Well, the days are getting shorter, stores are filling up with scary costumes, and everything is pumpkin-flavored again, so that must mean that All Hallow’s Eve is not too far away. And what better way to get yourself in the mood than with a few creepy movies to watch in between your trips to haunted houses and corn mazes? Everyone’s seen “The Exorcist” and “Night of the Living Dead,” so how about expanding your horizons a bit with these eerie cinematic nightmares which you may or may not have failed to notice over the years?

“La maschera del demonio” (1960, Mario Bava)

More widely-known by its English release title, “Black Sunday” (though direct translation of the title means “The Mask of the Demon”), Mario (“Black Sabbath”) Bava’s dazzlingly atmospheric masterpiece (very loosely based on the Gogol story “Viy” and banned in the UK until 1968) about an executed vampire/witch seeking revenge against her killers 200 years following her death has long served as a massively influential staple in Gothic horror, influencing everything from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (of which several scenes are near exact replicas of scenes from “Sunday”) to “Sleepy Hollow” from director Tim Burton (who has stated that “Sunday” is his favorite film). Bava’s film made him a legend in the horror genre with its sumptuous black and white visuals and shocking (for the time) violence. The opening sequence alone was voted #40 on Bravo TV’s “100 Scariest Movie Moments.”

“E tu vivrai nel terrore, L’aldilà” (1981, Lucio Fulci)

Better known to many as “The Beyond” (though the title actually stands for “... And You Will Live in Fear, The Afterlife”). Lucio (“Zombi 2”) Fulci’s surrealistic fever dream of graphic gore and creepy ambiance (the second part of his “Gates of Hell” trilogy, which also includes “The City of the Living Dead” and “The House By the Cemetery”) about a gateway to the nether regions being opened underneath a Louisiana hotel has amassed a large group of elite fans, including director Quentin Tarantino, who has stated that the films of Fulci influenced his own and who also handpicked “The Beyond” for a remastered re-released under his “Rolling Thunder” banner in 1998. *Note: AVOID the edited version of the film, which was released under the title, “The Seven Doors of Death.” (*Trivia: Footage from the infamous “Spider Attack” sequence in this film made it into a dream sequence in the first Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” movie in 2002).

“Les yeux sans visage” (1960, Georges Franju)

Director Georges Franju’s eerie masterwork, an adaptation of Jean Redon’s novel, was originally released in the US under the schlocky title “The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus,” though its true English title is the more fitting “Eyes Without a Face.” The film, involving a scientist’s attempts to find a fitting replacement for his daughter’s missing face (which she lost in a car crash) is a somber, desolate film which captures a creepiness which few films ever have and has left its influence on many subsequent horror films. In fact, it’s been said that the daughter’s featureless face mask in the film was an inspiration for Michael Myers in the “Halloween” series. J. Hoberman of “The Village Voice” perfectly summed up the film, calling it “a masterpiece of poetic horror and tactful, tactile brutality. (*Trivia: Does the English title sound familiar? That’s because Billy Idol had a song also called “Eyes Without a Face.” Apparently, he saw the film in the 80’s and was so haunted by it, he felt compelled to write a song inspired by it...and it became one of his biggest hits!).

So there you have it. Three, perhaps, overlooked classics to really get you in the mood of the season and prepare you for when October 31st gets here. Now get yourself a mug of warm apple cider and some roasted pumpkin seeds, turn the lights down low, and settle yourself in for a night of hair-raising films guaranteed to still be with you when you go to bed tonight. Enjoy, sleep tight...and have a Happy Halloween!

Author James Ferace lives in Ledyard.