What’s October without a little bloodshed? Here’s our guide to the scarifying movies airing on TV from now until All Hallow’s Eve. Everyone loves a good slasher flick…just remember…don’t turn out the lights.
(All times EST)
Wed., Oct. 24
Diary of a Madman, TCM, 8 p.m.: Vincent Price stars in this 1963 film about a French magistrate possessed by the homicidal urges of a restless demon.
Thurs., Oct. 25
The Hills Have Eyes, IFC, 8 p.m.: 1977 cult classic from Wes Craven about some cannibalistic mountain folk on the trail of stranded vacationers in the arid Southwest.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 10 p.m., IFC: Five teenagers have a most unfortunate encounter with a family of cannibals who have a penchant for power tools.
Child’s Play, TBS, 10:45 p.m.: A beloved doll turns homicidal maniac after a killer’s soul takes it over.
House of Wax, TCM, 12:15 a.m.: Vincent Price’s 1953 classic in which he plays a sculptor whose hands are crippled by fire, and must use the most unpleasant of methods to make his wax creations.
Fri., Oct. 26
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, BET, 8 p.m.: Dream monster Freddy Krueger dukes it out with his daughter in part six of the series.
Fright Night, AMC, 8 p.m.: A teenager certain his next-door neighbor is a vampire finds the only person who believes him is an aging horror-film host.
Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight, SCIFI, 9 p.m.: Goofy, nonsensical tale of a guy on the run from a demon known as the Collector who wants the keys to the universe.
Sat., Oct. 27
The Pit and the Pendulum , AMC, 12:30 p.m.: Roger Corman/Vincent Price schlockfest about a widower who becomes convinced his sister has been buried alive.
Tales From the Hood, SCIFI, 5 p.m.: Racism and gangsta-ism abound in the tales told by a mortician to a trio of drug dealers.
Night of the Living Dead, IFC, 8 p.m.: George Romero’s 1968 classic about zombies who must feed on human flesh to stay alive and go after a group of folks holed up in a farmhouse.
Jaws, TNT, 9 p.m.: Don’t go in the water! Richard Dreyfuss stars in Spielberg’s fishy flick about a monster man-eating shark lurking off the Amity Island coast.
Bride of Frankenstein, AMC, 10:05 p.m.: The mad Dr. Frankenstein makes his monster a mate.
Dawn of the Dead, IFC, 11:15 p.m.: A traffic reporter, his girlfriend and two SWAT team members must defend themselves against killer zombies in a shopping mall.
Frankenstein, AMC, 12 a.m.: If you’re still awake, catch Boris Karloff in this old favorite about a man-made monster who gets a little out of hand.
Sun., Oct. 28
Freaks, TCM, 8:15 p.m.: Controversial 1930s film starring real-life sideshow freaks who ban together when one of their own is manipulated by an evil trapeze artist.
Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, AMC, 9:30 p.m.: Tomb raiders in Victorian-era London are hunted by an ancient Egyptian pharaoh whose tomb they desecrated.
The Innocents, FMC, 10 p.m.: Deborah Kerr stars as a governess who takes a job at a haunted English manor.
[PAGEBREAK]
Mon., Oct. 29
Blacula, BET, 8 p.m.: After being bitten by Dracula 200 years earlier, an African prince is resurrected to terrorize modern-day Los Angeles.
The Curse of the Werewolf, AMC, 9:30 p.m.: An 18th century Spaniard whose mother was raped by a madman suddenly finds the full moon has a strange effect on him.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, TCM, 10:30 p.m.: Fredric March won an Oscar for his 1932 portrayal of a scientist with a horrible split personality.
Tue., Oct. 30
Salem’s Lot, LIFE, 1 p.m.: Stephen King’s vampire story about a novelist who begins to think something’s wrong with the inhabitants of his small town.
Tentacles, AMC, 4 p.m.: A giant mutated octopus takes out his aggressions on those living in Ocean Beach.
Martin, IFC, 8 p.m.: With razor blades rather than fangs, 17-year-old Martin thinks he’s a vampire, and drinks blood to prove it in George Romero’s prequel to Dawn of the Dead.
The Omen, AMC, 10 p.m.: Gregory Peck plays a U.S. ambassador whose son turns out to be the Antichrist-uh-oh!
Wed., Oct. 31
It’s the big day! Call in sick and spend it watching horror flicks non-stop from sunup to sundown.
Dracula, AMC, 7:15 and 11:30 a.m.: Classic Bram Stoker adaptation starring Bela Lugosi as the vampire who wings on over to London for a little din-din.
The Haunted, FMC, 10 a.m.: A family in the Pennsylvania ‘burbs battles a demon that wants them out of their new home.
The Craft, TNT, 12 p.m.: Four girls at an L.A. private school dabble in witchcraft and get more than they bargained for when they combine their powers to form a coven.
Pumpkinhead, SCIFI, 3 p.m.: After a country storekeeper unleashes a demon to exact revenge on some city kids, he starts seeing visions of their awful deaths at its hands.
House of Dracula, AMC, 3:45 p.m.: Vampire, werewolf and Frankenstein’s monster all head over to the doctor’s office–er, castle–to find cures for their respective conditions.
Bless the Child, SHOE (Showtime), 8 p.m.: Kim Basinger plays a psychiatric nurse who must rescue her psychic niece from an evil Satanic cult.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, BRAVO, 8 and 11 p.m.: Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder star in Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winner about the infamous vampire who comes to London.
Tales from the Crypt, FMC, 8 p.m.: The evil Cryptkeeper traps five folks visiting a tomb and goes on to reveal their unfortunate futures.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood, COMEDY, 8 p.m.: The Cryptkeeper returns to camp it up as the host of a funeral home that’s a front for a vampire whorehouse.
The Fury, FMC, 10 p.m.: Brian De Palma’s tale of a psychic whose telepathic powers have put him at the center of an international conspiracy.
Lair of the White Worm, SDC (Sundance), 10:30 p.m.: When people in the neighborhood start disappearing, an archaeologist investigates the legend of an ancient dragon-snake.
Poltergeist, TNT, 11 p.m.: “They’re h-” no, don’t say it! A little girl gets kidnapped by lost souls from beyond who’ve taken over the family home.
Halloween, MAXE (Cinemax), 11:30 p.m.: John Carpenter’s classic about a boy who killed his sister one Halloween night and years later escapes the loony bin to kill again.
Damien: Omen II, AMC, 12 a.m.: Kind of like the first Omen, only now the Antichrist Damien has hit puberty.
Candyman, TBS, 1:30 a.m.: Say his name five times, and the legendary hook-handed psychotic stalking Chicago’s ghettoes will be after you, too.
