With Halloween falling on Friday night this year, horror-film fanatics have a huge number of viewing options, from scary first-run movies in theaters (Horns, Saw 10th Anniversary, ABCs of Death 2, Ouija, Dracula Untold, Annabelle) to dozens and dozens of flicks available via various Video On Demand platforms and streaming services.
But let's not forget physical media. Dedicated horror fans know that a lot of weird, odd, sometimes terrifying films are only available on videocassette (?!), while hundreds more can be viewed on DVD and Blu-ray. For those who are staying home for Halloween and need something thematically appropriate to watch between handing out candy, here are three recent releases that are guaranteed to send chills down spines.
Newbies: Halloween: The Complete Collection
Those who have only seen Rob Zombie's well-intentioned remake may well be surprised by John Carpenter's 1978 original. Writing with Debra Hill, Carpenter created a winning "final girl next door" (Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Psycho's Janet Leigh, in an early performance) and surrounded her with friends in peril, all trying to survive a murderous, escaped mental patient.
The movie is endlessly rewatchable, and comes as part of a new collection that includes all 10 movies, allowing the curious to track the progress of a signature serial killer through decades of change, including a direct sequel (Halloween II), a stand-alone installment (Halloween III: Season of the Witch), two sequels centering on a young girl, another that was a complete misfire (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, somewhat redeemed by a "producer's cut"), another that caught up with Jamie Lee Curtis' character (Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later), a simply awful installment (Halloween: Resurrection), plus the two versions made by Rob Zombie.
The collection is sometimes fun, and sometimes painful, but it helps explain why the series has such a firm, lasting hold on our movie psyches.
Less Gore, More Ghouls, Please: Deliver Us from Evil
Based on a true story, Eric Bana stars as a NYC police detective who gradually comes to believe that a supernatural entity is wreaking havoc in his precint. Reluctantly, he joins forces with a priest (Edgar Ramirez), seeking out a force that may be more powerful than they could have anticipated.
This is a slow-burn horror movie that is more dependent on atmosphere and character than explicit gore, though there are certainly unpleasant images throughout. That makes it (mostly) suitable for viewers accustomed to mainstream viewing. Director Scott Derrickson is now working on Doctor Strange for Marvel, and, based on this movie, it's easy to see why: he deftly builds suspense to a climax that engages all the senses.
Longtime Devotees: Nightbreed: The Director's Cut
Clive Barker adapted his own novel for the screen and directed a version that was released in theaters in 1990. The story follows a mental patient (Craig Sheffer) who is convinced that he's a serial killer by his doctor (David Cronenberg). Fleeing from the lawn, he ends up in a cemetery inhabited by the titular, antisocial, sometimes monstrous crowd.
Barker's original version ran some two-and-a-half hours and was cut severely before release. The new director's cut includes 40 minutes of new and altered footage, pushing the total running time about 20 minutes longer than the theatrical version. Response has been varied, but hard-core horror fans will want to see this version, which gives greater room for characters and their relationships, and is much closer to what Barker originally envisioned.
