Given the innocuous title and a cover to nearly match, I assumed Nathaniel Tolle’s Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies for Halloween would not only have nothing to offer a well-seasoned horror vet, but be an outright embarrassment as well. Those fears were wholly unfounded; this Schiffer Publishing release oozes credibility like its titular gourd does its own guts if left on the porch, exposed to the elements, well into November.
Beyond that cursory, first-impression glance, I had good reason to worry. In his introduction, Tolle lays out his criteria for selecting the 100-plus films he chose for review; among them, “It cannot be mean-spirited or cruel.” Somehow, this self-imposed rule doesn’t defang the contents at all; turn four pages from there and the X-rated Andy Warhol’s Dracula slaps you in the face (with what exactly, I leave to your imagination).
A filmmaker himself, Tolle possesses exquisite taste in the finest flicks for All Hallows’ Eve preparation and/or celebration. While the horror genre predictably but rightly claims a clear majority of the book’s 176 pages, he casts his net of inclusion wide enough to snag examples from comedies, documentaries, kiddie fare and the catch-all realm of sci-fi/fantasy; there’s even an appendix devoted to ’ween-centric TV episodes. The choices are neither limited to American shores, nor to age groups; whether you’re 8 or 80, a gorehound or an absolute pussy, Tolle has a recommendation just right for you.
For members of the cult crowd, the mark of any good film guide — especially one geared toward a virgin (not in the sexual sense) audience — is whether it can offer them Something New. To my surprise, Pumpkin Cinema did. I’m not talking about movies I haven’t seen, but never heard of; in this case, that was WNUF Halloween Special. Tolle presents such a case for it, I immediately placed an order for the DVD.
As with Schiffer’s other recent film book, David J. Moore’s flawed but fun World Gone Wild: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies, the hardback is judiciously illustrated in full-color throughout, with a clean layout that’s pleasing to the eyes even when the subject matter is torture on the ticker. Whether you’ve seen Creepshow so often to the point of recitation or were too spooked to make it past the first reel of the Don Knotts vehicle The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Tolle’s arguments are sound and his opinions appreciated. Don’t even bother checking for errant razor blades — just eat it up. —Rod Lott