*Halloween $ Dollar $ Bin Movie Deals*

*Halloween $ Dollar $ Bin Horror Movie Deals*

It seems like every Halloween season there is a generous supply of one-dollar and sale DVDs at your local discount store and in the end of the aisle racks at your local supermarket. While most of these cheap, no-frills movies seem like unwatchable garbage, within these sale bins can be found some surprising hidden gems at a real bargain price. From old classics to forgotten cult favorites – I wanted to relay some of the great deals I’ve found in the past. Prices ranged from one-dollar to two dollars and ninety-nine cents. (Prices will vary depending on stores.)

White Zombie/ The Invisible Ghost – double feature – $1.
Two classic Bela Lugosi classic movies for a buck, you can’t beat it!

The Last Man on Earth / The Last Woman on Earth – double feature – $1.99
The Last Man on Earth is the classic Vincent Price, sci-fi horror that was later remade as The Omega Man (1970’s) and most recently as  I Am Legend with Will Smith. Last Woman is more on the drama side but a decent enough story.

House on Haunted Hill / Horror Hotel – double feature – $1.99
Another classic Vincent Price horror movie in the infamous House on Haunted Hill. Horror Hotel is an early Christopher Lee movie about a witches coven in Massachusetts. Both are very good movies!

The Screaming Skull / Tormented – double feature – $1
The Screaming Skull is a good movie with suspense, good acting, and an impressive soundtrack. A new bride is haunted by the screaming skull in the deep hours of the night but no one will believe what she tells them. Tormented was not very good at all but Screaming Skull made the DVD worth the price.
 

Vampire Bat / The Devil Bat – double feature – $1
These two early horror movies are very dated but Vampire Bat features Fay Wray and The Devil Bat features Bela Lugosi. I purchased the DVD just to have these two Iconic actors of yesteryear in my video library starring in lesser known roles. It serves as a point of interest.

Night of the Living Dead – $2.99
In recent years they have digitally mastered NotLD and digitally re-mastered the music of this classic zombie movie a number of times for re-release DVDs and Blu-Ray. My favorite version is this no-frills, sale bin DVD. Music is a bit warble-y and warped, picture fades slightly from light to dark, everything is a bit fuzzy – that is the experience I remember when first seeing this ground breaking film! I’m surprised they haven’t tried to colorize it already and try to sell us on that.

The Giant Gila Monster / Creature from The Haunted Sea – double feature – $1
I enjoyed the 50’s/60’s hot-rod and rock-and-bop feel of The Giant Gila Monster. Typical plot of 1950’s sci-fi without the budget of better known films of the era. The Haunted Sea I didn’t care for at all.

If you’ve found any good deals on old horror films worth checking out, let me know in the comments 🙂

The Remake Scoreboard / Horror Icons

The Remake Scoreboard – Horror movie remakes – the good and bad list. Thumbs up or thumbs down and two or three sentences why.
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The Horror Icons: Freddie, Jason, Michael, Leatherface, the Deads

Night of the Living Dead (remake – 1990)
(original 1968)
Directed by Tom Savini, this remake is most noted for exceptional performances by Tony Todd (as Ben) and a much more heroic Barbara played by Patricia Tallman. Sure it doesn’t have the same creepy vibe as the 1968 classic but the zombie details are stunning and it provides a great little twist at the very end. I own both versions and watch them both often.

Dawn of the Dead (remake – 2004)
(original 1978)
This action-packed remake provided some of the scariest zombies and zombie sequences to be seen on film to date. Gore FX, character development, and plot twists were all top notch. We got some classic Zombies in this film; the hungry little girl, the twitcher, the fat lady, the zombie baby… it doesn’t get much better than this. Dare I say it (please hold all hate mail) I like it better than the original.
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 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake – 2003)
(original 1974)
As much as I loved the original I have to say that this was a great remake. The original had shock value and sheer terror for its time, as well as a bizarre weirdness to it. The new one is a great all around movie in plot and character, intense horror, and dark visual mastery. The action and the pacing were perfect, keeping you engaged ’til the nail-biting end. Love the detective/police investigation, bookends, too!

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Halloween (remake – 2007)
(original 1978)
Once you get over the fact that this is a different movie than the original and director Rob Zombie decided to (or perhaps was smart to) go somewhere completely different with the story, this isn’t a bad flick. One of the major differences is the original John Carpenter classic scared us with knuckle-wrenching suspense, creepy mood and atmosphere, while the Rob Zombie version shocks us with brutal violence (which is Rob Zombies forte’). Purists may scream ‘foul’ but this was still much better than all the Halloween sequels, most of which were pure rubbish.

Friday the 13^th (remake – 2009)
(original 1980)
This was not really a remake but rather an attempt to revitalize the franchise for a younger generation. If you remember, Jason, the killer in the hockey mask, was not even in the original “Friday” until the very end of the movie (and even then was portrayed as a child). With all Its slick visuals and modern FX, this “new” movie using the character of Jason Vorhees, was forgettable to me as I do not remember one character, one murder, or who the survivor was, if there was one at all.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (remake – 2010)
(original 1980)
There was no reason for this movie to be made considering the recent Freddie Vs. Jason movie had already re-introduced the franchise to a younger generation. Not only did this remake add nothing to the allure of the original Freddie Kruger movie but it actually diminished and watered down the intensity and mysteriousness of Wes Craven’s original masterpiece. Hated it.

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