Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Romantic Horror Films Just In Time For Halloween


Elizabeth Black writes erotic romance, dark fiction, fantasy, and horror. She lives on the Massachusetts coast with her husband, son, and four cats.

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Halloween is just around the corner. It's my favorite holiday. Although it's also Samhain, a holy day for wiccans, the secular world has enjoyed the holiday. I've already decorated the house. Two snow globes, one with a bat and one with a black cat. My "Halloween" movie snow globe depicting Laurie on the floor in front of the couch with Michael Myers looming nearby brandishing a knife. My "Fargo" car crash scene snow globe. A spooky oven mitt. Cute Halloween-themed dish towels. A ceramic pumpkin with a battery-powered light that flickers like candlelight.

I love Halloween.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of horror films. After all, I write horror as well as erotic romance. There are lots of dreadful horror films out there, but there are also some gems. Since I write romances, I looked for romantic horror films. There are quite  few out there. Here are six:

Let The Right One In – This disturbing yet fascinating Swedish movie depicts the strong friendship between children Oskar and Eli, who happens to be a vampire. It's one of the best of the modern horror films made after the year 2,000. The remake is good, but the original is better.

The Mummy (Hammer Films version) – I'm a sucker for Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Cushing is my favorite actor. This one a classic tale of love lost. Kharis wants the Princess Ananka all to himself. When he is caught trying to bring her back to life after her untimely death, he is wrapped in gauze and sentenced to guard her through eternity after being entombed within a wall. When archeologists discover the tomb, the mummy emerges to defend his love. An added wrinkle is that the wife of one of the archeologists is a dead ringer for Ananka. You can guess where this is leading. There are many versions of this story – including the Boris Karloff original which rocks – but this one is my favorite.

Ghost – Wet clay. Pottery. A spinning wheel. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore wrapped in each other while "Unchained Melody" plays in the background. This is one of the most famous erotically-charged romantic scenes in movies. This very romantic ghost story is a great mix of action, the supernatural, comedy, and romance.

Warm Bodies – This is an unusual one and a good one. It's also a twist on the usual, tired zombie theme that bores the hell out of me now. The story is about a zombie who slowly regains his humanity with the help of a woman. It's loosely based on "Romeo and Juliet".

Dead Alive (Braindead) – When I first started dating my husband, I made him watch this movie, telling him if he couldn't sit through it we weren't meant to be together. Directed by Peter Jackson long before "Lord Of The Rings", it is a blood-splattered laugh riot. According to a gypsy reading, Lionel and Paquita are meant to be together, but circumstances keep tearing them apart. This Australian gem is loads of fun.

Fright Night – What if your next door neighbor was a vampire who was horning in on your girlfriend AND your mother? Watch the original with the fantastic Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent, the vampire hunter. David Tennant does a great job in the remake, but the remake doesn’t hold a candle to the original.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

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