Halloween. Candy. Costumes. Parties. The Day of the Dead seems to carry a certain stigma with it that makes you want to get down with your bad self and let all your obligations drift away in place of egging that professor’s house–I mean having responsible fun.
This Halloween, however, some of you may find that there are no parties or ruckus in your immediate future. Enter the VHS tape. Halloween, while the themes revolve around most classic horror flicks, is the best night of the year to bust out the snacks, call your friends over and scare the crap out of yourselves in front of the television set. Hopefully this guide will help you make a few rental decisions, as well as inform you of great opportunities available at your local theater.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”: This movie rather scares me, but so many people swear by it that I felt I had no choice. Before I go on, let me explain my definition of scary. I’m not talking, “Oh look, it’s brain-sucking zombies” scary. It’s more like, “Oh look, it’s Tim Curry in a bondage suit. And he’s singing.” If you happen to find this playing in the theaters, don’t admit to never having seen it before. I fell into that trap a couple of years ago, and for the duration of the picture you would have thought that I was a garbage can for everyone’s popcorn tubs. On second thought, the film does feature an appearance by Meatloaf. I suppose that in itself is a better reason than any to check it out.
Snack tie in: Pieces of frozen meatloaf
“The Exorcist”: It’s been dubbed the scariest movie of all time, and for good reason. Let us just say that a few people involved died inopportune deaths during production, and upon its release many viewers suffered from nausea, vomiting, and on rare occasion, mental breakdowns. I personally concluded it would be better not to watch, so don’t expect any plot teasers, other than the fact that it has a lot to do with Satanism and demonic possession. Not for the queasy-stomached. Grab a friend (perhaps literally) and enjoy.
Snack tie-in: Devil-possessed eggs.
“Evil Dead Trilogy”: Shop smart. Shop “S Mart”. No Halloween get-together would be complete without at least one of these movies present. Each chapter seems to get better with time, and after a couple of weeks you’ll find yourself spouting out lines without even thinking about it. (This…is my broomstick!) After sitting through “The Exorcist” in the dark, pull yourself together and pop one of these tapes in for comic relief.
Snack tie-in: Chainsaws.
“Scream”: The highest-grossing horror film of all time. It starts out great, with a super-sexy Drew Barrymore making a batch of popcorn. Then she gets killed, and everything goes downhill from there…On second thought, don’t see this movie. It sucks.
Snack tie-in: Anything that sucks.
“Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows”: O.K. so nobody’s seen this film yet. However, since most sequels are fairly similar to their predecessors, here goes. A few quirky teenagers (with convenient access to camcorders) get lost in the woods. Throw in shaky filming, sawed-off fingers, and more cussing than you’d find in a third-rate sailors’ bar, and you have the makings of a cult classic. While the first installment left much to be desired on the startled meter, people left the theater feeling just plain weird. The greater your imagination, the more this movie will scare you.
Snack tie-in: Trail mixes. Great for when you’ve thrown your map in the river and have nothing to do for the next four days. Oh, and M&Ms and yogurt covered peanuts are a must-have. Otherwise you’re simply eating gerbil food with raisins.