The 12 Days of Holiday Havoc: X-Mas Movies for Action and Horror Fans (Part2-Horror)

December 19, 2020 | dw_richards

Part 1- Holiday Action Movies

 

Welcome back! Today we're completing our alternative holiday viewing party by giving a gift to people who like their Christmas movies to come with spooky chills and thrills. So come along dear reader as we present this list of six holiday horror films available via the library's physical or digital collections

Krampus (2015)

This horror comedy about a monstrous anti-Santa preying upon a dysfunctional family is a lot of fun. It features great characters portrayed by some fantastic actors like Toni Collette, Adam Scott, and Alison Tolman. It also looks incredible. The creatures are creepy and ethereal and the production design captures the spirit of the season. There's even an animated flashback sequence. Plus, it's really funny. The opening perfectly satirizes the chaos of last minute holiday shopping

Available Via DVD

Gremlins (1984)

The 12 Days of Holiday Havoc: X-Mas Movies for Action and Horror Fans (Part 1-Action)

December 18, 2020 | dw_richards

The holiday season is upon us and because of the ongoing Covid pandemic it's going to look and feel different for a lot of us. You can still take a little escape or get into the holiday spirit with the viewing of  some classic Christmas film like It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, or A Christmas Carol.

Others may require something more from their holiday fare this year. They might be looking for something that harkens back to when Christmas was a spookier time where people used to share ghost stories around the fire. Or perhaps they're looking for a little supernatural darkness to contrast with the holiday lights. Or maybe they're just in the mood to watch the action filled exploits of brave heroes who are out to insure that there is peace on earth and good will towards men during the holiday season.

If you're one of those people we're here to help with our suggestions for 12 holiday themed or set films in the library's physical or digital collections. In today's installment we'll kick this Yuletide movie party off with bang by recommending six action films

Die Hard (1988)

It wouldn't be a celebration of holiday themed action movies without Die Hard; one of the greatest action movies of all time. This spectacular film is probably already part of many people's holiday season viewing traditions, and if not it should be! It's got incredible action, a charismatic hero, and one of the best on screen villains ever in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).

Available via DVD

Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Week 5

October 22, 2020 | dw_richards

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Welcome to our final week! We've spent much of this month looking towards the past and at some horror masterpieces. So, for this final week I thought it was only fitting to look at the 21st century with some films already considered or destined to be modern classics. Everything comes to a head on the big day, Halloween, with a double feature of two of the most unsettling and scary films released in the past three years

Monday, October 26th- The Descent (2005)

 

Available via Hoopla

The Descent is one of all my time favorite horror films. Partly because it's a masterclass in building tension, and partly because it features some fantastic character arcs. It's a film about a group of women spelunkers who find themselves trapped in a cave with a mysterious, monstrous, and very hungry force. The reveal of exactly what is in the caves with them is one of the best jump scare reveals of any horror movie, IMO.

Tuesday, October 27th- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

 

Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Week 4

October 15, 2020 | dw_richards

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Welcome back! For week four of our Halloween horror movie marathon we're going to focus primarily on what was a great time for horror movies; the late 70s and early 80s. Then for the weekend, we'll get more modern with one of the 21st century's greatest horror comedies, a double feature of a writer/director whose work has revolutionized horror representation, and our final all-ages film heads back to the 80s with a classic that mixes horror, comedy, and an upcoming holiday.

Monday, October 19th-Carrie (1976)

Available via DVD 

Carrie is the first ever Stephen King novel to be adapted to film, and it's one of the scariest thanks to the work of director Brian De Palma, screenwriter Lawrence D Cohen, and standout performances by Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, and Nancy Allen. It's a tragic and powerful film about the horrors of family and the cruelty of adolescents

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 20th- The Fog (1980)

Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Week 3

October 8, 2020 | dw_richards

Week 1

Week 2

Welcome back! For the third week of our Halloween horror movie marathon we're going to tackle a number stand out films in horror's various sub-genres.  We've got movies with some incredible and gross special effects, fast running zombies, gaslighting cults, a horror comedy about one of the worst wedding nights ever, a double feature of Steven King adaptations, and an incredibly creepy Roald Dahl adaptation.

Monday, October 12- Train to Busan (2016)

Available via DVD  Hoopla

In the  early 2000s, a new breed of zombie began to emerge. They were just as tenacious and tough as the type George Romero introduced back in 1968, but they were incredibly quick. This 2016 film from South Korea is the ultimate take on the fast moving zombie. Once it gets going it moves with the same velocity as its titular vehicle.

Train to Busan follows a divorced father, his young daughter, and the various passengers they meet as they try to survive and stay ahead of hordes of fast zombies laying siege to trains and train stations. The action is especially engaging and intense because of how easy it is to emotionally invest in the film's main characters. Plus, like the best zombie films the undead aren't the only antagonistic force. Some of the most dangerous things the main characters run afoul of are their fellow passengers 

Tuesday, October 13th- The Thing (1982)

Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Week 2

October 1, 2020 | dw_richards

Week 1

Welcome back! For the second week of our Halloween movie marathon we're ramping things up with some classics and foundational films in horror's various sub-genres. So prepare yourself! You're in for a fun week of ghosts, zombies, slashers, and the first Bollywood horror movie

 

Monday, October 5th- Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Available on DVD Hoopla Kanopy

With this film, writer/director George Romero and his co-writer, John A. Russo, redefined pop culture's understanding of zombies. The rules established here are the inspiration for almost every bit of zombie lore and story that came after.

On top of that, It's a powerful example of how horror can be used as an allegory to explore social ills. It perfectly reflects the turbulent time it was made in, and is still very much relevant today.

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 6th-Mahal (1949)

Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Week 1

September 20, 2020 | dw_richards

Halloween might feel and look a little strange this year because of everything that's going on in the world, but like the best of holidays it's more than just a set of rituals. There's a spirit to Halloween that's easy to catch and can be quite infectious. Perhaps the best way to kickstart your Halloween spirit is by watching a horror movie.

So, to help you fuel your Halloween spirit and keep it going all month long we've prepared a calender featuring a different horror movie (two on Saturdays) for you to watch in October. All of the movies featured are in the library's physical or digital collections.

Plus, we know weekends are special so we've turned them into theme days. When the work week ends many people are in search of a laugh. So, we'll  spotlight horror comedies on Fridays. The only thing better than a horror movie is a horror movie double feature. So, Saturdays will be days with a thematically linked double bill of films. Finally, we've made Sundays a day where the whole family can get in on the Halloween spirit by highlighting some all-ages, gateway horror films.

So, let's kick things off with your movies for the first week of Halloween

Thursday October 1st- Psycho(1960)

 

 

Available Via: DVD

We're kicking things off with director Alfred Hitchcock's legendary and most influential horror film. Psycho was such a pivotal movie that some have argued it helped create an entire sub-genre of horror that would come to prominence almost two decades later, the slasher film

Friday October 2nd- What We Do In the Shadows (2014)