ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN: I could have gone with FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA or THE WOLFMAN, but why not rent a film with all three, plus Bud Abbott and Lou Costello too? This is one of their funniest movies, thanks to Lou Costello's genius at acting like a frightened little boy. There are many classic sequences, including a hysterical scene where a candle keeps moving (it is placed on Dracula's coffin and old Drac is trying to get out) and Lou gets himself worked up into a frenzy.
Dracula is played by none other than Bela Lugosi, and this is without a doubt his loosest, most engaging performance. He does not play the part for laughs - he leaves that to Bud and Lou. The Wolfman is played by Lon Chaney, Jr. and he does his usual outstanding job both as the werewolf and as Lawrence Talbot, the man cursed with lyncanthropy. The Frankenstein Monster is ably handled by Glenn Strange, the best actor to portray the murderous beast since Boris Karloff. Bud and Lou's gags and dialogue routines are more integrated into the plot than usual, making for a slick, cohesive hour and a half of nonstop fun.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: If you've read my article on this movie, you know how much I love it. This may be the single best film to rent on Halloween. It is certainly the creepiest.
CARNIVAL OF SOULS: A cult classic about a woman who survives a car accident and then spends the rest of the movie being frightened by a mysterious ashen-faced ghoul who pops up in the most unexpected places. Despite low production values and questionable acting, this one is creepy enough for any Halloween party, with some shots that seem to come straight out of nightmares. This film may, however, be a little too campy for younger viewers.
PSYCHO: Why not go with the granddaddy of all slasher films, Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO? Hitch considered this film to be a comedy and in many ways he is right. But the humor of it is only revealed in subsequent viewings. "Mother is not herself today." So perfectly conceived and executed that you don't even realize how your sympathies are being directed away from the victims and towards Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates, as he tries to cover up his mother's crimes. If you want to have a "murderous psycho" triple feature, try adding STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and SHADOW OF A DOUBT to the bill. Or FRENZY and REAR WINDOW. Any one of these films, while not being "horror films" (except for PSYCHO), would make for excellent Halloween fare. (Though I must confess that FRENZY and REAR WINDOW are color films --- but we can bend the rules a little for Hitch.)
Go To Page: 1 2
