Fan Fare

Helena Bonham Carter, queen of Halloween frights

This item is both good, and perhaps not so good, for director Tim Burton. His long-term companion, Helena Bonham Carter, has had the distinct honor (some might say dubious distinction) of making it on a list — twice — of top movie-themed Halloween costumes. The first time, she is a queen (good) and the second, a witch (not so good, although given Burton’s taste in characters  — Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd — he might think it’s cool).

Online movie ticket seller Fandango.com polled some  2,200 people on its website, asking them about the upcoming ghoulish holiday where people dress like goblins or werewolves and play tricks or get treats. Fifty-five percent said they would dress up and of those, 58 percent said they’d pick a movie-themed costume.

Among women, the top costume was Alice from Burton’s version of the classic “Alice in Wonderland” and at No. 2 was the Red Queen, also from that movie and portrayed by Carter. The actress’ role as witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the “Harry Potter” movies was No. 5.  (pictured above left).  Sandwiched in-between were  Barbie from “Toy Story 3″ in the No. 3 position and Hit-Girl from the action adventure “Kick-Ass” at No. 4.

For men, the top costume was “Iron Man” (who is played by Robert Downey, Jr.), followed by the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) in “Alice” and the Kick-Ass character in “Kick-Ass” (Aaron Johnson) rounding out the top 3. Bloodthirsty Jigsaw of the “Saw” movies and the menacing Machete from the film of the same name completed the No. 4 and No. 5 positions.

Where group themes were concerned, the Mad Hatter and Alice from “Alice” topped the list in a tie with Ken & Barbie from “Toy Story 3,” and Shrek and Princess Fiona from “Shrek Forever After” were in the No. 3 position. Suprisingly, given the film’s popularity, the blue Navi’i people of “Avatar” fame were down the list at No. 6, but they did beat out the cast of characters in the “Harry Potter” movies. And in another sign that the popularity of “Harry Potter” is wearing thin on movie audiences, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was No. 9 on the list favorite male costumes, just knocking off No. 10, Harry Potter.

Happy Halloween.

“Paranormal Activity” scares up most movie frights at Halloween

Vampires may be one of the most popular current themes in entertainment, but movies that feature exorcisms and Satan give audiences the biggest scare.

With Halloween fast approaching, a poll on website Movies.com found that vampires  give moviegoers less of a fright than creepy kids or Zombies.

(Has the romance factor of the “Twilight” saga, along with all those popular vegetarian vampires, meant that good old blood-suckers are losing some street cred?)

In the Movies.com poll, some 44 percent of the 5,000 responders get the best scares out of films that focus on exorcism and  Satan or ghosts and haunting. Vampires were rated scary by just 3.6 percent of those taking part.

So it’s no surprise then that independent movie “Paranormal Activity” — which combined ghosts, demons and hauntings and was widely released in 2009 — was voted scariest movie of the past decade, receiving 21 percent of votes, followed by “The Ring” from 2002.

Veteran actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Anthony Hopkins (aka Hannibal Lecter) have lost none of their scary charms. Curtis was overwhelmingly voted best scream queen for her appearances in the  “Halloween” franchise 30 years ago, and Hannibal Lecter  came a close second to Freddy Krueger  as the horror movie icon people would least like to meet.

“The Shining” tops list of scariest horror films

Jigsaw, step aside. “The Shining” featuring Jack Nicholson as an axe-wielding psycho has topped a list of the scariest horror movies of all time.  With Halloween just days away, the writers at film website Totalscifionline.com compiled a list of the 100 greatest horror movies.

“Nearly 30 years after its initial release, The Shining remains an unparalled study in isolation, madness and paranoia,” said Matt McAllister, editor of Totalscifionline.com. “The expansive sets, surreal visuals, and an intense performance from Jack Nicholson add up to a film guaranteed to give viewers a sleepless night.”

“Rosemary’s Baby”, directed by Roman Polanski, came in second place, while British cult classic, “The Wicker Man”, famous for Britt Ekland’s naked dancing, was third.

Here is Totalscifionline.com’s list of its top 10 scariest movies. Do you agree?

1) The Shining (1980) 2) Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 3) The Wicker Man (1973) 4) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 5) Psycho (1960) 6) Alien (1979) 7) Night of the Living Dead (1968) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 9) Halloween (1978) 10) Jaws (1977)

“Final Destination” is the place to be at movie theaters

Horror movies scared up big ticket sales at theaters across the United States with the fourth installment of the “Final Destination” series taking the No. 1 spot ($28.3 million) from director Quentin Tarantino’s violent “Inglourious Basterds.” You can read the box office coverage here.

But the “Basterds” landed in the No. 2 spot (R20 million), and it must’ve been heartening for its distributor, the Weinstein Co., which also claimed the No. 3 film with its latest “Halloween” horror flick. We were in front of a megaplex again on Sunday asking people what they liked — and didn’t. Click below for a look.

(Video by Marc Price)