all times listed are Eastern Time):
10:30 a.m.: Ghostbusters (1984): The original horror comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, and Annie Potts. The GB crew deals with a New York City overrun with ghosts in anticipation of the arrival of the extradimensional goddess Zuul and her Destructor: the Staypuft Marshmallow Man!
1:00 p.m.: The Haunted Mansion (2003): Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, Terence Stamp, Wallace Shawn, and Jennifer Tilly star in this adaptation of the spooky Disney ride.
3:00 p.m.: Beetlejuice (1988): Tim Burton directs Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Winona Ryder in the tale of a recently deceased couple who simply want to spend eternity haunting their home, only to be forced to call in a disgusting “bio-exorcist” named Beetlejuice to scare away the new family moving in. And that’s when everything goes horribly wrong…
5:00 p.m.: Maleficent (2014): Angelina Jolie stars in this live-action reinterpretation of the Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty, with Jolie’s fairy queen Maleficent not so much evil as in the original, but simply misunderstood. Hey, like the saying goes, every villain is the hero of their own story!
7:00 p.m.: Hotel Transylvania (2012): Adam Sandler is Dracula! Steve Buscemi is the Wolfman! Kevin James is Frankenstein’s Monster! Selena Gomez is Dracula’s daughter! And they all get together at…Dracula’s vacation resort?
9:00 p.m.: Hocus Pocus (1993): With Hocus Pocus 2 now on Disney+, here’s the opportunity for folks not paying for a streaming service to catch up on the spooky comedy that stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of evil witches seeking immortality.
12:00 a.m.: The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror episodes (Freeform doesn’t list what’s playing)
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at AMC’s programming. Stay tuned!
According to this popular meme, mine would be Curse of the Disco Zombies, which sounds right, given I spent part of my youth reading horror comics in the 1970s, at the height of disco. No doubt it stars Jaaaahhhhn! Revolta, shambling his way through the cemeteries of Brooklyn while boogeying with Karloff Lynn Gore-y to the tunes of the Bees?Geez!. “Stayin’ Alive” takes on a whole new meaning when your dance partner is a zombie!
It’s a timely question, because in preparation for Halloween this year, we’ll be taking a look at what some of the cable-TV stations will be offering in terms of spooky programming on All Hallows’ Eve. And don’t worry—if you need a break from all the blood and monsters, you can always swing over to the Hallmark channels, which are already knee-deep in their Countdown to Christmas movie marathons.
Celebrating Christmas in October?! That’s terrifying!
So, getting back to the subject…what is your monster movie?
