by Ineza Merci
Halloween is coming up and you know what that means. Candy, spooky decor, Halloween movies and parties. Now, if you aren’t a Halloween party person, there’s a chance you’ll be chilling at home, getting all cozy on the couch, scrolling through your favorite streaming service to find a Halloween film to watch, by yourself, with friends, or even a furry friend. When it comes to Halloween movies and television shows they vary from family friendly to absolute gore that you might not want to show the children. Today we’ll take a look at 5 movies/TV Shows that seem oh-so perfect for this upcoming Halloween.
5. “Scream” (1996)
Featuring Drew Berrymore and with the current score of 81% in Rotten Tomatoes, the American slasher film introduces Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her fellow high school friends being terrorized by a masked killer known as “Ghostface”. Ghostface wears the iconic white and black face mask, along with the all-black gown, using a knife as their weapon of choice while acting out the heinous activity. As some of you might know, there are 6 “Scream” movies out. There are many opinions, surrounding the other 5 “Scream” adaptations, floating in the air. And with that being said, it’s been expressed that it’s better to stick to the original “Scream” movie. But, I’ll leave that up for debate.
4. “Halloweentown” (1998)
Not sure about most people, but there are movies out there that exude nostalgia and fun childhood memories, especially on Halloween. “Halloweentown” is that movie. “Halloweentown” showcases the Piper family, Marnie (older child), Dylan (middle child) and Sophie Piper (youngest child), on Halloween night talking about witches, ghouls and goblins when their grandmother, played by Debbie Reynolds, visits for the night. The film captures the division on how the siblings choose to or not to believe in these Halloween tricks, monsters and what-not. While disbelief and curiosity fills the Piper household, there’s a bigger Halloween family secret that the Piper siblings may not believe is possible or even real. The quest for answers then takes them to a town called “Halloweentown”.
The bizarre monsters, ghouls, spells and the familial dynamics might just have your family and friends laughing and/or reflecting on the family relationships of their own.
3. “My Babysitter’s a Vampire” (2011-2012)
Different from the first two films, “My Babysitter’s a Vampire”, created by Disney Channel, is a two-season Canadian TV show that surrounds high school vampire Sarah (Vanessa Morgan) who then has to babysit Ethan Morgan’s (Matthew Knight) little sister, in the town of White Chapel. If you think Sarah would be the only vampire in town, you’d be wrong. The town of White Chapel is home to hundreds of vampires. Along with Ethan and Sarah, the show’s comedic relief Benny (Atticus Mitchell) tags along to fight off the problematic blood suckers roaming around town and at their school.
Conflicts with vampires arise in almost every episode, but do not be fooled as these fanged folks can tackle other monsters and entities.
Hm, I guess babysitters can be cool.
2. “American Horror Story” (2011-)
“Help, he’s escaping! The killer is escaping, help me!”, says Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) from “American Horror Story: Asylum” (2012). If you don’t recognize this line you clearly haven’t seen “American Horror Story” or been on TikTok in 2021. But, coming at number two, is a show that’s perfect and creepy enough for this coming Halloween. “American Horror Story”. As horrific, bizarre and weird this show can be, it might need its own genre.
Speaking of this show, if readers would like to see an internet icon and businesswoman on their screens this spooky season, folks can tune in and watch Kim Kardashian star in “American Horror Story: Delicate” as a regular. At the time of writing this, Kim Kardashian made her debut, as Siobhan, a publicist, on AHS last Wednesday, September 30th. Let’s see what Kim K. has to offer.
1. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993)
I know, I know. This last film has the word “Christmas” in the title and it can be misleading. But the movie’s cover has lit jack-o-lanterns, so please bear with me.
In this animated musical focuses on our main character, Jack Skellington, moving in stop-motion, as the king of “Halloween Town” (sound familiar?). Viewers are later exposed to a forest of trees that are partially doors that lead to other towns of other well-known holidays. The camera points to a door with a Christmas tree on it. Similar to the audience, Jack’s curiosity of what this certain door leads to grows more and more. You would be able to find out more of what Jack got him into if this movie is on your “To Watch” list. Just saying.
This film is great for Halloween and for Christmas. From Jack Skellington to his other ghoul friends to the Halloween energy dispersed amongst the town, the movie does a great job in encapsulating the Halloween spirit, no pun intended, in the first half of the movie.
Movie producers, directors and writers have been able to capture the season of Halloween and the horror genre for this spooky season. They have been able to cater to adults, children and/or both, sitting on the same couch on Halloween night. The five films listed have been chosen to also cater to and think about the Halloween and spooky lovers. Some of these films are rated-R, but this article is rated-E, for everyone.