I came across this old cartoon on YouTube. Apparently, it aired in October of 1983.
It’s about bears living in Bearbank. Halloween is approaching and they’re worried about getting invaded by the monsters who live on Monster Mountain. Well, that makes sense. My question is why would you buy a house near a location called Monster Mountain? And really, shouldn’t the monsters be in the houses and the bears in the mountains? This cartoon is weird.
Anyway, the bears are getting ready to feel the city but little Ted E. Bear sets out to confront his fears! Woo hoo!
I don’t know. It’s from 1983. That was a strange year, I guess.
Awwww, that poor pumpkin! Well, hopefully, he’s smiling now!
This animated special originally aired on Halloween night in 1979. I would imagine that the crying pumpkin probably traumatized children across America. Hopefully, all the kids were out trick or treating when this aired. Myself, I remember that when I was a kid, I would help my mom carve a pumpkin every year. And then I would get so depressed when we later had to throw it out. Seriously, I would get really attached to those jack o’lanterns.
Anyway, this cartoon is before my time but I have a feeling that, if I had been around to watch it, I would have been depressed for a whole year afterwards.
“You will think me cruel, very selfish, but love is always selfish; the more ardent the more selfish. How jealous I am you cannot know. You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me, and still come with me, and hating me through death and after.”
“Tis strange what a change comes over masses of men as they gaze upon a dead body. It may be that they all know that to that complexion they must come at last. This may be the secret of the respect offered to the dead.”
“After twenty-two years of nightmare and terror, saved only by a desperate conviction of the mythical source of certain impressions, I am unwilling to vouch for the truth of that which I think I found in Western Australia on the night of July 17–18, 1935.”
Camilla: “You, sir, should unmask.” Stranger: “Indeed?” Cassilda: “Indeed it’s time. We have all laid aside disguise but you.” Stranger: “I wear no mask.” Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) “No mask? No mask!”
Not all good Halloween scenes have to come from a movie. Sometimes, they can come from a video game!
One of my favorite missions in PS4’s Spider-Man is Back To School. That’s where you, as Spider-Man, have to search the Empire State University Halloween Party for an Oscorp scientist named Dr. Delaney and rescue him from Mister Negative and the Demons. Because it’s a Halloween party, you should be able to search for Delaney without anyone realizing that you’re the Spider-Man. The bad news is that, again because it’s a Halloween party, almost every party goer is dressed up like one of your enemies. And when Mister Negative does attack, it turns out that a drunk college student dressed up like the Rhino can be almost as dangerous as the actual Rhino!
Well, Halloween’s fast approaching and that means that it’s time for people to start thinking about what they’re going to watch on the big night.
Now, of course, you can always watch the old favorites, like Halloween or Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street (or any of their numerous sequels, remakes, and reboots). In fact, if you’re expecting a lot of trick-or-treaters, I can understand why you might want to go with the old dependables as opposed to trying to focus on something that you haven’t seen before.
However, if you’re looking for a new film to watch on Halloween, here are 6 good horror films that, sadly, don’t seem to be as well-known as they deserve to be. If any of these movies are new to you, October 31st might be just the day for you to experience them!
This is a horror film that I recommend to everyone. It’s a slightly satirical story about college students being turned into homicidal murderers. Along with all of the blood and the expected jump scenes, Strange Behavior is also a quirky portrait of life in a small town. It’s the type of film where a collection of 1940s character actors (including the great Charles Lane) share the screen with 70s character actors like Michael Murphy and they all try to figure out how a seemingly dead scientist is programming the town’s children to be murderers. The dialogue is frequently witty, the soundtrack is amazing, and there’s even an impromptu dance scene that comes out of nowhere!
2. Messiah of Evil (1973)
This is another film that I frequently recommend to my horror-loving friends. This is perhaps the most surreal zombie/vampire film ever made. A woman comes to a town to visit her father and she soon discovers that everyone in the town is acting strangely. This one features plenty of hippie action, a surprisingly large amount of clips from a Sammy Davis, Jr. film, an albino who eats rats and talks about how much he loves “Wagner” (which he pronounces with a “W” instead of a “V”), and some of the strangest imagery that you’ll eve see in a low-budget horror film.
Shirley MacClaine is a spoiler socialite who discovers that her younger brother, Perry King, has been possessed by the spirit of a murderer. Though this film is often dismissed as being just another Exorcist clone, it actually came out before The Exorcist and, in many ways, it’s even more disturbing than the seminal shocker. The ending will give you nightmares.
George Romero takes on vampires and the end result is unlike any vampire film that you’ve seen. Martin thinks he’s a vampire. His grandfather thinks he’s a vampire. Is Martin really a vampire? In the end, the film suggests that it might not really matter. A disturbing and sad film that has unexpected moments of humor, Martin also features Romero himself in the role of a well-meaning priest.
From the great Jean Rollin, it’s France’s first zombie film! In this one, people are being turned into zombies by contaminated wine. How many of your friends would become zombiefied as a result?
Finally, if you just have to watch a slasher this Halloween, why not check into the Mountaintop Motel? Evelyn will be more than happy to check you in and check you right back out.
Through the Shattered Lens 