Halloween Haunts
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. The jack-o-lantern on the porch has not yet been completely consumed by the squirrels, so we’re in the mood for a few scary movies. There will be wine pairing opportunities, of course.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Wes Craven. His 1996 scarefest, Scream, was the start of a mega-franchise. Scream was followed by Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4,Scream, Scream VI, Scream 7, and a TV series. That second Scream, by the way, is the one from 2022. They apparently had something against the number 5. Then they developed a thing for Roman numerals, but it only lasted for one picture.
Written as a satire of slasher movies, Scream revived the genre after it had been back-burnered for a few years.
Starring David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Rose McGowan, and Drew Barrymore, Scream was like The Breakfast Club gets killed. It’s a good watch on Friday the 13th, even better on Halloween, and perfect if you happen to live on Elm Street.
The Farm Winery in Paso Robles’ Adelaida District makes Primal Scream, a Rhône blend of Syrah and Grenache, heavy on the Syrah. We all scream for Syrah. It sells for around $45.
https://www.thefarmwinery.com/wines/primal-scream.php
Macabre, from 1958, is a William Castle fright flick. Movie-goers were given a Lloyd’s of London life insurance policy, in case they died of fright while watching the movie. I don’t think Lloyd’s was left on the hook for any payouts.
The tortured script features a rich man, his two daughters, and a convoluted series of gimmicks designed to steer the rich guy’s fortune to a ne’er-do-well. The whole mess wraps up with a hopelessly flat climax. They say the picture was made for less than a hundred grand and brought in five million dollars. I’ll need a serious conversation with the accountants before I’ll believe that.
There is a $6,000 Chardonnay called Macabre from Burgundy’s Auxey Duresses village. I hope they’re not depending on my check to keep the Halloween decorations lit. Let’s go slumming with Melodramatic Macabre, available at your local big box store for a lucky $13. It comes from a region called California. How exotic. Hey, it won double gold at the Orange County Fair.
https://melodramaticwines.com/?gRadius=100
1964’s Onibaba is not really a good Halloween film, in my estimation. It might be better for the Japanese New Year. Onibaba kinda makes me want to see Rashoman for the fortieth time. It also kinda makes me want a big bowl of soba noodles, but we can’t have everything.
An old woman and her daughter kill soldiers in a Japanese civil war set in medieval times, which I guess is the sort of thing that happened back then. They strip off their armor to sell, and throw the dead bodies into a pit. It is pretty brutal, but hardly the stuff of a movie for Halloween. Where’s the shack full of chainsaws? Where’s the creepy phone call? Where’s the guy in a mask? Oh, wait, there is a guy in a mask. You just don’t want to see what’s underneath it.
The term onibaba refers not only to a Buddhist morality tale, but to Japanese ghost stories in which women are depicted as monsters. Personally, I don’t hold with that sort of talk, but then I’ve never been a ninja warrior. Trying hard here to not be culturally appropriative.
One scribe of the day called the movie “a potpourri of ravenous eating and blatant sex.” Modern critics have a more accepting view. While ravenous eating and blatant sex sound like a good movie to me, I’d like a bottle of wine included.
Michelle Kazumi Sakazaki makes wine in Napa Valley. To honor her heritage, her Kazumi Wines is the first American brand to grow and produce wine from the ancient Japanese grape, Koshu. The Kazumi Napa Valley Koshu is in its third vintage, and it sells for $65.