Make Your Own Halloween Special - 2008 Edition

It's 2008 and my "scary ante" has been upped to the point where I've got 10 kerbillion channels with Video On Demand, DVDs, TiVo, 'Watch It Now' Netflix and streaming Crackle/Hulu/YouTube. I can see just about anything I want instantly with the push of a button.
And with all of that I STILL miss the "event" feeling that Halloween specials of yesteryear brought with them.

Having only CBS, ABC and NBC really made the airing of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" a special night. Even mediocre fare like "Fat Albert's Halloween Special" were something to be savored. You worked with what you had. And to this day we all still look back fondly on those specials.

So a Halloween tradition I've come to enjoy is to "Make Your Own Halloween Special."
I'm a lover of horror anthologies like Stephen King's "Skeleton Crew" book, movies like Creepshow, or shows like The Twilight Zone so this is just a way for me to play video DJ and spin a mix tape of Halloween fun.

So get some popcorn, settle in to your PC's warm glowing warming glow and enjoy my little 60 minute's worth o' Halloween.



First we start with the old CBS swirling special logo.
Why?
Because it's paying homage to that "event" feeling I mentioned earlier. You gotta respect your elders. And hearing the thug-thugga-kug-kug- kachug music & sting borrowed from Hawaii Five-O (trivia!) still gets me excited.

Twilight Zone: The Movie Intro (TRT: 8:01)
Love or hate the movie, you can't deny how fun the beginning of this film is. Albert Brooks and Dan Akyroyd doing their best to keep you at ease. And then the Twilight Zone twist... Always good to start off your Halloween special with something genuinely scary.



Looney Tunes: "Broom-Stick Bunny" (TRT: 7:10)
A Halloween Addict knows he or she is going to like this cartoon by the time you hit 2 minutes in.

From the very beginning, you know something's different.
First of all, the usual red concentric circles in the titles are GREEN!
Soon after you find out it's directed by the legendary Chuck Jones. If ever there was a guy who knows the perfect comedic timing of a coyote falling off a cliff: it's Chuck Jones.
And by 40 seconds in you see that the Witch Hazel's (HA!) calendar is on October 31st, HALLOWEEN.
Bugs Bunny strolls on screen in a scary mask and the first words out of his mouth are "Boy this trick or treatin' is a pretty nice racket. Pity it only comes once a year."
Amen, Bugs. Amen.



30 Second Bunnies: The Exorcist (TRT: 30 seconds)
Starz licensed the 30 Second Bunnies a few years back for their movie promotions but one of the originals, The Exorcist, has still got it. This short especially hits all the key moments of the classic film. When the bunny says "Sometimes"... it makes me crack up every time.



Homestar Runner Halloween Special 2005: Homestarloween Party. (TRT: 4:51)

I love the Homestar Runner Halloween animations. They're funny. They're loaded with 80s costumes. And they come out every year. Be sure to head over to HomestarRunner.com to watch more.



Grindhouse Fake Trailers
Robert Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse was a fantastic experiment by two film fans to transport the viewer back 30 years. If you didn't catch it in the theatre you missed an experience that won't be repeated.
But half the fun and what made it such an experience were the fake trailers that came before, and between, the features. From genre directors Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright, each is a celebration and parody of the gritty horror films of the 70s.
Don't (TRT: 1:23)


Thanksgiving (TRT: 2:52)




Werewolf Women of the SS (TRT: 1:41)





Disney's Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain (TRT: 8:00)

When making your own Halloween special you need to build in portions that allow you to pee, carve a pumpkin, make popcorn, whatever. Something that's atmospheric, but if you walk away or aren't looking at the screen you're not going to miss something crucial. That's what this is and what Skeleton Dance was in last year's post.
Great music. Ghosts. Skeletons. Demons. And, hey, if you're cutting a jagged smile and you don't see the beautiful animation, that's ok too.




And the show closer:
Frankenweenie (30 mins.)
I saw this legendary Tim Burton short for the first time on the big screen in front of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It's such a morbidly fun short that I had to include it as it has everything a horror movie fan would enjoy. The Frankensteins, shot in black & white, gravestones, the undead, Shelly Duvall from The Shining, a dog, lightning and thunder. C'mon! How could you not love this!
If you haven't seen it, please give it a watch when you're not doing something. It deserves your complete attention.







So there you have it. Another homemade 60 minutes (okay it's a little long at 66 mins) of horror Halloween fun. As always, I'd love to hear of any shorts you'd put in your own Homemade Halloween Special and what film you'd have shown immediately after.
Me? I'd air John Carpenter's The Fog.



Can't get enough? Check out last year's "Make Your Own Halloween Special" HERE though I believe some of the YouTube links are dead.