Pumpkin Cinema (Book)
Gareth Jones
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Written by Nathaniel Tolle
Published by Schiffer Publishing
Are you the type of person who is so enamoured by the horror genre, and all things Halloween, that the idea of never again seeing a monstrously-clad ‘trick or treater’ at your door come the evening of October 31st could put you into a catatonic state of shock?
When the kids’ candy quests is at an end and you’ve settled down for the evening, are you habitually reaching for the nearest horror flick or your list of planned scary movies to set the scene for the rest of the night?
If so, then you’re going to find Nathaniel Tolle’s Pumpkin Cinema very, very useful.
Pumpkin Cinema is a reference book – almost 200 pages of breakdown and light criticism resulting from Tolle’s desire to compile his ultimate list of the best possible Halloween viewing choices for both the young and the old.
Opening up, the author indicates the criteria for his choices – the result of over a decade of researching, watching and scoring various films for their propriety as festive Halloween entertainment. These are:
- Must be fun to watch.
- Cannot repeatedly present seasons, locations and weather that contrast with autumn.
- Cannot have a running time of more than two hours.
- Cannot be mean-spirited and cruel.
- If not scary, has to be directly related to Halloween.
- If it is a sequel, it must make sense to those who haven’t seen its predecessor.
- Must have a fairly quick pace in order to keep people awake.
These feel like respectable criteria given the expected atmosphere that Tolle is shooting for – after all, not many people are going to stick around the television at a previously feel-good party once you whack on Martyrs, for example, so there’s rarely a feeling that something’s amiss due to the exclusion of a bona fide classic here and there.
Starting off, Tolle hits feature films with 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, offering an overview of the film’s plot and an introduction to his upbeat, highly accessible writing style. Criticism is levied at each title, but it’s generally of a forgiving nature – merely pointing out elements of goofiness or slight flaws that are evident without completely detracting from the entertainment value of the film. It’s a smart move, as while Tolle has, of course, subjectively found each title to be worthy of entry into his quite literal book of recommendation, he offers just enough of a frank overview to allow the reader to decide whether each suggestion sounds suitable to their tastes.
The feature film recommendations come from all over the genre spectrum (even documentaries such as Michael Paul Stephenson’s The American Scream) and many points of film history. You’ll find modern classics (for example An American Werewolf in London, Beetlejuice, The Blair Witch Project, The Blob and [REC]), genuine golden oldies (among them Roger Corman’s The Raven and Tales of Terror, James Whale’s Frankenstein and Terence Fisher’s Dracula: Prince of Darkness) and a surprisingly well-fitting smattering of obscure and cult favourites, including Spookies, Scarecrows and Hell Night. That’s also not to mention the inclusion of a few Italian greats, such as Mario Bava’s tremendously atmospheric Black Sunday and Black Sabbath.
But what makes Pumpkin Cinema stand out is Tolle’s refusal to adhere strictly to horror. Along with the expected gamut of choices that most die-hard horror buffs will expect to see are a selection of Halloween-themed animated features and children’s films. Readers may be surprised to turn a page and suddenly see the poster art for Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters or a massive printed quote from Ernest Scared Stupid (remember Ernest?!) – and even mention of Patrick Read Johnson’s zany kids’ flick Spaced Invaders. It serves to highlight Tolle’s dedication to making this book not particularly about horror, but the spirit of the Halloween season.
Where the sheer wealth of time spent by the author in compiling this book becomes evident is the segue from feature films to short films, which again includes all manner of things from Betty Boop’s Hallowe’en Party to Disney’s Halloween Treat, Garfield’s Halloween Adventure and beyond. Yet, he isn’t prepared to stop there, as he then launches into an entire section on Halloween-themed episodes of various television series! When bringing up options such as the Halloween episodes of ‘Malcolm in the Middle’, ‘Modern Family’, ‘My So Called Life’, ‘Psychoville’ and ‘The Regular Show’ – hell, even multiple episodes of ‘Roseanne’ – it seems like Nathaniel Tolle is on a mission and he’ll be damned if anyone is going to stop him.
A bunch of quick ‘Top 5’ lists finish up the book, geared towards steering readers at certain titles depending on what they’re looking for in a film (do you want witches? Ghosts? H.P. Lovecraft? Nudity? Killer pets?), and a final page that hints toward an upcoming Christmas-themed book from Tolle, possibly titled Gobble Gobble Cinema.
If that’s in the works, then it’ll be one to look out for if it’s up to the same standard of Pumpkin Cinema. Ultimately, this is a reference book so its usefulness to you will extend to exactly that – but Tolle has a great, friendly writing style that screams enthusiasm for his subject material… even if his forgiveness of a few titles feels somewhat too easy or saccharine.
There’s an absolute ton of love and effort poured into this book, along with a good number of poster reprints and VHS art, leading to a potential gold mine of material depending on how far your personal viewing history stretches. You simply won’t find a better compendium of Halloween-centric visual entertainment than this right now, and it’s the type of thing that many a horror fan would do well to have on their coffee table, even for the occasional flick through to catch a few interesting historical oddities that they may not have seen.
Come October time, though… Pumpkin Cinema will truly shine when it comes to planning some spooky show time for both adults and kids alike.
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