When I'm not editing, writing and preparing for Scion's release or on the road, I'm watching movies! Yes, it's spooky season. When the leaves start changing colors, dance to the ground gracefully, and crunch underfoot, a sense of nostalgia rushes through me. At night, when I'm nestled under a blanket, and want some spooky movies to repeat and watch. I delve into some classics. I want to give you a run down on how I've jumped into the spooky season this year. This is a trip over the 60's, 70/80's and 90's. If you're enjoying this and all my other life and RV blogs, please, please please, click the coffee mug, leave me a $5 tip to show your appreciation and by all means, keep reading...
To break in my autumn I booted up the classic, Night of the Living Dead. I know this movie has been beat to death, but it's an awesome watch. I love when Ben talks about the diner and how he came across the old Chevy truck. But what completely takes the scene, in my opinion, is when Barbara starts calmly talking about the cemetery incident with Johnny and starts to come unglued followed by much needed slap by Ben to help put her at ease and bring her to reality. The scene captures the essence of isolation and gives you the tip at how great the character build in this dreadful scenario encapsulates. If you like isolating terror and the original "zombie" trope, and haven't watched Night of the Living Dead, you're missing out. Go watch it, it's public domain, so the movie is literally everywhere.
I jumped into the late seventies, circa 1979 with Phantasm. This movie is weird, edited a bit hastily, in my opinion, and misses at points. But the mystique and the nostalgia make it all worth it, and there's always the sequel(s) to fill in the blanks. From the triple black Plymouth 'Cuda to the classic early Dos Equis beer bottles, and the Rolling Stones Shirt worn by Jody Pearson, the older brother of Mike, this movie holds up today. I love the dread, the mysterious round silver spheres that kill, the yellow blood the added fantasy element, and of course my favorite, "the Tall Man". All these bring home the true terror and tastes of horror often tackled in the eighties and still to this day often copied but never duplicated. If you want a trek down memory lane, and a far simpler time without blogs, smart phones, and internet give this one a watch.
I could probably go on forever with movies, but I'm going to limit this blog to three. My third, but not final watch, of the season is 12 Monkeys. I remember when this came out on VHS and Maria and I rented it from the local video store. The very first time Bruce Willis' character went back in time and said he needed to make a phone call and "leave a voicemail" I was awestruck. I was at that point using voicemail quite regularly and never realized just how fast technology had moved from 1990 to 1995 (now look at us), from answering machines to voicemail blew my mind. The movie is crazy, off the rails in some spots and when I first watched it a bit confusing, but not overly so. I loved the premise and I recommend it for the time travel aspect and the fact that the human population is wiped out at some point in history has become a classic trope that everyone enjoys on some level.
For those of you in the "now", here is a pick of three current watches I recommend. These are not all horror, but close. I recommend Grotesquerie (a series on FX or Hulu every Thursday), The Penguin ( a series I've been enjoying on Max, every Sunday), Hold your Breath ( a movie on Hulu starring one of my personal favorites, Sarah Paulson). Thanks for stopping by, and happy watching. If you like my recommendations, or watched some, let me know what you think in the comments below. Help spread my words, share this blog on your socials. The traffic helps my voice grow instead of echoing in the chamber.
Thanks for reading.
Tim Eagle
Tim Eagle is an author of the novellas Stolen Seed, Life Ship, and the Vasectomus Collection. He lives full time, on the road, with his wife, Maria and their dog, Cocoa. He grew up in Michigan and is inspired by the dysfunction of America. His books are available on Amazon, godless and this site timeaglefiction.com
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