The anthology film, a format in which several shorter stories are presented (often with a framing story for context), is a natural framework for the horror film. Given that many of the best known horror writers began with short stories (including Poe, Lovecraft, and King) the anthology horror film has literary precedents in magazines like Weird Tales.

The anthology horror film offers a nice parallel to a bag of Halloween candy: a variety of tastes, some better than others, and if the whole thing is ultimately kinda bad for you, at least it’s fun to just dive into. This being the season, Jaman is delighted to offer several anthology horror films that make ideal Halloween viewing. Indeed, the Trick or Treat segment of Visions of Horror offers a look at what you might be in for on October 31…

Meanwhile, Darna Mana Hai offers an intriguing Bollywood take on the anthology horror sub-genre. You can’t go wrong with the framing device of people telling stories around a campfire. Especially when the narrators start disappearing.

Finally, Ten Nights of Dreams is more an anthology fantasy, but we’re going to include it here because frankly it’s awesome. An imaginative film spun from the classic Japanese book by Natsume Sōseki, each of the book’s segments is realized by a different director, from veterans Kon Ichikawa and Akio Jissoji to horror masters Takashi Shimizu and Yuudai Yamaguchi.

And as always, you are extolled to pop by the Halloween thread in our Forums to let everyone know what’s spooking YOU this Halloween season!

Hot on the heels of the box-office triumph of his zombie-horror comedy Zombieland, a news item resurfaces in which Zombieland lead Woody Harrelson attacks a paparazzo, punching him in the face and destroying his camera. Harrelson’s defense: “With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie.”

I can’t believe we ever thought he was crazy. Harrelson is to be applauded for his vigilance against the zombie plague, and for stepping into an ages-old and diverse cinematic tradition in which movie characters and their real-life counterparts square off against the walking, hungry dead.

From the heroes of the Irish indie horror Dead Meat…

Dead Meat

…to the old school voodoo antics of Blood of the Zombie…

Blood of the Zombie

…to whatever the hell’s going on in Al Adamson’s amazing Blood of Ghastly Horror…

Blood of Ghastly Horror

…Jaman applauds all those taking up the fight against the zombie menace, and those who commit the tales to film.

(With thanks to Nick K. for calling the Harrelson item to my attention.)

Heck, yeah, Jaman’s blogger’s a big horror fan. Given that this month is the run-up to Halloween, it’s no surprise that horror films are running everywhere, and Jaman is certainly no exception. Our favorite bloggers are going nuts for the holiday, and the Jaman blog’ll be rife with talk of horror films, on and off the site, in freaky solidarity.

Why not hit the ground running with the seminal zombie classic Night of the Living Dead? It’s a touchstone of modern horror, and just as absorbing and suspenseful now as it was over 40 years ago.

And if you see anything on Jaman, or in theatres, or anywhere else that really freaks you out (or, as crucially, leaves you with a sense of “Oh you’re GOT to be kidding…”) how about popping into the Halloween thread in the Forums and telling us about it?

Trick and Treat, m’friends.

AMERICAN HORROR
Well the Yanks are good at providing both good gore and super scares Rock out with some of the freakiest frights on Jaman this Friday.

The Devil’s Rejects

"A kind of heedless zeal transforms its horrors. The movie is not merely disgusting, but has an attitude and a subversive sense of humor." — Chicago Sun-Times
It’s a gleeful gorefest with Rob Zombie’s follow up to the cult hit House of 1000 Corpses.

Saw (1 & 2)

http://www.jaman.com/movie/Saw/0fcoiTHKJa54/
http://www.jaman.com/movie/Saw-2/01ugIFjHVZ18/
“…a deliciously devious plot and enough gory shocks for a dozen Halloweens.”—BBC
One of the films that solidified the sadistic success of the torture porn genre – Saw is sick, and will definitely creep out even the most hardened horror fans.

Hard Candy

“To watch Hard Candy is, at moments, to be very afraid, but the scariest thing about it is the fury of Page’s talent.”—Entertainment Weekly
This primal and creepy revenge flick takes aim at the most delicate region of the male “psyche.” Starring Juno’s Ellen Page.

INTERNATIONAL HORROR

These are the international hits that inspired the not quite as creepy American remakes. Prove your film cred to your friends and dig into these original scares.

Ju-On

“It’s much harder on you than mere fright: It’s… creepy.”—Washington Post
Remade in the states as The Grudge with Sarah Michelle Gellar, this Japanese ghost story was originally released as straight to video and became such a huge hit via word of mouth that it became a huge horror franchise.

The Eye 2

“…a potent cocktail that doesn’t skimp on the scares.”—Dread Central
This powerful sequel to original Hong Kong version of The Eye, this thriller is self contained enough plot wise and super scary enough to be a total treat.

The Host

“The out and out scariest monster movie to come down the pike since ‘Aliens’. Crazily funny and wildly entertaining.” — Premier
While this Korean monster movie is only available for purchase on Jaman right now – it’s still one of those must see classics.

So it’s that time of year!

The season of spooky is upon us and I wanted to make sure that everyone knows about some of the coolest stuff we have on site. It’s crazy easy to have a Halloween Film Fest with your friends to ring in this scary season. Jaman has some of the most iconic horror films ever made – from political allegories to gore fests, there’s something for every aesthetic. I know we’ve been blogging some of them, but this is your handy reference to the best stuff! So turn out the lights and enjoy!

HORROR CLASSICS
ALL AVAILABLE FREE!!!

Night of the Living Dead

A “cornerstone of American culture and world cinema…”
The 40th Anniversary of the zombie movie that started it all is currently being celebrated with a whole host of essays over on popmatters.com

Nosferatu

"the greatest vampire film ever made" — Slant Magazine
This vampire film from 1922 has influenced pretty much every vampire movie made since. It may be silent but that doesn’t make it any less scary!

Horror Hotel / The City of the Dead

"Few films in the Brit horror canon are as surprisingly good as City Of The Dead…intelligent, scary and well made." — British Horror Films
A contemporary of Hitchcock’s PYSCHO, this low budget classic has garnered a solid reputation as creepily great.

A new wave of horror began in Japan in 1991, with the publication of the novel Ringu (aka Ring) by writer Koji Suzuki. Its influential story centered on a videotape that dooms all who view it to die seven days later. The curse of traditional horror was retooled in Ringu as a virus, infecting (and spreading through) those unlucky enough to come in contact with it.

Like many viruses, the mode of horror introduced in Suzuki’s novel would spread and mutate. Hideo Nakata’s film Ringu (adapted from the novel) introduced ghosts to the mix (while retaining the notion of a horror spreading through viral and technological means). The film spawned numerous sequels (and Korean and U.S. remakes), each version introducing its own mutations and variations on the story and its characters.

Back in Japan, other filmmakers embraced the viral model. Takashi Shimizu in particular began his long running Ju-On (aka The Grudge) series modestly with some direct-to-video short films. But his characters (ghosts of a woman and her child, still angry after their murder and haunting the house they lived in) proved resonant, enabling Shimizu to remake his videos both as Japanese theatrical features and two Hollywood variations (The Grudge and The Grudge 2, featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar).

The virus has spread to Jaman, and we are pleased to offer Ju-On, the first cinematic chapter in Shimizu’s long-running (and ever-mutating) horror series. I’ve only ever seen one of two reactions from viewers of Ju-On and its remakes and sequels: either you’re immune to Shimizu’s visions or you sleep with the light on after seeing them. (A former co-worker who’d seen The Grudge, spying a DVD of one of the original Ju-On films on my desk, asked me why I’d want something so terrifying in my house.) I personally find the films both scary and beautifully made; Shimizu is amazing at building tension with shadow, light and sound, and deploys white-painted actors as very effective, very creepy ghosts. His use of non-linear plotlines with an ensemble of characters, each meeting their own particular gruesome fate in disparate ways, is equally remarkable.

Ju-On is the flagship of modern Japanese horror, as well as an ideal ghost story for the Halloween season. Watch it with the lights off. And let us know how you sleep (and anything else you want to discuss about Ju-On, or J-horror in general), over on our Forums!

Ju-on

We’ve talked previously on this blog about autumn and Halloween horror films, and this weekend is when the horror film festivals seem to be kicking off in earnest. I’m delighted to see that The Spooky Movie festival has kicked off its third year in Washington, D.C., my old stomping ground (more delightful still is that Count Gore De Vol, one of the last remaining old-school horror hosts, will be on hand for hosting duties). South of D.C. you have the Escapism Film Festival offering up a slew of fantasy (and related) films in Durham, NC’s Carolina Theatre.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have our own horror flick traditions, not the least of which is Shock It To Me, running this weekend, as always, at San Francisco’s palatial Castro Theatre. Here’s the trailer!:

Though Shock It To Me is only a two-day affair this time around, there’s still quite a lot to see – the festivities begin tonight with a screening of Jack Hill’s amazing 1968 pitch-black comedy Spider Baby, with actor Sid Haig (recently seen in films by Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino) in attendance to answer questions and, I’m sure, hang out with fans. A zombie eat-off (…yes) initiates a rare theatrical screening of Night of the Living Dead (still available here on Jaman if you can’t make it to San Francisco).

Night of the Living Dead

You’ll find me encamped at the Castro all day tomorrow, when Shock It To Me presents first a pair of classic Hammer Horror films (Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, both featuring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing), and then both features spun from the famous Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Since I’ve been taking in the old series on DVD and consuming episodes like so many Fritos, I’m delighted at the chance to see Dan Curtis’ creations – the 18th century set Night of Dark Shadows and the contemporary House of Dark Shadows – on the big screen (particularly with Dark Shadows stars Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker in attendance).

Naturally, for those unable to make the festivals listed above or elsewhere, Jaman’s got dozens of horror titles available, enabling you to program your own horror fest within your own home. I’ve started a thread in our Forums where we can talk about whatever horror films we watch in the coming weeks – do stop in and tell us what’s chilling your blood (or even rolling your eyes) this Halloween!

P.S. - if you’ve read this far (thanks for that) and crave more blog-based horror, do check out (if you haven’t already) the online ramblings of Arbogast - the guy’s got a brilliant and dead-on take on all manner of screen horror (the 31 Screams series he’s doing for Halloween is particularly notable).

Tis the season folks! The longer nights and the upcoming Halloween festivities have folks planning costumes, parties and that mainstay of spooky celebration - the Horror Movie Night where friends gather, turn off all the lights and get the heck scared out of them.

Jaman has a whole slew of scary films just waiting to make you scream, jump and laugh at the campy carnage. Click here to see our whole collection - many of them even available for free!

In honor of one of the icons of horror - the zombie - check out my newest pop culture find. The Zombie Pin Up Girl Calendar.

Feeling inspired? Check out the Jaman favorite - Night of the Living Dead - the Ultimate Zombie movie. Available completely free and just for you on Jaman.

Night of the Living Dead

Since we’re approaching Halloween, I’ve been watching more and more spooky movies (and I’ll post these on the blog occasionally), but this one deserves to be the first of the creepy, skin-crawling, heebie-jeebie-making series.

Just watch this scene and tell me your heart didn’t pause its cycle for a second:

Fausto 5.0