Unless you plan to take off from work in observation of All Saints Day, it’s possible that the Tuesday morning alarm will prevent you from celebrating the witching hours of Halloween proper away with gallons of Guinness. However, if you happened to celebrate the day of the dead on the Saturday prior and you’re looking to have a quiet evening at home with some spine-chilling films, here are a few suggestions that are sure to keep your head a bit further under the covers than normal as the warming glow of the last extinguished light fades to darkness:
Psycho
Fifty one years strong, Hitchcock’s classic resonates as one of the archetypical psychological thrillers that avoided veering toward blood and gore to make its audience squirm. Hitchcock once said, “There is no terror in the bang, only the anticipation of it,” and, true to form, Psycho doesn’t give us the carving knife plunging into Marion Crane’s flesh, eviscerating her soft belly, or ripping open her sternum; instead, it forces us to imagine the entry point for each of Norman Bate’s downward thrusts. Crane’s vacant stare as she collapses over the tub promises to keep secret the gruesome details of her murder as the bathtub drain slowly swallows a wealth of the evidence – while simultaneously shattering the illusory comfort of a hot, steamy shower that imbues away our daily deeds.
Alien
Often overshadowed by the James Cameron-directed sequel, Ridley Scott’s Alien focuses less on its human characters and more on the parasitic interloper that makes its way aboard the commercial-towing vehicle Nostromo via Kane’s chest cavity in one of more visceral moments ever shot over a dinner table that will forever make you wonder about the indigestion that arrives after an impetuous takeout order from the Chinese restaurant with the perpetual Grade Pending sign in the window. As the alien grows in size, Scott’s shots become darker as shadows seems to seep slowly in from the corners of your screen, shedding just enough light on the trembling hands and sweating faces of each remaining crewmember. In the end, this might be one of the only films for which having the lights on or off matters little as we are enveloped by the very same shadows through which Ripley and her crew try to navigate.
The Silence of the Lambs
My dislike of Chianti comes less from the region, and more from the image of fava beans offsetting the grayish brown color of a human liver. By now, Hannibal Lecter’s scariness has been watered down by three mediocre sequels and a number of parodies, but Buffalo Bill’s exhibitionism juxtaposed with the muffled but not-so-distant pleas of Catherine Martin still sends shivers up my spine. Though, this scene still plays runner up to the most disturbing scene in the film: a pitch black basement in a house replete with decaying bodies resonates with screams of terror mixed with frustration and hope and pits the novice, flailing Starling against the patient, night-vision-goggle wearing Jame Gum. If he were solely fighting for survival, the scene would be pedestrian. Instead, he revels in the thrill of the hunt and the anticipation of the kill as he stands inches from her face, daring to touch her, miming the caress of her face before putting a bullet through her head. Of course, Starling moves on to the laughable Hannibal, but each claustrophobic moment in this dark basement encourage me to tell Clarice to turn around!
The Exorcist
In a sense, it’s almost obligatory to put The Exorcist on any list that involves the words “Halloween,” “horror,” or “scary,” and to be honest, I almost omitted it – not for any other reason than the scenes just are not as frightening as they once were. This is not to say that the movie has lost its edge; rather, I’ve found other reasons to praise this film. Granted, the acting is solid (particularly the young Linda Blair), and some of the scenes are iconic and have spawned dozens of dozens of allusions, but the eeriness of this film is in its final scene in which the demon moves from Regan to Father Karras. In one sense, perhaps it could be said that the good guy wins and Karras saves Regan by welcoming the demon and then throwing himself out the window and down the stairs. However, this is only wishful thinking that speaks to the theme of both Friedkin’s film and Beatty’s book: evil exists despite our vanity. There’s an additional ten or so pages to be written in an elaboration, but The Exorcist reminds us of our precariousness and that evil can’t be vanquished. In the end, the demon isn’t defeated. He moves from Regan to Karras, to the next available soul who finds himself impervious.
Night of the Living Dead
For anyone who’s currently reveling in the zombie phenomena that has infiltrated parodied literature, movies, and TV shows, please raise a glass to George Romero, whose Night of the Living Dead and subsequent “Dead” movies really set the bar for today’s reanimated antagonists. Contemporary zombie carnage might mirror the past, but Romero injected double terror in his 1968 classic by emphasizing the relationships between those holed up in the farmhouse and the subsequent devolution therein. The tension of the film is not merely generated by band of undead’s constricting perimeter. Rather, it’s generated mostly from interpersonal conflicts and paranoia. It’s clear none of us know when the end will come, but Night of the Living Dead makes us wonder if the kindred spirits with which we find ourselves will help our survival or perpetuate our demise.
