Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Wideo Wednesday: Halloween

 


Well, the last Wideo Wednesday before Halloween, so here are some classics for viewing, from the funny to the squamous. We start with Betty Boop's Halloween Party, which I have to admit I never saw as a child; Betty Boop wasn't really shown then in these parts (in fact black and white cartoons  were considered too old-fashioned for kids to be interested in). What we did like was Mad Mad Mad Monsters  (1972) by Rankin/Bass, part of The Saturday Superstar Movies. Out that same year was Gargoyles, the very first made-for-TV movie. We felt the desert setting was close enough to our Texas milieu to warrant another layer of verisimilitude, especially driving along the highway at night. Old movies that we watched later were two black and white silent films released the same year (1922): Nosferatu and Haxan (I prefer to watch Haxan in a later dub, narrated by William S. Burroughs - it adds another layer of synchronous horror to hear his dry, matter-of-fact tones). From Nosferatu we derived a family superstition, never to say the name aloud, especially after dark, a superstition that has been handed down to the next generation. Happy All Hallows' Eve viewing!

Betty Boop's Halloween Party
 
The Mad Mad Mad Monsters

Gargoyles

Haxan

Nosferatu


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