Round my way, 99% of all Halloween costumes these days are zombie-based. The knack, it seems is finding the right gimmick to zombify – so you’ll see grown adults dressed as zombie jailbait schoolgirls, zombie sportsmen or zombie auditors. But the movie world can offer all manner of appropriate costumes that don’t require an unnaturally pale face, lashings of ketchup and a stumbling walk – for instance you could terrify everyone by going as Gary Busey. Just inhale two cans of hairspray for that real not-quite-right look. Seriously though, this week’s column is dedicated to the great and the good of movie Halloween costumes: think of it as inspiration. And never say I don’t do anything for you. In all honesty, they’re not the greatest costumes, but they will certainly make you the center of attention…

We continue our journey through a month of frightening, bloody and violent films. For more, check out our 31 Days of Horror homepage. Synopsis: “Long live the new flesh!” Good old fashioned body horror courtesy of the master of such things, David Cronenberg. Videodrome stars James Woods as Max Renn, the sleazy president of CIVIC TV, a Toronto-based TV station, “The One You Take to Bed With You”. The channel focuses on lower quality content, the kind of stuff we get after 1AM on Cinemax these days. Always on the hunt for something more extreme, more what he calls “tough”, Renn believes he’s found his station’s latest offering in the form of Videodrome, a faux snuff show he has come in possession of. But Renn soon believes he is involved in a global conspiracy when the truth about Videodrome and the people behind it begin to reveal themselves, and Renn’s already sick mind deteriorates into hallucinations and madness.

This Week in Blu-ray, we get one of the most exciting and diverse slates of HD releases that we’ve seen all year. From the definitive event film of 2010 to a few beautiful additions to the Criterion Collection, there is a lot to be excited about. I might as well call it the big director edition of TWiBD: Christopher Nolan, David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro and Brett Ratner. Wait, all but that last one. Even my own predisposition to like below-the-line action movies can’t lead me to become victim to the siren song of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Especially when there are so many wonderful releases to talk about, instead. So grab your credit card and mounting debt and lets go shopping for a slew of new Blu-rays.

Just as film noir isn’t one single definable thing, noir itself contains many offshoots and categories. And every Noirvember, it’s important to not only examine good ol’ film noir, but its corresponding variants as well. One aspect of noir that complicates its designation as a genre or a style is the persistence of neo-noir, a cinematic form that arose in direct reaction to noir. In the US, canonical neo-noirs include films like Roman Polanski’s Chinatown or Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. These were films made by filmmakers who knew cinema’s history, who have seen and studied noir’s origins and staples. These were filmmakers who worshiped film history and used classic cinema as a prototype for their own creation, embedding references to the old while departing from it in creating the new.

Landon and Adam usually have the lock down on all things Criterion, but lately I’ve been inundated by the important films of old times and new. First it was the package I received from my good friend Travon who took advantage of the Barnes and Noble 50% off sale and his last few days before heading back to Iraq to fight for our freedoms to send The Red Shoes, Paths of Glory and House my way. And, no, there’s nothing ironic about an American soldier sending me movies from the UK and Japan. That’s what this country is all about. In addition to that bountiful harvest, I was also invited to blather on inanely for the Criterion Cast – the podcast whose title is incredibly self-descriptive. That Criterion Cast gang and I were talking Videodrome – one of the best films of all time featuring a chest vagina. Of course, the conversation covered our fears of technology, the future-casting from Cronenberg, and the likelihood that we’ll all grow new VHS-compatible sex organs (hint: we will). Even with my inclusion, the episode is a fascinating one, and I highly encourage you to check it out over at the Criterion Cast site. Then bookmark the site to further bask yourself in the warm glow of film love with future episodes.

The director of Jennifer’s Body is looking for a new playmate, and Rachel Weisz is the right woman for the gender-bending job.

Everyone just calm down. Put the entire bottle of luudes away. It’s going to be alright. Or maybe it won’t. Instead of threatening self-inflicted bodily harm, just rant about how stupid this remake will be inside. Long live the old new flesh.

Whether it’s a mythical beast or a horrifying monster, we love it when characters change into something right before our eyes. Here’s a look at the best flicks featuring transformations.