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Watching Prince of Darkness on the big screen tonight at BAM was an incredible experience! The movie is so good — especially the first half, before it becomes a slasher/zombie movie — and I’d forgotten just how great John Carpenter’s score is. (But most of his scores are, of course.)

It’s very dated in some ways — the linebackeresque shoulder pads, the hair styles, the mustaches, the indoor smoking, the hero’s line “I’m a confirmed sexist and proud of it!” — but it still holds up. It’s a remarkably creepy, atmospheric film, and definitely one of Carpenter’s best. I’m so glad I finally saw it on a big screen with a good sound system, instead of on a 1980s VHS tape!

Yesterday and today I binge-watched the three-part BBC documentary A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss on YouTube. (Thanks to Jen Light for letting me know about it.) Even though I already knew most of the history Gatiss discusses, I found it remarkably enjoyable. Most of that is due to Gatiss’s own enthusiasm for the genre — like me, he grew up loving horror movies — and the personal lens through which he discusses it, admitting right up front that he will be focusing pretty much entirely on his favorite films from his favorite eras, to the exclusion of much else.

Horror aficionados will likely be familiar with all the films Gatiss discusses, although I was pleased with the inclusion of Blood on Satan’s Claw in the second part, a bit of British folk-horror from 1971 that I didn’t think many other people were familiar with or liked. (Apart from intrepid Doctor Who fans, of course. The film features two prominent actors from the classic series: Wendy Padbury and Anthony Ainley.) Gatiss also scores personal interviews with a number of horror luminaries, including John Carpenter (who, in part one, reveals a surprising distaste for Val Lewton films), Tobe Hooper, Barbara Steele (whose comments in part three about appearing in David Cronenberg’s Shivers are hilarious), George A. Romero, Jimmy Sangster (who wrote and directed many of the best Hammer horror films), and others.

If you love horror, I highly recommend checking out this very fun series on YouTube before the BBC wises up and yanks it:

Part One: Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood

Part Two: Home Counties Horror

Part Three: The American Scream

Hanukkah and Christmas brought me many fine presents this year, including these t-shirts from Alexa, a bottle of Grey Goose vodka from my brother and almost-sister-in-law, an amusing, antique grammar guide from 1922 called S.O.S. Slips Of Speech and How to Avoid Them from my sister-in-law, and many more. Among those many more were a hefty sum in Amazon gift certificates. Here’s what I spent them on:

 The four Robert Aickman collections recently released by Faber & Faber. Aickman’s “strange stories” have been recommended to me many times over the years by readers whose taste I trust, but it wasn’t until I attended a panel about him at this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Washington, DC that I finally decided to take the plunge.

 Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film by August Ragone. Because this is basically everything I loved as a child in one book filled with gorgeous photographs.

 Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy. Season 18 of the classic series got off to a rather tepid start with serials like “The Leisure Hive” and “Meglos,” but then it rocketed into the stratosphere with three of the best serials of the Tom Baker era: “Full Circle,” “State of Decay,” and “Warriors’ Gate,” commonly known as the E-Space Trilogy. In my view, each of them is a masterpiece.

 The Horror of Dracula. Christopher Lee. Peter Cushing. Hammer Studios. The launch of the greatest Dracula franchise of all time. ‘Nuff said.

 King Kong. One of my all-time favorite movies, now on Blu-ray. It comes with a book of production photos and commentary by Ray Harryhausen, Ken Rolston, Fay Wray, and Merian C. Cooper. This was a no-brainer.

 White Zombie. One of my favorite Lugosi films, now on Blu-ray. With Kino, you always know you’re getting a high quality digital remastering and some fine special features. This one comes with a rare Lugosi interview.

 David Cronenberg’s masterpiece, Videodrome, on Criterion Blu-ray. Like Kino, Criterion usually does a bang-up job with their releases. This one comes packed with special features, including commentary by James Woods and Deborah Harry, but mostly I’m interested in watching it with a clearer picture and better sound than my old VHS tape offered.

 The Maltese Falcon on Blu-ray. In many ways, it was this movie — not a horror film, as you might expect — that was the defining movie of my life. To me, it’s perfect from start to finish, and in the world of film noir it’s unmatched, except maybe — maybe! — by Double Indemnity. This one’s got lots of special features too, including, of all things, a blooper reel!

Now comes the hard part: finding time to read and watch them all!

You guys, this happened:

It’s the greatest Christmas present ever!

Speaking of, merry Christmas, everyone (from your favorite Jew)!