Tag: halloween

The new great directors of horror share their favorites

The horror genre has had a bit of a resurgence in the last few years – not the stereotypical jump-and-scare horror movies, but a wave of subtler, creeping horror like The Witch. All their filmmakers draw on a rich history of horror film for their personal style. So for a look into what the new … Continue reading “The new great directors of horror share their favorites”

The horror genre has had a bit of a resurgence in the last few years – not the stereotypical jump-and-scare horror movies, but a wave of subtler, creeping horror like The Witch. All their filmmakers draw on a rich history of horror film for their personal style. So for a look into what the new face of genre loves to watch, The A.V. Club asked these directors to program a 24-hour scary movie marathon.

As you might expect, their picks range from classics to unusual but terrifying gems. Wolf Creek director Greg McLean picked Jaws, for instance, and raved about how animatronics can be special in the CGI era. Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl‘s A.D. Calvo went weirder and picked Burnt Offerings, a haunted house film starring “late-period Bette Davis.”

Their selection add up to a pretty solid 24 hours, from tired-and-true scares to horror that will claw its way into your brain for days. If you want to follow along at home, we have many of the films on this list available to check out!

The Conjuring – HU DVD 11358
The Night of the Hunter – HU DVD 1235
Black Moon – HU DVD 12544 and streaming
Eraserhead – HU DVD 1491 and streaming
Jaws – HU DVD 98
Alien – HU DVD 885
The Exorcist – HU DVD 2002

Halloween nears! Check out our horror movie collection

Halloween weekend is but two weeks away, and like most film nerds, we’re ready for horror movie season. Because it would be weird to watch Halloween in April, right? Almost 100 years have passed since Nosferatu and some of the earliest feature-length horror films, and they’re still as terrifying as ever. If you’re looking for … Continue reading “Halloween nears! Check out our horror movie collection”

Halloween weekend is but two weeks away, and like most film nerds, we’re ready for horror movie season. Because it would be weird to watch Halloween in April, right?

Almost 100 years have passed since Nosferatu and some of the earliest feature-length horror films, and they’re still as terrifying as ever. If you’re looking for a horror movie to watch, you have nearly a century of choices that still hold up. So where do you start?

Our horror-themed Pinterest board includes 200 movies in our collection, from The Babadook to the old Phantom of the Opera. You might recognize a few classics like The Evil Dead, but if you’re looking to jump off the usual path, you could try something like zombie drama Maggie or the extremely descriptive Slumber Party Massacre.

You could watch 10 horror movies from the AU Library every day until Halloween and still not make it through everything. It’s a deep genre! You should probably start on that today.

HitFix hunts for the top 100 horror movies

What is the greatest horror film of all time? Is that too broad? How about a top 10 or even a top 50? With enough aggregated stats and expert opinion, you can probably make a killer list of the best in the genre. The editors at HitFix have done just that, polling horror directors, writers, … Continue reading “HitFix hunts for the top 100 horror movies”

What is the greatest horror film of all time? Is that too broad? How about a top 10 or even a top 50? With enough aggregated stats and expert opinion, you can probably make a killer list of the best in the genre. The editors at HitFix have done just that, polling horror directors, writers, critics, scholars, and superfans to create a ranked list of the 100 greatest horror movies ever.

The upper end of the list is stacked and difficult to argue against: The Exorcist takes the top spot, followed by The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, Alien, and the usual bedfellows. Once you get further down it gets a little odd, as these lists tend to, with rule-skirting oddities like Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom showing up or the American remake of The Ring ranking higher than the Japanese original. Part of this might be the fault of the odd methodology, which weights the number of mentions over their relative ranking.

It’s still a solid list, though, and its greatest asset might be its interviews with film figures about their favorite horror movies. Clive Barker apparently loves Bride of Frankenstein, and we’re better hearing him gush about it than knowing that it’s #37 on the list.

Night of the Living Dead is getting longer

George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead established many of the zombie tropes we still know and love today, like lumbering speed, the importance of beheading, and parallels to contemporary social issues. Though films before it had undead monsters, Night of the Living Dead might be the first (and arguably still most) culturally significant zombie … Continue reading “Night of the Living Dead is getting longer”

George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead established many of the zombie tropes we still know and love today, like lumbering speed, the importance of beheading, and parallels to contemporary social issues. Though films before it had undead monsters, Night of the Living Dead might be the first (and arguably still most) culturally significant zombie movie. And shockingly, there’s even more of this foundational movie that we’ve never seen before.

At a screening earlier this month, Romero announced that he had discovered an old reel containing nine additional minutes of zombie chaos. Maybe it had been cut to keep the running time trim, but that’s a substantial chunk of one of most influential horror films. Hopefully we’ll see it resurface on the restoration that Romeo was working on or the inevitable Blu-ray release

In the meantime, you don’t need to wait to watch the current version of Night of the Living Dead. As it turns out, the film was never actually copyrighted; it can be streamed from any number of sites and services. We even embedded it above!

Settle in for a night in Halloween town

Tomorrow is Halloween, which, in a rare moment of editorializing, I will declare is the greatest best holiday on the face of the earth. The library’s getting into the holiday spirit too; expect lots of the staff to be in costume tomorrow. And as part of the festivities, we’re going to show Halloweentown for free! … Continue reading “Settle in for a night in Halloween town”

Tomorrow is Halloween, which, in a rare moment of editorializing, I will declare is the greatest best holiday on the face of the earth. The library’s getting into the holiday spirit too; expect lots of the staff to be in costume tomorrow. And as part of the festivities, we’re going to show Halloweentown for free!

As part of our new series of Friday night movie screenings, the library has decided to show Disney’s Halloweentown in the Mud Box tomorrow at 9pm. (The library held a poll about a month back, and this movie won by a landslide.) The screening is completely free, and from what we understand, there will be some sort of snacks and/or candy involved as well. Embassy trick-or-treating should be done by then, so if you aren’t planning on hitting the town for one of the many local festivities, you’re strongly encouraged to come by the library and enjoy a Halloween night in.

See you there! Have a spoopy Halloween!

Too much Jason? Our staff recommends obscure horror classics

The day will come that you are sick of watching Hocus Pocus. We all love the Halloween standards, but there are only so many times you can watch the same movies every year before you start looking for something different. According to our Pinterest page, we have over 180 horror films in our collection, but … Continue reading “Too much Jason? Our staff recommends obscure horror classics”

The day will come that you are sick of watching Hocus Pocus. We all love the Halloween standards, but there are only so many times you can watch the same movies every year before you start looking for something different. According to our Pinterest page, we have over 180 horror films in our collection, but it can be difficult to find the hidden gems without some guidance.

So, to be all wheat-vs.-chaff-y about it, we asked our staff for their favorite out-of-the-way horror movies that you should be watching this week. Our choices span almost a century, from a silent classic to a 2012 sleeper hit.

Chris recommends: The Wicker Man (1973) (HU DVD 6542)

When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But this pastoral community, led by the strange Lord Summerisle, is not what it seems as the devout Christian detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cult’s ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face-to-face with the horror of the Wicker Man?

Molly recommends: The Haunting (HU DVD 10161)

“It was an evil house from the beginning, a house that was born bad.” The place is the 90-year old mansion called Hill House. No one lives there. Or so it seems. But please, do come in. Because even if you don’t believe in ghosts, there’s no denying the terror of The Haunting. Director Robert Wise returned to psychological horror for this much admired, first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House.” Four people come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena. Or has the house drawn at least one of them to it? The answer will unnerve you in this “elegantly sinister scare movie.”

Phil recommends: Berberian Sound Studio (HU DVD 11159)

Mild-mannered sound engineer Gilderoy arrives in Rome to begin work on the soundtrack to a film called The Equestrian Vortex, a tale of witchcraft and murder set inside an all-girl riding academy. Before long he finds himself entranced by the film’s mysteriously terrifying allure, and the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur.

Sean recommends: Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (HU DVD 323)

Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious—instead it’s a witches’ brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.

Media Librarian Chris Lewis also insisted that we include Vampire’s Kiss (HU DVD 6548), an ultra-nutty Nicolas Cage vampire movie. Your mileage may vary with that one.

Drafthouse compiles the greatest movie deaths (WARNING: this is actually horrifying)

This Friday is Halloween, so we’ll be attempting to bring you spooky, scary, or otherwise horrifying posts this week! We’ll get the crazy stuff out of the way first. To celebrate the impending holiday, Alamo Drafthouse enlisted the filmmakers of the violent short film series The ABCs of Death 2 to curate a supercut of … Continue reading “Drafthouse compiles the greatest movie deaths (WARNING: this is actually horrifying)”

This Friday is Halloween, so we’ll be attempting to bring you spooky, scary, or otherwise horrifying posts this week! We’ll get the crazy stuff out of the way first. To celebrate the impending holiday, Alamo Drafthouse enlisted the filmmakers of the violent short film series The ABCs of Death 2 to curate a supercut of their favorite movie deaths.

Be warned: the results are genuinely horrifying and disgusting. This is basically four minutes of blood and gore. The contents range from famous scenes from Alien and Raiders of the Lost Ark to a particularly disturbing moment from Michael Haneke’s Caché to the frequently banned war/torture film Men Behind the Sun. It’s a mix of highbrow and grindhouse shlock, and if you have a stomach for the content, it’s a supremely entertaining look at how we depict death on film.

(Again, tread lightly if this isn’t your cup of tea. Don’t worry, November 1st will be here soon.)