My favourite three months of the year are finally upon us, after what feels like has been an endless Summer. If there’s anything that gets me in the mood for the upcoming cosy nights with blankets, warm drinks and twinkly lights, it’s a good film to go along with it. As we’re now on the run up to Halloween, I thought I’d create a little list of all my favourite Halloween films, that (F.Y.I) go excellently with hot chocolate, squirty cream, marshmallows and pumpkin pie. Personally, I plan on seeing if I can tick off every single one of these during the Halloween season, and I want you to join me!
Hocus Pocus
(https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/hocus-pocus-encore-screening/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/)
Teenager Max Dennison doesn’t have the same love for Halloween that all the other kids in Salem, Massachusetts do, but he still takes his younger sister, Dani, out trick or treating anyway. After bumping into his crush- Allison- on the way, he also ends up taking Dani to the Sanderson Museum, which Allison’s parents own after it was renovated from an old witches’ cottage. The Sanderson Sisters, Winifred, Sarah and Mary, are buried there and can only be resurrected when a virgin lights the black flame candle. Max, of course, does this and the witches arrive ready to suck the souls out of children in order to stay young forever. As Max and Allison came to the Sanderson Museum with Dani, the witches begin to go after her, and so the adventure unfolds! This is one of my all-time favourite Disney and Halloween films, and has become a massive cult classic with our generation. I can unashamedly say that I basically know every word… watch it, watch it now!
Coraline
(https://belfastfilmfestival.org/films/coraline)
When I told my little sister that this film scared the living daylights out of me, she laughed and told me that “that film is for children!”. I don’t get what isn’t completely terrifying about entering an alternate dimension where “other” parents have black buttons for eyes, and won’t let you go home, but whatever- she’s clearly more mature than me at nine years old. Although it can be really freaky, Coraline is a brilliant film. I don’t think that it was originally intended for Halloween, but it certainly does the job. The animation is nothing short of wonderful, and the narrative will have you on the edge of your seat; it’s a definite winner for me!
Beetlejuice
(https://www.famousbirthdays.com/movies/beetlejuice.html)
This film starts very unexpectedly: with the two main characters (Barbara and Adam) dying in a car accident. Unfortunately for them, they don’t go to live peacefully together forever, instead they get stuck haunting their old, country house, completely unable to leave. When a family from the living moves into this home, both Barbara and Adam get jealous and attempt to scare them away. Instead of causing Deetzes and Lydia to move out, they end up attracting a spirit called Beetlejuice. The three of them become friends, and Beetlejuice gets employed by the deceased couple to scare the family out of what was supposed to be their forever home. Directed by Tim Burton, (aka a Halloween film God) there is nothing not to love about this film; it is as hilarious as it is heart-warming, and Beetlejuice becomes a character that will never leave you.
The Addams Family (1991)
(http://www.dytho.com/the-ultimate-list-of-best-halloween-movies-part-1/)
If you’ve ever thought that your family is dysfunctional, wait until you see the state of these nutters as they grace your screens! Gomez Addams, the father of the family, is pining to be reunited with his brother who disappeared into the unknown after the two of them had a heated argument. His lawyer, Tully, is going through some financial difficulties with a con-artist, and so she decides to force her son (who has a strange resemblance to Gomez’s lost brother, Fester) to go to the Addams’s family home disguised as Gomez’s brother returning from hiding. If Tully can find the family’s hidden riches that are hidden somewhere in the house, she can get out of her trouble with Abigail Craven. But, as you might know, disturbing the Addams family is never a good idea… Obviously, everyone is familiar with this cooky clan, but I think that this is my favourite film of theirs. It reminds me of Halloween night with my siblings after a long evening of trick or treating…
Ghostbusters
(https://filmschoolrejects.com/sunday-reader-roundtable-ghostbusters-1984/)
Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray star as a group of scientists that get sacked from their positions as lecturers at a university in New York. They are struggling to come up with ideas as to what they could do next with their careers, when one of them decides that the sound of being a ghostbuster (someone who fights the spooky supernatural) appeals to them. The others decide to join him on his new venture and they end up finding a vortex that leads to another dimension, with the ability to cause serious harm to Earth. The film, therefore, follows how the ghostbusters try to save New York from the vortex that they uncover to the hit Ray Parker Jr. track.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2018/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-shadowcast/auckland)
An innocent, young, newly-engaged couple’s car breaks down in pathetic fallacy wind and rain. A dark, looming castle is nearby, and they decide to knock to see if the owner will let them use their home phone to call for help. Unexpectedly, the castle is home to residents in elaborate, revealing costumes who are led by a Dr. Frank N. Furter. The disguised doctor is actually an alien transvestite who creates his dream man in his mad laboratory, before seducing the couple in a bewildering turn of events. If you end up loving this crazy, sexual-innuendo-filled film, I strongly urge you to go and see the live show at the theatre when it next tours. I took my mum to see it for her birthday a year or two ago, and it was absolutely incredible!
The Nightmare Before Christmas
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU6iP0WLsU8)
Nope, I don’t care what you say… The Nightmare Before Christmas is both a Christmas and Halloween film, and I’m willing to fight you to let it have that title. In yet another Tim Burton classic, (I told you he was a Halloween film God!) Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King, is sick and tired of celebrating Halloween. One day, he falls into Christmastown. He is so excited and overwhelmed by it that he goes back to Halloweentown, trying to persuade all of the resident bats, monsters and ghouls to help him organise and celebrate Christmas. Not only is this a great film, it also has some amazing songs in it. Get ready to have them stuck in your head until Christmas, and then for a few months after that when you inevitably watch it again.