Happy Frankenstein Friday! Tonight's nightmare is, appropriately, related to that memorable Monster which Mary Shelley and Victor Frankenstein unleashed onto the world back in 1818. It is also, due to time constraints relating to life getting in the way, rather a brief nightmare, as most of the talking will be done by the following trailer (which I caught during the previews before last weekend's showing of Carrie):
A friend who accompanied me that night harbored a less-than-optimistic prognosis for I, Frankenstein, apparently finding the trailer somewhat uninspiring. One can hardly blame him, though, after the high hopes we had a while back for Snow White and the Hunstman were, mostly thanks to Kristen Stewart and her non-acting, pretty much dashed to bits upon the sharp, cold rocks of disappointment.
I, on the other hand, am every bit as excited -- at least for the moment -- as I was when I first saw the trailer for Van Helsing. And no, that's not sarcasm, either; though I'm well aware a baffling amount of people didn't exactly enjoy the 2004 take on Dracula and his oldest nemesis, I personally put it on the top shelf of my mental collection of Halloween favorites, and hardly an October goes by without at least one viewing. Also, remember Underworld? (No, not the sequels, just the first one. You know, the good one.) I, Frankenstein is being produced by the same team -- so there's hope for it yet.
While I admit I find Aaron Eckhart a rather surprisingly pretty choice to play the undead patchwork creature that is Frankenstein's Monster, it could work... maybe. At any rate, the guy can definitely act, and the rest of the movie -- what with the effects and the fact that, for once, it's not just a bloody remake (also, GARGOYLES) -- looks like it could be seriously wonderful. Or seriously terrible. Here's hoping for the former outcome.
Of course, we're going to have to wait until 2014 to find out. In the meantime, however, you could always check out the graphic novel the movie is apparently based on. I haven't read it yet, but from first glance, it looks pretty neat.
On Spirit Day, the color purple is worn to signify support for LGBT victims of bullying. These days, the official date is set to October 17th. However, the first observance, organized by Brittany McMillan in response to a number of bullying-related suicides back in 2010, actually took place on October 20th.
So, to show this blogger's support, today's (spoiler-free!) nightmare is also linked to bullying -- albeit of a straight main character. Her name is Carrie White; you might have heard of her.
But before we get to that, in the true spirit of Spirit Day I want to make quick mention of a movie you might not have heard of: Red Head Randy. An under-hyped indie flick about a high school student whose homophobic classmates' bullying pushes him beyond his limits, Red Head Randy may not be the first anti-bullying horror movie, but it might be the first to feature a homosexual main character (feel free to correct me on that). Promotion for the film is a bit of a mess -- though the release is only a little over a week away, there are no real trailers to speak of, and what little insight one can glean from the cast spotlights is nowhere near enough to get a real feel for what the movie will be like once it does come out. But, at the very least, the creators' hearts seem to be in the right place. The film is touted as an anti-bullying feature, and a series of events, including a release party on the 31st, a Bowling Against Bullying tournament (date TBA), and a New Year's Party (again, details TBA), have been scheduled as part of the Red Head Randy Stand up to Bullying Tour.
Now, on to the main attraction...
For any poor, uncultured fool who hasn't seen it yet and never read the book by Stephen King or watched the original 1976 film adaptation (or at least the 2002 version, or even the -- shudder -- musical version), and has somehow managed to miss all one million and three advertisements for it, Carrie is the story of a painfully shy, awkward high school girl who is abused by her fanatically religious mother and tormented by her unsympathetic classmates. It is the story of what happens -- or at least, what could happen, if you believe in telekinesis -- when bullying goes too far. Desperate times, after all, call for desperate measures.
Now, on the bright side, if you really haven't read or seen any of the other versions you're probably going to enjoy the new one more than I did. I don't know about the 2002 or musical versions, but I do know that once you've seen Sissy Spacek play the lead, there's no way not to compare every other Carrie to hers. And sadly, despite my initial overwhelming joy at seeing Chloë Grace Moretz cast in the role (not to mention Julianne Moore as her momma), even "Hit Girl" couldn't quite measure up.
That's not to say the new Carrie isn't good. It has its moments, and despite my preferences I'd definitely say it's worth a watch. Judging by the (very loud) gasps I heard rippling through the audience on more than one occasion, I'd say it even has a few good jumps in it (though if, like me, you're a bit more jaded, you might find the audience's reactions more amusing than the actual "scares"). The writing is good, supposedly closer to the book than other adaptations, and the acting is solid. Julianne Moore is probably the best, craziest momma White ever, and that's including Piper Laurie in the original. In fact, if you see it for no other reason, see it for her -- the amount of attention to detail in terms of the mother's character development this time around is spine-tingling perfection.
As for Carrie herself, while she does follow the basic arc from the original story -- shy, quiet misfit to freakishly powerful avenging heroine -- Moretz's Carrie seems stronger than the others from the get-go, and she begins to lash out much earlier and with more force than Spacek's timid, fragile-seeming girl-child. This probably sounds like a better idea than it actually turned out to be; while for the most part it's preferable to have a strong, sensible heroine (particularly in a horror movie), what I found so hard-hitting about Spacek's performance was how utterly terrified and vulnerable her Carrie was throughout the film. Moretz, on the other hand, seems to have a very strong personality, and it can't help but show a little even through her best attempts at defenselessness. Her strength was what I loved about her in Kick-Ass and Dark Shadows, but here it takes a little away from some of Carrie's weakest moments. However, on the flip side, she is a very likeable Carrie, and watching the inevitable, terrible conclusion to her almost-fairytale ending still hurts, if not in quite as poignant a way. And heck if she isn't bloody believable once she does go into full vengeance mode. As I said, however, if you don't have a reference point prior to the film, it's probably much more enjoyable, and for all I know I might have loved Moretz's Carrie a lot more if I'd been able to forget Spacek even for a minute. But original-to-remake comparisons aside, there's one other problem I had with the film (not counting a very stupid Sue moment wherein she forgets how useful cell phones are -- the fact that she didn't even attempt to use hers during a crucial moment really, really bugged me). As is so often the case, it has to do with the special effects.
As far as looking good, I have to admit that generally they did a pretty great job. Unfortunately, the SFX team did exactly what I feared and hoped they wouldn't do and fell into what I like to call the Lucas trap. Yep, I named it after George Lucas, because if he'd paid a little more attention to the writing (and, you know, directing) instead of getting wrapped up in all the CGI, the Star Wars prequels might have actually stood a chance of living up to our dreams. But that's another rant for another time. Anyway, the effect isn't nearly as bad in Carrie, but it is there.
While the effects don't take over the movie, when they are used the emphasis occasionally comes on a little too strong -- to me, it's like the difference between an actually creepy experience and an amusement park ride. The latter might be a more visually impressive because it's showier, but it's also safer and much less scary than a real, dangerous situation. Similarly, if directors want their special effects to add to the creep factor of their movies, they really need to stop going, "Look at this! Aren't these effects amazing?!" and just let the moment happen instead of trying to show off. I suppose they think it looks cool, and maybe to some people it does, but unless the movie is supposed to be slightly campy it's usually just an annoying distraction. In Carrie, this only happens once or twice, but it's once or twice too many, and it's a bit disappointing to find it in a movie that had the potential to do so much better. However, if you're looking for a decent Halloween movie this October -- a soda-and-popcorn-flavored horrorshow evening in the presence of good company -- Carrie's probably your best bet this year. It's especially fun to take your jump-scare-prone friends along with you; just remember to keep a firm grip on the popcorn bag.
Twenty-six years ago today, the stock market crashed and burned in an event financiers fearfully refer to as Black Monday. Of course, this wasn't the first, nor even remotely the last, stock market crash -- nor is it the only day to be saddled with that ominous moniker. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed, there are as many as 19 different occasions which have been dubbed "Black Monday," including the original Black Monday in 1929, as well as massacres, natural disasters, riots, assassinations, and worst of all, the first day of school after the holidays.
However, today's nightmare isn't about stock market crashes -- or any of those other things Black Monday stands for. It's not even about Black Monday. (In fact, if you haven't noticed, today isn't even a Monday at all.) Rather, today's nightmare is dedicated to a certain furry feline with a particular grudge against that day of the week. Yep, that's right: Garfield.
What's so scary about Garfield? Not much -- not usually, anyway. Over the course of a thirty-five year career (yes, really), the beloved orange furball has seen his fair of Halloween specials. Aside from countless comic strips featuring Garfield and company cavorting about during the holiday (collected in a ton of books), the original TV show Garfield and Friends included a recurring segment titled "Garfield's Tales of Scary Stuff," and a separate special, Garfield's Halloween Adventure (originally called Garfield in Disguise) aired in 1985, featuring one of the cat's darkest -- yet still kid-friendly -- animated tales.
If the words "kid-friendly" leave a bitter taste in your mouth, however, there's always the legitimately creepy stuff -- and no, I'm not kidding. I'm not even talking about Garfield Minus Garfield, which does occasionally shift from the usual sad/funny tone to just plain WTF. Check out this set of Garfield comics dating back to October 1989 (click for full size):
Needless to say, fans sorta freaked out over this. Quite a few people pointed out the similarities in the arc to the "Valse Triste" segment of the Italian animation Allegro Non Troppo (which I haven't yet mustered the courage to watch), though Jim Davis says he was not aware of the connection and did not base the strip on it. Rather, according to a caption from Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection, Davis drew inspiration from a common fear:
"During a writing session for Halloween week, I got the idea for this
decidedly different series of strips. I wanted to scare people. And what
do people fear most? Why, being alone. We carried out the concept to
its logical conclusion and got a lot of responses from readers."
No kidding. The comics led many to speculate that it wasn't just a dream, or a random non-canonical aside, but that Garfield is dead, or starving to death (possibly in a post-apocalyptic universe), and that everything else in the strip consisted of the poor cat's twisted hallucinations and desperate attempts to cope with his horrific fate. Taking things one step further, it even spawned the creepypasta "Garfield is a Lie," which argues that the entire strip is Davis's way of dealing with his overwhelming guilt over the murder of a friend, and that the 1989 "Alone" series sprang from a mental breakdown from which Davis never recovered. (Needless to say, all of this would be news to Davis. At least, I think so...)
Thing is, this wasn't even the first time Davis went over to the dark side. October of 1984 saw the publication of Garfield: His 9 Lives, a graphic novel compilation which told the tales of the cat's past lives, including commentary from present-day Garfield explaining how his past affected his personality. While most of the stories stuck to the strip's usual lightheartedness, two notable exceptions included "Lab Animal" and "Primal Self," pictured below (again, click for full size):
Not all cats go to heaven? At any rate, this story marked Garfield's sole totally serious (in both subject and look) foray into the horror genre -- in some respects, it totally beats the "Alone" strip on the freaky scale. In fact, when the collection sparked a TV special in 1988, "Primal Self" didn't make the cut, and has never appeared on television. Interestingly enough, "Lab Animal" did make it into the special -- perhaps the nicer-looking art style (reminiscent of Disney's Oliver and Company) distracted the producers from the actual content? If you snoop around on YouTube, you can probably find a copy. Here's one that I found (let's see how long it lasts before the copyright gestapo find it):
Cutting "Primal Self" left "Lab Animal" to fend for itself as the sole source of creep-factor in the adaptation -- unless, of course, you count the part where (spoiler alert?) Garfield and Odie die during Garfield's 9th life and find themselves standing before God, who sees fit to grant them both nine extra lives. What appears to be a generous gesture on the Almighty's part, however, quickly starts to seem like some sort of underhanded punishment when God, who already had a pretty scary voice to begin with, turns out to possess glowing yellow cat-eyes of death:
So there you have it. Beneath the fair facade of family-friendly fun-times and comfortingly familiar humor, buried way deep down in his little kitty heart, Garfield has some pretty heavy issues to deal with, including possession, gene-splicing, and the ever-present possibility that his entire existence has all been a lie. Kind of like your childhood.
Tonight is a very special night. Not only is it time for the Blood Moon (or Hunter's Moon), October's full moon -- it's also going to be a penumbral lunar eclipse. Sooo, you can probably guess what the theme of today's Stranger Nightmare is, can't you? Nope, it's not lycanthropy (too easy!). Nope, not the Penumbra video game series either (though trust me, I was tempted). You're thinking too hard. Try the most obvious guess of all. Yep -- it's the moon.
Now, there have been stories about the moon and its effects on the world since there were creatures on Earth capable of telling them. Ancient (and some not so ancient) religions personified and deified the moon, and many rituals and sacrifices were performed in its (sometimes His or Her) honor. Other, less flattering tales, told of changes coming over people sensitive to the moon's influence; since the days of Aristotle and Pliny, it has often been associated with madness (hence, lunacy), and of course, rumors of men (and women) that transform into wolves in the night have persisted through the ages. And don't even get me started on all the conspiracy theories concerning that big round shiny thing that shows up in the sky after the sun goes to bed.
Some of the creepiest ideas about the moon manifest themselves in the superstitions surrounding it. Of course, not all of them are scary -- some, like the idea that the new moon can bring you fortune, or that getting your hair cut during a particular phase is lucky, are even downright optimistic. But then you've got stories like the one where sleeping with the light of the full moon on your face means you won't live to see the end of the year, or that the moon turning orange is an evil portent. Or the ones (yes, more than one) where the Man in the Moon is someone trapped there as a form of eternal punishment. Or the other one, from Inuit mythology, where he is the keeper of the souls of men and animals. Or the other other one where he's a hunchback plaiting a fishing line. A rat gnaws the line, and a cat chases the rat, and as long as this cycle continues the universe is safe -- but if the fishing line is ever completed, the world ends.
Cheery stuff, no? While browsing through these today I stumbled on a story which, as far as I can tell, is not rooted in any particularly old or commonly-held superstitions -- however, it is a story about superstitions, and after reading it you might acquire a superstition of your own concerning mirrors and the moon... and dead things.
Click here, if you dare, to read "Moon Face." (Bonus points if you read it in the dark, at night, near a mirror, and aren't overcome with the urge to cover that mirror up immediately.)
On this day in 1793, Marie Antoinette lost her head to a French guillotine, having been sentenced to death for treason. Since one of the Queen's most memorable traits was her affinity for high fashion (to the point of inappropriate extravagance -- because never mind the starving populace, this wig is FABULOUS!), today's nightmare is a spooky cornucopia of painted faces, gorgeous garb, and just a dash of sparklies.
And before all my anti-fashion readers go running for the hills, a disclaimer: we're not just talking pretty clothes here, we're talking weird, wild, and wonderful. Photography, Tim Burton, fun facts, the most ridiculously expensive costume (hopefully ever) -- it's all fair game. Because fashion isn't just about what you wear -- fashion, done right, tells a story. It says something about who you are, or who you want to be; it can scream or it can whisper, conceal or reveal more than just skin. I'm no fashionista, but even I can appreciate a well-conceived outfit -- and when it comes to costumery, be still my beating heart. So, for today's post, I scoured the internets to find the prettiest, strangest, spookiest fashion-related gems. Enjoy. :)
Tim Burton's Magical Fashion
Now, this article may be a few years old, but it feels no less relevant this Halloween -- and dammit, it's wonderful, so I'm including it. This Harper's Bazaar slideshow features 13 goth-grandiose looks put together by the master of the delightfully odd, Tim Burton, who even appears in several shots as one of the models. As inspired as it is inspiring, some seriously sweet costume ideas could come from a quick gander.
High Fashion Halloween
Burtonesque not quite your style? Check out this Pinterest page, the contents of which span the spectrum between crocheted ribcages and beautifully haunting fairies draped in gauze. Even if you're not dressing up this Samhain, some of the photography alone is worth a thousand words (at least).
Halloween Fashion & Fun Facts
Head to The Fashion Hive for a few more pretty pictures, as well as a handful of interesting facts concerning the history of Halloween. And yes, there's even a Tim Burton quote in there, too. (Face it, he's still the face of the season, whether you like him or not.)
The Million Pound Morphsuit
If high fashion is too serious for you and something along the lines of "utterly preposterous" is more your game, take a look at this shiny-beyond-all-reason morphsuit. Why you would want to look like a human-shaped disco ball -- or why you would willingly spend £1,000,000 (or $1,599,000) to do so -- is far beyond my comprehension, but if you happen to be a misanthropist with a stupidly excessive amount of cash burning a hole in your pocket, this might just be the perfect fit.
The 35 Most Insane Halloween Costumes From Around The World For something potentially just as crazy (but on a reasonable budget), steal an idea from this list on Cracked.com. Some are hilarious, other just hilariously bad, and others still are so damn creepy (in a bad way) you kind of worry about the kind of person who would come up with them. Michelle Phan, extremesfx, and MAC Cosmetics While YouTube is littered with makeup tutorials and a quick search will probably find you at least one that would work for almost any costume idea you could conjure up, Michelle Phan is the queen of cosmetics, and her channel is a good place to start if you don't know what you're looking for (or if you do know, and want the best). She's done a ton of videos over the years, many of which were completely un-Halloween-related, but she's got quite a few costumes and characters under her belt as well, including a seriously creepy Gothic Lolita doll, Mulan, and a zombified Barbie. (Also check out her Halloween Favorites, a mash-up of fashion tricks and sweet treats.) There's even an "R" (from Warm Bodies) tutorial for the guys. Speaking of which, if you're either looking for more gruesome options (or, again, if you're a guy -- these channels cater more to both genders) check out the extremesfx or MAC Cosmetics channels. The former features a few neat tutorials using latex, prosthetics and more, and the latter just started testing out a handful of really beautiful/creepy looks courtesy of Rick Baker, a professional Hollywood makeup master with a ton of films under his belt, as well as an Academy Award and even a star on the Walk of Fame.
It might not be Friday, but it's still the thirteenth of October (incidentally, this is also exactly the thirteenth post of this blog) -- which means it's high time for another nightmare. Today's Stranger Nightmare is an urban legend hailing from scary story central, a.k.a. Japan.
Don't Talk to Strangers Wearing Masks: The Legend
Kuchisake-onna, or the Slit-Mouthed (or Split-Mouthed) Woman, is an evil spirit who, at first glance, appears to be a beautiful woman wearing a surgical mask. Here in America she'd stick out like a sore thumb -- random woman creeping around at night with a mask covering half her face? No thank you -- but in Japan wearing a surgical mask (especially during flu season) to prevent the spread of germs is an extremely common practice. This lady, however, isn't politely protecting you from disease; the mask covers up her hideously disfigured face, which has been split from the corners of her mouth to each ear in a terrible Cheshire grin.
Like any urban legend, there are numerous variations on what exactly happens during an encounter with the Slit-Mouthed Woman. One version casts her as an archetypal Hitchhiker of Death, garbed in long, flowing white robes (a funeral kimono, perhaps?) and with a simple white cloth in place of a surgical mask. (Check out this snopes thread and this obake wiki post for even more details and variations.) The most popular version, however, has her wandering the streets of Japan at night, specifically preying upon young children walking home from school.
In almost all versions, the encounter goes something like this. The hapless victim meets the woman, who for all accounts and purposes seems to be normal -- i.e. alive and human. The woman asks the victim, "Am I beautiful?" Regardless of the answer (or often, before one can be given) she rips off her mask, revealing her deformity.
At this point in the hitchhiker story, she starts repeating, "Am I beautiful?" over and over again as the driver screams (and, I assume, dies in either a panic-induced accident or by other, more supernatural, causes). In the street encounter, however, she asks, "How about now?" and waits for an answer. And, of course, there are a lot of wrong answers. If you tell her she is not beautiful, she kills you with an over-sized pair of scissors -- by beheading in some stories, by cutting you in half in others. If you try to get on her good side by insisting she is still beautiful, she carves an extra-wide smile just like hers into your face. Running doesn't help either; after all, she is a ghost. She will simply appear in front of you again and, probably, kill you.
Supposedly, there is only one right answer. The legend says that if you respond to her question by saying something like, "You're only average" or "so-so," she will be confused long enough for you to escape with your life (and your face) intact. A slightly sillier rumor also has it that you can throw fruit at her (or, if you're a child, your favorite brand of candy) to distract her and get away.
Of course, the ensuing nightmares would probably be a lot harder to get rid of.
Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?: The Origins
Like Heath Ledger's Joker, the Slit-Mouthed Woman has acquired numerous origin stories over the years, and of course no one knows which story, if any, is the true one. Some say she acquired her scars during a plastic surgery gone wrong; others say it was a car accident, or the result of an assault by a biker gang, and still others say she is an escaped mental patient who carved the smile herself. A much older and more elaborate take is that she was an adulteress whose samurai husband, upon discovering her infidelity, carved up her face and demanded, "Who will think you're beautiful now?" She eventually died, either from her wounds or by committing suicide, and became an onryō (a vengeful spirit).
The origins of the legend itself are likewise difficult to pinpoint. Though the version featuring the samurai's wife supposedly dates back to Japan's Heian period (794-1185), the tale of the Slit-Mouthed Woman seems to have stayed largely in the shadows until the late 20th century. Toward the end of the 70's, rumors of a mutilated woman stalking schoolchildren began to spread like wildfire, and in 1979, something of a panic broke out in the Nagasaki prefecture. Reported sightings grew so frequent that the local police began regular patrols, and schools assigned teachers to walk students home in groups after class for safety reasons. The woman, of course, was neither found nor arrested, and after a while the panic died down, ending as quietly and mysteriously as it began.
(An interesting side-note: it just so happens that around this time, between 1977 and 1983, at leastseventeen Japanese citizens were reportedly abducted for spy-related purposes by the North Korean government, which so far admits to thirteen of the kidnappings. Though all except one of the officially recognized victims were adults at the time and don't exactly fit the profile for the legend, I find it interesting that these disappearances -- which may have unofficially numbered in the hundreds -- occurred around the same time that the "panic" in Nagasaki really took off. One wonders if perhaps the real danger of abduction somehow attributed to the legend's sudden popularity. It has also been speculated that the rumors sprang from some real-life incident of a woman attacking a child, though no specific incident has, as far as I can tell, been identified.)
In 2007, it is said (though I haven't found any real evidence yet to confirm this) that a coroner found some records dating back to the late 70's which discuss a woman with a history of violence towards small children; while chasing some kids, she was hit by a car and killed, and her mouth was -- you guessed it -- torn open from ear to ear.
While I have yet to dig up any actual news articles about the panic (please share if you find any!), pretty much every overview of the legend refers to it, and some blog posts (like this one) even share first-person accounts and relative's memories of what it was like going to school with the fear of the Slit-Mouthed Woman following them every step of the way.
How About Now?: The Modern (Slit-Mouthed) Woman
If you're not creeped out enough yet, feel free to go look up one (or all) of the many films portraying the gruesome legend. Since the release of Teruyoshi Ishii's Kuchisake-onna in 1996, at least seven live-action movies have been made featuring the Slit-Mouthed Woman, with the most recent one being Jun'ichi Yamamoto's Kuchisake-onna (2012). A few manga and anime adaptations also exist, and several others including Hell Teacher Nube, Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Franken Fran, Occult Academy and Toshi Densetsu feature her briefly. In the original Ringu, one of the main characters refers to an urban legend about "The Ripped-Mouth Woman," explaining that the story began circulating following a car accident in the Gifu prefecture which left a local woman brutally disfigured. Earlier in the movie, one character theorizes on where such stories come from:
"This kind of thing -- it
doesn't start by one person telling a story. It's more like everyone's
fear just takes on a life of its own . . . Or, maybe it's not fear at
all. Maybe it's what we were secretly hoping for all along."
In 2004, the legend spread from Japan to Korea, where sightings began popping up all over again (though, as far as I know, it never hit panic levels). Re-dubbed The Red Mask Ghost (or The Red Mask Girl), in Korea she wears a red surgical mask and is said (in one of the variations) to be a Japanese woman whose scars were caused by failed cosmetic surgery. Sometimes she is said to target children, other times it's men, and her weapon of choice may be either scissors or a scalpel. It is said that she may be scared away by tracing the Chinese character for dog on one's hand (though the legend generally makes no mention of a dog, or China) -- however, in some versions, there is no escape. In every version, the single constant is her haunting question, to which, truthfully, there may be no right answer: "Am I beautiful?"
Since 7 is such a magical number, today we have a special nightmare double-feature, commemorating not only yesterday's Mad Hatter Day but also in remembrance of the great Edgar Allan Poe, who passed from this dream to the next 164 years ago today.
As such, our third nightmare happens to be my personal favorite Poe story, the haunting "Tell-Tale Heart," first published in 1843. Now, the original story is widely considered to be a Gothic horror classic, and though it's been adapted and rewritten and referenced at least a million and three times, it just so happens that, now and again, someone actually hits the mark.
In this case, that someone is none other than the late, great Vincent Price -- the face that launched a thousand B-movies, the voice that haunted a thousand dreams. If there's one voice that was meant to tell scary stories, it was his; if I had to pick only one tale to hear him tell, it would be this one.
Do yourself a favor. Turn the lights down, turn the volume up, grab a glass of wine (or a bit of Halloween candy -- or both), and savor the sinister delight of the first recitation from Vincent Price's An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe.
(Below is "Tell-Tale Heart" as uploaded by YouTube user mirkodamian. Because sadly, the original film doesn't appear to be very available... anywhere, really.)
