I just got an email from someone in response to a post from earlier this year. In summary, my buddy Kyle is looking for an early 90s anti-Halloween video he saw on Chicago TV in the early 90s. My semi-anonymous correspondent writes:
Thought you would like to know that there is an anti-halloween movie out made in the '70's, called 'The Wicker Man'. It involves a cop that tracks down 'satanists' who have kidnapped children. He finds the whole town has reverted to paganism and in the final scene he is burned alive in a wicker shaped man, all the while screaming bible verses while he burns. A pathetic move actually, but maybe it is the one you are looking for. I understand it may be on video. I doubt you will find it on DVD.
Thanks, semi-anonymous correspondent, but you're a little off the mark, here. To begin at the end, The Wicker Man is certainly available on DVD. And far from being a "pathetic" movie, it's "now regarded as a classic of British cinema." Annnnd... it's not really about Halloween as such, more an examination of the nature of religion and community. But, (for reals) thanks for trying to help!
No, what we're looking for here is American semi-amateur acting and earnestness, along the lines of the Hell House shows.
Dan Telfer
Starring Christopher Lee! I love that (lameish) movie!
erica
Ugh. I hate that movie. That messed me up when I was a kid. Thanks, Dad. But we found Cokie that night at the Water District. So good came out of creepy.
Chris Reid
Yeah, that movie isn't about Halloween pre se, but rather about modern-day pagan practices. And I thought it was pretty good. Definitely not a happy-ending type flick, but not a bad movie at all in my humble opinion.