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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Turner Classic Movies Will Blow Your Mind in October: Get Ready for a Month-Long Horrorgasm

As one who recognizes that pop culture actually existed prior to 1970 (hell, it's probably been declining ever since), I've adored Turner Classic Movies since I got my very first cable box. It's easily my favorite television channel, and I'm also a proud subscriber of Now Playing, the network's official monthly programming guide (and a steal at $12 per year).

So anyway, I got the October issue in the mail the other day, with the earnest visage of Fredric March blazoned upon the cover, when what do my eyes notice in the lower left-hand corner... "Also This Month: Hammer Horror". But of course, thought I--finally TCM is doing something special for Halloween, filling in for the once-outstanding AMC, which dropped the MonsterVision ball a long time ago. After all, if anybody could deliver for Halloween, it would be Turner Classic Movies.

And I'm proud to report that not only was I right, but I couldn't have possibly anticipated just how right I would be. TCM is ready to bring the noise next month, people. Allow me to elucidate. You'd better sit down...

First, we'll start with the Hammer extravaganza. Turner plans on showing a total of 20 Hammer classic throughout the month, with four-movie blocks each Friday:

October 1
Horror of Dracula
Brides of Dracula
Dracula, Prince of Darkness
Dracula Has Risen for the Grave

October 8
The Plague of the Zombies
The Devil's Bride
The Reptile
The Gorgon

October 15
The Mummy
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
The Mummy's Shroud
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb

October 22
X: The Unknown
Five Million Years to Earth
These Are the Damned
The Stranglers of Bombay

October 29
The Curse of Frankenstein
Revenge of Frankenstein
Frankenstein Created Woman
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!

OK, still breathing? Well good, because I didn't even really get to what they have planned for the entire Halloween weekend itself. For the entire three-day period from Friday, October 29 through Sunday, October 31, they're pulling out all the stops. It'll be non-stop horror classics as only a channel like has the grapefruits to showcase. In addition to the Hammer Frankenstein flicks showing on the Friday, the weekend will feature the likes of:
  • The Mystery of the Wax Museum (later remade as House of Wax)
  • Isle of the Dead (Val Lewton's amazing Karloff vehicle)
  • The Corpse Vanishes (underrated Lugosi Monogram flick)
  • White Zombie (the first zombie movie!)
  • Curse of the Demon (sublime British devil-worshiping gem)
  • 13 Ghosts (seminal William Castle original)
  • The Tingler (more Castle goodness--this time with Vincent Price!)
  • Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (every gay man's favorite horror film)
  • Cat People (Lewton psycho-sexual thriller)
  • Freaks (future cult classic that wrecked Tod Browning's career)
  • The Terror (Karloff meets Jack Nicholson!)
  • The Raven (Corman/Poe greatness!)
  • House on Haunted Hill (the best of the Castle/Price collaborations)
  • The Haunting (greatest haunted house movie ever made)
  • Poltergeist (a little too recent for the channel if you ask me, but I'll take it)
  • The Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney's iconic turn)
Cool? Well, that's less than half of all the horror films being shown by Turner Classic Movies for Halloween weekend. In short, folks, October on TCM is the kind of thing for which DVR was invented. Not that I'd know, since I still tape shows on my handy Reagan-era VCR, but you get my point. This channel will be doing it right the entire month, and I encourage everyone who has it on their cable lineup and loves good horror to enjoy those 31 days of bliss. I know I'll be.

13 comments:

Suzanne said...

i am trembling with antici.........PATION! OMG! I just subscribed to TCM after years of being tortured by my friends telling me about the awesomeness. when i heard that they were doing a halloween month...omg...i never imagined it was going to be THIS good! I am going to blow up my dvr for sure!

Darius Whiteplume said...

Excellent. There are a few there I have never had the chance to see. Danke!

Strange Kid said...

My ever-loving God, how delicious! Finally a good TV Halloween line-up, other stations should take note... AMC, I'm looking at you (bring back MonsterFest!).

Wings1295 said...

Sounds like a lot of TV time in October, but hey - with films like those lined up, that's a good thing!

Debbie said...

All I can say is wow! There are some movies here that I'd not even heard of, and I like to think I'm a bit of a horror film buff.

Pierre Fournier said...

I wish we had TCM up here in Quebec. That Hammer list is the videotrack of my adolescence. I saw 16 of those 20 films in theaters! My introduction to Hammer came in a second-run neighborhood movie house with an unforgettable triple-bill showing of HORROR OF DRACULA, THE MUMMY and CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, all dubbed in French. The titles, retranslated to English, were THE NIGHTMARE OF DRACULA, CURSE OF THE PHARAOHS, and FRANKENSTEIN HAS ESCAPED!

The Captain said...

So we got rid of our cable over a year ago because there was never anything worthwhile on it, and now this! Good thing i have a lot of these movies. Its nice to see good horror getting some air time instead of the usual junk played in October on cable.

Kidsis said...

Feels terrific! Thanks for the great article.

And good Cthulhu man, get a DVR. They're like, free. And life-changing.

Patty Benedict said...

LOVE TCM!!! Thank you for the info!!! I'm sooo ready for some good classic horror movies! hope Netflixs also has some good ones!
I have always enjoyed reading your blog...thank you for posting great info.
Patty

Matt-suzaka said...

While my cable provider sucks, one of the good things is I do have TCM now and they really do show films with a true dedication to presentation. I definitely cannot wait for many hours on the couch watching the channel this October, and thanks for sharing the line-up!

B-Sol said...

Glad to see everyone jazzed to the max for this! Yes...Turner Classic Movies is just about as good as it gets. I'm normally addicted to this channel anyway, but this Halloween lineup just pushed it so far over the top.
And Elisabeth, I have a feeling that DVR is going to be happening soon. The time has come!

Rabid Fox said...

Holy moly! That's a lot of horror. Almost makes me wish I had TCM. Meh, who knows. Maybe I'll get a free preview of it like I did last year.

Movies at Midnight said...

I am so bloody excited for this! I think I'm most excited about the mini William Castle marathon they've got set up!

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