The tenth and final installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, is from, what else? … the original John Carpenter-directed and scored 1978 film, “Halloween,” starring “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis. A fitting way to wish all of you a Happy Halloween! The claustrophobic scene takes place in a closet, where Laurie Strode is trying desperately to avoid the clutches of Michael Myers—who long ago perfected the art of wearing a mask! You don’t think she actually killed him, do you? Check it out!

It’s Halloween weekend and time for the ninth installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments.” It’s a scene from a little 1960 film that is a sentimental favorite; it gave me the creeps when I first saw it on my black and white TV as a youngster. “The City of the Dead” is the extended British version of what was re-titled “Horror Hotel” for American audiences. This one has it all: gloomy atmospheric fog, a wretched graveyard resting on unconsecrated ground, witches, warlocks, thunder and lightning, human sacrifices, and the macabre presence of the great Christopher Lee. Tomorrow evening, TCM is showing this film back-to-back with “Psycho” and there’s a reason for it. SPOILER ALERT! This movie was released a few months after “Psycho”, but filming began in October 1959, one month before Alfred Hitchcock’s classic went into production. Both films use an infamous plot device that left audiences stunned: knocking off one of the central characters in the first reel!  It took 47 minutes to happen in “Psycho” and a little less than 40 minutes to happen in this film. If “Psycho” warns us of the dangers of taking a shower in the Bates Motel, “Horror Hotel” warns us of the dangers of descending into the caverns beneath The Raven’s Inn. Don’t these folks check out their accommodations before they book a room?! Don’t these people know the Codes and Conventions of a Horror Film?! Sheesh!

No horror movie series would be complete without at least one film clip from the grand Universal Monster Tradition! The seventh installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, is from the 1931 James Whale-directed classic, “Frankenstein,” with Boris Karloff as the Monster. This wasn’t the first cinematic representation of the 1818 Mary Shelley novel; that distinction belongs to Edison Studio’s 1910 silent one-reeler. However, this scene, when Henry Frankenstein (“Victor” in the novel) brings life to a being made from the reassembled remains of corpses, is a true gem. “It’s Alive!”

The sixth installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, comes from the original 1982 supernatural horror film, “Poltergeist.” The film has its share of very spine-tingling, shocking moments. But let me make one thing perfectly clear. I. Do. Not. Like. Clowns. Everything from Pennywise to Bozo Creeps Me the Freak Out! Would you buy a cereal with this face on the box? It’s traumatizing! I don’t like creepy puppets or dolls either. So animated puppet-like clown dolls are enough to send me to the lobby! (Okay, I don’t like Spiders either, but that’s another story!) Check out this scene from one of the best ghost movies ever made!

*Ed: Wow! How mysterious! The film is on TCM Right Now (started at 8 pm ET)

The fifth installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, is from the original 1959 Vincent Price classic: “House on Haunted Hill.” The man whose devilish laugh has echoed through the ages, on film and on theatrical pop hits—and even live with Joan Rivers [YouTube links] pulls all the strings in this scene! Take an Acid Bath and call me in the morning!

It’s Sunday, and it’s a Black One! The fourth installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, is from the 1960 Mario Bava masterpiece of Italian gothic horror: “Black Sunday” (aka “La Maschera del demonio”). This film is unsettling from the very first scene, which I feature today. It is listed among Bravo’s 100 Scariest Films of All Time [YouTube link]. So you don’t like wearing masks, eh? You might have a point! Har! Har! Check it out!

The third installment in my “cinematic moments” series, “Ten Creepy! Scary! Shocking! LOL! Horror Film Moments”, is from the Stanley Kubrick-directed 1980 film, “The Shining,” an adaptation of the Stephen King novel that the author reportedly despised, even though he acknowledged that it was a valuable contribution to the horror genre. Lots of creepy and hilarious moments in this film, but the one that stands out is Jack Nicholson’s Bathroom Entrance Via Axe! “Here’s Johnny”—ranked as one of the 100 Most Quotable Quotes in Film History by AFI—may have broken the tension in the theater, but only through the audience screams! The night that my mother and sister saw this film, some jokester in the theater broke the balcony glass to gain access to an acutal axe—and proceeded to use it against the exit door to match the action on screen. Folks were as jarred by the events in the theater as they were by Jack’s Ax-tual Adventures! Check it out!