My latest “Movie Memories” post for Lanarkshire Live may require you to take a break from hiding behind the sofa while I examine some of the best spooky movies in Hallowe’en’s mind.
It’s Halloween next Sunday – that spooky and magical time of year when kids leave their homes disguised as witches, ghosts, and skeletons, calling neighbors and anticipating their gift bags will be overflowing with goodies.
My latest Lanarkshire Live column is an overview of many memorable, scary, ghoulish and often funny moments in cinema, including a Headless Horseman and a spooky haunted house.
The Lanarkshire Live app is available for download now.
Get all the news from your area – plus features, entertainment, sports and the latest information on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – right at your fingertips, 24/7.
The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and lets you customize your page according to the sections that interest you most.
Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire – iOS – Android
The legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, first published in 1819, was one of the earliest examples of American fiction with lasting popularity, especially on Halloween.
The story concerns Ichabod crane , the new schoolmaster of the small town of Sleeping Hollow , who falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel ; but a beefy guy named Brom bones is also in love with the girl and does not give up easily.
During a Halloween party given by Katrina , Brom tells the story of the Headless Horseman and scares the spirit of the poor Ichabod who has to come home late that night alone through Sleeping Hollow . His imagination is unleashed and it is not long before he sees the Rider and runs for his life.
The year 1934 saw the release of the cartoon Comi-Color T the headless horseman , produced by animation pioneer Ub Iwerks, with a duration of eight minutes. He remains an imaginative and charming version of the popular legend.
On a more elaborate scale, Walt Disney’s 1949 masterpiece The legend of Sleepy Hollow , narrated by Bing Crosby.
The film contains some of the best work ever done at the studio and is one of Disney’s most alluring animated featurettes.
Of course, the most spectacular part of the film is Ichabod goes home in the evening when he meets the Headless Horseman , which is masterfully done. The clouds are approaching on the moon above; the trees seem to close in on him; the wind blows the leaves; and the frogs seem to say: ” Headless Horseman ”.
Then all of a sudden the Rider appears as a headless black figure in a scarlet cloak mounted on a formidable black stallion defiantly pawing the air. The film vividly creates the atmosphere and celebration of Halloween.
As Hammer reinvented gothic horror film in England, an entirely different approach to the genre was taken by maverick American director and producer William Castle.
Castle was a veteran of the film industry and known as the ultimate showman of the big screen. In 1959, he produced one of the most striking haunted house images of all time, House on the Haunted Hill.
This is the quintessential Halloween movie. The film opens with a funeral car procession, in which five guests arrive for their ultimate test of spending an entire night in a spooky mansion to receive a $ 10,000 reward, where the doors are locked at midnight so no one cannot leave.
The star of the series is the sleek, sophisticated and king of gothic horror films Vincent Price who delivers one of his finest performances as the millionaire owner of the house.
William Castle recognized the power of staging and promotional gimmicks to advertise his fabulous images, making sure they had weight in the market.
In selected cinemas presenting House on Haunted Hill , exhibitors installed an elaborate pulley system near the theater screen that allowed a plastic skeleton with red luminous eye sockets to fly above the audience in a corresponding scene later in the film.
Because the film had an X certificate (no children under 16 present) in 1959, I first saw the film in 1967 at the Odeon Cinema in Coatbridge, where it caused a sensation and sold out. .
The ethereal, haunting power of the film still gives me the same thrills and delights with every new viewing today.
Upon its initial release, House on the haunted hill was an immediate success, ultimately bringing in $ 1.5 million from its modest budget of $ 200,000.
The film’s big box office comebacks were noticed by Alfred Hitchcock, prompting him to create his own low-budget classic horror film, The Seminal psychopath (1960).
William Castle was a huge Hitchcock fan and made his 1961 film Homicide in tribute to psychopath , thus closing a rather bizarre and fascinating circle.
Castle and Hitchcock established that a huge budget doesn’t always make a great movie, and House on the haunted hill remains one of the all-time greats of cinema.
* Don’t miss the latest Lanarkshire titles. Subscribe to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Do not hesitate to leave us a like and to share!