Today, I'm examining the scary films that are scheduled to be shown on the Independent Film Channel for Halloween.
But IFC (unlike Turner Classic Movies) doesn't seem to be devoting a specific day (or, in TCM's case, two specific days) to showing nothing but horror movies.
And IFC appears to allow a little more leeway in designating a film as a scary movie than TCM — at least judging from the films that are scheduled to be shown in two weeks.
Like Bill Clinton's famous declaration that "it depends on what your definition of 'is' is," with IFC, it depends on what your definition of "horror" is.
- For example, on Halloween, IFC will show a movie called "The Honeymoon Killers," a black-and-white 1969 film that was apparently based on a true story.
More correctly, I suppose, the film is categorized as a thriller — and, on an unrelated note, Martin Scorsese originally was to be the director of the film, but he was fired after a few days because he was taking too long with his set-ups.
Still, true crime stories are part of the Halloween experience for some people. If you're one of those people, make a note that IFC will show "The Honeymoon Killers" at 7 a.m. (Central). - IFC will show another thriller (this one of the gangster variety) on Halloween — "Miller's Crossing" — at 10:20 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Central). It's a Coen brothers film from 1990 that stars Albert Finney and John Turturro.
- Looking for more traditional Halloween fare? "Eaten Alive" from 1977 may be more your style. It's about a psychotic redneck who feeds people who upset him to his pet crocodile. IFC will show it at 6:15 p.m. (Central).
- "The Burning" from 1981 may fit the bill even better. In addition to being (apparently) one of the best slasher films of the '80s, the film also features early appearances by Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter, as well as a memorable score by Rick Wakeman (who played key roles in creating, among others, Yes' classic albums "Fragile" and "Close to the Edge" in the early 1970s). It will be shown at 7:55 p.m. (Central).
- "Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?" from 1974 is part of a trilogy about a Japanese lawman. I haven't seen it (or any of the other films in the trilogy), but I've read that it's the strangest one of the films about Hanzo the Razor — who apparently tracks embezzlers to a haunted castle.
- Although not a typical horror film, "Fargo" (another Coen brothers entry) gets things started with its satirical thriller tale set in snowy Minnesota.
The film comes on at 5:45 p.m. (Central). - At 8 p.m. (Central) — and again at 1 a.m. (Central) — "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" from 1989 will be shown.
I have a friend who (for lack of a better term) is something of an aficionado of the "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" flicks. He tells me the special effects in this one were good, but the "Nightmare" series was getting old by the time its fifth installment came out. - It is followed, at 9:30 p.m. and again at 2:30 a.m. (Central), by the next chapter in the "Nightmare" series — "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" — which came out in 1991.
Don't be fooled by the title. There were more sequels to come. But apparently they were better. My friend told me this was the worst film in the series. I guess there was nowhere to go but up.
If it weren't bizarre enough, it features Tom and Roseanne Arnold as a childless couple. Go figure. - Things get better on IFC for horror fans at 11:15 p.m., when 2001's "Ed Gein" comes on.
Steve Railsback stars as the title character, a real serial killer whose life story served as the inspiration for Hitchcock's "Psycho" and the character Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Lambs."
