It’s said that All Hallows’ Eve is one of the nights when the veil between the worlds is thin – and whether you believe in such things or not, those roaming spirits probably believe in you, or at least acknowledge your existence, considering that it used to be their own. Even the air feels different on Halloween, autumn-crisp and bright. ~ Erin Morgenstern

Continuing with week two of my horror movie a day to celebrate Halloween, check out Happy Halloween Movies – Part 1.

Dark Skies (2013) – This movie, which stars Kerri Russell, who I absolutely love, is a bit different from the others on the list. It’s not your typical horror movie, but it is part horror film, part thriller, part mystery and part I won’t tell you because it would give too much away. This film does the standard slow role horror film build up but once it gets going it first gets uncomfortable, then it gets tense, then it gets nuts! Definitely check this one out.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023) – So this is a brand new film out this week, it has a lot going for it. It’s a horror film in October, it’s Stephen King adjacent, it’s a prequel, I have a tendency to like prequels. All of those things however are things going for it, pre-viewing. It’s a total dog, I thought it might be, 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s predictable as hell, and worst of all, it follows a recent trend in direction that I absolutely hate. I have no idea if this is being taught in film school, or bails out bad scripts or what, but this trend of filming scenes so dark you can’t really see what’s going on sucks. And Pet Sematary: Bloodlines films the entire crowning twenty minute sequence at the end of the film so dark it’s almost impossible to tell who is who on the screen. You’re welcome, I’ve saved you from wasting 90 minutes on this film.

Smile (2022) – Another pretty recent film and one that definitely intrigued me with the trailer. The film started as expected, the trailer sets up the premise quite well. There’s a little shock value to the beginning, honestly the middle of the film feels a bit long. But the last twenty minutes really heat up, you get several levels of madness that you’re expecting and then a couple that you don’t. I like it when a movie can be a bit unpredictable and surprising, smile makes the cut on that.

Halloween (2007) – So AMC is doing Halloween flicks all month and so I scanned the offerings and set up the DVR to record a number of films, makes it a bit easier that running them down online or paying a rental fee through Prime Video. So I started watching the film and I know I hadn’t seen the film in a long time but I didn’t remember any of the first few scenes. Then Sheri Moon comes on to the screen and I knew something was wrong. I hit the info button on the remote and sure enough, I was watching a 2007 re-imagining of Halloween by Rob Zombie, husband of Sheri Moon. I was enjoying the film and decided to watch it through and honestly it was pretty good. Not really all that scary but well done and I’ve always thought Rob Zombie was a pretty good director. Zombie likes his gore and violent action and this was actually one of his more restrained films. Looking forward to compare this with the original.

Halloween (1978) – Got back to the original Halloween and the original 80’s horror serial clearing the pathway for multiple sequels to Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, et al… An absolute nod to the original and to the brilliant mind of John Carpenter. But, and this will certainly be horror film sacrilege, I liked Rob Zombie’s version much better. Mostly because there are a lot of plot holes in the 78 version, holes that got closed in the sequels, but Rob Zombie had the benefit of hindsight and did a much better job of closing those holes in his version which made for a much more cogent story. A nod to the original, but check out the 2007 version instead.

The Thing (1982) – I remember seeing this one in the theater my senior year of high school. A beautiful merging of science fiction and horror, second only to Alien, which I will absolutely be viewing and writing about this month. The Thing is not terribly scary but what I really like about this film, unlike most horror movies, it’s not shot in the dark, the monster isn’t hidden and it’s a film truly focused on the characters and the monster. Which is great when you have a cast this good and it’s a really good cast. I love this movie, it’s well done and fun to watch.

Alien (1979) – The single greatest scifi/horror film ever made! For those of you too young to have seen it originally in the theater, you truly have no idea how magnificent this movie was. This film came out 44 years ago. I’ll never forget seeing the first trailer in the theater, I instantly knew I had to see this movie, in space, no one can hear you scream. But sitting in the theater opening night at 15, this movie mesmerized and terrified. The scene where you first see the grown alien slide down from the ceiling was an absolute revelation, and at that time it was the greatest single monster to ever appear on film. Although truly a science fiction film, it connects on a horror level like few other films. It’s a classic monster movie in many ways and the tension of who is next, when will it strike, the moodiness of the scenes shot in the air ducts and maintenance tubes, dark but not to dark to see exactly what’s happening is amazing. It was Sigourney Weaver’s first major film and me and my friends fell instantly in love with her beautiful, badass character Ripley.

For film nuts like me, it was also our introduction to Ridley Scott, a film maker who would go on to make so many films that I love, including his next film, one of my all-time favorites Blade Runner. It may not be my favorite film but it is in my top 5, but without a doubt Blade Runner was the single greatest theater experience of my life. If, somehow, you’ve never seen Alien, watch it, the director’s cut if possible, in the dark, with a good sound system and on the biggest screen you have access to, this is horror cinema at it’s very best!