The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.
- Hocus Pocus directed by Kenny Ortega, a classic. The story is about a teenager named Max Dennison who explores an abandoned house with his sister and his friend Allison and by accident brings a coven of witches who came back from the dead. The three main characters have only one night to combat the witches and save the children of Salem from being killed. I never get tired of watching this movie, it’s a Disney classic and perfect for a family or friends movie night.
- The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick, is about a man named Jack Torrance who becomes a winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer’s block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack’s writing goes nowhere and Danny’s visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel’s dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family. I think this movie is a masterpiece, you can tell that every detail of the movie was planned and intentional: the music, the cinematography, the colors, and the characters make up the ambiance to make the movie so effective.
- Coraline by Henry Selick, portrays a girl named Coraline who discovers a secret door while exploring her new house. Behind the door, Coraline finds an alternate world that mirrors her life but in a better way. While she is happy in this alternate world, she soon finds out that her “Other Mother” from this world plans to keep her there forever. Coraline then needs to find a way to save her parents from the “Other Mother” and go back to her world. I remember watching this movie for the first time when I was little with my mom and cousin at the movie theatre, and I cried so much. I was traumatized, and while I don’t think this movie is for little kids, I now like to rewatch it and try to understand all the hidden clues and messages behind it, because believe there are a lot.
- Halloween by John Carpenter, is about 60-year-old Michael Myers who murdered his sister Judith. Then, Myers was sentenced and locked away for 15 years, but while he was being transferred for a court date on October 30, 1978, he escaped. Myers returns to his small town in Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again. The movie was a huge success and there are now 13 movies, the most recent coming out in 2022. To be honest, I haven’t seen any of the Halloween movies, but people have given me good feedback about them, so I am planning to watch a couple this year.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas, written by the famous Tim Burton, is also one of my favorite Halloween movies. Most people say this is a Christmas movie instead of a Halloween movie, but I disagree. The movie is about Jack Skellington, Halloween’s most beloved pumpkin king, however, he became bored with the annual routine. This consisted of preparing for Halloween, to frighten the “real world” and then doing it again next year, over and over again. Jack accidentally enters Christmastown and is so fascinated by all its color and spirit that he decides to take over the role of Santa Claus by kidnapping him. But he soon discovers that this is a terrible idea.
- Carrie was written by Stephen King. The movie tells the story of a teenager, Carrie White who is bullied and taunted by her classmates at school and has a bad relationship with her mother at home. Suddenly, strange occurrences start happening around her, she appears to have supernatural powers. As the movie continues her powers continue to grow and she gets revenge from all the people who treated her wrongfully. Before watching the movie, I had read the book, which I really liked. The book as the movie is not very scary, but the storyline and the theme are interesting. Also, Stephen King is the master of writing scary and thrilling books, and Carrie has become a classic among several of his other books.
- The SCREAM series, but most importantly the first one. The movie is about a teenage girl named Sydney who is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends. The killer uses scary movies as part of a deadly game. Personally, the movie is not scary, but it is fun to watch with friends and have a laugh. There are 6 movies, and they follow a similar storyline where a killer targets a girl and starts to kill her friends. To be honest the story is kind of repetitive, but I must say that the last movie is worth watching.
- The Purge was directed by James DeMonaco. The movie takes place in an America ravaged by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government declares its annual 12-hour period during which all criminal activity is legal. James Sandin and his family face the ultimate test when an intruder drags the vicious outside world into their home. James, Mary, and their two children struggle to survive the night while trying not to turn into monsters like the ones they are striving to avoid. I believe the movie can be quite impactful because of the violence, but I think it can show us what humans can be capable of.
- IT was also written by Stephen King. There are two chapters to the new version of the original movie. The first chapter is about seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine who are about to face their worst nightmare. An old, shape-shifting evil emerges from the sewer every 27 years to eat the town’s children. Over a horrible summer, the friends need to overcome their own personal fears to battle the shaped shifter known as Pennywise. I enjoyed watching this movie, some scenes are kind of scary, and I might have screamed one or twice the first time I saw it, but both chapters of the movie are worth watching.
- Edward Scissorhands directed by Tim Burton. A scientist from a small town builds an animated human being, Edward. Sadly, the scientist dies before he can finish assembling Edward, leaving him with a weird appearance scissor blades instead of hands. Not too far, suburban saleswoman Peg discovers Edward and takes him home, and falls in love with Peg’s daughter, Kim. However, despite his kindness and artistic talent, Edward’s hands make him an outcast. I really enjoyed this movie because nowadays, everyone is so concerned about how things look on the surface, it’s very difficult for anyone to be different.