My Halloweens 1997-2010 (Plus a Couple of Extras)

Hey everyone. I want to thank everyone who made last weeks first past of My Halloweens so successful. I hope you enjoy seeing the rest of the pics that I've dug up for you. To start off I want to put up a couple more early shots that my mom dug up.

1983 I love this picture. I was definitely trying to do my best Bela Lugosi here, but the black and white bow tie (that some readers may recall from last week) is holding me back.

Here's another shot from around 84 or 85. I did used to love me some Zorro! ....and the Hamburglar!

Here's the last old picture, from 1986. I didn't know it at the time, but I may have been going as Peter Murphy.

Now down to business. When we last met, I left you with the image of the mullet-pyre. There's quite a few years in between where I either didn't dress up or I don't have pictures so we'll pick it up with 1997.
You would think that would be the most embarrassing thing I would release of myself would be the mullet-pyre, but don't be silly. I worked a seasonal job at a Halloween store, and this was my bonus. I don't know what possessed me to want this costume, but I did.

In 1998, I worked at the Halloween store again, and decided on going low tech and high concept by dressing as Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. This was mostly so I didn't have to talk intelligibly to anyone all day long. Most folks wanted to know if I was Ozzy Osborne

In 2002, I chose a costume from one of my favorite TV shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. That's right I'm a Trekkie and a Niner as well. Despite being a prepackaged costume, these things are devilishly comfortable, bring on the Eugenics wars so I can start dressing like this all the time.

I'm going to say that this photo comes from around 2003 or so. One of our friends used to have a rather kick ass Halloween party which we got the pleasure of attending a few times. This first year I went as RUN from RUN DMC while my lovely wife went as the vampire bunny, Bunnicula.

The nest time we went to out friends party (I want to say this was 2005) I found a rare gem, a prepackaged costume that I really liked. I had always wanted to be Arthur, King of the Britons.

For the next couple of years we didn't do anything special on the holiday that I recall. The last time we dressed up was in 2008 when I went as the living breathing embodiment of "The Lightning Bug" and my wife went as my date, the slasher prom queen.

As for this year, I haven't decided yet, but you can bet your buttons that when I do come up with a costume, I'll be happy to share it with you folks. Thank everyone for taking this stroll down memory lane with me, and I hope it brought back memories of all your great Halloweens in years gone by. Stick around because the Halloween Top 13 starts in just 2 days. I still need some submissions to get to 13 reader lists so check out out link for details.

My Halloweens 1976-1993

Hey folks. I've been meaning to do this for the last couple of years and I never got around to it. With the help of my dear mother, I have dug up all the Halloween pictures I could come up with going back to when I wasn't even a year old. This week I'm going to start at the beginning and go through early school. Next week, I'll come back with Part 2 and costumes from high school and beyond. Without further adieu, lets get started.

1976- The year of my birth. So I must have been about two months old here. I don't know what I was supposed to be, a small animal of some kind I expect. I also look like I might have just passed gas here so I feel bad for my Aunt who is holding me.

1977- So I was a one year old by then, and so I fit nicely into a pillowcase to be a ghost. In case someone didn't know what I was thankfully I had the helpful word 'Boo' on me. Hmm, maybe I was going as the sound 'Boo' that is very innovative for a one year old.

1978- Mickey Mouse. Now I never knew the Mouse to wear checked pants, but I used to love these kind of costumes when I was a kid. This was the standard. The soft, hot plastic suit and a hard plastic mask that would dig in your face. Ahhh, memories.

1979 Look out! Here comes the Spider Man!

1980- Oscar the Grouch- It took a special kid to want to go as a mean thing that lived in a can of garbage. I was that kid.

1981- Now this is a guess because these were not dated, but I'm pretty sure it has to be 1981. I had jsut started getting into Universal monsters thanks to Super 8 films we checked out of the library. I also have fond memories of my folks dressing up this year as a couple of tramps. As I recall my face was painted to match theirs under my mask.

1982- The first year that I was a vampire, and by vampire, I meant Bela Lugosi. For the next few years I did this costume over and over, but I don't seem to have pictures for all the years. As I recall, it was pretty similar, and don't fret because we'll pick up the theme later on again

1987 or 88 I couldn't tell you which, but I was at a Halloween fair at my Grandmother's church. I think I was mixing my clowns here. Big pants, Graucho glasses, and Chaplin's bowler.

1988 or 89 Not sure which again, but I know this was my buddy Micheal. It's like the really low budget, prehistoric version of True Blood.

1990 Getting ready to head out to a showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium. It was probably the first time the film had been shown in Greenville for 20 years, and the whole event degraded into a food fight. You can see the difference in the before and after shot.

1992 The first year of high school, and I was on my way out probably to the mall to hang out and look like a vampire with a mullet.

 That brings us to a close of part one. I hope you join me next week when the costumes get perhaps more embarrassing. Stay tuned to find out!

10 Lesser Known Halloween TV Episodes

When I was a kid, I anticipated the Halloween specials that would air just like everyone else, but I also had a special affinity for Halloween episodes of my favorite shows.  While a number of recent shows have had beloved Spooky season themed eps, I thought I'd look back at a few lesser known ones from the spooky hallows of television history. 

Don't Go In The Lightning Bug's Lair Begins!

We've made it another year back to that best of months, October. Along with all the great things the month brings; monster cereals, tons of candy, horror movies all over TV, costumes, and pumpkins, it also brings back to the LBL my yearly feature, The Halloween Top 13. Now, in past years I've done my countdown on the last 13 days leading up to Halloween, but the Bugg has got some big irons in the fire this year, and instead of wall to wall horror flicks, I'm going to spread the Halloween Top 13 across the month of October. In past years, I've covered my favorite horror films, sequels, remakes, satanic films, and giant monster movies, and at one point when mulling over this years choice, I thought to myself, "I don't know what to do next." That simple and rather inconclusive sentence lead me to think of this faux trailer directed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead) for Rodriguez and Tarantino's Grindhouse, and in doing so, it lead me to this years challenging theme. Take a look.

In an interview with About.com, Edgar Wright had this to say about his trailer for Don't, “Sometimes you see some of those trailers for European films and you're thinking, ‘I have no idea what the f**k that is about." Don't always worked for me because of the strange European flavor as Wright mentions, but also because of the many films, released primarily in the Seventies, which used the contracted word for "do not" to begin their title. I knew I had seen many of them, but it made me wonder if there were 13 films that would fit the bill for inclusion in a Halloween Top 13 countdown.

Turns out, there are 14, so somebody who put "Don't" at the beginning of their horror film title didn't make the cut (maybe I'll reveal that stinker somewhere along the line this month), but thirteen other films did. So every couple days this month, look out for another entry in the countdown as we approach Halloween. Of course, for those of you who follow me on Facebook and the Twitter, there will be more spooky shenanigans going on every day. So if you haven't followed me or liked me, take a second to do so.

You DON'T want to miss any of the Halloween festivities.

You DON'T want to let any of this month's reviews slide past you.

You DON'T want to hesitate in telling your friends about Don't Go In the Lightning Bug's Lair.

DON'T forget to spend your Halloween season with The Bugg.

(Back tomorrow with the first film!)

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13:#1- Gojira (1954)

Here we are, finally. It’s Halloween night, and after 31 posts in 31 days capped off with The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13, we've finally arrived at the end of the month and the countdown. While all the little kiddies are out trick and/or treating and ghouls, ghosts, and goblins come out to play, why not kick back for a while at The LBL with me and let’s get our giant monster obsession rockin’ one last time. Yesterday, I practically fell all over myself giving King Kong accolades for starting the popularity of the giant monster, but while the giant ape made some splash in 1933, it was during its 1952 release that it really caused major waves. One of those waves ended up lapping the shores of Japan, a country still reeling in the post-WWII era as they tried to find closure, purpose, and direction for their country. No other place in the world has known the true horrors and devastation of a directed, intentional nuclear blast save for Japan. So is it any wonder that the same year American filmmakers released their first nuclear powered monster movie with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, that the Japanese did them one better and created a monster that was a walking nuclear incident with Gojira (and I don't mean Godzilla, King of the Monsters, but more on that later.) It is Halloween, and a discussion of Gojira could get pretty heavy, pretty quick, but I’m going to try to keep it on the lighter side. After all of these films in The B&B H13 about fear, of nature, of man, of nukes and science, Gojira is a film that certainly touches on a number of fears, but it is really a story of hope.

The Bigger & Badder Halloween Top 13 #12: The Beast from 20000 Fathoms (1953)

Nukes, man. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times; you can't hug with nuclear arms. Hmm, maybe I didn't say that, but I should have because it’s pretty cheesy and clever at the same time. After the world witnessed the awesome force of a nuclear blast at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the awe inspiring power lead right into the nuclear panic age of the 1950’s, and with it came the giant creatures. Today, I'm getting a chance to talk about the first such film, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. While it doesn't have the distinction of being the first giant monster movie, that distinction goes to 1931’s The Lost World which saw a dinosaur menacing London in the film’s climax; it does herald the first of the nuclear age monsters. Inspired by the success of the 1952 re-release of 1933’s King Kong, the producers turned to Ray Harryhausen, a protégé of Willis O’Brian, the man behind the world’s most famous giant ape, to bring to the screen an extremely loose adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Fog Horn” first published in 1951 by the Saturday Evening Post. Join me as we travel from the frigid Arctic Circle to the bustling streets of Manhattan with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms!

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988): "The Shape" of Things To Come

First, he came home on Halloween. Then he continues his carnage late that night at the local hospital. Then he, well, he appeared on a TV in the background of a scene while the world was almost annihilated by druids with masks, and finally, despite being shot twice in the head and blown up during his last real appearance, he comes back again in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. So how did everyone’s favorite Shape come back from having his noggin blown off and being incinerated? He had the ultimate protection, poor box office receipts for the previous un-Myers edition of the franchise. So producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to go back to the well again, and Cannon films approached John Carpenter about penning a sequel, which he did, with Dennis Etchison who had penned novelizations of the series. Their script, detailing a Haddonfield reeling from the killings after banning Halloween, was rejected, and it soon lead to Carpenter, and longtime collaborator Debra Hill, exiting the series. Instead, what came next is a film that would shape the series’ arc for a number of installments and redefine Michael Myers as more supernatural force than man.

Mad Monsters, Fat Alberts, and General Grinchiness: Classic Halloween Specials I'd Missed

Back when I was a kid, and even through the late 80's, every holiday season meant a few new Halloween specials nestled in between classic offerings like It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. While I tried to catch as many growing up as I could, there were quite a few I never got around to seeing. One was a glaring omission on my part, the Rankin-Bass Halloween special, Mad Monster Party. 

At least I thought it was a glaring omission. Without nostalgia to blind my judgement, I found the animation amazing, the script (penned in part by Mad Magazine's Harvey Kurtzman) was fairly droll, and the voice actors, especially Phyllis Diller and Boris Karloff very entertaining, but as a whole the film was a bloated mess. Clocking in at an hour and half (double the time of Rudolf), Mad Monster Party feels like Rankin/Bass' foray into Ray Harryhausen territory. Ultimately I enjoyed the flick, but felt like a judicious  editing hand could have made it a really punchy fun special. (Note: This was released in the spring and technically not a Halloween special, so sue me.)

Next up comes a special I didn't even know about until yesterday. In the intervening years between How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Halloween is Grinch Night, the green grumps heart hasn't shrunk back to original small size, but might only retain half of the size Christmas magic bestowed upon it. Because the Grinch is back again, this time to scare the Whos in Whoville presumably because it's fall.

Watch (T.V.)Childhood Favorites - Dr. Seuss - Halloween is Grinch Night.avi in Family  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

This one is a real head scratcher. What exactly was the Grinch's plan?  Why do Whos have to use the euphemism so badly? And why can't they just use the bathroom? Why does the special have to have one of the most depressing songs ever in which the Grinch's dog regrets his life of slavery? Why is the Grinch's paraphernalia van full of psychedelia? The last one I suppose answers itself.

Hey Hey Hey. I had one more special I watched, the heartwarming Fat Albert Halloween Special. Bill Cosby manages to push in lessons about judging others, minding one's parents, eating only wrapped candy, and how it's not cool to go around scaring people, all without being preachy. Ok, too preachy.

Both Mad Monster Party and Fat Albert are streaming for Netflix customers, and I'll be back tomorrow with more cinematic thrills and chills. 

Halloween Top 13: The Remake #1: The Thing (1982)

Trust is a hard thing to come by these days. Or any days for that matter, but I hope you folks will trust in me that John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) ranks up top as the best remake around. Yes, we’ve finally made it to Halloween and the top of the Halloween Top 13: The Remake (which also heralds the era in which I promise to never have such a lengthy event title again), and I hope everyone is having a great All Hallows Eve. I’ve had a wonderful weekend dressing up and going out with my friends, and we’re capping it off tonight with a Walking Dead viewing party. One of the highlights of Halloween, as it has been for the past three years, is doing this countdown and getting to share movies I love as well as getting all the fabulous lists from my blogging friends. Before I get into the review I want to thank each and every one of you folks who pitched in, stopped by to read a post, retweeted, liked, or whatever other kind of social media thing you did. You’ve all made this a wonderful Halloween for me, and I can’t thank you enough.

I also can’t thank Mama Carpenter enough. Without her, we wouldn’t have John, and my list of favorite films would be devoid of Escape from New York, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and Christine. (You may notice that I failed to list Carpenter’s eponymously titled holiday film from the list. I like it and respect it, but I don’t love it.) Of course, tonight’s film, The Thing, also belongs on that list. Looking back over all the lists that folks sent in, The Thing was the most popular title to appear on a list as well as the most popular choice for number one. When I first jotted down notes for this list back in November of 2009, The Thing was the first film I wrote down, and without a doubt it took top honors. Combining horror, suspense, paranoia, and action into a cohesive film, Carpenter showed everyone how isolated terror and remakes were done.

The original 1951 film, entitled The Thing from Outer Space, was directed by Howard Hawks and starred James Arness (Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke Fame). In it, ‘The Thing’ is a Frankenstein’s monster type creature from space, frozen in a block of ice, but when a group of scientists stationed in the artic thaw it out, it seems that it hadn’t come in peace and proceeds to start killing them off. Carpenter’s film dispenses with the plot of the ‘51 film, and instead goes back to the source material, the novella ‘Who Goes There?’ by John W. Campbell, Jr. Sticking closer to the original story, the 1982 Thing once again terrorizes an Artic base, but it no longer needs a single actor playing it. Instead through a series of great performances and an array of mind blowing special effects, the updated ’Thing’ no longer looks like a Western star with a huge forehead, but in its place can look like anyone, any creature, or reveal its horrible metamorphic form.

Carpenter begins his film by introducing us to the stark whiteness of the location which was filmed both in the Artic and snowy British Colombia. Throughout the film the camerawork and lighting is stunning, and major kudos have to go to cinematographer Dean Cundy for his incredible high contrast work. The careful viewer will also notice several times that Carpenter fades to white or the black during the film which subtly add to the atmospheric tone of The Thing. We are soon introduced to our reluctant hero R.J. MacReady, another wonderful character brought to life by Kurt Russell in a John Carpenter film. Russell is one of the best at playing heroic characters that are everymen, and he hits that perfectly here.  Surrounding him are a cast of characters played by wonderful actors like Keith David, Wilford “Diabeetis" Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, and Charles Hallahan, and they all give great singular performances differentiating the characters in what could have been a crowded field. This group of men finds themselves trapped by a creature that is a ruthless killer and an unseen menace. Suspicion and paranoia soon run rife though the outpost, and soon people are beginning to question if they could be the creature and not even know it.

As I mentioned yesterday with The Fly, the invasion of the body by an outside force is a common theme in horror films, but what Cronenberg and Carpenter share is the ability to execute their vision. That being said, Carpenter takes a less graphic (and less sexual) path to get to where he was going. He relied on good old fashioned Hitchcockian suspense and a claustrophobic atmosphere to draw the audience into the story of these men. They are, after all, the last line of defense against ’The Thing’ destroying the Earth. Carpenter cleverly hides his hand until the last reel of the film, and then you better hold onto your hat. The whole film is enhanced by the score which is uncharacteristically not penned by the director himself. Instead the duties were handed to Italian maestro Ennio Morricone who gave the film a sound very complimentary to Dean Cundy’s moody lighting. I also have to mention the use of pop songs in a few parts of The Thing because I can never hear Stevie Wonder singing ‘Superstition’ without my mind going to this film.

With The Thing, Carpenter thrills and horrifies in exactly the way I want during Halloween. I want to be afraid of the thing (no pun intended) that goes bump in the night, but I also want to keep a healthy fear of my fellow man going on as well. It delivers on every level, and it not only ranks at the top of this list, but also very near to the top of my favorite Carpenter films overall. That about wraps it up for HT13: TR and my review of The Thing. Once again I want to thank everyone who got involved in the events over here at The Lair, and I hope you all keep coming back. I have lots of great stuff in store for the next couple of months, and I’m already kicking around ideas for next year’s list. 13 Giant Monsters? 13 Foreign horrors? 13 Classics? Who knows? You’ll have to stay tuned right here for the next year to find out. It will be worth it. Trust me.

Bugg Rating

Today's final list of horror remakes is the person that takes the number one spot for me each and every year, my number one, my wife, the lovely and talented Ms. Directed. As always I have to send out a big thanks to her for being a trooper and not killing me as I tried to cram in 31 posts in 31 days. It takes an awful good woman to deal with that, and on top of that she has horror remakes. Take it away, hon…..

1. Thirt13een Ghosts- Taking the concept of the original film and taking the special effects too a whole new gory level, Thrit13een Ghosts made for a great film and Tony Shaloub and F. Murray Abraham were pitch perfect.

2. The Thing- Because I like Kurt Russell in (or out) of anything. I even love Overboard. When you look at it, it could have come out really silly, but Carpenter made it work.

3. The Fly- If you like Franz Kafka and horror movies, how can you not like this one?

4. House on Haunted Hill - I love William Castle, and his event films lend themselves to be remade. Perhaps not the gimmicks, but his stories are so strong. The only thing that holds it back is that Lisa Loeb doesn’t get killed.

5. Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman- It brings the pre-feminist fear of the original into a post-feminist world, and it proves that giant women kicking ass will always be fun to watch.

Halloween Overachievers:13 Remakes from Emily of The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense

Today's final Halloween Overachiever, is a person that is no stranger to readers of The Lair because I'm talking about my good friend Emily, the Deadly Doll, who takes part in the film swap with me each month.  So while I subject her to films like Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels, I get thoughtful picks like We Are Going To Eat You in return. It's a nice system, and I rather enjoy it. Plus, it give me the added bonus of getting to collaborate with Emily. Every time I read one of her posts, I am reminded how wickedly funny her writing is.  No matter if she's mining a Mill Creek set for one of the hidden gems, talking about classic horror, rightfully calling out The Blind Side, Emily proves time and time again that she can strike the perfect balance of entertaining and information that makes for a great review. Plus, just like I mentioned yesterday with Matt, I get to meet up with Ms. Emily soon at Horrorhound, and we have something really special cooked up for next month's swap. For now kick back and enjoy her 13 remake picks (which include a few non-traditional choices, but that;s why I love the Deadly Doll.), and I'll be back this evening with the penultimate entry on the countdown.

13. House of Wax Sometimes a movie can tip its way on the positive scale by wearing a lot of the right kind of padding. In 2005, Jaume Collet-Serra (who could almost be doubly listed here for also directing the pseudo-Good Son remake, Orphan) did as such with House of Wax, a film primarily known for hosting the debut (and onscreen death) of Paris Hilton. Looking past that, this is an enjoyable enough R-rated horror brimming with actual artistic imagery, plus some surprisingly disturbing death scenes involving a whole lot of wax.

12. Reefer Madness The first of two cases on this list wherein a campy film was turned into an Off-Broadway musical turned into a film, this Showtime produced movie is a goofy good time along the lines of Cry Baby, with a bevy of good-natured, good rhythmed performances from Anna Gastayer, Kristen Bell, Alan Cumming, and, in plainface, John “The Crypt Keeper” Kassir.

11. The Hills Have Eyes II Talk about cheating, self. I’m aware Martin Weisz’s sequel to Alexander Aja’s superior remake is more sequel than remake, but have you seen Wes Craven’s 1987 sequel? You know, the one that features more flashbacks than Silent Night Deadly Night 2, including one from the point of view of a German Shepherd? The 2007 film is actually quite mean and not necessarily good, but it’s slick enough and could be considered Citizen Kane in comparison to Wes Craven’s sleepwalked previous effort. In hindsight, I probably should’ve gone with Aja’s film in this spot, since it manages to capture all the same terror of Craven’s original while amplifying the interesting nuclear fallout angle, but you know what? I just really hate Craven’s sequel that much that I felt the need to point that out more than anything.

10. Father of the Bride Not quite the film that typically finds itself on a list made by me, Charles Shyer’s 1991 family comedy is simply charming. From the bridal sneakers to Martin Short’s pronunciation of the word “cake,” the bittersweet final phone call to my oft-requoted rant about the conspiracy behind hot dog buns and hot dogs, I just kind of love this not-horror movie.

9. Cape Fear Martin Scorcese’s 1991 remake is by no means a perfect film, but for all its flaws, there’s a dirty meanness that allows it to function on a deeply unsettling level. As Max Cady, Robert DeNiro is truly fearsome, channeling the nasty charm of Robert Mitchum (who pops up, along with Gregory Peck, in a tongue-in-cheek cameo) but giving Max his own depraved spin. Nick Nolte’s protagonist is kind of a jerk, a scummy lawyer who’s betrayed both his profession and wife and is now faced with terrifying punishment. Jessica Lange and Illeana Douglas are equally good at bringing unique imperfections to token wife/girlfriend characters, but it’s the teenage Juliette Lewis’ uncomfortably flirty scene with DeNiro that ultimately tips Cape Fear into such successfully horrific territory.

8. Cat People I’m not saying Paul Schrader’s film is superior to Jacques Tourneur’s 1942 classic. I’m also not saying I’ve actually seen Jacques Tourneur’s classic (sooner or later, that will be remedied). But 1982‘s Cat People, starring such notables as Malcolm McDowell, Natassja Kinski, John Heard, and the fabulous breasts of Annette O’Toole, is an intriguing film, flawed sure, but also kinky and daring in a haunting, sexy way. 

7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers In truth, I think all four major versions of Jack Finney’s sci-fi novel serve as excellent testaments of their time, from the McCarthy era ‘50s to the cold disconnect of the studio-marred (and dreadfully miscast) Nicole Kidman starring The Invasion. Even Abel Ferrara (who was ready to kill Werner Herzog for daring to remake his Bad Lieutenant, but seemed okay with taking his stab, family values style, at this tale in 1992) got in on the action. Of the four, however, it’s easily Philip Kaufman’s 1978 city-set take that works best as both a clear allegory of its world and a damn scary movie to boot, straight down to one of the scariest final scenes ever.

6. Little Shop of Horrors Technically a film adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical based on Roger Corman’s film, but still SOMETHING of a remake, right? Frank Oz directs a beyond-words-wonderful Rick Moranis (my pick to play Kermit the Frog should the occasion ever arise) in a campy but sweet Faustian tale set in a florist shop on Skid Row. Nine million bonus points for Steve Martin’s sadistic dentist, and another billion for Bill Murray’s OTHER great cameo. 

5. Inglourious Basterds I kind of watched Enzo Castellari’s 1978 spell-checked original and aside from worshipping any ground tread by Fred Williamson, I can’t really think of anything else worth mentioning. Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 Oscar nominated film isn’t so much a remake as another movie set during WWII (at least by Academy Awards standards), but maybe there never would have been an Inglourious Basterds without The Inglorious Bastards, so that’s that.

4. Dawn of the Dead How can one possibly remake my, and many other genre fans’ most favorite ever movie of all time? Despite all odds, James Gunn’s clever script, put in the music video-trained hands of Zach Snyder, succeeds. Rich in everything from strong performances (Jake Weber, marry me), original story ideas (“it’s a girl!”), intriguing subplots (Andy!), adorable homages (Rev. Foree), and a kickass soundtrack that manages to unite Johnny Cash, Bobby McFerrin, and Richard Cheese, Dawn of the Dead ’04 manages to be a fun action-horror on its own terms. Sure, zombies as Olympic sprinters doesn’t quite make anatomical sense, but that doesn’t mean much when a pretty blond meets a clumsy chainsaw.

And the holy trinity:

3. The Blob Underrated doesn’t begin to define Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of the campy ‘50s classic. With a script by Russell and some dude named Frank Darabont, The Blob is scary, funny, and genuinely surprising. Characters you expect to live meet gooey and painful deaths via an incredibly designed titular villain. Best of all, Russell makes a true full town terror with The Blob invading everything from a diner phone booth to a packed movie theater filled with unsuspecting, ill-fated locals. It’s simply a joy, even without Burt Bacharach’s catchy theme song.

2. The Thing Is there anything left to say about John Carpenter’s crowning achievement? Do I need to mention Kurt Russell’s badassness, Rob Bottin’s revolutionary practical effects, or Dean Cundey’s gorgeous cinematography? Nah, you know what’s more fun? Just watching the movie.

1. The Fly Half love story, half tragedy about old age/man’s limits/AIDS/whatever meaning you want to attach, David Cronenberg’s 1986 film (turned opera, go figure) is simply one of the best genre films of all time. Jeff Goldblum plays a geek who gets the girl (the equally tall Geena Davis) only to doom his body with a foolish act of ambition, pride, and jealousy. I adore aspects of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 original (primarily the terrifying screams for help by a fly stuck in a web) but with this remake, Cronenberg combines all his skills at horrific imagery so perfectly with good storytelling that the end result is as sad as it is scary.

Don't Forget to Visit Emily at The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense