halloween Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Vote for Our Halloween Costume Contest Winners!
Filed under: Fandom », Contests »
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Pictured: The winner of Cinematical's Fourth Annual Halloween Costume Contest
Our Fifth Annual Halloween Costume Contest saw a record number of submissions, with literally hundreds of freaky movie-inspired Halloween costumes for our crack team of judges to sift through. Naturally it took forever to choose 20 finalists (10 in the adult category and 10 in the child category), but after hours of tireless deliberations we finally narrowed down the list and came away with what I believe to be the cream of the crop. Before we ask you to vote for the winning costumes, I'd personally like to thank all of you out there for dressing up and playing along. Though it's a giant task each year, it's one I always welcome with open arms because nothing puts a bigger smile on my face then to sift through photos of you all getting your movie geek on.
Okay, here's how this works: Below you will see a photo gallery for each category. Within each photo gallery there are ten images which represent each finalist alongside a number and the character they're dressed up as. Below each gallery there is a poll listing the numbers and characters as per the order they show up in their gallery (note: this order is random). We need you to look through each gallery, then vote for who you feel has the best costume in the polls. Got it? Good.
The Adult Finalists are listed below, and the Kid Finalists are listed after the jump (along with the prizing and official rules). We'll keep the voting open through Friday and announce the winner a week from today. Good luck!
Reminder: Enter Our Fifth Annual Halloween Costume Contest!
Filed under: Site Announcements », Fandom », Contests »
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Pictured: Just one of the many entries already in for Cinematical's Fifth Annual Halloween Costume Contest.
By now you've probably tricked and treated your tiny little hearts out, and either you're spending a quiet night at home with your favorite scary movies or you're heading out for a night on the town dressed up in some outrageous movie-inspired costume (because we know that's how you roll). If that's the case, and you're busy putting the finishing touches on your costume as we speak, then make sure to bring a camera out with you and take lots of pictures because Cinematical's Fifth Annual Halloween Costume Contest is still open for submissions until November 6th. That's right, you still have all next week to get us your fantabulous movie-inspired Halloween costumes for a chance to win some pretty cool prizes.
Like we do every year, this contest is open to folks under 18 and over 18 (with two separate prize packages), so no matter how young or how old everyone can participate in what's already shaping up to be our biggest (and best) contest yet. For more on this year's contest -- including rules, prizes and all that fun stuff -- head right over to our contest announcement page. We look forward to seeing your inspired creations real soon.
From our family to yours, we wish you a happy, healthy and safe Halloween.
Don't Buy These: Ten Horribly Unsexy Halloween Costumes
Filed under: Fandom »
By: Alison Nastasi
These days a naughty nurse costume is almost quaint compared to the uber sexy costume selection available for women in stores during Halloween. The spooky season is often a time where people feel they can let loose and express themselves in a no holds barred kind of way. Unfortunately, sexy doesn't always account for taste and while beauty is in the eye of the beholder ... here are 10 Halloween costumes that aim to be hot, but simply are not.
10. Sponge Bob looks happy to be plastered across her chest but she just looks silly.
Check out the rest over at Horror Squad
How to Turn Your Jack O'Lantern into the Death Star
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Fan Made »
Personally, I always went for the grotesque or ironic celebrity pumpkins. One of my best Halloween creations was a glowing, sultry J. Lo pumpkin. (The best part was watching her wither and decay the next week. So evil!) I've always sworn by the patterns over at Zombie Pumpkins, where you can find just about every movie icon you can imagine. Download SUPER easy patterns like Freddy Krueger, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Joker, Jigsaw's puppet, Gremlins, and even assorted characters from the Harry Potterverse. (An Albus Dumbledore to protect your porch!) And yes, folks - they've even got new patterns from Twilight, Zombieland, and Michael Jackson, circa Thriller. Too soon?
Read on for more -- and the Death Star jack o' lantern -- over at SciFi Squad.
Have You Had a Horror-ble Weekend? Or Had Enough?
Filed under: Horror », Fandom »
October certainly brings spooks and scares to movie theaters nationwide. The month began with a bang, as Zombieland proved an unexpected hit, even as Paranormal Activity began making waves that are still cresting. The Stepfather was more a pallid thriller than any kind of horror flick. This weekend, Saw VI joined the fray at the hardcore edge of the horror spectrum, while Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant appealed to the softer, fantasy-loving set. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D also claimed a limited number of eyeballs, as did Lars von Trier's Antichrist, described as horror. The Final Destination, Halloween II, and Sorority Row are still hanging on in theaters.
Yesterday, Erik Davis asked which big horror release you're watching this weekend. (You still have time to vote in that poll.) But I'm wondering, with all the horror-related releases available to watch in theaters -- not to mention all the DVDs that have been pouring out this month, and the horror-themed programming awash on television -- has your Halloween-month viewing peaked already? Are you counting the days until the month is over?
I count myself as a horror buff, and read our great sister blog Horror Squad religiously (so to speak), but after a triple feature on Friday night that steadily diminished in quality (Paranormal Activity, The Final Destination, Halloween II), I wimped out on a potentially very good Asian horror double feature that the Asian Film Festival of Dallas presented locally: I fell asleep too early! But I'll probably catch up with one or two DVDs tonight.
What about you? If you're a horror fan, what are your personal picks from the month's viewing? If you're not into horror, what have you been watching lately?
Cinematical Seven: Great Horror Themes
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Cinematical Seven »
This month is all about villains on Cinematical, and thankfully, October seems flush with folks who fit the bill: horror movies, often released in anticipation (if not exploitation) of Halloween, usually offer at least one person, creature or entity that qualifies as an adversary to be fled from or feared. But the sad truth is that not a whole lot of them have particularly great theme music, which brings us to this week's Cinematical Seven.
To be fair, these folks don't often have the luxury of choosing said music themselves, so if they get a crappy rock song or some kind of dumbass lullabye, it's not their fault. But after revisiting a number of classic horror series and the movie monsters they immortalized, we've put together what we think is a pretty good collection of themes that folks can and will still find scary. (And while some of this music may or may not be specifically associated with the individual character or creature, the guideline to which we held ourselves was the association of the music with that particular monster.)
Suffice it to say there are a number of other great horror movie themes, and we're just scratching the surface with a list of seven, but check our list of some of the most famous, memorable, and yeah, terrifying, with or without some dude in a mask bearing down on the bathroom door where you've found temporary safe haven.
Discuss: Creepiest Movie Soundtracks
Filed under: Horror », Fandom »
"Listen to this!" A friend pressed the ringer on his BlackBerry, and it played the theme to The Omen, "Ave Satani" by Jerry Goldsmith, which he'd assigned to a particularly heinous client of his. Another friend had, for a time, assigned a relative the unforgettable score from Halloween as composed by writer/director John Carpenter himself. And I'm sure somewhere there is someone with the theme from The Exorcist, which was written by Mike Oldfield.Ringtones aside, there's no denying that a deft soundtrack or score can ratchet up the tension in any movie, especially one that uses droning noises and other disturbing, almost subliminal effects that can slip past the viewer and straight into our brain. Some of my favorite spooky soundtracks sure to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end include the above, naturally, but there are a few that need some love as well.
Read the rest at Horror Squad!
Cinematical Seven: Things You Didn't Know About Michael Myers
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », The Weinstein Co. », Cinematical Seven », Remakes and Sequels », Lists »
With Rob Zombie's 2007 remake of Halloween, we found out that Michael Myers was not so much evil incarnate as he was an ill-tempered white-trash nut-job (yes, there is a difference). So, with tomorrow's release of his sequel to the remake -- Halloween II, not to be confused with Halloween II -- we take a stab (har) at predicting what little-known characteristics about the boogeyman will be revealed this time around.
1. He also has a brother -- In one of those convenient we-forgot-to-tell-anyone-before tangents, someone breathlessly reveals that Laurie Strode was actually a Siamese twin, and that her brother was separated and sent elsewhere. Laurie finds out when he friends her on Facebook, and their tearful reunion is marred only by the fact that their big brother shows up and proceeds to skewer poor Maury Strode on a nearby curtain rod.
2. He has serious allergies -- We see Michael trying to sneak up on Laurie the following Easter, only to repeatedly give himself away with a series of sneezes or trail of tissues. It's this dilemma that keeps him to his autumnal killing spree, not the eponymous holiday itself.
Like Torture? New Vegas Attraction Offers Real-Life 'Saw' Experience
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Movie Marketing »
Have you ever wished that you could be chained to a basement floor, or forced to stick your arm in a box with a circular saw, or dunked in a vat of liquefying pig cadavers? Then have we got the Vegas vacation for you! Fright Dome, the seasonal haunted-house attraction at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, will open two park areas on Oct. 2 replicating Saw villain Jigsaw's sadistic games, as a tie-in with Twisted Pictures/Liongate's release of Saw VI on Oct. 23."We've always had the best haunted attraction in Vegas and partnering with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures takes it to a whole new level," said Fright Dome owner Jason Egan in a press release. "The Saw films cut to the core of human fear and we're using that to its fullest potential."
Fright Dome, a five-acre, Halloween-season theme attraction that opened in 2002, features costumed actors roaming around in the dark, artificial fog to make everything all scary-like, plus strobes and lasers and sound effects. Basically, all of the "we're gonna keep jumping out at you until you're a nervous wreck" gimmicks of your usual haunted house, except much bigger, much more expensive and, well, in Vegas. Fright Dome also features rides, a freak show, and special events (last year featured an appearance by House of 1,000 Corpses' Bill Haig).
The two Saw-themed haunted houses will attempt to recreate the games in the Saw movies which, honestly, didn't really look like that much fun. But if that's your particular cup of tea, according to Twisted Pictures producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules, "Visitors from around the world will be able to experience the terror of Jigsaw first hand." Umm, yay?
Scenes We Love: Halloween
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
If you've been reading The Horror Squad regularly, like you should, you know that I've only just seen Halloween. I've never deliberately avoided the film, or any of its slashing, bloody ilk and I'm still not sure how I saw Nightmare on Elm Street so many times, but missed this one and countless other horror offerings. It has nothing to do with being scared or squeamish. But my parents never enjoyed the genre (odd after scarring me with Poltergeist, Cat's Eye, and Critters before I was in kindergarten) so we never rented them. Always sharing a television and a Blockbuster card means you watch the stuff everybody likes. As for seeing them in the theater, well, it would seem guys knew I wasn't the jump-and-cuddle type, and didn't bother asking me to accompany them. And who wants to go alone? It has nothing to do with being scared. Gore is far more fun when you share it with others.
That's a very long and probably pointless introduction to offering up the Halloween scene I really loved, and keep laughing about. I'm not sure why Laurie just keeps dropping that damn knife when she's pretty kickass otherwise ... and nothing illustrates it more than her clever use of her knitting basket. Weinberg once scolded me for knitting during movies, but this scene is exactly what justifies it. You should always have sharp objects at hand for things that pop up behind the couch. A knife is excessive, but a knitting needle? Ideal!
Watch the scene after the jump
That's a very long and probably pointless introduction to offering up the Halloween scene I really loved, and keep laughing about. I'm not sure why Laurie just keeps dropping that damn knife when she's pretty kickass otherwise ... and nothing illustrates it more than her clever use of her knitting basket. Weinberg once scolded me for knitting during movies, but this scene is exactly what justifies it. You should always have sharp objects at hand for things that pop up behind the couch. A knife is excessive, but a knitting needle? Ideal!
Watch the scene after the jump
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