While October is more of a time warp of midterms, anxiety and anticipation for Thanksgiving, it does have one thing we can all love and enjoy — Halloween. Now, many of us do other things on Halloween rather than trick-or-treating and bobbing for apples, but if there’s one thing we will never grow out of when it comes to Halloween and that is the joy of Halloween movies. Grab your apple cider and bucket of candy corn (which is gross, caramel corn is better), find the nearest couch and get your DVD/VHS player fired up because we’re bringing you the five best All Hallow’s Eve movies.
Hocus Pocus
This movie is everything. I watch this movie all year round. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry and I have a crush on Max Dennison. If you haven’t seen this movie, I just want to know which rock you were living under since 1993 because you are missing out.
Hocus Pocus starts off with this cutie farm boy, Thackery Binx, from Salem Massachussetts, looking for his adorable little sister, Emily. Unfortunately, she has been kidnapped by three (hilarious, kinda creepy and vocally talented)witches—Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson—who are going to use her life to stay young. Thackery tries to save his sister and the witches turn him into a black cat who cannot die. So sad and creepy. The townspeople form a mob because the Sanderson sisters’ witchcraft is really killing their vibe. But before they go, they do a spell that says 300 years in the future they will come alive again on All Hallow’s Eve when a virgin lights the black flame candle. Like yeah right, what idiot will do that?!
Fast forward, we meet Max Dennison, a bratty teenager who was forced to move to Salem with his family. He doesn’t believe in the Sanderson sisters legend and thinks everyone in the town is crazy. Him and this pretty girl take Max’s sister to the Sanderson house and the story unfolds from there.
Bette Midler who plays Winifred does a really great rendition of “I Put a Spell On You” by Nina Simone and I KNOW you will be singing it 5 days after you watch it.
Night of the Living Dead
This movie is about zombies. You’re either obsessed with zombies or you’re tired of them. Before you pronounce your love or your hatred for zombie films, let me start by saying this is the best zombie film. It was produced with a small budget and filmed in Pittsburgh, but it is actually one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is creepy and old. You will go through a rollercoaster of emotions and you will be on the edge of your seat for 85 of the 95 minutes of this movie. It is so fun to watch. And you need to watch it in the original black and white version because it adds to the allure.
Night of the Living Dead shows a brother and sister duo, Barbara and Johnny visiting their dad’s grave. Then, Barbara gets attacked by a zombie. Boom, action. Her brother tries to save her but falls and dies after smacking his head off of a gravestone. Creepy and sad and we’re not even halfway through. Barbara tries to flee and goes into this house but there are undead dead people everywhere. So many dead people. Then, this awesome guy named Ben shows up. Gets the zombies to back off so him and Barbara can go in this house and be safe. Two other groups of people are there already though. There’s a young couple and a family of three. The family was attacked by the zombies and got away, but their daughter, Karen, was bit on the arm by one of the zombies. She’s the little girl you may have seen on the cover of Night of the Living Dead merchandise. (Side note: She was also an art teacher at my middle school.) Eventually, they all convene to decide what to do about the zombie situation. You have to watch it to see what fantastic, classic horror movie stuff happens next.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
I was always confused on whether or not this was a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie, but I have decided it is the perfect transitional movie. Thanks, Tim Burton. If you love Disney, you know this movie was pretty different from everything Disney was doing at the time. Tim Burton does animation an entirely unique way from the Disney classics, yet still keeps all the singing, the love stories and the villains that we love.
Jack Skellington is the skeleton heartthrob in this tale. He’s the Pumpkin King from “Halloween Town” where they are either celebrating Halloween or preparing for it. Every fairy tale creature is present: vampires (like Dracula ones, not Edward Cullen, thank goodness), werewolves (no Jacobs), mad scientists and more. Jack’s getting tired of the Halloween life and wants to know what else is out there. He’s kicking leaves through the woods with his puppy, Zero, and comes across a circle of doors. He decides to go into the “Christmas Town” one. He loves what he sees and sings his way through the town. Then, he goes back to Halloween Town and tells everyone how fabulous Christmas is and they try to take over Christmas. Watch to see if Jack and his Halloween misfit crew make it work!
The Addams Family
This movie didn’t get great reviews; people either loved it or they hated it. But if you liked the TV show or the comic strip, then you’ll love this movie. It’s a classic. Morticia Addams is such a diva and I think she is so fierce. Also, her and her husband’s relationship is so sweet. If you like to be cynically funny, like I do, then you will relate to Wednesday Addams (young Christina Ricci) more than you like to admit. Don’t let the pet hand—yes, you read that right—hold you back. This is a funny movie and will help you forget all the homework you’ve been procrastinating.
To start off the weird fest, the dad, Gomez Addams, is very upset about him and his brother, Fester, getting in a huge argument and not talking for 25 years. It just so happens that Gomez’s lawyer owes this loan shark lady a ton of money. The loan shark lady’s son, Gordon, looks like Fester. So to pay back this money, he gets this Fester look-a-like to impersonate the real Fester and steal money and valuables from the Addams. The Addams family is loaded and very smart. And really funny. And kinda creepy. But really cute.
The Craft
Throwback Thursday! I know at least some of you have seen this movie. It has terrible reviews but it teaches a good lesson about karma and magic. The acting is pretty good and so are the special effects. It’s a cult classic.
The movie is about four girls who have different (and relatable) problems that they deal with through witchcraft. This new girl named Sarah moves to L.A. with her dad and has to go to this new school where she meets three other girls who are starting a coven of witches. The movie is full of weird occurrences and is just scary enough to make you look behind the shower curtain but not be totally paranoid when leaving your basement.
Get to watching! Halloween only comes once a year, according to the calendar, so dust off your old VHS tapes, search Netflix or Amazon Prime and find these awesome movies so you can be entertained all month long.