horror movies

Mutant zombies and machine-gun legs:
'Planet Terror' is fine entertainmentHalloween is just around the corner, and if you’re too old to trick-or-treat, you can partake of another time-honored tradition: Dressing up like a freak, hanging out with your friends and watching scary movies (If you’re 21 or over, there might even be some beer involved).

As a diehard horror movie buff, I can tell you right now that some scary movies are better suited for party-watching than others. You don’t want to go with something that’s too disturbing (“Cannibal Holocaust”), too depressing (“28 Weeks Later”), or too slow-paced (“The Haunting”).

Here is my personal top five list of great Halloween party flicks. Most of them are not politically correct or family friendly, but they’re all lots of fun.

Béla Lugosi in 'Dracula'Béla Lugosi was born 126 years ago today. The Hungarian native became a horror and world cinema icon when he donned a black cape and fangs to play the titular villain in 1931's "Dracula."

Lugosi's star-making turn followed earlier success playing Dracula in a Broadway play based on the bloodthirsty Count's legend. Surprisingly, Lugosi would only play Dracula one more time on-screen, in the 1948 spoof "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

Lugosi also appeared in 1932's "White Zombie," one of the first zombie films ever made and the inspiration for the name of the late '90s shock rock band. (More useless trivia: a clip of "White Zombie," basically just a closeup of Lugosi giving his trademark stare, appears in the 2007 remake of "Halloween." Of course, the "Halloween" remake was directed by none other than ex-White Zombie band leader Rob Zombie.)

Jigsaw: He's back and balder than everAlthough he was thoroughly disassembled in "Saw IV," John Kramer aka Jigsaw (known to his little league team as Tobin Bell) is back in "Saw V," as evidenced by this new production still.

Shock Till You Drop has posted a 20-picture gallery of production stills from the forthcoming new installment in everyone's favorite horror-film-series-that-just-won't-die.

Presumably Jigsaw returns in a flashback, but I could be wrong. One thing I will say for the "Saw" series is I haven't been able to predict the surprise ending of any of the four films yet. But, to be honest, I've been disappointed with the last couple movies. "Saw" and "Saw II" were awesome, but the series has been showing diminishing returns since then.

I know there are some "Saw" fans out there in LeaderLand. Are you looking forward to "Saw V?"

Elvis could've halted the '60s
Britpop invasion with a trusty
shotgunRobert Fure of Film School Rejects has just compiled a practical list of six must-have weapons to have on hand, in case of a zombie outbreak.

Fure's list seems pretty sensible and ranges from the chainsaw ("Like a thousand tiny razors hooked to a diesel engine ...") to the shotgun ("Pretty much the be all, end all in any conversation ...").

The weapons list is great, but you'll want to scroll below and see the comments section. Commentator Cole Abaius makes the following priceless observation: "I just carry a copy of Celine Dion’s 'My Heart Will Go On.' It makes heads explode with force equal to that of a baseball bat ..."

It's funny, because it's true.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)

Robert Englund is beside himself.
Get it? Oh, never mind.Robert Englund turns 61 today. You might know him as Freddy Krueger from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" film series. But, if not for a quirk of fate, you could've been calling him Luke Skywalker.

That's right. According to his biography at IMDB.com, Englund tried out for the part of Luke but didn't get the part. He told his friend he should try out for the part ... and his friend happened to be Mark Hamill. The rest is history from a galaxy far, far away.

Jennifer Connelly in 'Phenomena'“Phenomena” (1985)

MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: Dario Argento
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasance, Federica Mastroianni, Dalila Di Lazzaro

The Gist: Here’s a slasher flick to drive you positively buggy.

Paintball masks frighten meI'm surprised no one's thought of this before. Bloody-Disgusting.com reports some sickos from Spain are working on a paintball-themed horror film called, um, “Paintball.”

Slated for a 2009 release, the film is directed by newcomer Daniel Benmayor and written by Mario Schoendorff.

The story revolves around a group of young, urban workaholics who sign up for a remote weekend splatfest. All goes well until mystery snipers start taking them out with live ammunition.

In the interest of being all green and stuff, I'm recycling my first-ever Classic Movie Corner. It appeared in the Oct. 27, 2005, Leader print edition and makes its online debut today. For regular readers of my blog, it should be no surprise it was ...

Ken Foree in
'Dawn of the Dead'Dawn of the Dead (1978)

MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: George A. Romero
Starring: Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge, Jese Del Gre

The Gist: It’s the end of world! Zombies are eating everyone! Wanna go to the mall?

Jamie Lee Curtis
in 'Prom Night'“Prom Night” (1980)

MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: Paul Lynch
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Tammy Bourne, Sheldon Rybowski

The Gist: Picture “High School Musical,” but with more beheadings.

Derek Mears: The new JasonBloody-Disgusting.com reports stuntman Derek Mears (“The Hills Have Eyes”) will play the socially maladjusted Jason Voorhees in a forthcoming remake of “Friday the 13th.”

As you can see in the quick-and-dirty mock-up I put together, Mears looks pretty freaky in a hockey mask. That's the good news.

The bad news is director Marcus Nispel is helming this remake, slated for a Feb. 13, 2009 release. This pits “Friday the 13th” against “The Wolf Man,” opening that same day. I smell a Valentine's Day double-feature. Or not.