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BOOKS: David J. Skal Curates ‘Fright Favorites’ in New Book from TCM

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Film and cultural historian David J. Skal is well known for his research and writings on the history of the horror genre, and in his new book from Turner Classic Movies, Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond, he once again puts his considerable knowledge on display.

Hollywood and Halloween have been inextricably tied together since the early decades of the 20th century, Skal notes in his introduction. The first mention of the holiday came as early as 1914 in a brief scene in the silent film, The Three of Us. In 1920, the holiday was featured more prevalently in the film Do the Dead Talk? which dealt with the subject of the seances and spiritualism that had taken many social circles by storm.

Of course, no one could ever forget early Disney short films like The Skeleton Dance or Donald Duck facing down his nephews and a real witch in Trick Or Treat.

The spooky, the surreal, and the all-out terrifying have been fodder for filmmakers from those very earliest days, and Skal picks out some of his own Fright Favorites providing background and production trivia on each film as well as suggestions for companion films for each entry.

With the introduction complete, Skal begins with two of the greatest silent horror films ever made: F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu and Rupert Julian/Edward Sedgwick’s The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney. The author dives deep into the history of both films and sets the tone for the rest of the book providing history that is never dry or boring.

Most people know that Nosferatu was based on Dracula and that Stoker’s estate sued Murnau for copyright infringement. The film was only saved because they “forgot” about a couple of prints that existed after Murnau was ordered to destroy the negatives. What you might not know is that the film’s production designer and producer was Albin Grau, a famed German occultist who filled the film with hermetic, alchemical, and Enochian symbology.

The Phantom of the Opera, meanwhile, had its own tests and trials. When it was presented to audiences in early 1925, it was almost universally panned and in an unprecedented move, the studio ordered major reshoots, replacing director Rupert Julian–who repeatedly clashed with the film’s star Lon Chaney–with Edward Sedgwick, adding comic relief and subplots to “fill out” the film.

Lon Chaney famously clashed with The Phantom of the Opera‘s original director so much that he took it upon himself to direct many of his own scenes.

The changes drastically altered the overall tone of Phantom, but it also guaranteed its success. When it opened later that same year, audiences and critics alike raved about the film, cementing its place in horror history.

These are just two very brief examples of the kind of information you’ll find in Skal’s book, and believe me when I tell you there is so much more included about Nosferatu and The Phantom of the Opera that I simply don’t have time to cover.

I’ll fully list the titles included in the book below, but I must say that Fright Favorites is almost a perfect list of films that could easily serve as a haunted advent calendar to count down to Halloween. The author’s choices might not all be the scariest, but they are certainly a representative sample of some of the best genre filmmaking of the last century. Covering Skal’s 31 movie in 31 days might just be what we need in a year that’s presented one setback after another for most of us.

And yes, you get bonus points if you watch the film and its “you might also like” companion.

Fright Favorites is available in bookstores and online. The hardcover version retails for $23 and you can order yours by CLICKING HERE. Check out the full list of movies covered in depth in the book below and let us know which are your favorites and what you would add!

  • Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
  • The Phantom of the Opera
  • Dracula
  • Frankenstein
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • The Mummy
  • Mystery of the Wax Museum
  • The Wolf Man
  • Cat People
  • Them!
  • Creature from the Black Lagoon
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  • The Curse of Frankenstein
  • Horror of Dracula
  • House on Haunted Hill
  • Black Sunday
  • The Pit and the Pendulum
  • The Birds
  • The Haunting
  • Night of the Living Dead
  • Rosemary’s Baby
  • The Exorcist
  • Young Frankenstein
  • Halloween
  • The Shining
  • The Thing
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Beetlejuice
  • Hocus Pocus
  • Scream
  • Get Out
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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