Skip to Main content

Don’t Go Out Alone! Don’t Go Down Those Stairs!

October 27, 2014

Invite your friends, checkout some DVDs or choose some IndieFlix films, pop some corn or fix up some other goodies to munch on, and enjoy a Halloween night movie fest. The Library can help you with that.

Feel like you’re too old to go trick-or-treating? How about having a Halloween movie night with your closest friends and best buds?

Here are some October 31 “Movie Night” choices for your viewing pleasure.

Night of the Living Dead (DVD 1104)

In George A. Romero’s first feature length film, space experiments set off a high level of radiation that makes the newly-dead return to life and devour human flesh. The film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals, although the word “zombie” was never used, and influenced the “slasher films” of the 1970’s/1980’s. [Also available via IndieFlix.]

John Carpenter’s Halloween (DVD 2222)

No October 31 movie night would be complete without seeing the quintessential Halloween movie. Picture it now: Michael Myers in his white mask stalking and terrorizing his younger sister, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her friends on Halloween night in the small town of Haddonfield. [Also available via IndieFlix.]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (DVD 3125 disc 1)

In this movie a group of teens are being tormented in their dreams by a clawed killer named Freddy Krueger. The film met with rave reviews and spawned a franchise consisting of a line of sequels, a television series, and even a cross-over with the Friday the 13th movie franchise. The other “Nightmare” movies can be found on discs 2-7 of this set.

Tim Burton’s The nightmare before Christmas (DVD 3044)

In this “classic” movie the citizens of Halloweentown try to put on Christmas instead of Halloween, but can’t quite get it right.

Nosferatu: a symphony of horror (DVD 1120)

If you are into classic vampire movies, you might choose to see the very first vampire movie, in which Count Orlock (Nosferatu, the vampire) leaves his castle in the Carpathians and travels by ship to Bremen, bringing coffins filled with dirt and plague rats, where he is destroyed by sunlight. [Also available via IndieFlix.]

Other DVDs to consider for your Halloween movie night include:

If you want more choices, search RamCat for “vampire films” (11 DVDs/VHS) or “horror films” (92 DVDs/VHS).

What if you don’t have a DVD player? Try IndieFlix to find streaming videos of independent films that you can view on a computer or most smartphones and laptops with Internet connectivity.

Three examples of short “zombie” films include the following:

How I survived the zombie apocalypse

In this 11-minute short film, a single mother and her teenage son struggle to survive in a shattered and brutal near future where zombies roam the Earth. The film was nominated for several awards, including one at Screamfest.

I love Sarah Jane

Thirteen-year-old Jimbo lives in a post-apocalyptic environment where all the adults are dead and the place is infested with zombies. But he has a crush on the girl of his dreams and he will make her fall for him no matter how long it takes. View this 15-minute film to see if he succeeds.

Zombie-American: Glen’s story

In the 9-minute short film, Glen is a Zombie-American who likes to read, do crosswords, play basketball and is on the lookout for a girlfriend.

Two examples of longer independent films include the following:

American vampire (94 min.)

The film has attained cult-like status with its tongue-in-cheek humor and its many references to the Beach Party films of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, which were hugely popular in the mid-60’s. With his parents out of town, Frankie and his best friend start making plans to party away their summer. They meet up with Moondoggie and his friends who con their way into his house, but Frankie soon learns that his guests aren’t what they seem to be. To rid himself of his troublesome guests, he seeks the advice of the Big Kahuna, an expert vampire slayer.

Moonshine (72 min.)

In a working class Connecticut town, 19-year-old Peter’s monotonous life is about to end. During the day, he tends to a sick mother and a wheelchair-bound father. At night, he fends off advances from his boss at the local convenience store. The nights pass and he finds himself slipping into an uneasy relationship with an engaged co-worker. One night in the cellar, lit by a dangling bulb, something emerges to take his life. A dark man creeps beneath the light. His wiry hair hides his glossy eyes, bony face, and a pair of fangs beneath his lips.

To find more films for your movie night go to IndieFlix, click on the Channels icon on the left side of the screen, and choose Halloween (57 films), Horror (91 films), or Vampires (53 films). To view the films, you will have to create a free account the first time you use IndieFlix. Afterwards, you’ll only need to log in to your account to view more films at later times.