Special Midnight Screenings

Without fail, October is a time that brings in new horror movie releases. I actually like horror movies, enough so that I actually wrote a paper in college about the evolution of slasher films from their 1970s birth, through the decline of the 1980s and the re-birth in the 1990s.

Of course, those that follow the genre know that the genre has since fallen off again and been reborn as something more depressing. Which is why I was excited that the Park Cinemas plans a special throwback to the good old days this Halloween season. I even got to help give input on the choices for a set of midnight screenings on Friday nights leading up to Halloween 2010.

For the next four Fridays, beginning on Friday, Oct. 8, Park Cinemas will hold special midnight screenings of classic horror films. The films — in order — will be "Scream," "Friday The 13th," "The Exorcist," and "Halloween." Of course, all the films will be the originals, not the remakes. All four are classics for different reasons, let me explain.

Scream (1996) — I have said before that I think this was one of the most influential films of the 20th Century, not just in the slasher genre. In fact, my whole collegiate report was designed around that premise. This film simultaneously offers a send up of the genre while fitting all the benchmarks of the genre. It launched several careers and kicked off a whole wave of films in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In fact, as they prepare to bring "Scream" back for a fourth installment next year, it's clear this film still has legs in our culture.

Friday The 13th (1980) — This might have been one of the first formulaic films. It made a generation of people afraid to attend summer camp and spawned about a billion sequels. OK, it was less than a billion, but still quite a few. Plus, the film features Kevin Bacon in one of his first screen roles.

The Exorcist (1973) — This is an interesting film. Some have called it the scariest film of all time. I won't go that far, but I do think it features some interesting film techniques. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is that, despite the fact it uses a religious ceremony as the basis for its narrative, it's not a very spiritual film. It uses the rite of exorcism as a prop rather than as part of the plot. Still, pretty groundbreaking stuff for the early 1970s.

Halloween (1979) — I consider this the first real modern slasher film. Some people say that title belongs to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," but I think that film fits in a slightly different genre. John Carpenter's low-budget film still holds up today and is far superior to the recent remakes. It is the forerunner of the wave of slasher films that followed in the 1980s and led to the new wave touched off by "Scream." Plus, what better way is there to head into Halloween then by watching "Halloween?"