Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Halloween Horrors Three: SPIDER BABY

                              Spider Baby 1964

How can you not like a film that features Lon Chaney Jr and Sid Haig? Lon even sings Ronald Stein's theme song, which is pretty cool in its own right. I discovered this one years ago on a cheapie VHS tape introduced by Grandpa Munster and watched it every year on Halloween. The film was shot in 1964, but wasn't released until 1968, and then only briefly.


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Halloween Horrors Two: 13 Ghosts

13 GHOSTS 1960


While most of William Castle's films are fun, I think 13 Ghosts best captures that Halloween vibe (though House on Haunted Hill is a close second). The gimmick this time around, a pair of glasses that allows the viewer to see the ghosts, was better than usual, and actually made the viewer feel he or she was a player in Castle's macabre world. I got to see this film on the big screen, but it wasn't until the DVD release years later that I was able to experience the GHOST VIEWER.
The 2001 remake is almost as fun, but may be a tad too gruesome for the younger trick or treaters.