The Scaredy Cat’s Guide To Halloween Movies
Halloween season is officially in full swing, and you know what that means: time to watch your favorite spooky movies. Horror is the go-to genre around this time, but it isn’t for everyone. Looking for something to get you in the spirit without keeping you up at night? We’ve got you covered:
The Hitchc*ck Collection
Alfred Hitchc*ck is one of the most celebrated and well-known filmmakers of all time, but he’s more than shower stabbings and insane birds. If Psycho is too much for you, check out one of his lesser known but just as good thrillers like Strangers On A Train, which revolves around a tennis player and a stranger who suggests they “exchange murders” of the people they most want out of their lives.
Even darker is Shadow of A Doubt, in which a bored teenager begins to suspect that her favorite Uncle Charlie is a serial murderer. Nearly any iconic Hitchc*ck movie (Rear Window, Rope, etc.) is a great choice if you’re looking for thrills without nightmares, but this Halloween, maybe discover a new favorite.
Disney Channel Classics
Disney Channel original movies are some of the biggest nostalgia triggers on the planet, especially around holiday seasons. But no DCOM holds a candle to Halloweentown or Twitches. Halloweentown follows Marnie, a girl obsessed with Halloween. When she finds out she’s a witch, she follows her grandma, played by the incomparable Debbie Reynolds, and ends up in Halloweentown, where witches, vampires, and ghouls live in peace.
The film also has three sequels that are also entertaining, but you could probably do without Return To Halloweentown. Twitches stars Tia and Tamera Mowry as twin witches separated at birth, only to reunite on their twenty-first birthday and discover their powers. The sequel, Twitches Too is just as fun. Both “franchises” are definitely made for kids but are still extremely fun years after you’ve first seen them.
Macabre Animation
The last place you would expect to find darkness is in animation, which is generally associated with children’s entertainment. But some of the best animated films are those that lean more towards horror than fantasy. A staple of both Halloween and Christmas is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas directed by Henry Selick. The movie, which follows Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, features gorgeous stop-motion animation, an interesting story, and fantastic songs by Danny Elfman.
Burton’s Corpse Bride is not quite as good, but again, the interesting characters and gloomy visual landscapes are more than enough to entertain you. Another Selick directed film, Coraline, centers on a girl who discovers an alternate reality in her new home, only to find it more twisted than expected. This premise and fantastic work by Laika has created one of the best animated films of all time.
Tim Burton’s World
Speaking of Burton, no one does dark fantasy quite like him. Beetlejuice, often considered his best work, takes a very strange premise and turns it into a timeless piece of horror comedy. Played to perfection by Michael Keaton, the character of Betelgeuse is called upon by the recently deceased Maitland’s (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis) to scare away the new residents of their home, which includes goth teenager Lydia (Winona Ryder).
It’s a premise that honestly should not work so well, but Burton’s morbid paintbrush gets the job done and then some. Another seemingly unworkable premise is Edward Scissorhands. Edward is a boy who was built by a scientist (Vincent Price)who died before he was able to give him proper hands. When Edward is taken into the pre-Wes Anderson pastel suburbs below his gothic home, he attempts to adapt to his surroundings. The end product is a movie that effectively criticizes suburbia and packs an emotional punch. And like The Nightmare Before Christmas, it doubles as a Christmas movie!
Pure Camp
Camp is a hard thing to pull off and get right. Probably because it’s hard to define. For some, camp is unintentional, and for others, it relies on talented performers who get it. Self-aware movies tend to be more effective at getting laughs rather than getting laughed at. And what better holiday to celebrate camp than a one that revolves around people dressing up in wild costumes? The iconic trio in Hocus Pocus (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, & Kathy Najimy) is one of the first things that comes to mind in this category.
The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), inspired by the already campy television show, features Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Christina Ricci doing some of their best work with expertly written dark comedy. The ultimate supernatural camp film is Death Becomes Her, in which two women fighting over the same man take a youth potion but end up being walking corpses when the potion causes them to physically die. Goldie Hawn is a gem in any comedic role, but it’s so much fun to see Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis give their all in roles like these. Also, Hawn and Streep have sword fight with shovels. If that doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what will.
Comedy Classics
The best way to alleviate the scares of Halloween is with comedy. And are there any supernatural comedies better than Young Frankenstein (1974) and Ghostbusters (1984)? Young Frankenstein takes on the classic Frankenstein story but instead focuses on his grandson (Gene Wilder) who wants nothing to do with his family legacy until he visits his grandfather’s home. The comedy genius of director Mel Brooks and the genius of Wilder, along with an incredible supporting cast of Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, and the spectacular Madeline Kahn has created a horror comedy that will remain hilarious for generations.
Ghostbusters follows a group of disgraced scientists who use their parapsychology skills to open a ghost extermination business. The script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis features some of the best lines in comedy history. There are so many moments throughout that hit so hard because of how perfect Aykroyd, Ramis, and Murray are together. Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, and especially Rick Moranis round out the cast and elevate the film from great to masterpiece.
Hopefully this guide helped you discover some spooky (but not too scary) movies to enjoy as we get closer to Halloween. Happy haunting!
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