Hoopla Halloween
- Michael Ireland
- Oct 1
- 3 min read
The days are getting shorter, the leaves are changing, and the librarians have pulled their cardigans out of the closet—it’s officially fall! And what’s the best part of fall? That’s right: pumpkin spice eggnog! (Oh, and Halloween. Halloween’s pretty great, too.)
Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Spooktober which means it's the season for scary movies. If you've been keeping up with Caldwell Public Library happenings, then you know we started offering the digital service hoopla. If you're still in the creepy crawly dark about this hip new platform offering eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video streaming you can read more about it here. All done learning about or signing into hoopla? Great! Let's get scary!
Remember Scary Movie: the parody of Wes Craven's Scream featuring endless references to other horror and slasher films aimed at teenagers that is exactly as sophisticated as the title implies? This film is the exact same concept, released the same year but direct to video. Shriek is a little rougher around the edges than it's more iconic cousin, but it's still a good, albeit dumb time. A masked killer menaces the town of Bulimia Falls where a group of teenage friends grapple with the guilt of what they did (or didn't do) last Friday the 13th. Tom Arnold is the standout here as the inept Deputy Doughy who's primary concern is figuring out who stole a Halloween mask and fake dog poop from the mall. There are a lot of great gags too, like the killer randomly snatching teens in the background. Not every joke lands, but the movie keeps a quick pace, always ready to offer up another goof. SHIYKWIDLFT13th may not be a great film, but it's a fun movie if you want to turn off your brain for an hour and a half.
Watching Phantasm is like having a waking nightmare. It's scary sure, but there's a dreamlike surrealness to the film that is difficult to convey. Supposedly, the film is actually based on a nightmare that writer/director Don Coscarelli had as a teenager. The plot is impossible to predict and sometimes even follow. If you think you know what's going to happen next your expectations are sure to be subverted. Mike and his older brother Joey are just trying to find a new sense of normality after the sudden death of their parents. But strange things are happening around the local mortuary, and they all seem to be connected to the eerie Tall Man. An independent, low budget cult classic, Phantasm is a scream.
Beautiful as it is bizarre, this Italian horror film from Gianfranco Giagni is a Lovecraftian thriller that will leave you stunned. A young American researcher, Alan Whitmore, is called to Budapest to assist on a secret project. However, his contact Professor Roth, is murdered shortly after he arrives, found hanged and covered in spider webs. As Alan digs deeper into the murder of Roth and his work, he becomes the target of an ancient and terrifying cult. The film is well paced and effective at building tension. The creature effects are suitably creepy and unsettling with an ending critter that left me speechless. If you enjoy Italian horror ala Dario Argento, this is sure to please.