Monday, October 31, 2011

Favorite Halloween Movies

Here are some of my Halloween movies. Hopefully there are a couple here that you haven't seen--new recommendations are always fun.



The Church (La Chiesa)
1989, Michele Soavi
A crazy, gothic mess of an entertainment. Incredible imagery and one of my favorite giallo movies. Also watch Soavi's hilariously oddball Cemetery Man.

Spider Baby
1968, Jack Hill
Madness from start to finish, a deliriously insane ride. I've seen a lot of weird movies, and this is one of the weirdest--in a very, very good way.

The Bride of Frankenstein
1935, James Whale
Not remotely scary, but thoroughly odd--from the opening scene with foppish poets hobnobbing in a fancy parlor, to the tiny king in a bottle trying to woo a tiny queen in another bottle, you really won't guess what's coming next. The birdlike Bride herself only gets about four minutes of screentime. An absolute delight, and one of the most original movies I've seen.

Bubba Ho-Tep
2002, Don Coscarelli
An aging Elvis battles ancient Egyptian demons in a nursing home. Need I say more?

Carnival of Souls
1962, Herk Harvey
Incredibly creepy tale of a young Salt Lake City organist haunted by ghosts.

Cat People
1942, Jacques Tourneur
Incredible movie. Watch the very different sequel as well.

The Company of Wolves
1984, Neil Jordan
Angela Carter's fairy tale visions on screen. Poetic, creepy, campy, and has great werewolf transformation scenes.

Daughters of Darkness
1971, Harry Kumel
Stylish, elegant, European vampire trash. If the 19th century Romantic writers (Coleridge, Poe, Le Fanu, etc) had been B-movie Euro-trash directors in the 70s, they would have come up with something like this sumptuous dish. Lots of red.

Dead Ringers
1988, David Cronenberg
Jeremy Irons plays two very creepy twins. Rather brilliant.

Hour of the Wolf
1968, Ingmar Bergman
Bergman's foray into horror is an unsettling journey into the Scandinavian heart of darkness.

Kwaidan
1964, Masaki Kobayashi
Somewhat creepy, but mostly gorgeous and poetic. A great series of short Japanese ghost stories.

Let The Right One In
2008, Tomas Alfredson
One of the most wonderful films I've ever seen. The stark Swedish winter surrounds a warm, yet unnerving, relationship between its two young protagonists. Best teen vampire movie ever, by a thousand miles. (Avoid the American remake, which is fine on it's own, but at best a pale counterpart to this rich masterpiece).

Lisa and the Devil
1974, Mario Bava
Bava's movies are filled with incredible imagery, rich colors, and fantastic storytelling--and this is my favorite Bava. Surreal, poetic, and perhaps closer to being arthouse fare than it is to being a B-movie cult classic. Watch lots of Bava, please. He was the Godfather of Giallo.

Mad Monster Party?
1967, Jules Rankin
Rankin & Bass's Christmas classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Year Without A Santa Claus, etc.) are wondrous, and their Halloween treat is no less delightful. I watched this the other day with my daughter (age four), and she thought it was a hoot. A little edgier than the usual Rankin/Bass fare.

Night of the Hunter
1955, Charles Laughton
One of the most amazing movies ever made, and one of the most unsettling. Part fairy tale, part Flannery O'Connor, part chase movie, part religious allegory; all brilliant.

Nosferatu
1922, F. W. Murnau
Still one of the scariest movies I've seen, this silent vampire film somehow burrows it's way into your psyche like a horrific albino rat.

Suspiria
1977, Dario Argento
Argento picked up where Bava left off. Insane colors and weird archetypal imagery tell the story of a ballerina and witches. I liked the follow-up, Inferno, almost as much as Suspiria.

The Descent
2005, Neil Marshall
One of the scariest movies I've seen. If you have claustrophobia (I do), this will destroy your life for an hour and a half.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
1970, Jaromil Jires
Dreamlike Czech coming-of-age fantasy, with vampires. Lovely music, too.

Vampire's Kiss
1988, Robert Bierman
A crazy vampire Nick Cage jumps on a table. It happens. This movie makes me laugh.



Have a happy Halloween!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Tyger

This is an old one, but I still like it.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Doggies

Portrait of two dogs (commission)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Alphabeasts: A

A is for Afanc.
The Afanc was a Welsh lake beastie who terrorized the locals until King Arthur dropped by and chopped it up.

See more Alphabeasts by amazing artists. 

Figure Drawings



Monday, October 17, 2011

Flying Ghosts

A few versions of the same illustration. This will be published (along with my recent comic) in the "Monsters & Mormons" anthology coming out on Halloween night! Spooky!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Wedding Portraits

Contact me if you'd like to commission a portrait. Holidays are a great time for new art, and I'll be raising my prices at the beginning of the new year.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Still Life

gouache on illustration board

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Chickadee-dee-dee

9" x 12" acrylic on canvas

Monday, October 3, 2011

5 x 5

Acrylic and gold leaf on paper, 5" x 5"
 The Westmont Art Museum in Santa Barbara invited me to be a part of their "5 x 5" show. I'm excited to be involved--this is the piece I created.