Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 | 4:38 a.m.
In the spirit of this ghostly holiday -- and knowing that nothing spooks the spirit like a good Halloween fright flick -- The Movie Guys have scared up lists of their favorite all-time horror hits, available on video. They're listed in ascending order.
But fear not: They're all treats. Not a trick in the bunch.
Jeff:
5) "Motel Hell" (MGM/UA Home Video, Rated R, VHS/Laserdisc): Welcome to Motel Hell, home of Farmer Vincent's smoked meats. Gosh darn, everybody in the county just loves Farmer Vincent's sausages and hams -- you've never tasted anything like em'. But -- beware!
Folks tell tales about strangers disappearing when passing by Vincent's motel. And what are those odd things planted in Vincent's "secret garden" that he cares for in the middle of the night? Come to think of it, what are those weird carcasses Vincent has hangin' in the smokehouse? What is the secret ingredient that makes Farmer Vincent's meats so tasty?
The "Motel Hell" is open for business, folks, but be careful if you're asked to stay for dinner. This is one delicious horror film.
4) "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" (Vestron Video, Rated R, VHS/Special Edition Laserdisc): So you want to be scared and have a laugh on Halloween night? "Evil Dead 2" is just what the Devil ordered. Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend spend a quiet night at a remote cabin in the woods. Quiet, that is, until they discover "The Book of the Dead." The book is anything but light reading. When read aloud, it frees hellish monsters bent on torture and revenge. Ash must battle fiendish demons from the underworld and somehow survive until morning. Director Sam Raimi presents the goriest, funniest, bloodiest horror movie this side of the crypt. A definte crowd-pleaser.
3) "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" (Media Home Video, Rated R, VHS/ Laserdisc): Two young lovers, Mike and Debbie, investigate a shooting star that has fallen near their town. The meteor turns out to be a giant space ship, shaped like a circus tent. The Killer Klowns are here!
The Klowns have an appetite for cotton-candy-wrapped people. The town police think it's all a joke, until the entire town begins to disappear and end up as the main course at a klown bake. Mike and his pals get past popcorn ray guns, fatal cream pies and flesh-dissolving cotton-candy to save the world from an outcome that's no joke. With cool, campy special effects and the best make-up I have ever seen, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" is one of my all-time favorites.
2) "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (Walt Disney Home Video, Rated PG, VHS/Laserdisc): Ray Bradbury's most popular and fascinating novel of the battle between good and evil comes to life in a way that only the magic of the Walt Disney Studios could accomplish.
One bleak and windy October night in Green Town, Ill., two young boys meet a man who sells lighting rods and warns them of an evil coming in the wind. Soon after, the town is visited by Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) and his Pandemonium Winter Carnival. Mr. Dark will grant your deepest wishes, but at a terrible price.
This has all the images of October in a small town, complete with pumpkins, leaves turning color and plenty of spooky images without the gore. With a marvelous performance by Oscar winner Jason Robards, the immortal words of Ray Bradbury and a haunting score by James Horner, this is a Halloween tradition that will chill audiences for generations to come. One of my favorite films of all time.
1) "Phantasm" (New Line Home Video, Rated R, VHS/Special Edition Laserdisc): Two brothers uncover the startling secret of the living dead at the local cemetery. A mortuary's embalming cellar is the site for evil -- a gateway for a supernatural dimension where dead humans are being transported to a world where they are reanimated and enslaved.
As the brothers learn more about what is really going on at Morningside Mortuary, they are chased by the most evil phantom to grace the silver screen, "The Tall Man" played by Angus Scrimm. Writer/Director Don Coscarelli has created one of the most original horror films ever made, with flying razors, silver spheres with daggers and a little sex thrown in for good measure. My favorite horror film. This is as good as it gets. "Phantasm" -- where the dead are no longer that way.
Dave:
5) "Scream" (Diminsion Home Video, Rated R, VHS/Laserdisc): Instead of picking one of the great splatterfest movies of the '80s, which redefined the horror genre altogether, just kill X amount of birds ("Halloween," "Friday the 13th," "Nightmare on Elm Street," etc.) with one stone -- last year's hip thriller "Scream."
A talented young cast including Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich spout off cliches from popular teen slasher movies as their small town is terrorized by a mad killer. Director Wes Craven (of "Nightmare" fame) reinvents himself as he parodies the very genre he helped create; and hot new screenwriter Kevin Williamson supplies sharp and clever dialogue mixed with gruesome killings. A must-see for anyone who appreciated grade-Z horror.
4) "Fright Night" (Columbia Home Video; Rated R, VHS/Laserdisc): No horror list is complete without a vampire flick, so let me close my eyes and randomly pick one from a list of vampire movies. ... Eddie Murphy's "Vampire in Brooklyn"? How did that get in here?
Ah ... here is one that is often forgotten. In "Fright Night," when a handsome young neighbor (Chris Sarandon) turns out to be a bloodsucking vamp, Charlie (William Ragsdale) is in desperate need of help and recruits his idol, Peter Vincent, horror-movie-host-turned-vampire-killer (played by Roddy McDowall). With plenty of scares and comic relief, writer-director Tom Holland brings back the traditional horror of old and mixes it with great special effects and amusing performances.
3) "The Shining" (Warner Bros. Home Video, Rated R, VHS/Laserdisc): "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." The repeated words typed over and over again found by Wendy (Shelley Duvall) marks the moment her husband Jack (a menacing Jack Nicholson) snaps into psycho mode.
Stanley Kubrick's psychological thriller has an over-the-top Nicholson playing the writer who accepts a winter job as caretaker of a resort hotel in the Rocky Mountains. He moves his family up to the haunted surroundings and slowly begins to descend into madness. Loosely adapted from Stephen King's novel, the film creates the most isolated and eerie scenes for Jack's terror. The film moves at a relatively slow pace, but quality performances and incredible direction make for a real chiller.
2) "Psycho" (Paramount Home Video, Rated NR, VHS/Laserdisc): What Alfred Hitchcock called "my first horror film" and further described as a comedy, film fans know as a classic, laced with suspense and horror.
Janet Leigh ditches town with the boss' money and ends up in a storm, forcing her to check into the Bates Motel. She is greeted by the manager Norman (played to perfection by Anthony Perkins), a polite fellow who has a screw loose for a "mother," and is made to feel at home -- until she feels the need to shower. Arguably Hitchcock's most popular movie with its unforgettable scenes and notorious score by Bernard Herrmann, "Psycho" has proven that after all these years, it still has not lost its luster of terror.
1) "Night of the Living Dead" (Continental Home Video, Rated NR, VHS/ Laserdisc): My favorite horror film of all time. Director George A. Romero's apocalyptic horror masterpiece finds seven people trapped in a farm house, hiding from flesh-hungry zombies who have risen from the dead and are stalking the Earth.
The low budget production values and its documentary style add an authentic feel to this terrifying chiller, which was a true inspiration to its own genre. Famous for the realistic graphic effects and gruesome attacks (courtesy of makeup artist Tom Savini), "Night of the Living Dead" established itself as the ultimate cult classic.
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