I love Halloween more than any other time of year. The look of a crooked leafless tree swaying under moonlight, the feel of the autumn air, the smell of a candle burning inside a lit and grinning pumpkin, the costumes, the wicked atmosphere, the horror… It’s been a yearly tradition of mine to put on a long night of movies for my friends on Halloween, starting at dusk and going through till dawn. I started calling this night, 'The Horrorthon'. In the weeks leading up to it, I love mulling over what the most ideal ‘setlist' of spooky movies could be and look for a specific criteria within the choices and order to provide the perfect Halloween night’s viewing.
Maybe we’d start with a family ‘horror' like Monster House or The Nightmare Before Christmas for the kids, before an old school classic in the late afternoon slot, something like Night Of The Demon or Creature From The Black Lagoon to provide a touch of historic horror context. Then, as the evening gets underway, going for an atmospheric mood-setter like The Fog or maybe even a creature feature like Pumpkinhead, before accelerating with a faster paced ’80s rollercoaster ride like Evil Dead 2, Fright Night or Creepshow. Then approaching the midnight stretch I like to bring the atmosphere into more chilling focus with the likes of The Exorcist, Rec, or maybe Halloween itself. This goes on until the early hours, preferably with regular intervals for hot steaming homemade pumpkin soup, impromptu pumpkin carving and regular refills of claret…
But this year, my friends at my local cinema Uckfield Picture House (celebrating its 105th Birthday) invited me to host my Horrorthon on their big screen – and so I have enjoyed putting together a hand-picked selection of Halloween movies that will thrill, terrify and provoke shrieks of laughter, like only the best horror movies can when viewed in a packed audience. And to make the spooky weekend even more exclusive, I’ve invited along some super special guests to help introduce the movies with me. Here’s my selection of the films, and the roster of guests…
Friday 29 October
An American Werewolf In London (1981, dir. John Landis)
To kick off the Horrorthon, I’m thrilled to have John Landis’s absolutely seminal werewolf movie playing at the cinema. An American Werewolf In London has never truly been bettered in terms of the sub-genre of werewolf horror, and is up there at the top of the best horror movies of all time. In terms of its incredible practical effects by Oscar Winner Rick Baker, it hasn’t been surpassed. This film terrified me as a child, and was made worse as I saw it for the first time in a sleeping bag on the floor of a farmhouse on none other than Exmoor – convinced the razor-toothed monster was lurking just outside.
Managing to balance frequently shocking horror with bursts of inspired humour and unexpected, heart-wrenching emotion, American Werewolf is masterful in its conception and execution. So it gives me huge pleasure to say that none other than its writer and director, John Landis, has agreed to beam in from LA to chat to me and the attending Uckfield audience before the film screens. American Werewolf also fittingly celebrates its 40th birthday this year. If you haven’t seen this on the big screen, or at all, now is your chance.
The Return Of The Living Dead (1985, dir. Dan O’Bannon)
To follow American Werewolf, in the late night slot is one of my favourite films to screen on Halloween. It’s a real punk-rock riot of a movie with snappy dialogue and a fast pace which never really lets up from the word go. People don’t talk about this movie enough, and whilst I’m a strong devotee of the slow moving, shambling zombies, Dan O’Bannon’s Return Of The Living Dead gets a green card for its sheer ballsy energy and relentlessness; the rain-slicked and wonderfully moody, graphic look of the film and the nightmarish creatures that make up the “braaaainns”-loving Living Dead feel like it’s all been rendered straight out of the pages of a ’50s American horror comic.
The phrase “Send more paramedics” will always be etched in my mind, as will a certain ‘tar-covered’ nightmare lurking in the basement. I can’t recommend it enough – preferably whilst enjoying some of the Halloween-themed cocktails being sold at the bar...
Saturday 30 October
Last Night In Soho (2021, dir. Edgar Wright)
What perfect timing to have my good friend Edgar Wright’s new psychological chiller Last Night In Soho finally be released on Halloween weekend, and open day two of the Horrorthon! I was thrilled to be able to mix something brand new in between these classics, and it’s an honour to have Edgar’s film playing. I’ve known Edgar since we were teenagers watching Evil Dead and dreaming of making horror films, and despite being slap-bang in the middle of his opening weekend, Edgar has kindly agreed to make the time to partake in a live zoom chat to introduce his latest feature for this lucky Uckfield audience. And then we’ll all head under the sheets and wander the streets of Soho in search of dreams and nightmares…
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984, dir. Wes Craven)
Talking of dreams and nightmares, I believe A Nightmare On Elm Street is not only one of the greatest horror movies of all time, but sits alongside the likes of Alien and The Ring as perhaps the greatest, most terrifying and original horror movie concept of all time. ‘Dreams can kill’ is such a pure and imaginative idea for a horror movie, and Wes Craven invented a monster with knives for fingers to stalk you in your sleep…
Like American Werewolf, this film really traumatised me when I first saw it on VHS – but it also opened my eyes to the thrill and the scope of what horror could be; the unending imagination and the wonderfully inventive special effects that made horror so appealing and alluring. This is the original and best, and it gives me immense pleasure to be bringing the star of Elm Street, Heather Langenkamp – whose heroic character ‘Nancy’ fought Freddy in no less than three (and the best three) Elm Street instalments, films 1, 3 and 7 – joining us from LA to introduce the movie.
Sunday 31 October
ParaNorman (2012, dir. Chris Butler & Sam Fell)
For the Sunday afternoon ‘family’ matinee I’m screening the intricately realised model-animation ParaNorman which is one of the most impressive and beautiful (and funny) modern stop-motion features, from Laika Studios – who made the equally impressive Coraline, The Boxtrolls and Missing Link. ParaNorman is a scream for kids who like their zombies, monsters, ghosts and witches. I love the atmosphere in ParaNorman – it's a lot of fun and has a few spookier moments that might be a bit much for really young kids (maybe below the age of 7). But those brave enough will be rewarded by this cinematic Halloween treat..
Scream (1996, dir. Wes Craven)
Completing this years Horrorthon, it only felt right to screen the second of Wes Craven’s horror smashes that launched another mega-franchise with SCREAM. Satirising the slasher films he once made famous whilst also delivering a genuinely heartfelt, frequently funny and terrifying rollercoaster ride of a movie - Scream is a perfect Horrorthon closer with laughs and screams a’plenty. It also celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year!
Oh, and to help make our Horrorthon celebration feel even more cinematic, I wanted to create a fitting movie-style poster and asked talented designer Colm G from Creepy Duck to come up with something old school to capture the mood. His wonderful poster is already proudly up in the poster frames of the Picture House foyer, which makes the whole thing feel proper! Check out his amazing alternative film posters here, and follow him at @creepyduckart.
I hope to see some of you at The Horrorthon!