Get Your Fix: Syfy's 31 Days of Halloween

Even though I'm posting this a day late... Here's the complete schedule!
**All movies blocked out in ORANGE**

Tuesday, Oct. 1
9/8c: Face Off
10/9c: Fangasm

Wednesday, Oct. 2
9/8c: Paranormal Witness (Mid-Season Finale)
10/9c: Ghost Mine

Thursday, Oct. 3
9/8c: Resident Evil: Afterlife

Friday, Oct. 4
8am/7c: Scare-a-thon: Forever Knight
8/7c: Smackdown (Men in costumes? A stretch, but okay...)
10/9c: Haven

Saturday, Oct. 5
9/8c: Scarecrow

Sunday, Oct. 6
7/6c: Psychosis
9/8c: The Ninth Gate (Johnny Depp ALERT!!)

Monday, Oct. 7
9/8c: Dawn of the Dead

Tuesday, Oct. 8

9/8c: Face Off

10/9c: Fangasm

Wednesday, Oct. 9

9/8c: Ghost Hunters (Mid-Season Premiere)

10/9c: Ghost Mine

Thursday, Oct. 10
8am/7c: Scare-a-thon: Ghost Whisperer

Friday, Oct. 11
8am/7c: Scare-a-thon: Friday the 13th: The Series

Saturday, Oct. 12
9/8c: Fright Night

Sunday, Oct. 13
9/8c: Blade II

Monday, Oct. 14
8/7c: The Devil's Advocate

Tuesday, Oct. 15

9/8c: Face Off

10/9c: Fangasm

Wednesday, Oct. 16

9/8c: Ghost Hunters

10/9c: Ghost Mine

Thursday, Oct. 17
9/8c: Arachnoquake (Yes, really.)

Friday, Oct. 18
8am/7c: Scare-a-thon: Being Human
8/7c: Smackdown
10/9c: Haven

Saturday, Oct. 19
9/8c: Grave Halloween

Sunday, Oct. 20
9/8c: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Fuck yeah, Syfy! A great pick for a Halloween flick.)

Monday, Oct. 21
9/8c: Fright Night (2011)

Tuesday, Oct. 22

9/8c: Face Off

10/9c: Fangasm

11/10c: Fangasm (Season Finale)

Wednesday, Oct. 23

9/8c: Ghost Hunters

10/9c: Ghost Mine

Thursday, Oct. 24
9/8c: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Friday, Oct. 25

8/7c: Smackdown

10/9c: Haven

Saturday, Oct. 26
9/8c: Zombie Night

Sunday, Oct. 27
9/8c: Ghost Rider

Monday, Oct. 28
All-day: Scare-a-thon: Scare Tactics

Tuesday, Oct. 29

9/8c: Face Off

10/9c: Naked Vegas (Series Premiere)

Wednesday, Oct. 30

9/8c: Ghost Hunters

10/9c: Ghost Mine

Thursday, Oct. 31
9/8c: Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (What a way to end, huh? But I guess the true Halloween fans are out doing something anyway...)

For more Syfy's month of Halloween programming, click here.

Don't forget to BOOKMARK this page! :)

Quick + Easy Couple Costume: Wreck-It Ralph + Vanellope von Schweetz

We were finally able to catch Wreck-It Ralph last week, and we both loved it! It helps that we're both life-long gamers...

So this week, I bring you a great, easy couples costume that you can pull off with your hubby OR your bff. Enjoy!

Ralph

If you don't plan on wearing these clothes ever again, take them to the next level: rip the pant cuffs and sleeves off the button-up for the bustin'-out Ralph look from the movie. Suck it up and go barefoot--Ralph would look Fifty Shades of Wrong in shoes. You'll need some hair gel too, diaper baby.

Vanellope

Not the most fashion-forward little rascal, Vanellope was a tough one to shop for! Key: don't forget to bedazzle your hair with candy.

AMC Fearfest begins Saturday, Oct. 13th!

My heart melts for AMC jumping aboard the Halloween programming wagon this year. And with the network's rise in horror-related content and geekery, it makes more sense than ever. Especially when you find out which AMC show-runner is hosting the television event: Kevin Smith! Already making a guest appearance on this season of Syfy's Face Off, Smith has been weaving his way in and out of the Halloween mediaverse this autumn.

I've posted the extensive lineup for AMC Fearfest below (in EST)--and it's the most impressive I've seen this season! For more details and film information, visit the AMC Fearfest website. (I thought it appropriate to include The Walking Dead below as well.)

Saturday, Oct. 13th
12:00am: Pet Sematary Two
  2:00am: The Dead Zone
  4:30am: The Brain Eaters
  5:45am: Corridors of Blood
  6:00am: Pet Sematary
  8:00am: Pet Sematary Two
10:00am: The Walking Dead Marathon

Sunday, Oct. 14th
  5:45am: Creation of the Humanoids
  7:30am: The Walking Dead Marathon cont.
  9:00pm: The Walking Dead: Seed - Season 3 Premiere

Monday, Oct. 15th

  3:00am: Otis

  5:45am: War of the Colossal Beast

  9:30am: Motel Hell

11:45am: The Frighteners

  2:45pm: Tales From the Darkside: The Movie 

  4:15pm: Return to House on Haunted Hill

  6:00pm: House on Haunted Hill

  8:00pm: Friday the 13th

10:15pm: Friday the 13th, Part 2

Tuesday, Oct. 16th

12:30am: Friday the 13th

  2:30am: Survival of the Dead

  4:30am: Corridors of Blood

  9:30am: Cold Creek Manor

12:00pm: House on Haunted Hill

  2:00pm: Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane

  4:00pm: Survival of the Dead

  6:00pm: Friday the 13th, Part 2

  8:00pm: Friday the 13th Part 3

10:15pm: Friday the 13th: Part IV

Days 3 & 4 of my 31 days of Halloween

Yep.  I'm already cheating.  But who's reading this anyway?

So...

I broke down and already cracked into some Nightmare Before Christmas.  Honestly, "This is Halloween" has been stuck in my head for DAYS!  Both versions.  But that's not me complaining :)

Since I can't find a decent (and legal) link to either version, enjoy this film trailer from MovieClips.com:

Trailer #1

Yesterday, I spent the day in the lovely Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia.  While I didn't get to visit yet, Morris Arboretum holds an annual scarecrow contest, and this year is even having a special Harry Potter category!  (Look out for upcoming Harry Potter Weekend post.)  I will definitely be stopping by to vote.  The scarecrows are already up and will be on display until October 17th.  I highly suggest you swing by and check it out if you're local.

When I got home from walking the strip, I was beat.  So I plopped on the catch and pulled up the onDemand menu.  Searching for something scary, I instead landed on Megamind - which I thoroughly enjoyed!  I believe the super hero category has a place in the 31 Days of Halloween, and so it shall here.  With characters voiced by the the brilliant minds of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, David Cross and Brad Pitt, how could we go wrong?  Oh, and did I mention some pretty kick-ass music?  Check it out:

We Meet Again

I actually picked this film to watch so that I could get work down while I used it more as background noise.  That didn't work out.

Finally in my backwards trot, I watched me some Betelgeuse on Sunday.  As I watched, I began to list all the reasons why I love that movie.  And well...  maybe I'll finish it the next time I watch for you.  Jump in the line?

Day 2: A look back at a pre-October Halloween-filled day!

I just watched the Philadelphia Eagles lose.  Miserably.  So now I'm going to look back at this past Thursday - a very good day, indeed!

We began the day with a trip to Linvilla Orchards to scout out our first carving pumpkins of the season.

(photo credit: linvilla.com)

This is always a process.  I have to circle all of the barrels of pumpkins at least twice, and if whoever I'm with points out a good one?  I can't have that pumpkin now.  My hunt.  My kill.

During my search, though, I came across this interesting type of squash.  Obviously, I needed to pose the squash for a photo op as soon as I realized the squash had nipples.

Meanwhile, boyfriend giggled but pretended to not know me.

After I made my kill, we delivered our respective pumpkins to my car then grabbed a quick lunch there before heading home.

Before digging in, I prepped the area where the feeding would begin.  (I'm not sure when I decided to run with the lioness metaphor throughout the blog post.)  I spread old newspaper on the floor in front of the TV, placed a bowl in between where the two of us would be working for seeds, then placed two trash bags on either end for us to dispose of the unwanted innards.  Why on the floor, though?  And in front of the TV?  To watch Rocky Horror Picture Show, of course!  (By the time we were all finished, we were halfway into a second showing of it...)

I Can Make You a Man

(watch Sweet Transvestite and Time Warp clips on other Halloween Spot blog posts)

I was going to post their Creature of the Night clip, but clearly there just isn't enough Tim Curry in that one.  Anyway, boyfriend went with a more traditional carving while I tried my hand at a different technique in doing Jack Skellington.  He ended up looking a little apprehensive, maybe indifferent, but I think the character came across.

After admiring the Jack-o'-Lanterns in the dark...

...it was time to attack the seeds!  I look forward to roasted pumpkin seeds all year long - easily one of my favorite snacks.  And these didn't disappoint!  You can find my easy roasting recipe here.  I had to use vegetable oil this time around as we were out of olive oil, but I don't recommend it.  Olive oil, in my opinion, yields the best flavored pumpkin seeds.   Mmm...

31 Days of Halloween: Day 1

I do this blog differently every year.  (And not at all on purpose.)  So this year, lets take a look at how I'm spending my October, a.k.a. my 31 days of Halloween.

My day started off by happily stumbling upon the very beginning of Ghostbusters on VH1.  For the past couple years, I've been trying to figure out how I can get my hair that big to be Dana (as Zuul) for Halloween.  After watching the flick this time around, I still haven't figured it out.  Anyway, here's a clip from the film in case I've put you in the mood and you need your fix:

I Want You Inside Me

Aside from being appropriate to my comment, I tried to pick a different clip from Ghostbusters that I've yet to feature on this blog.  (Although you can still watch "He Slimed Me" in it's original Halloween Spot post - just another great clip from a great flick!)



After watching Ghostbusters in it's entirety (and losing that portion of the day to be productive,) I unwrapped the new gravestones I bought and placed them outside.  (purchased at Target and Party City)  One "stone" in particular had a job: I was making a grave site this year!

Of course, just like when baking, I never have all the components I need when I start a project.  For the grave site, I also needed some bones and some loose soil.  I made a pit stop at the local Halloween Adventure first, since I haven't visited it yet this season.  It must be said, I was incredibly disappointed!  Their stock was less than impressive, and what they did have was way overpriced.  Oh well!  I knew where I could grab some bones; I had eyed up Target's Bag of Bones on a previous trip.  A little pricey for being styrofoam ($20,) but I needed them to do the job.  Then I ran over to good ol' Home Depot and grabbed the cheapest bag of soil I could.  And I paid for it.  It smelled... unnatural.

Next, I laid out the bones to get an idea of which ones I would use and about where they would go.

Two reasons I didn't use all the bones in that bag.  1) I thought this would give a better creepy effect, and 2) I now have extras in case any little assholes decide to grave rob.


To lay the soil, I shoveled it bit-by-bit into a bowl to break it up (as it was pretty damp) and to be able to spread it more easily.  This process took a little while, but I thought the outcome was pretty damn good!

I used up the entire bag here, yet some of the ground beneath came through in blades of grass and leaves.  That is A-OKAY.  I plan on spreading another bag of soil over the "grave" closer to the date of our shindig to make it look "fresh."

WHOA!  I missed mentioning an important part of my Autumn-y day!  I had also stopped by Starbucks during my errand-running and grabbed a tasty Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino to make the day more complete :)

photo credit: starbucks.com

Cirque du Freak: New seasonal must!

Why, hello there!  It's been quite a while.  Just the other day, I was planning on writing the first post of the Halloween season tomorrow, September 1.  However, I began watching Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant about an hour ago and knew it would be perfect!

Wait.  An hour long movie?  No, I just didn't want to wait until the end in case I forgot something brilliant I wanted to say.  (Not like anything brilliant is going to pop up in this post...)

So Cirque du Freak.  "Isn't it that movie that came out a couple of years ago?"  Yes!  "Oh yeah, I meant to see that in theaters, but..."  Sadly, me too.  Why now?  I was looking for a flick to watch the other day and came across nothing appealing but this (under HBO's onDemand list.)  OF COURSE I had to leave the house about five minutes into but luckily remembered to pick it tonight.  Still haven't finished it yet, though, so I can't give my full analysis of it.

In order to introduce the film (somewhat) properly, here is the film synopsis provided by IMDB:

A young boy named Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.

That's a bit bleaker than I thought it would be.  Oh well.  That might help illustrate why I never ended up seeing this movie during its theatrical release.

1. The plot from the trailer just didn't grab me enough.
2. John C Reilly has been growing on me as an actor - I truly underappreciated him before.  (Crap! My pause just quite and the onDemand menu came on...)  There were no other actors in the film that would normally be a draw for me - and I had no idea then that Willem Defoe was in it!
3. There must have been something [better] out.  Or I was broke.

Okay, so why do I like it now?  I'm not totally sure, but I'm totally entertained!  I like the look of the film, the feel and even the cast.  So far, there's been nothing too corny, considering the topic at hand.  I even like the score here!  It reminds me of the compositions used in Lemony Snicket.  Wait...  No.  False alarm, just a coincidence.

Oh, and speaking of cast, I challenge any Fringe fans out there to not be irked by Cirque.  (hehe)  There's a character that from his first appearance, I couldn't explain why he seemed so familiar to me.  Ready?  It's the Observer!!  Truly, this is a dorkfest flick.

My point here, though, is to give this movie a try.  Especially and certainly if you love Halloween like I do.  I will be going on Amazon shortly - wait - ah! Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - and purchasing the film to be a regular Halloween season watch.  It's just a fun film - so far.

Now back to the film!

Afterthoughts: like I said before, this movie is just entertaining in it's ways.  I've commented on nothing of it's structure, so don't analyze what I said; take it for what it is.

This movie has the ending for a sequel, however, I see no notion of a followup film anywhere on IMDB...

Cirque du Freak, the first book of the series in which this film was based on, was published in 2000.  Charlaine Harris released her first book in the Southern Vampire Series in 2001.  (Not to mention Anne Rice's novels.)  The first Twilight series book was published in 2005, with hardly any original content.  And which is making all the money? Simply frustrating. 

Halloween in April: Meet Slimer!

He Slimed Me
Ghostbusters at MOVIECLIPS.com

This film is so much fun - the actors, the music, the great 80s effects - how could you not love it?

Halloween in April: I Put A Spell On You

I love Hocus Pocus.  But don't worry, I love CCR too!  Unfortunately, this was the best quality that I could find to share with you today.

However, if you would like to buy the film, check out the link to the left, or rent a digital copy here.  OR buy the original CCR song here.  Or don't; just sit there and stare.  I don't care.  :p

Halloween in April: Day-O!

Having given up on trying to find a clip of the Halloween feast that takes place in Harry's first year in The Sorcerer's Stone, I happily settled for this as your first Halloween in April movie clip:



No, this clip doesn't take place during Halloween, but who cares?  I love Beetlejuice, and it fits so perfectly in my little Halloween world!

Enjoy :)


UPDATE: After posting this, I immediately decided that I had to watch it.  While this won't be relative a few hours from now, it neatly illustrates how much I love this flick.

All Media Mondays: I'm Just a Sweet Transvestite

I posted Time Warp for everyone last year (here,) so I decided to give you a little Sweet Transvestite this time around.  Enjoy!

Want to buy it? The Rocky Horror Picture Show (35th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]
or The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975 Film) CD

How haven't I posted this before: "Sleepy Hollow"

I watch Sleepy Hollow every Halloween with family.  If you know me, then you already know that I love Depp & Burton!  Then throw in blood, the time period, (and a bunch of HP Actors,) and you have a film in my Top 10 :)  It was hard to pick a clip, but here it is:

If you've never seen this movie, then shame on you!  I don't care if you do have a strong disposition against severed heads...

or Sleepy Hollow [Blu-ray]

All Media Mondays: Psycho

I suck this season.  I need a little encouragement; does anyone want me to keep posting??

In the mean time, here's what is perhaps the most famous scene in cinema history.  Enjoy :)

(Yes, I've posted this clip before.  But it's still pretty good!)

Halloween in April: 'Nightmare' revamp opens tomorrow

Like you always hear me say (whether here or at ATasteofMyBrain), I loved the original so I'm awfully leery of this new thang.  In case you didn't know, A Nightmare on Elm Street was my man Johnny Depp's first gig as a young actor.  But I'm not here to tell you what I thought about the movie...this time.  I did, however, get a pretty cool email from GeekChicDaily.  (Yep, I get that.)  It gave me some interesting facts about the film franchise.  Check it out:

Elm Street Almanac

Five things to know about the Nightmare neighborhood

The Nightmare on Elm Street reboot opens tomorrow, but before you go stand in line for Freddy 2.0, here are some things to know about the franchise:

No. 1 The original idea for the films came when Nightmare creator Wes Craven read newspaper articles about three unrelated young boys who died while having bad dreams.

No. 2 The original Freddy, Robert Englund, was once detained by airport security when he tried to take his claws onto an airplane.

No. 3 Craven named his villain Freddy, after a bully who used to beat him up in school. Meanwhile, Krueger was an extension of “Krug,” the name of the killer in Craven’s first film The Last House on the Left.

No. 4 Freddy’s iconic red and green sweater was chosen because Craven had read that red and green were the two most difficult colors for the eye to process when they appear next to each other.

No. 5 The first Nightmare’s $1.2 million budget was so tight that, two weeks before its opening, a lab refused to release the film negatives because they hadn’t been paid. Similar financial concerns were in no way a problem for tomorrow’s reboot.

Halloween in April: Could you take a shower alone after this?

Halloween in April: "Teaching the Monster Manners"

If you read my other blog, then you're already familiar with MovieClips.  After typing in "Halloween" in the search box, a whole bunch of fun, and rather interesting (that they related it to Halloween), clips came up.  Here's one of them:

This was very similar to the time I tried to teach my mother how to use her iPod...

(By the way, you really can't beat that price for a classic!)

Happy Easter!

When you think costumes, you think Super Heroes, right?

April Fools!  There was no post yesterday! Ha ha...  Okay so I'm more of a space cadet than a prankster.  Oops!  Oh well, here's the beginning of a well needed April's worth of some Halloween goodness:

Costumes go hand-in-hand with two things: Halloween and comics.  So let's kick off the month with some Kick-Ass!  Here's a film, quite unlike the likes of Spider-man and The Hulk.  We have three kids and a dad (Nicholas Cage,) all with no "super" powers, who decided to take crime into their own hands.  Batman?  No.  Foul-mouthed 11-year-olds? Yes.

Kick-Ass spawned from the mind of Mark Millar.  He says the comics, and henceforth film, are based on his childhood.  Millar and a couple buddies came up with their vigilante names and costumes, BUT never actually went out and put it to use.  Well, Kick-Ass is what could have happened had they.

I am so excited to see this flick!  For one, it has McLovin.  Secondly, Kick-Ass looks badass!  This (barely) teen-starred film is rated-R and rightly so.  Below, you'll find the general audience trailer, then the red-band trailer to follow.  I assume no 10-year-olds read my blog, but be warned: the second trailer features a dirty-mouthed little lady who can use her weapons.

Kick-Ass hit's theaters on April 16, 2010.

Want to check out where the film started?  Grab the graphic novel from Amazon!

All Media Mondays: Kidnap the Sandy Claws!

The Nightmare Before Christmas is perfect for keeping the Halloween feel while getting ready to celebrate Christmas!  Check back on Mondays for more clips leading up to the merry day!

It's a Stretch! Saturdays: TREEVENGE!

From the self-proclaimed "World's #1 Halloween Website," HauntedHouse.com, comes TREEVENGE.  They recently tweeted it from thier Twitter account.  (Btw, you should "follow" mine ;) )

TREEVENGE is directed by Jason Eisener Jason Eisener and independent film maker from Canada who gained a bit of notoriety for his excellent "Hobo with a Shotgun" trailer he created for in a contest for the film GrindHouse. Watch his latest brilliant opus TREEVENGE below. Definitely NSFW.

I'm having some marital issues with my Mac right now.  I can't turn it on...  And my home desktop PC is a POS and the sound won't work.  LOVELY!  So, I'm posting this before I've even watched it.  Use discretion while watching it since I can't prewarn you about anything.  I hope it's awesome.

**I've since made up with my Mac and watched this.  You have to have the right kind of humor for this and a love for horror gore.  Luckily I have both!  I thought it was a little slow in the beginning but eventually worth the wait.  Completely effed up.  And, I now can't wait to go cut my tree down with the fam tomorrow at Linvilla Orchards!!**