JIM ERWIN
Candy may rot your teeth, but horror movies rot your brain. That's
why nothing goes better with a great Halloween sugar buzz than
watching great horror flicks. It's a tradition as American as Mom,
Apple Pie, and monsters who attack promiscuous teenagers. Turn off
the lights and crank up the surround sound, here's my top 10 picks
for Halloween:
Frankenstein (1931 -- Directed by James Whale) Dr. Frankenstein
tries to create life using human body parts from a local cemetery.
Overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, Frankenstein's monster roams
the countryside trying to learn how to love himself. Angry villagers
with torches make his quest for emotional healing a real challenge.
This movie turned Boris Karloff into a household name. When asked to
play the monster, Bela Lugosi said no and regretted it for the rest
of his life. If you have cable you can catch this one early Friday
evening on TCM.
The Tingler (1959 -- Directed by William Castle -- banned in
Finland) It's not Halloween without horror legend Vincent Price. This
movie is creepy, campy and a total hoot. Price plays a scientist who
discovers that each of us has an organism living inside our body
called the tingler. It grows stronger as your fear intensifies and
will eventually kill you unless you release your fear by screaming.
Back when this movie debuted, theaters hid vibrating gadgets in the
seats so you'd feel the tingler growing stronger. Hmmm ... it seems
like there might be a market in Van Nuys and North Hollywood for
theater seats with vibrating gadgets. "Scream! Scream for your
lives!"
The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in
My Neck (1967 -- Directed by Roman Polanski) Vampires are an
essential for Halloween night and this is a very cool vampire flick.
It's funny, scary and well crafted. Polanski must sneak into the
vampire's castle and rescue Sharon Tate from a life of eternal
beauty, luxury and an occasional nibble on her neck. Polanski
co-wrote the story, which is beautifully photographed in cryptic
black and white.
Dawn of the Dead (1978 -- Directed by George Romero -- banned by
many nations) "Dawn of the Living Dead" is the sequel to the greatest
horror flick of all time, "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). Flesh
eating zombies now outnumber the living and civilization deteriorates
into anarchy. A small group of survivors decide to take refuge in a
shopping mall. The inside of the mall is safe, but for how long? Like
teenagers with credit cards, the zombies never stop coming. A remake
