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).

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Halloween, David, Festivals, Bloggers, Out and About, Look! New!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.