Inspired by the latest episode of the (highly recommended) Pure Cinema Podcast, here are the movies I'd schedule for my own dusk-to-dawn horror movie marathon, just in time for Halloween. (These are the color movies -- I'll do a marathon of black-and-white horror flicks in the next few days.) Imagine getting in your seat around 7 o'clock or so, watching a few seasonably suitable trailers and short subjects (including the crazy doll segment from "Trilogy of Terror") and then seeing the following films unspool before your eyes. Hell, I'd buy a ticket -- and I've already seen all these movies!

Tremors (1990, 1 hour 36 minutes)We start the marathon off with this one for two reasons: One, it's extremely entertaining, the perfect combination of humor, suspense and (mild) gore. Perfect for watching with a crowd, and it gets the evening off to an energetic start. Two, it's probably the only movie on this list that you can bring your children to, so it makes sense to schedule it first. After this one, take the kiddies home.

Return of the Living Dead (1985, 1 hour 31 minutes)We keep the momentum going with this bloody comedic tribute to the works of George Romero. Packed with gore, nudity and profanity, it's fun in an entirely different way than "Tremors." Personal note: I first saw this movie a few weeks before it opened when it sneak-previewed after a showing of "Fright Night." That late-night showing remains one of the best times I've eve had inside a movie theater.

Suspiria (1977, 1 hour 32 minutes)Keeping the energy high but getting into distinctly weird territory, we show Dario Argento's mind-blowing, eye-popping head trip about witches in a German dance school. One of the most visually stunning movies -- horror or otherwise -- ever made, it's the perfect movie to take us into the later hours.

House/Hausu (1977, 1 hour 28 minutes)And, as the perfect oddball companion, here's a Japanese film that makes "Suspiria" look normal by comparison. I've seen it several times, and I'm still not sure what quite happens, but the visual style -- a combination of low-tech special effects and crazed green screens -- is like nothing I've ever seen. If you doze off during this, you'll wonder if you're dreaming or not.

Phantasm (1979, 1 hour 28 minutes)Speaking of dreams, everyone thinks of that nasty little silver ball or The Tall Man when they hear "Phantasm," but for me, the most memorable thing about the movie is the mesmerizing dreamlike mood it manages to convey. One of the most interesting (and most oddly personal) low-budget horror movies of the last few decades, it's best experienced late at night. Which is when I'm screening it.

Messiah of Evil (1973, 1 hour 30 minutes)Continuing the dreamlike theme, here's a genuinely strange and troubling creation from Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the duo that wrote, among other things, "American Graffiti." This one takes place in California, too, but it's that's the only similarlity those two movies share. "Messiah of Evil" is like a nightmare come true, with dark streets, zombie-like strangers and a terrifying scene set in a grocery store, of all places.

Dawn of the Dead (1978, 2 hours 7 minutes)The sun should rise sometime during the screening of this Romero epic, which is appropriate given both its title and for the way it somehow manages to put a (slightly?) happy ending on a zombie movie. Plus, the combination of ground-breaking gore, suburban satire and slam-bang action should get the audience on its feet and ready to face whatever horrors await them outside the theater.