31 Films To Watch In October!

This is a list of 31 Horror films that, if you haven't seen, you need to watch and if you have seen any of them, then you should watch them again. It just so happens that there are 31 nights in October, so one a night should do! Although there are a few that I am going to list together because they really should be viewed as a double feature. A few words about this list: To start, I'll say up front, that I am not going to sit here and tell you that you have to watch The Exorcist or Psycho or things along those lines. Nothing against them at all, but I think everyone tells you to watch those, and you rightfully should... in fact you should have already watched them by now, if you haven't done so already, the go do it now. Go ahead... I'll wait. Well? What did you think? Good right? Okay, now, back to the list. This is a list ranging from silent films from the 20's up through some more recent and modern films. They mostly come in from the 30's to the 70's. Why? Because let's face it, they don't make horror movies like they used to! Some of these films are creepy, some pretty scary, some are actually pretty funny, and some of them are even MEANT to be funny. I will warn you, there are a few on here that are downright terrible! Why recommend a bad movie you ask? Because despite their crapiness they should still be viewed. They tend to have what I like to refer to as the perfect "Ed Wood Factor"... more on this later. All I can say is this: Trust me. If you are an intelligent human being who doesn't have to have someone sit next to you in a movie theater and explain to you the plot of Babe 2: Pig in the City, then you will most likely enjoy every movie on this list in some capacity. One liner note, Babe 2: Pig in the City is NOT, I repeat NOT on this list... so at least I spared you that...

 Frankenstein (1931) / The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - Okay, okay, I know I'm starting off with what seems like an obvious choice, and I told you I wouldn't do that, but really, this needs to be on this list. This is a double feature night right here. Don't worry, they are pretty short actually, but you won't care and will probably want more by the end. Both directed by James Whale for Universal Pictures. This is a case where the second film (Bride) picks up LITERALLY exactly where the first film starts off, despite the fact that they were made several years apart. Most of the cast from the original returns, including Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as the Doctor. The only character who returns as a different actress is the part of Elizabeth, the doctor's fiancé (Mae Clark in the original replace by Valerie Hobson in Bride). Bride also welcome Dr. Septimus Pretorius to the story played by Earnest Thesiger. This character is BY FAR one of the most twisted and interesting characters in horror film history. These make the list as a good way to start the Halloween season off and 2 films that really need to be seen!

 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) - This is the first of a few silent films on the list. For those out there who don't like or have a hard time watching silent films... get over it. This film was actually the first film production of Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula. Why didn't the just call it Dracula? Simple. The Stoker estate wanted nothing to do with the film industry (still in its infancy) and REALLY wanted nothing to do with German director F.W. Murnau. But that didn't stop the bat-shit insane director and he made the film anyway under a different name. Hooray for copyright infringement! All the crazy Germans aside, the film holds up pretty well, and keeps in the final voyage of the Demeter, a great scene from the original story left out of the Universal Lugosi version of Dracula. Very moody and creepy, it being a silent film helps that factor too.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - So let me start this one by saying, I am not picky at all about zombie movies. I'll watch any and all of them. To me, there is nothing better than watching reanimated corpses roaming around eating people! This one was the first... well maybe not the first film to have "zombie" by name, but the first to have zombies and reanimated, decaying cannibals. We have this film to thank for all those wonderful, blood splatter zombie films we have today. This film also marks the directorial debut of George Romero. Original credit aside, it's a really good film, still one of the best. The zombie are plainer and simpler, but they serve their purpose and do their job of creeping you out well. I'll confess... it's one of the few films that legitimately creeps me out, even to this day. There's something about peering out of a boarded up window and seeing what the survivors see out in the night that just give me genuine chills. This one is easy to come by as it is in the public domain, so check the dollar bins at your local movie joints. Believe it or not it's been in the public domain since the day it came out. A production assistant forgot to put the copyright notice in the closing credits. Whoops.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) - This one is a personal one for me. This is one of my favorite horror films of all time, as well as my favorite Vincent Price film (a side note... I think Vincent Price should be his own genre... just sayin'). I don't really know why I like it so much actually. It has an interesting story, well shot, cool make-up in it, good characters... for me I think it's the waltz to the mechanical orchestra right at the beginning that sold me on it. To me it defines the character of  Phibes perfectly, right off the bat, and it makes you like him even though you are supposed to hate him. Dr. Anton Phibes seeks revenge as he murders the 9 people he feels are responsible for his wife's death. Directed by Robert Fuest, who never did much else after it... other than a sequel (Dr. Phibes Rises Again... not the best... but still good). He did however direct quite a few episode of the classic British 60's TV series The Avengers (not the Marvel ones... the cliché British spy ones!) Watch it, if for no other reason, for Vincent Price, he is in a number of other films on this list, but really, he makes any movie better!

Creepshow (1982) - Do not miss this one! This is a cool one! Written by the one and only Stephen King (not based on one of his books, he wrote the screen play and actually has a role in the film!) and directed by George Romero (of Night of the Living Dead fame), this film has 4 shot stories too it. The whole thing is inspired by the old Creepy and Eerie comics on the 60's and 70's. Watch for an early film appearance by Ed Harris in the segment "Father's Day" and even Leslie Nielson in a rather non-funny role in the segment "Something to Tide You Over" alongside Ted Danson. I'm a big fan of anthology style movies, and this is definitely one of the best! If you like this one be sure to also check out Twilight Zone the Movie, Tales of Terror, and Twice Told Tales. Those are also really good anthology style horror films.

The Invisible Man (1933) - The first leading role for Claude Rains (though he is heard more than he is seen!), this masterpiece from director James Whale (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) was groundbreaking in its day and still hold up today actually. From the classic sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells, this Universal classic is another personal favorite of mine. The Invisible Man is definitely one of the unsung heroes of the Universal band of monsters. Despite the fact that it spawned several sequels, the character wasn't exactly marketable since it's hard to make toys of a character you can't even really see. So when the monster craze of the 60's hit, he mostly got overlooked... literally! That aside, the film is fantastic, with effects that were well ahead of its time. Rather than computers and green screen like we have today, the effect of partial invisibility was accomplished by covering parts of the actor with black, light absorbing velvet in front of a black background made of the same material. The set was then filmed with no one on it, when they processed the film, the pure black areas created by the velvet become transparent on film which was then laid over the empty background. This composited image was then exposed to a new strip of film, creating on image in which the black pats of the actor appear invisible.

Tarantula (1955) - Tarantula is an interesting specimen... It should go into the group of pure 50's nuclear sci-fi cheese with many others, but it doesn't... it manages to escape that fate. It did this much the way the first 2 Creature from the Black Lagoon films did, probably because it was mostly the same crew responsible for the Creature films that brought Tarantula to life. Despite the fact that director Jack Arnold became synonymous with 50's sci-fi, his films were almost always a cut above the other cheesy radioactive monster flicks that graced the screens of drive-ins across the country. He would also go on to direct The Incredible Shrinking Man, another one of the greatest sci-fi films of its era, but sadly his career ended with directing episodes of shows ranging from Gilligan's Island to The Love Boat. Back to Tarantula... a simple, but interesting story held together by surprisingly good effects keeps this film from being a true B-Movie. Professor Gerald Deemer is testing a serum he has created that enlarges creatures in his desert laboratory when one of his specimens (a Tarantula... surprise surprise!) escape during a fire. After wreaking havoc on a local town the giant spider meets it's maker at the hands of none other than Clint Eastwood in one of his first on screen roles (you can't even see his face with the fighter pilot helmet on, but you can definitely hear that classic voice!).

Billy The Kid Vs. Dracula (1966) / Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966) - Okay... this one might hurt a bit... but put on a smile and muscle through it. These 2 films were directed by the same man in the same year. The director, William Beaudine, actually has an impressively long resume, with over 360 productions on it, ranging from 1915 all the way to 1979... unfortunately no one has ever heard of any of them... oh... except for some episode of Lassie. The films were released as a double screening, and as such should always be viewed together. There isn't much else to say about these 2... it's cowboys and monster... it kind of is what it is. Dracula is played by John Carradine, father of David Carradine who is best known for Kung Fu the Series, Kill Bill (he played Bill, who is in fact killed, there I just told you the ending, you now don't have to sit and be tortured by Quentin Tarantino for 4+ hours).

The Horror of Dracula (1958) - Okay, so remember how I said I wasn't picky at all about zombie movies? Well, I'm REALLY picky about vampire movies. My philosophy about vampires is as such: they are boring... way too boring to be the point of a story. In a typical werewolf story, the werewolf IS the point of the story, in Frankenstein the monster IS the point of the story. In a vampire story, vampires are too boring to be the only point of the story, they always have to have some background story to make them interesting, so the film really falls victim to how good said background story is. The original Dracula is just as much about real estate sales in London as it is about a vampire. That being said, Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula is by far the best Dracula film made. Christopher Lee (yup, Sarumon himself!) takes on the title role in this production, putting all other's performance of the character to shame. If all you know of vampires is from Twilight (if this is you: for shame!) than forget all that you've learned about sparkly poofters and watch this film. THIS is what real vampires are!

Curse of the Werewolf (1961) - This is my official werewolf pick for this year's list. A classic werewolf story set against the backdrop of the French revolution, Curse of the Werewolf come curtsey of the same studio (Hammer Films) and same director (Terence Fisher) as Horror of Dracula. Hammer Films usually had large more elaborate sets, as well as costumes and make up then most American studios were sinking into horror films at the time. This film is no exception to that rule. Arguably the best werewolf film since Universal's The Wolfman some 20 years earlier, Curse of the Werewolf delivers on all levels!

Night Creatures (or The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh... if you can find it) (1962) - Another one from Hammer Films! This film was based on a novel by Russell Thordike  called Dr. Syn. Nothing too unusual about that... except that the novel was optioned by Disney at the same time! Disney produced it under the title The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, while Hammer went with the much more vague and irrelevant name of Night Creatures. Both are actually pretty good. I'd say I'm more partial to the Hammer Films version, but the other was done by Disney who did a good job too. It was actually one of the few live action films Disney put out on the 60's that didn't totally suck (it was actually a 3 part television series that was part of their Wonderful World of Color TV program). I recommend either one, though Disney's is near impossible to find on DVD. Plus the Hammer one has Peter Cushing... and he is pretty damn close to being Vincent Price awesome!

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) - You're going to hate me for this one... I guarantee it. Remember that "Ed Wood Factor" I was talking about? Well this film would have made Ed Wood himself cringe! It's about... well... I'll tell you what... I've seen the film more times than I'd care to admit, and I still don't know what the hell it's about. I do know that it was directed by a manure salesman... which explains why it's so shitty! Ha! No... seriously... it was really directed by a manure salesman. This film really got a cult following thanks to the efforts of the crew of the Satellite of Love on Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, Shout Factory just released a special edition DVD of the Manos episode of MST3K. I recommend watching THAT version, since it's always safer to watch Manos with a friend... and in the case his 2 robot puppets also. Watching it without MST3K... well... I'll just say that I've warned you...

The Phantom of the Opera (1925) / The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - I could make this one real short and just say "Lon Chaney"... because that's all that really needs to be said about these two... but I'll add a little more. Chaney was known as the Man of a Thousand Faces. Why? Because in just about every film he made he looked completely different, and he did this by his own hand. Every spot of make up the man wore was applied by himself. Even the incredibly elaborate make up seen in these 2 films. The son of deaf mutes, Chaney starred in 160 silent films from 1912 to 1929 and only one film with sound in 1930. He was originally the first choice for Universal's production of Dracula, but his deteriorating health and eventual death due to lung cancer kept him from the part that went on to be made famous by Bela Lugosi.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - If you only get to watch one movie on this list, make it this one. Please. This one is amazing. This film is not only one of the first horror comedies ever made, but also marks the only other time Bela Lugosi ever played Dracula on screen. There's not much else that needs to be said about this film. It never gets old. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it and I still laugh at it. Abbot and Costello were great in their own right, but throw classic monsters into the mix and you've got gold! What really works in the film is that the monsters aren't even the butt of the jokes. They are still classy, and dignified, and... well... monsters! But Bud and Lou play off of them and each other so well that it works brilliantly. I'm telling ya! Don't miss this one!

The Monster Squad (1987) - This is a later one and a very important film from my childhood. Fred Dekker was the typical Monster Kid in the 60's and 70's. One of his favorites was Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. So once he broke into the film industry, he approached Universal about doing a sort of update on the film. His idea was to cross A&C Meet Frankenstein with the Goonies. Universal shot him down. So he took the project elsewhere and worked with artist and sculptor Steve Wang to redesign the classic monsters so as not to get sued by Universal. The result was The Monster Squad. The story of a group of kids who befriend the Frankenstein Monster and an old Van Helsing-like German man and team up to defeat Dracula, the Mummy, Wolfman, and the Creature, and yes... it is as awesome as it sounds. Good writing, a good cast, great directing, and out of this world creature effects make this one of the most under-rated monster films of all time!

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) - Every Halloween or Horror Movie list has to have a Hitchcock film on it somewhere... I think it might even be a law... but I promised you I wouldn't tell you to watch Psycho (but if you STILL haven't then you should... go do it.). SO this is my Hitchcock pick. This is another really cool silent film. Yep, Hitchcock did some silent film... he had hair at the time too! The Lodger is his telling of the story of Jack the Ripper. Hitch regarded this as his first true film. He had made 2 other prior to it, but neither were full length productions, nor were they ever seen to completion. This is also the first time he makes his trademark cameo appearance. Watch for him sitting at a desk in the newsroom early on in the film.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) - I always like to call this film "The best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock didn't direct". There's no real monsters or ghouls or ghosts in this one. Just good 'ol insanity! The story is about former child star "Baby" Jane Hudson (Better Davis) and her crippled sister Blanche (Joan Crawford). The only problem is that Baby Jane doesn't want to grow up and give up her childhood stardom, so she regresses back and finds the insane, jealous cruelty of a child in the dangerous body of an aging lunatic. This. Is. An. Amazing. Movie. Both actresses were kind of insane in the real world, so it translates GREAT to their on screen performances which really sell the film, along with great art direction and beautiful cinematography.

Mad House (1974) - This one has Vincent Price AND Peter Cushing! And it's a horror film about horror films! How can you lose?! Vincent Price plays a horror actor who returns to his craft after spending several years in a mental institution, but after his comeback he takes his murderous exploits from the big screen out into the real world. This was the final of only 9 film directed by accomplished Hollywood editor Jim Clark. It is also the only time we ever see Peter Cushing wearing a Dracula outfit in a film, as supposed to his normal role as Van Helsing.

Trick R' Treat (2007) - This is one of my few really recent picks on this list. Mainly because I think it is one of the few recent horror films that lives up to the standards of these classics. Amazingly, this never got a theatrical release, despite Warne Brothers sinking quite a few bucks into it. This is classic Halloween right here. To me, this is the "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" of Halloween films. It is another anthology style film... kind of. There are several different stories, but they all tend to cross paths and intertwine. All of which comes to a head with a character named Sam: a demented little pumpkin child that is just wickedly awesome. This is a film that was never made to win any award, it was just made by a guy who loves Halloween and loves telling cool horror stories. Can't ask for much more than that!

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - I know there are some serious Tim Burton haters out there, if you are one of them, then this one isn't for you. It just so happens that I am a big Burton fan, and this is one of my favorites of his. His unique art and directing style bring a really cool twist to Washington Irving's classic tale. He pays great tribute to the gothic horror films of Hammer Studios with this one, and if you've watched some of the other Hammer films on this list you'll see what I mean. A fun fact: when the horseman has a head, he is played by Christopher Walken, when he doesn't have a head he is played by actor/stuntman Ray Park who played the red-and-black-faced Darth Maul in Star Wars ep.1: The Phantom Menace.

Tales from the Crypt (1972) - I'm talking the old school Tales from the Crypt, not the HBO series. Based on the popular comic book series published by EC Comics (that's EC not DC) this is yet another horror anthology film. This time sporting 5 stories in one! Each story is told by the Crypt Keeper, who, in this version, is not a whiny, cackling corpse puppet, but rather a mysterious man in a monk robe. Each story tells a tale involving one member of the Crypt Keepers captive audience and how they will ultimately meet their demise. Look for Peter Cushing in the role of Grimsdyke, a friendly old man who comes back from the grave to give a nasty real-estate investor what he deserves. Great zombie make up on him, his empty eye sockets being a very nice touch!

Mad Love (1935) - Peter Lorre. One of the masters of horror yet to make it onto this list. Best known for his bulging eyes and distinctive voice, he brings the perfect touch of insanity to the role of Doctor Gogol. Obsessed with an actress, the mad surgeon (Gogol) replaces the wounded hands of her pianist husband (played by Colin Clive, Dr. Frankenstein himself) with the hands of a murderous knife thrower. The hands still have the urge to toss around point objects however, opening up a world of trouble for the pianist. A very cool, atmospheric film with an incredible performance by Lorre as the mad surgeon. 

The Fly (1958) - The original, not the Jeff Goldblume remake... although that one is actually decent.... you know, as good as a Jeff Goldblume movie can be (excluding Jurassic Park from that comment). One of the thing I've always loved about this film (aside from the presence of Vincent Price) is it's unique storytelling method. The film starts with the death of the titular character, is then told mostly in flashback recollection by his grief-stricken wife up 'til about 3/4 of the way in, at which point the story catches up with itself and continues on in the present until the end and epilogue. This was a really unusual style in the period it was made, especially for a sci-fi film. They were usually pretty straight forward and to the point. Most sci-fi producers and directors of their period weren't out to make great films, they were out to make a quick buck at the drive-ins with cheap movies featuring guys in bad rubber costumes. Not that that's a bad thing, some wonderfully terrible films came out of it, but this wasn't one of them. This is a legitimately good movie. Despite its competent directing, it was actually one of the last films to come from director Kurt Neumann who never really did much of anything else of note or merit. The films sequel, Return of The Fly (my favorite of the series) was nowhere near as sophisticated but served as a good cheap scare as the now big-headed descendant of the original Fly rampages around town murdering people responsible for ruining his experiment and turning him into the monster he is. While it lacks the class of the original, there's just something about it that strikes a chord with me, but I always recommend the first one over its follow up. It's just a better movie. Ironically, the director of the sequel (Edward Bernds) is most known for directing Three Stooges shorts... go figure.

The Blob (1958) - By all means The Blob should suck... but it doesn't. Another result of the 50's sci-fi craze, The Blob is about a strange meteorite that crashes to earth near a farm, when the famer examines it, it cracks open and a small red blob oozes out of it... and quickly eats his hand! The farmer staggers to the highway to try and get help when he is spotted by none other than Steve McQueen (of Great Escape and Bullitt fame!) in his first film role and his date for the evening. The teenagers take him to the town doctor to be examined and that's when things really go south. The blob ends up devouring the entire farmer and gets larger. It escapes and begins consuming everything in its path, making it larger and large until it's big enough to engulf and entire diner trapping its occupants inside! It's a simple story that is compliment by surprisingly good special effects. Based on the director's other films (films with titles like The 4D Man and Dinosaurus!) I don't think he set out to make movie gold on this one, but ended up with a happy accident.

They Live (1988) - They Live is a guilty pleasure of mine. I remember watching it on TV as a kid and being creeped out by the way the aliens look in the film. I still really love their design for some reason, and the whole concept is just bizarre enough to be good. Plus it has Roddy "Rowdy" Piper in it! The story is of a secret alien invasion where the aliens are disguised to look just like us and take us over with subliminal messages. It turns out that Roddy Piper has a special pair of sunglasses that allows him to see these creature, which means it is up to him to take them down. Directed by John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween) the film is most known for its overly long fight scene between Roddy Piper and Keith David, which lasts on screen for 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Robot Monster (1953) - This film makes just about every "worst films of all time" list out there. It's a classic! Originally filmed in 3-D, the story is about... well... I'm not sure the director even knew what the story was about. The films big claim to fame is it titular Robot Monster, known in the film as the Ro-Man, which is a guy in suit composed of a gorilla costume and a fish-bowl-like space helmet. Legend has it that the film was so poorly received upon its release that the director attempted suicide, but was unsuccessful (how do you mess even THAT up???). In the middle of the film there is a scene in which "prehistoric beasts battle to the death!" This scene is actually footage taken from the Hal Roach film One Million Years B.C. and one shot of a stop-motion animated Triceratops from a film called The Lost Continent. This film was also MST3K fodder at one point, but actually stands and entertaining even without Joel and the bots!

Play Misty For Me (1971) - The directorial debut of Clint Eastwood, Play Misty For Me is a surprisingly creepy movie. Aside from being a really dark, interesting crime thriller, the production was just as impressive as the final product, especially considering Eastwood had never directed a full length feature before. All filming was completed in only 21 days, 4 days ahead of schedule and $50,000 under budget! Eastwood convinced Universal Studios to allow him to direct the film by agreeing to wave his usual acting fee. The story takes place in Carmel, CA where Eastwood lived and eventually became mayor of in 1986.

The Thing (1982) - Another masterpiece from John Carpenter, The Thing is a remake for the 1951 film The Thing From Another World. The film is largely remember for its impressive arsenal of elaborate creature effects. There is no CG at all in the entire film (seeing as how it wasn't really around much yet) and all of the effects in the film were creature with animatronics, puppets, and make up effects. This is another one of those films that tends to make it onto everybody's list of horror and sci-fi films that you should see, but with good reason.

The Invasion (2007) - Another more modern pick, The Invasion is a really under-rated film. Normally I will be one of the first to tell you that you really need to watch the original instead of the remake, but not in this case. The Invasion is a remake of 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While I am a fan of the original Body Snatchers, I really liked this remake. They kept a very vintage storytelling style and pace to it, but updated the bits that needed to be updated. The only real drawback to this remake is Nicole Kidman, though she actually isn't bad in it. There are other people I would have rather seen in place of her, but she served her purpose. It also stars Daniel Craig, whom I personally really like in just about anything, and as usual he does a good job in the film. It just seems to me though that if you were to pit James Bond against an alien invasion (regardless of what they were snatching), Bond could have kicked their ass back into space a lot faster than he did in this film!

Mimic (1997) - I really really like this movie. Mimic comes from director Guillermo Del Toro, most known for his work on the Hellboy franchise. Now, I HATE Hellboy, however I will say that that's about the only black mark on Del Toro's resume, at least in my book. If you aren't familiar with some of his other work I highly recommend Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, and Pan's Labyrinth. For this list, however, I'm going with Mimic. Mimic takes the idea of insects in the while disguising themselves as their prey in order to attract their meals. Well what if a new species of insect evolves who's prey is human? This idea becomes a living nightmare as a species of giant, man-sized insects begin to manifest in the subway systems of a large city. While it occasionally gets grouped in with Sci-Fi Channel original style schlock of the mid to late 90s, this one is actually a cut above.

Night of the Ghouls (1959) - Last on the list, but CERTAINLY not the least, is Ed Wood's Night of the Ghouls. I'm going to go off on a brief tangent here, but bear with me. I've mentioned Ed Wood a bit in the list so far, mainly using him to refer to a defining style of movie... mainly bad ones. For those of you who don't know who Ed Wood is, allow me to enlighten you a bit. Edward D. Wood, Jr. is the reigning king of crap. The titan of terrible. The duke of dumps. The sultan of shit. Ed Wood is the father of the crappy movie. Oh sure, there were bad movies made before him, but not like his. The crazy thing about Ed Wood movies is that, despite how utterly terrible they are, you can't help but completely love them. His crowning achievement was a film called Plan 9 From Outer Space. A film he was so passionate about and wanted so badly to make, that he even was able to get it bankroller by a Christian Church group. That's right, a film he himself described as being about grave robber from outer space (the actual original title for the project) he somehow managed to get financially backed by a church. The catch: he and his entire crew had to be baptized. So they did... he somehow managed to get his entire cast and crew to agree to be baptized by this church in a swimming pool in order to make the movie. Plan 9 also marks the last film of Bela Lugosi, who actually died before the film was even started. It just so happened that Wood, being a dear friend of Lugosi's, had shot some footage of Lugosi outside his house shortly before the classic actor passed away. This footage he used to open the film, Lugosi's character was then played for the rest of the film by Wood's girlfriend's chiropractor. Yes... you read that right... her chiropractor. Why? Because wood though his eyes and forehead looked like Lugosi, so he hired him and had him keep his face covered by his cape for the entire rest of the film. Why am I telling you so much about a movie that I'm not even recommending on this list? Because Plan 9 is the best way to understand Ed Wood and his film making philosophy and style. He always looked at "the big picture" and ignored the "small things" like actors accidentally knocking over tombstones and his actors being dead. In the end though, he almost always got his movie made, and I guess that what counts... or something. So why am I not suggesting Plan 9? While I do highly recommend it, I personally favor his final hoo-rah Night of the Ghouls. While he did make a few more films after this one, they were mostly bizarre, twisted quasi-pornography (oh yea, I forgot to mention, he like to cross-dress... he wasn't gay, just like woman's clothing... remember, this man somehow got funding FROM A CHURCH!). For Night of the Ghouls, he got the whole band back together (sans-Lugosi of course) for one more horror project. This opus has everything. It has ghosts, it has ghouls, it has a deformed... thing called Lobo (played by Swedish wrestler turned actor... kind of...Tor Johnson), it has bad writing, bad directing, bad sets, bad costumes, it has the works! Everything that made Ed Wood "Ed Wood" is in this thing. It. Is. Great. Also, a side note, this film features Dr. Acula, long before Scrubs thought it was funny.

So there it is. My picks for 31 horror and sci-fi flicks you should watch during the month of October. What order should you watch them in? Well you could watch them in the order that I present here, but you don't have to. I will make some recommendations on that thought though: don't watch too man knowingly bad ones in a row... it does damage to your innards... trust me. While Trick R' Treat is one of the few on here that is actually about Halloween, I DON'T recommend actually watching it ON Halloween night. Why? Because once you get into it, you don't want to keep pausing it to deal with those damn trick-or-treaters. I DO recommend watching Night of the Ghouls on Halloween night. There isn't much story to it, so it's not a big deal to keep stopping and starting, and it has a classic, campy Halloween feel to it. The Frankenstein films are a good one to start on because you know you have two good ones right up front, and the dark, gothic horror really gets you in the mood for the season. Sleepy Hollow is a good one to carve you pumpkin during, and Night of the Living Dead is a good one to watch at midnight with the lights off. Other than that, go nuts! Remember my warnings on some of them, improper bad movie viewing is a dangerous thing that there should really be more PSAs about. Most importantly: remember, not all of these are GOOD but they are all FUN, and that what counts, especially around Halloween. We're not trying to impress the academy, we're trying to scare ourselves and have fun while doing it.

Before I go, here are a few quick bonus picks and possible alternates:

·         Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

·         Poltergeist (1982)

·         This Island Earth (or watch Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie) (1955 or 1996)

·         The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

·         Rosemary's Baby (1968)

·         Man Bites Dog (1992)

·         Phantasm (1979)

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Happy viewing and Happy Halloween!

Goodnight, whatever you are!