31 Days of Horror: The Omen (1976)

One of my absolute favorites, you simply can't skip over The Omen when planning your Halloween viewing! It may sound a bit gruesome, but one of my favorite things about this film is the unique ways in which many of the characters die, and they're all in the guise of being accidents. The fact that many of the things that occur in the film can be passed off as coincidence or accident is perhaps one of the things that makes The Omen a classic and so memorable. Without an obvious presence of supernatural activity, it's very easy to believe that these things could really happen

31 Days of Horror: The Wolf Man (1941)

Released in 1941, The Wolf Man came to be known as the film that revived Universal horror. The Wolf Man is one of the few monster films where the source material isn't based on literature; it was also instrumental in contributing to the mythology and legend of the werewolf. The idea that a werewolf could be killed by silver, that a person would become a werewolf through a bite and change during a full moon all came from this film. Perhaps the most significant item to have come from this film is the oft repeated poem "even a man who is pure in heart may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." Some people truly believe this to be gypsy folklore, but it was actually writer Kurt Siodmak who created it, along with the other werewolf "folklore". While this may not have been the first werewolf film, Werewolf of London has that honor, it is the most significant in contributing to the mythology for all werewolf films to follow.

31 Days of Horror: Dead of Night

I just discovered this film and it's already one of my favorites! Dead of Night can best be described as a circular anthology; meaning that it ends up back where it started and it also contains different stories told by the visitors at a country house. There are five different stories, separate from the main story, and each one gets creepier as you go along. However, when you get to the fourth story it's a little more lighthearted, which sort of lulls the viewer into a false sense of security before the final tale involving a ventriloquist (played by Michael Redgrave) and his dummy, which is by far the creepiest and most memorable. Whenever this film is mentioned, the final tale is the most talked about and with good reason; Michael Redgrave's performance is quite honestly terrifying, and anytime you have a story involving a ventriloquist's dummy you just can't help but be creeped out!. And even when that story is over, the terror continues once we resume the main story, which ends up revisiting each of the separate stories that had been told. Dead of Night might not be one of the best known horror films, but it's a masterful tale of terror, expertly told, and should be on everyone's Halloween viewing list!

31 Days of Horror: King Kong (1933)

The original, and the best, King Kong is next on my list of  Halloween classics. This has always been one of my favorites for a number of reasons. First, it's an extremely unique story. When this was first released in 1933, no one had seen anything like it. True, there were several jungle adventure films at that time, but not one of them had a 25 foot gorilla as it's star! Then, there are the special effects. The realistic stop motion effects created by Willis O'Brien, combined with live action shots was an amazing achievement for that time. Most films today would rely on CGI to create their effects, but much like the Star Wars purists who prefer the original film where models were used before it was updated with computer effects, I prefer the artistry of stop motion effects and this film has some of the absolute best. I've been lucky enough to see this on the big screen and there's truly nothing like it, even when compared with the top of the line effects used in films today.

31 Days of Horror: White Zombie

My favorite Bela Lugosi film next to Dracula! White Zombie is widely considered to be the first zombie movie, with Lugosi playing a charmingly evil voodoo master who creates his zombies from living victims. This is much more fascinating to watch compared to the recent run of contemporary zombie films that brings the dead back to slow-moving life. To me, the best part of this film is, of course, Lugosi. With his character Murder Legendre, Lugosi plays a Dracula type of character, commanding his helpless victims to do his bidding and enslaving a beautiful young woman, much as he did in Dracula. In White Zombie, Lugosi is at his evil best in the scene where he's talking with Beaumont, who he is slowly turning into a zombie, so that he's aware of what is happening to him. Even by today's standards, it's a frightening scene to watch!

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 26th at 12:30 AM eastern

31 Days of Horror: The Raven (1963)

One of eight Roger Corman films that's an interpretation on an Edgar Allan Poe story, The Raven is a great comedic take on horror films starring three notable horror actors: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff. Like most films with Poe titles, the story really has very little to do with his writings. Price, Lorre, and Karloff play a trio of sorcerers competing to outdo each other, all in a very fun and lighthearted way. A great bonus is getting to see a very young Jack Nicholson before he became famous, playing Peter Lorre's son!

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 25th at 8:15 AM eastern

31 Days of Horror: House of Wax (1953)

A remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933, House of Wax is most notable for being the first color 3D release by a major studio (Warner Bros.), and for being one of the most successful films of 1953. House of Wax is the story of a wax sculptor who becomes disfigured in a fire that destroys his original wax museum. Unable to properly sculpt anymore, he starts to kill people and cover them in wax in order to create new figures to start a new museum. I've always loved watching Vincent Price and always thought that he brought a unique charisma to his roles. Price could easily be gentle one moment and menacing the next. I've only seen House of Wax in 2D, but the 3D effects are another thing I've always loved about this film. There are instances where it's clear a certain shot was for the 3D filming: the barker bouncing the paddle ball at the camera, or the wine bottle that comes flying at the screen during a fight scene help give you the feeling of 3D even if you're not actually watching it in 3D. Of course, with the recent 3D Blu-ray release just a few days ago to celebrate the film's 60th anniversary, people can now enjoy Price's macabre performance and the 3D effects in the comfort of their own home.

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 24th at 8:00 PM eastern