Hi everyone! For this year's countdown I'll be posting 23 vintage and/or rare Halloween and Halloween-related videos that I found on Youtube, maybe more if I find any during the month of October. All thanks goes to the original uploaders. I hope the videos I post here won't be taken down due to copyright claims during the month of October but sooner or later they eventually will.
Here are short descriptions of some of the videos I'll be posting: Halloween-related cartoons that contain the characters Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and the Munsters;a few horror movies from the 80's that take place during Halloween;a collection of old and new commercials starring Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Invisible Man, the Mummy and the Wolfman;a Halloween episode of an old HBO Sci-Fi series that didn't last long;a documentary about the first and earliest horror movies starring Dracula;Sleepy Hollow/Headless Horseman cartoons;Horror Hosts Zacherley and Count Scary videos;plus more.
It all starts October 1st, I hope you'll like what I'll post. Click on the badge below to learn more about the Countdown to Halloween and to view the other blogs participating. Thanks!
Originally broadcast live on October 31, 1987, the "WNUF Halloween Special" is a stunning expose of terrifying supernatural activity that unfolded at the infamous Webber House, the site of ghastly murders.
Local television personality Frank Stewart leads a group of paranormal investigators including Catholic exorcist, Father Joseph Matheson and the prolific husband-and-wife team Louis and Claire Berger. Together, the experts explore the darkest corners of the supposedly haunted Webber House, trying to prove the existence of the demonic entities within.
Did they find the horrific truth or simply put superstitious rumors to rest?
Compiled from the highest quality source material available, this trailer is for the first official release the program has received since its initial broadcast.
You can order a VHS videocassette of the "WNUF Halloween Special" exclusively through Alternative Cinema for $19.99. This is a limited release of only 300 copies, so get yours while you can.
Happy Halloween 2012! Here is vintage short film from 1953 about how a small suburban family celebrates Halloween in America. Covers decorations, pumpkins, balloons, and activities. Meant for children of all ages:
Here are 2 vintage videos with safety tips to follow this Halloween:
Trick or Treats is 1982 horror/comedy directed by Gary Graver and starring Jacklyn Giroux, Peter Jason, Carrie Snodgress, David Carradine and Steve Railsback. A young woman babysits a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. Meanwhile, the boy's father has escaped from a mental institution and returns home to terrorize his ex-wife, who committed him. But, the wife's away at a party in Las Vegas with her new husband and they have left their son and the babysitter alone in the house.
This is a really low budget production, the whole film is badly-lit, the plot makes little sense, it's filled with scenes that just drag on, and for being a slasher/horror film it has a low body count and really lacks any suspense and scares. But it does have a spooky Halloween atmosphere, seeing all the colorful Halloween decorations and the trick or treaters costumes kept me entertained and that's what I liked about this film.
A much better looking version of the film was finally released on Blu-ray by Code Red on October 5, 2021. Watch below:
Spooky Bats and Scaredy Cats is a stop-motion animated Halloween special released on DVD in 2009. As two kids, named Katie and Makean, delay their trick or treating to deliver Halloween party invitations for their old friend "The Candleman", they find themselves caught up in a spooky adventure to frightening forests, scarey swamps and a chilling cemetery where they meet classic monsters including Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, The Wolf-man, The Grim Reaper, a scarecrow, a witch and a swamp monster. Though not as good as "A Nightmare Before Christmas" this is a fun special that kids will love and fans of the old Universal monster movies will love it too.
This is not the 1986 movie starring Tim Curry and Fairuza Balk. This is a TV series that is more like the Jill Murphy books, broken up in episodes. It ran for three seasons from 1998 to 2001 and originally aired in UK and Canada and later in other countries as well. Many say it's the girl version of Harry Potter. A second series called the New Worst Witch was produced from 2005-2006 which carries on from this series. I posted the Halloween episode of this second series last year which you can find here.
In this episode titled A Mean Hallowe'en, the Chief Wizard has been invited to attend the school's Hallowe'en celebration and Mildred is thrilled to have been chosen to lead the traditional first-year flying display. However, Ethel Hallow is still furious that Mildred turned her into a pig earlier on and vows revenge. This was a delightful series with beautiful sets and outdoor scenes and a wonderful cast, great for children and people young at heart. You watch other episodes on youtube by clicking here.
Similar to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Funky Phantom featured three teenagers Skip, April, Augie and their dog Elmo who release the ghosts of an American Revolution patriot named Mudsy and his pet cat Boo from a longcase clock. Mudsy and Boo now accompany there new friends on many mysteries, always giving an invisible helping hand. The voice of Mudsy is identical to the character Snagglepuss, down to the use of Snagglepuss's catchphrases, even. Micky Dolenz from the Monkees voices the character of Skip.
In this episode Mudsy, April, Skip, Augie, Elmo and Boo visit the famous town of Sleepy Hollow. April becomes a little jealous when the boys begin flirting with Laurie Elwood, the manager of Sleepy Hollow Inn, who introduces them to the great, great, great grandson of Ichabod Crane. The gang soon discovers the town's ghostly legend, The Headless Horseman, is all too real as he eventually kidnaps Icky Crane. They also clash with Richard Travers V, a descendant of the town bully. This is the fifth episode of a total of 17 made in 1971-72.
Here is the Halloween episode of a game show for kids called Fun House that was recorded on Oct 31, 1988 from KCOP Los Angeles. This, along with Double Dare, were my favorite game shows to watch after school.
Walt Disney Cartoon Classics was a series of home videos that contained compilations of Disney's old animated shorts from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Scary Tales is the third volume of the series of videos and was released in 1983. It contains 6 Halloween-themed animated shorts. You can buy this video online but expect to pay a lot of money because they are a rare find. The 6 videos below, plus the intro, is a recreation of the Scary Tales VHS video. I am a huge fan of Disney cartoons especially these Halloween-related ones.
Here are some crazy cheesy clips from the Halloween episode of Donny & Marie's variety show that originally aired October 28, 1977, plus other Halloween-related skits from 1976 and 1980. I love Halloween so much that I'd watch any show that mentions or is related to Halloween, even if it's Donnie & Marie.
Spooky Opening with the introduction of the special guests Billy Crystal, Shirley Hemphill, Kristy McNichol and Ben Vereen:
Concert Spot - Mustache Disguises with Kristy McNichol:
Trick Or Treat Skit - Donny and Kristy McNichol go trick or treating and meet Billy Crystal & Shirley Hemphill:
It Takes Two segment with a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's movie "the Birds" starring Big Bird and a skit with Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride:
Donny as Dracula, Marie as his Vampire sister?, Michael Landon as a werewolf, Don Knotts as Dr. Frankenstein with his monster and Billy Barty as Igor. Monster Mash song. This is not from the Halloween episode but it's related to Halloween. Originally aired 4/30/1976:
Another Halloween-related clip with Marie Osmond & Jeff Conaway in a Werewolf Skit from The Marie Show that originally aired 12/12/1980:
Strand Video Entertainment released the following two specials in 1991 on one VHS tape titled Miss Switch Mystery Special. This is a recreation of that vhs video.
The first animated special is called The Trouble With Miss Switch which premiered in 1980 and re-aired numerous times on TV as an episode of the "ABC Weekend Special." It's about two students, Amelia and Rupert, who find out that their substitute teacher, Miss Switch, is a real life Witch. When an evil witch named Saturna takes over the coven of witches and tries to destroy Miss Switch, the teacher and her magical talking cat, Bathsheba, ask for the children's help to stop her. Due to this special's immense popularity, a sequel cartoon titled Miss Switch to the Rescue was made soon after. The sequel can be found below this video.
1980 The Trouble With Miss Switch:
1982's Miss Switch to the Rescue is the follow-up to 1980s The Trouble With Miss Switch. Miss Switch is back for another adventure. School isn't the same for students Rupert Brown and Amelia Daley without Miss Switch, their incredible broomstick-riding, spell-casting former teacher! But, when Amelia is kidnapped by Mordo the warlock, Miss Switch the witch returns in the guise of a substitute teacher to help Rupert rescue his friend and classmate.
1982 Miss Switch to the Rescue:
Both stories are fun and the animation style reminds me of "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" animation from the eighties, which I always liked and was the typical animation style of that time. Both specials are something you can let your kids watch without hesitation.
The Fall Guy was an action drama series that starred Lee Majors as a Hollywood stuntman named Colt Seavers who moonlights as a bounty hunter. The show originally aired on ABC from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. This is the second Halloween episode of the series that featured Elvira. After filming a horror film, Colt's team and the Mistress of the Dark spend the night in an old haunted mansion. As a storm hits, they soon realize an escaped psychotic mental patient is loose in the mansion. With Elvira along for the ride, things are bound to go bump in the night.
This is a recreation of a VHS video released in 1989 that contains the following two Flintstones TV specials that were never released on DVD. The first special is the 48 minute The Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone from 1979. In this one, Fred and Barney appear on a spoof of the game show "Let's Make a Deal," where they win vacations to Rocksylvania. Shortly after arriving, the deceased former owner of the castle where the families are bunking, Count Rockula, awakens from a 400 year slumber and decides he has to wed Wilma -- but the only way he can marry her is to make her a widow first. Pebbles is mentioned near the end, but strangely neither her nor Bamm-Bamm are seen.
1979 The Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone:
The second special on the tape is the 24 minute, Emmy-nominated The Flintstones' New Neighbors from 1980. A creepy Addams/Munsters-like family moves their home onto the vacant lot next door to the Flintstones. After bidding the new family welcome, Fred decides that they're "freaks" and quarrels with Barney, who likes the newcomers. But when Pebbles winds up in the path of a Pterodactyl, the three families must work together to save her. Father Frank Frankenstone is the exact same character design from the previous special, but he speaks with an English accent and is obviously not supposed to be the same character (which could be a bit confusing considering they've packaged them back to back). A slightly different variation of the Frankenstone family had already been seen in the previous year's "The New Fred and Barney Show."
What fun! This VHS video features trailers of classic horror and sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s, some starring Vincent Price himself, who is also the narrator of this video. The now out-of-print, "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" is a special "kick" as a detached hand crawls around haunting Christopher Lee. You'll view excerpts from "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (the original), "The Blob", "I Was A Teenage Werewolf", "Day Of The Triffids", "Pit And The Pendulum","The Raven", etc.etc., and all the screaming headline hype from the coming attractions. Really a bunch of ballyhoo of eras gone by. Good eras of classic horror before computer graphics. I cannot imagine anyone that would not enjoy this peek into the past with Vincent Price as our guide.
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a 1972 one hour special that aired as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Warner Bros. "loaned out" their famous Looney Tunes characters to interact with the characters from the Filmation animated series Groovie Goolies that aired on CBS from September 12, 1970 to September 4, 1971. The Goolies were a group of hip monsters who looked and sounded like comedic versions of the classic horror-film monsters created in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly by Universal Pictures.
Mel Blanc voiced the Looney Tunes characters but notice how Daffy's voice has been sped up too much instead of only a little bit, like in the classic shorts. Daffy now sounds like his late 1930s self, or even Woody Woodpecker! (I was half-expecting Daffy to start acting like his classic "crazy" self at times.) Also note how Porky's voice was NOT sped up at all, and sounds awkward. Tweety's dialogue is also too fast. And like most Saturday morning cartoons from the 1970s, this special also has an adult laugh track which laughs at everything, even if it's not funny.
The complete Groovie Goolies animated series and the classic Looney Tunes shorts have been released on DVD but this special has never had a VHS or DVD release due to various rights issues. This really isn't a Halloween special but it is rare and I figured the Goolies are based on the Universal classic monsters and I love watching those monster movies when October rolls around. Finally I must admit, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd say it's a "so bad it's good" type of special and required viewing for anyone who's a fan of the Looney Tunes characters and/or the Groovie Goolies.
Heres a 2018 Restoration by YouTuber netscapenow. Spliced from a
2013 German TV broadcast (first part only), "Groovie Ghouls" 1980s UK VHS, 1972 original broadcast (B/W print), and "The Haunted Heist":
This is a recreation of two Halloween TV specials that originally aired on TBS in 1992 and again in 1995. Starring The Three Stooges: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard or Shemp Howard, a comedy act best known for their numerous short subject films that were made for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. The 1992 version of the Halloween special features the following four frightening Stooges shorts, "If a Body Meets a Body," "We Want Our Mummy," "Dopey Dicks," and "Three Pests in a Mess".
If a Body Meets a Body (1945) - look out for the funny Halloween related scene, the bird in the flying skull:
We Want Our Mummy (1939) - look out for the Curly dressed up as a mummy scene:
Dopey Dicks (1950) - look out for the mad scientist in need of human brains for his ghastly experiment:
Three Pests in a Mess (1945) - look out for the spooky cemetery scenes:
1995 The Three Stooges Fright Night
The 1995 version includes the first 2 shorts above: "If a Body Meets a Body," "We Want Our Mummy," plus the 3 following shorts: "Spooks!," "The Hot Scots" and "Malice in the Palace."
Spooks! (1953) This version is in Red Cyan 3D - look out for the mad scientist Dr. Jeckyl and his assistant, Mr. Hyde, who keep a gorilla for experimental purposes:
The Hot Scots (1948) - this short takes place in a spooky haunted castle:
Malice in the Palace (1949) - look out for Larry's cooking skills:
I love these guys so much. I don't remember seeing these specials air on Halloween but growing up in the 80's channel 38 in Boston would have a 6 hour Three Stooges marathon every New Years Eve.
Here are two Halloween-themed vintage animated shorts from the late 20s and early 30s. Seeing the old style animation is incredible, and it's great to find them so easily online.
This is a Felix The Cat short, called Switches Witches, with an added synchronized music and sound effects score added for early TV showings in the '50s. Even though producer Pat Sullivan's name is the only one credited, Otto Messmer [Felix's creator] was largely responsible for this one. Originally released in October 1927.
1927 Felix The Cat - Switches Witches:
This Toby the Pup short, called Halloween was made by Dick Huemers, Sid Marcus and Art Davis. Originally released May 1, 1931. Twelve Toby cartoons were produced from 1930 to 1931, though very few still survive today.
You Wish is a comedy that ran from September 26, 1997 to June 23, 1998. It started as part of ABC's TGIF programming and was a 1990s version of "I Dream of Jeannie." But in this situation, a single mother and her 2 kids release a male genie who's been imprisoned in a magic carpet for 2,000 years. The Mother reluctantly accepts the services of the genie who begins to live with the family. The genie's name is simply "Genie." Jerry Van Dyke was introduced to the show in the third episode as Genie's Grandpa Max.
The Halloween episode originally aired on October 31, 1997 and was the 6th of a total of 12 episodes made. In this ep, Genie turns the daughter into a witch, the son into a road warrior and helps with the Halloween decorations. Mom makes a wish for Genie to be human for just one Halloween night. All while Grandpa Max loses his hand, and conjures up Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and the Mummy. Then a Werewolf and the Bride of Frankenstein make an appearance.
