The leaves are changing, the god-awful heat is gone, frost coats the lawn and a fire is crackling. I love the fall – possibly in large part because I hate the hot summer days so much, but also because it’s a great time of hunkering down for the holidays and a cold winter.
One thing I especially look forward to is the surfeit of horror movies on TV. I’m a big fan of the Hammer Horror films – which I consider the true classics of the genre. I enjoy the older Universal films, but I think Hammer did a better job with less money. Instead, they somehow lucked into a team of truly great actors and gave them good scripts. There was no shortage of gory scenes, but none of these films depended on them to deliver the real tension (well, not really anyway).
Interestingly, this is also the time of year when the first Exam happens in my intro Bio class and I just can’t imagine a world where it would be harmful for my students to take a break and enjoy a great film like Dracula or Frankenstein.
On a side note, despite all the problems I have with George Lucas for doing everything in his power to undermine his own opus, he did at least have an eye for talent (well, sometimes he did). It’s just too bad that he didn’t learn more from watching Hammer films as a kid.
DownHouseSoftware 