Halloween can sneak up on you. That's why you have to start early.
Instead of the traditional top-10 list of scariest movies of all time, I've devised a strategy to get you prepared for the big day. From today until Halloween, watch a movie a day and you'll be ready. But because you don't want to get burned out on horror, it's important to mix the genres while keeping the Halloween theme.
Today - 'Rosemary's Baby'
Start with a classic. This Roman Polanski directed film follows Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her husband (John Cassavetes) as they get friendly with their odd neighbors. Rosemary's dreams start getting weird when she gets pregnant and suspects there might be something wrong with the child. Rosemary suspects her elderly neighbors and the occult may be involved.
Can be substituted with: "Psycho," "The Birds," "Nosferatu"
Tomorrow - 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
A night off from horror brings the stop-motion animation classic from Tim Burton. Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, stumbles upon Christmas Town and loves the whole concept. He tries to reinvent their annual Halloween celebration with a Christmas theme, but fails in great ways. It's dark and creepy, funny and imaginative. Maybe the creativity will rub off when you're thinking of your last-minute costume ideas.
Can be substituted with: "Corpse Bride," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
Oct. 29 - 'Saw II'
Sure, it will be horrible. But it's probably the scariest movie out this weekend, and a big screen will always intensify the frights. "Saw" and the sequel follow the psychopathic killer Jigsaw as he tortures his victims and watches them suffer to scrape their way out of horrific situations. The buzz is pretty bad about the sequel, and it was also pretty bad for the original. It's strange that they keep making sequels to these barely successful horror flicks. "Jeepers Creepers 3" is just around the corner.
Can be substituted with: "The Fog," "Doom"
Oct. 30 - 'The Work of Director Chris Cunningham'
From the Directors Label series that also showcase the brilliant work of Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze comes the seriously creepy catalog of Cunningham. Videos for bands like Aphex Twin, Portished and Madonna are dark and disturbing. Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" is particularly scary, with "Children of the Corn"-style possessed children wreaking havoc on an elderly woman.
Can be substituted with: Cunningham's short film "Rubber Johnny"
Halloween - 'The Exorcist'
Perhaps the best horror film of all time, "The Exorcist" has been ruined by terrible sequels and commercials. See it uncut and it's an entirely different experience. A little girl is possessed and an exorcist from the Catholic Church is called upon to get the demon out of her. Involving the Catholic Church makes any film a little scarier (have you seen "Keeping the Faith"?), and Satan or his demons make the best villains.
Can be substituted with: "The Omen," "Halloween"
This concludes what is most likely going to be the best use of your free time over the next few days. But it's all or nothing. If you don't watch every movie, you're not only doing yourself a disservice, but you're doing a disservice to Halloween.