Chill out for Halloween

By Lindsay Bianchi

Without too much ado, here are several evenings worth of video fright and fun that can make grown-up trick or treaters “chill out.” Remember...it’s only a holiday.

For a little humor with your horror, try “Terrorvision (1986).” Gerrit Graham heads this turkey cast through this silly script concerning a TV horror hostess named Medusa, a monster made of space garbage, and a houseful of oversexed future nerds. It’s too much!

And the theme song by Italian pop-punk band, The Fibonaccis set the proper creepy but sleazy mood.

If you like the more classic Frankenstein monster approach, check out “Frankenhooker (1990).” There is something quite disturbing about this movie. Could it be Louise Lasser, in a role that seemed written for her five minutes before the cab dropped her off at the set? Na.

Could it be her crazy reanimating son, a wannabe Dr. F?

Maybe. Perhaps it’s the pimps and hookers who become his victims that make this such a hoot.

Na. It’s just really odd in a bad way. Kind of like “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1963)”... only the body gets attached this time.

More “Humor” awaits in “Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam.” Let the late Jim Varney take you on a trip through his giant head. You will never be the same.

Jim plays all the parts here, except for maybe two. See Jim in old lady drag with one of those big neck braces. See Jim dance around in a tux. See Jim ,you know, doing lots of rubber-face schtick in this twisted puzzle of a film. An early “Cherry Production” that seems to have gotten buried. Too geeky! Enjoy!

“Murder by Death (1976)” is a perfect night in for a few laughs. Truman Capote delivers his greatest screen performance here as a rich, old kook with a few tricks up his sleeve. Yes, Truman Capote was once a great actor...for about five minutes.

The movie also features Peter Falk, James Coco, Nancy Walker, Elsa Lanchester and a lot of other really scary people. How can you top that? Add script credits by Neil Simon and you have an instant forgotten classic. More fun than “Clue (1985),” the movie, that is.

If Jerry Lewis scares you, (and who doesn’t he scare?) then a great double feature is waiting to get in your face. “Visit to a Small Planet (1960),” from the play by Gore Vidal and “The Nutty Professor (1963),” the original Lewis vehicle have plenty to offer from the other world.

This was Jerry in his prime as a young comedic actor. Many like films came before and after and are funny or scary for completely different reasons. These two are my faves. “Visit” is a pitch perfect parody of the the Eisenhower 50s with a little George Jetson thrown in for fun. Lewis is at his spastic best.

“Prof” is one of the 10 greatest comedies ever made. It’s that simple. The Eddie Murphy remakes are a totally different experience.

Buddy Love is both one of the funniest and the scariest characters committed`to film, that is, if you don’t count Nicholas Cage in “Vampire’s Kiss (1989).”

For the more serious crowd, there’s Jodie Foster in “The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (1976).” Sweet, young Jodie embroiled in yet another murder. It’s vintage Foster from the same year as “Taxi Driver.”

Another early 60s suspense thriller, “List of Adrian Messenger (1963),” would make for another night of quality, nostalgic mayhem. The cast includes Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster...all in elaborate masks to disguise themselves.

John Huston directs a mid-career sleeper.

My personal Haloween scary movie pick would definitely have to be “The Lady In White (1988).” Lukas Haas is the cute, but creepy kid who discovers the ghostly truth to one of his small town’s biggest secrets. It’s the “Christmas Story” movie of Halloween movies. It’s not really that funny, but then again, Halloween isn’t supposed to be.