As the Wheel of the Year turns inevitably towards the darker months ahead it is time for this Old Fox to start thinking about Halloween. I have often viewed that night as a surrogate Christmas of sorts, a cathartic and steadying time when the rest of the Western world suddenly shares an interest in occult and paranormal subjects, at least on a surface level. It is also an ample excuse to indulge my long-running love of all things horror. So as a nice change of pace here at The Accelerated Chaote I have decided to share a set of recommendations as to what my fellow Gravehounds could be watching this October 31.

I am planning on making these entries an annual event, with each Halloween revolving around a different monster. As a necromancer I had to give Zombies this inaugural post, especially as I was something of an obsessive fan in my late teens. Yet as you will learn, the actual undead are the least important part of those films for me, as I value narrative over gore. There are some real classics on this list, and a couple of curveballs too. So warm up the popcorn, light the candles and pull your loved one down into the basement. Better bring a shovel as well. Because one way or another it will all be over by midnight, I promise you.

Night Eats the World (2018)

The most recent of the entries on this list, and one that showcases just how minimalist a zombie narrative can be, Night Eats the World is a sombre meditation on what an enforced lack of social interaction does to the human mind. Following the day to day life of a survivor trapped inside a strange apartment block and struggling to meet his basic needs such as water and warmth, it is when the loneliness sets in that his inevitable insanity begins to creep under the door. We witness this unravelling in minute detail, leading to a break with reality that even an eventual companion cannot completely cure.

Striking due to a lack of speech and at times revelling in that silence, it wins out on pure atmosphere if nothing else. Intriguingly, many mainstream critics are massively out of step with the audience on this one. It seems to score much better with actual viewers as opposed to professional reviewers, which is little surprise when dealing with a genre that seems to be prioritising fountains of blood over actual storytelling post World War Z. Then again, this film does require a level of audience engagement missing from many modern horror narratives, and is best approached as a rumination on the topics of solitude and loss.

The Dead (2010)

While I am not one to disregard modern low budget horror out of hand, it is fair to say that I have become somewhat jaded by the absolute rubbish that infests many of the streaming services around Halloween. Yet this massively underrated masterpiece gives me hope for the future of such projects, and sits pretty far up my list of favourite movies as a result. You see, I was frankly awestruck by just how bleakly beautiful this stranger in a strange land story is. Exquisitely crafted to make Romero’s slow and shambling undead relevant again, the end result feels both brand new and oddly nostalgic at the same time.

Following an American mercenary and African soldier caught between a zombie apocalypse and the harshness of the landscape, it is part road movie, part fish out of water drama. But above all it is about zombies, and they can be seen in the background of almost every shot. Another film that puts atmosphere before jump scares, and from the opening scene to the end credits it is the beautiful Ghanaian scenery that steels the show. Best to avoid the second film set in India though. Whatever lightning in a bottle the Ford Brothers managed to capture with the original is missing from the sequel, and it soon becomes a chore to watch.

Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)

Less a true horror and more a teen comedy in the vein of movies such as Goonies or Gremlins, this one is genuinely funny in places. But the real strength of the script lies in its ability to poke fun at both itself and the wider horror genre as a whole. Plus the cast of quirky characters, including the frankly hilarious Doc, really lift this above its roots as a non sequel to the much darker original. Starting with a couple of bumbling grave robbers and ending with a frantic cross town drive to safety, it also boasts some of the dumbest undead in the history of modern monster cinema.

Perhaps that is for the best though, considering that the survivors are not necessarily the sharpest nails in the coffin either. Indeed much of the movie is spent following them as they bumble from one self-inflicted disaster to the next. Perhaps it is that more general appeal which led actor Thom Matthews to famously share his dislike for the project. No sex, a spattering of foul language and the sort of ridiculously cartoonish gore that is almost family friendly. Yes, this is a rare Zombie film that can be enjoyed in polite company, though perhaps not with younger children just to be on the safe side.

Dawn of The Dead (1978)

While the prequel to this little gem was in so many ways the very first mainstream zombie film, it is the wider scope and far more obvious commentary on modern consumerism that really elevates the narrative into almost mythic territory. More so than any other before or since, the original Dawn of the Dead stands as a masterpiece of genre cinema, and the cast of at the time relative unknowns work wonders with a script consisting of deceptively simple dialogue and some interestingly observed slice of life moments amid the Apocalypse. But you likely already know all that if you made it this far down the list.

Indeed, the concept has quickly become the stuff of legend. Four survivors escape the city in a stolen helicopter and stumble upon a shopping mall infested with the undead that they quickly clear and claim. Soon they realise that they are little better than the corpses that have returned to the place in death as they did in life, drawn by an instinctual desire for the pretty trinkets and material distractions that it once offered them. Yes the modern remake has better special effects, and in some ways a more focussed eye on the nature of the actual zombies, but this film did it first and remains by far the best of the two.

Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1972)

One of my all time favourite films, this is a masterclass in how a great story can elevate even an amateurish project into mythical territory. Yes, the zombie makeup is as bare bones as you can get, and admittedly they only appear in the last twenty minutes of the movie. But it is the snappy dialogue and pained interactions between the cast that really sells the narrative for me. Alan Ormsby is fantastically hammy as the lead, and also co-wrote the script. Surprisingly among the usual genre cinema slop from that era the film is actually at its best when the dead are still in their graves, as it is the human actors that really impress.

Less a monster movie and more a look inside a group of surprisingly likable libertines being led to the slaughter by their far from charismatic cult leader, it is when trading blows through acid tipped words that we see the movie really work. It is weird to think that a film about a wannabe warlock travelling to an island graveyard with dreams of becoming a master necromancer could feel so grounded in early 1970’s occultism, but the script really helps raise that idea from the dead. There was talk of a remake, but with the death of director Bob Clark in 2007 this sadly failed to happen.

And there we are then, the first Spooky Old Fox post here at The Accelerated Chaote. I used to do these at one of my old blogs back in the day, and it seemed to be a format worth resurrecting now my online portfolio has settled into something of a routine. To be honest I was spoiled for choice as far as zombie movies go, having been a fan for so long. Not sure what next Halloween’s subgenre will be, but considering how horror heavy my diet is these days I doubt I will have an issue deciding nearer the time. As for you, my audience, midnight calls. The shadows gather. And for your sake I hope that shovel is sharp.