For a Halloween preview, see two horror classics

Above : Boris Karloff stars in the 1932 film version of “The Mummy.” (Photo/Universal Pictures)

If October is known for anything, it’s Halloween. And Halloween means pumpkins, the familiar night of kids out trick-or-treating … and scary movies.

In honor of that last October offering, Universal Pictures will present a special pair of matinee screenings of classic horror films.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday , “The Mummy” (1932) and “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) will screen at two area Regal Cinemas theaters, NorthTown Mall and Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Stadium.

Then a 1 p.m. on Oct. 29th , (also a Saturday, “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954) and “Phantom of the Opera” (1943) will screen at both theaters.

Directed by Karl Freund, “The Mummy” features the great Boris Karloff as the high priest Imhotep who rises from the dead and who embarks on a murder spree in his attempt to reunite with a long-dead Egyptian princess.

The New York Times wrote, “In ‘The Mummy’ Karloff stalks out of his winding cloths after 3,700 years of restless sleep, and that is a hideous enough theme to freeze the most callous imagination.”

Directed by the great James Whale, “The Bride of Frankenstein” – a sequel to his own “Frankenstein” (1931) – again features Boris Karloff (billed only as The Monster). Colin Clive returns as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, who attempts to give birth to a female partner for his original creation. (Look for Elsa Lanchester as the title character).

Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times wrote, “In ‘The Bride of Frankenstein,’ Boris Karloff comes again to terrify the children, frighten the women and play a jiggling tune upon masculine spines as the snarling, lumbering, pitiful Thing that a scientist formed from grave-snatched corpses and brought to life with the lightning.”

Treats come in all shapes and sizes. For movie fans, though, classic movies are among the best.