LA FLORIDIANA The Hauntings of 3016 Villa Rosa Park by Will Moriaty

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW "Runaway Jury" by Mike Smith "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" by ED Tucker

COUCH POTATO Where's The Scary TV?....Halloween TV Highlights  by Vinnie Blesi

DIGITAL DIVIDE Quick CD Reviews....RIP: Elliott Smith by Terence Nuzum

THE ENLIGHTENMENT Old School Haunts....Modern Monsters....Music  by Terence Nuzum

CREATURE'S CORNER Scary Movie 3....Soul Survivors....The Tribute  by John Lewis

MATT'S RAIL It's Halloween!  by Matt Drinnenberg

MIKE'S RANT Movie Notes....The Kid Stays in the Cartoon, Too....How Super Is He?....He's Still Got A Name  by Mike Smith

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The adventures of a boy and his personal video recorder.

Where’s the Scary TV?
I literally “Walked with a Zombie” trying to find scary television. The scariest thing I could find was “Joe the Millionaire”. The horror genre has never really been explored by television. Maybe because blood letting and evil creatures are still taboo on TV while simulated sex and nudity (see “Nip and Tuck”) are now acceptable.

Kolchak: the Night Stalker, tried to explore the monster genre, but quickly ran out of steam and ideas. I would like to see an update of this series with a continuing plotline of Kolchak versus some type of organized evil, or a sect of vampires. Buffy and Angel are probably the closest thing to horror TV that has lasted more than a few episodes. However the teen plotlines were not my cup of tea. Witchblade had potential, but the producers ruined that series when they decided to pretend the entire dark first season didn’t really happen. The only thing that can be counted on is the annual Simpsons Halloween episode. And the only place to find vampires now is on a soap opera.

Now that baseball is over, FOX network is finally premiering Tru Calling, Thursday, Oct. 30th. Starring Eliza Dushku as a morgue worker who communicates with the dead and has the ability to relive a day to help the dead. I am hoping this one has some dark scary moments and doesn’t turn into the “feel good” dead person series of the year.

In this day of who can outshock whom I could go for real scariness on TV. Vampires and the undead like Zombies have always been the two things that I find the scariest. The opening scene in the cemetery of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead still gives me chills to this day.

So here’s to hoping we see “LeStat” the TV series, or a weekly “Night of Living Dead” series. Till then may you get treats not tricks.

Halloween TV Highlights
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is showing the old Universal movies, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein, on Halloween night. Bride of Frankenstein is my favorite, and watching some of the subtle tongue-in-cheek moments makes you realize where some of the inspiration for Young Frankenstein came from. Following these 3 movies they will also be showing the Hammer Films Frankenstein remake with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Also on the Thursday Oct. 30th TCM will be showing a night of Lon Chaney Sr. films.

Bravo will be showing the 2000 release Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe and John Malcovich. If you have not seen this and are a Vampire fan check this one out as it is about the making of the legendary silent movie Nosferatu, and the legend surrounding it.

Of course there are plenty of airings of the Halloween and Friday the 13th movies, if you need that slashing pleasure.

Have a safe and Spooky Halloween and Day of the Dead!