The Stranger is participating in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Challenge all month long! Every October, Scarecrow puts together a list of cinematic themes and invites folks to follow along and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the criteria. Today's recommendation: Gene Wilder's Haunted Honeymoon. by Hannah Murphy Winter 19. VIDEO STORE DAY: This is the big one. Watch something physically rented or bought from an actual video store. If you live in a place that is unfortunate enough not to have one of these archival treasures then watch a movie with a video store scene in it at least. #vivaphysicalmedia Haunted Honeymoon If we’re doing Video Store Day, we’re doing it right. Which means we’re watching something that’s Unstreamable.  I’ve heard stories about Haunted Honeymoon for years, but hadn’t been able to get my hands on it until this month. (Thanks Scarecrow!) The story takes place in the 1930s. Radio personalities Larry Abbot (played by Gene Wilder) and Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) are stars of a hugely popular radio mystery series, but when Larry and Vickie get engaged, Larry starts having bouts of “fear” while he performs, laughing or crying uncontrollably. The solution? A large, intimidating, vaguely European psychiatrist named Dr. Abbott who believes the only cure is to “scare him…to death!” The doc plans to scare the fear out of him that weekend when the pair get married at the cavernous, definitely haunted mansion owned by his Aunt Kate (played by the spectacular Dom DeLouis, and inspired by his impression of Ethel Barrymore). Dr. Abbott’s manufactured fright night crosses streams with the family’s werewolf mythology and an actual murder mystery. Hilarity and horror ensues.  Haunted Honeymoon was Wilder’s fifth whack at directing, and while I suspect the writing doesn’t always land the way that he intended, it’s a delight to watch. This was Radner’s very last film before she passed away from ovarian cancer, and the chemistry between Wilder and Radner (who were already married in real life) jumps off the screen. And ultimately, any thin points in the writing are filled in by the all-in performances of Wilder, Radner, and DeLouis.  As far as Unstreamables go, I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t sought this out yet. It only has 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. And in part, I think that’s because it was a little out of time: in the era of immersive, Nightmare on Elm Street-style special effects, Wilder insisted on only using effects that were available in the 1930s, making a movie that felt grounded in in-camera, practical effects. The mirror and lighting effects make you feel like you’re in an elaborate, high-budget haunted house—even if sometimes you can see the fishing line making it all happen. He also chose to not use any bright, primary colors in the set and costuming, almost evoking the feeling of a black and white film. Compared to other movies at the time, it just didn’t have the flash that people expected. But I think that in the last decade, if it’d been available on streaming services, this would have come around to cult classic status.  Oh and for those of you that frequent DoesTheDogDie.com? You’re in the clear.  Come for: Bryan Pringle’s eyebrows; Gilda Radner’s dress Stay for: The sound effect every time Dom DeLouis slides down the banister.  The Stranger is participating in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Challenge all month long! Every October, Scarecrow puts together a list of cinematic themes and invites folks to follow along and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the criteria. This year, Stranger staffers are joining the fun and we’re sharing our daily recommendations here on Slog! Read more about Scarecrow’s 2024 challenge—and get the watch list—here. And you can track our daily recommendations here! 💀