Pac-Man: Trick or Chomp!
Here’s a neat, breezy watch for a wicked Wednesday night!
From the 1982 Pac-Man cartoon series, here’s Trick or Chomp — which can effectively be considered that show’s Halloween special.
This one was suggested by Arcade Hunters, who adds: “While everyone seems to remember Pac-Man’s Christmas special, most seem to forget his Halloween outing. Trick or Chomp has everything from Pac-Man’s family going trick-or-treating to standard haunted house shenanigans. A must-watch for me from back when the USA Cartoon Express began showing reruns.”
I’m shocked that we’ve never ran this on After Dark before. Actually searched the site three times just to make sure!
Don’t Go To Sleep!
Okay, so most of you won’t be able to make room for this on a Tuesday night, but hopefully you’ll keep it in your pocket for a stormy Sunday!
Suggested by Daviel McKaye, here’s Don’t Go To Sleep, a made-for-TV movie from 1982. I live for creepy old TV movies. Even the ones that aren’t super hot are just such great background noise during the season.
Daviel adds: “There’s something about TV movies from the ’70s and ’80s that really interests me. Their relative obscurity imbues them with a certain mystique, as so many people find themselves trying to remember their favorite late night movies decades later that may have only aired once or twice during their childhood years. There’s a certain endearing quality to them as they often tread the line between cheesy and charming very delicately, or sometimes not at all.
“In this TV movie, Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper star as the parents who move their family to a new house to get a fresh start after the tragic death of their oldest daughter. Soon after they arrive, the youngest daughter starts seeing eerie visions of her dead sister urging her to take revenge on the family she feels wronged her in life. As the body count starts to pile up, the movie keeps you guessing whether the ghost is real or simply a manifestation of the young girl’s fractured psyche… right up until the memorably creepy twist ending.
“I think what draws me in the most is the warm, dreamlike quality of the ghost scenes which often comes across as being strangely at odds with the sinister nature of the apparent apparition.”
Sounds solid to me! Enjoy, now or later!
Halloween H20 Documentary!
I’m still a huge fan of Halloween H20. If I had a friend who was kinda/sorta interested in trying out a Halloween movie, but wasn’t really into movies of that nature, H20 is the one I’d pitch. It’s a good film, but it’s also such a breezy, easy watch.
With that, here’s Blood Is Thicker Than Water, a 2013 documentary all about Halloween H20. This video was one of many delightful suggestions from Vhslvy, who we’ll be hearing from again once the Countdown gets started!
The Return of Swamp Thing!
As mentioned, I wanted to start populating After Dark with spooky vids early, so new folks won’t be looking at months-old posts when I start “advertising” this place again once the Countdown starts. (In exactly one week! Wheee!)
You guys came through with another killer batch of suggestions for the 2019 season, including this one, from Jason H:
Behold, The Return of Swamp Thing, from 1989. It’s another one of those movies that’s “officially” free of charge on YouTube, even if that probably means that it won’t be available for a particularly long time. Seemed like a great pick to get our Halloween preseason started, as it bridges summer and autumn perfectly!
Jason adds: “I remember being a big Swamp Thing fan back in the day, into the cartoon series when no one else was, and this movie in particular over its more somber prequel. The Wes Craven original is probably a better movie, but there was always something about the Troll-esque transformation scene at the end that I found upsetting as a kid. Still do, actually!”
