If history has taught us anything, it’s never fight a land war in Asia. If history has taught us a second thing, it’s that you can’t keep a good franchise down. Or a bad one. Either way, down is not something franchises can remain for long. So we’re back. And here’s where we draw our line in the crypt dust and declare Year Nine of 32 Days of Halloween to be open. I said if I could just get to October, everything would be fine, much like if Antaeus could get in contact with earth he was invulnerable. So I’m eating a candy bar I’ve just grabbed from a sibling’s trick or treat bag, I’m drinking a big cup of coffee (having thrown that pumpkin spice crap out the window) and I’m watching Sweeney Todd. No, the good one with Angela Lansbury. Yeah.
As we are wont to do, we begin with a cartoon. This time it’s Trick or Treat from 1952, in which Donald Duck needs to be taught a lesson about the holiday spirit by Witch Hazel and his three nephews.
Then it’s feature film time, with 1958’s Earth vs. The Spider, which is a cautionary tale about many things, but primarily about a previously undocumented danger of rock and roll music…namely, that it can serve as an alarm clock for giant spiders. Note that the director is Bert I. Gordon, who brought you such classics as The Amazing Colossal Man and Food of the Gods. Enjoy.
