Halloween is my favorite time of the year. It sucks that it’s only one day, but if you’re anything like me, you celebrate it all month long. One way of doing this is watching Halloween movies. It’s a quintessential activity that gets you in the spirit before October 31st. Thrillers and horror movies aren’t for everyone (believe me, I get it). But there are so many movies that will get you excited for Halloween just the same.
These are five non-horror movies that you need to watch before Halloween!
1. Hocus Pocus
This Disney movie has become a cult classic. The three Sanderson sisters, Winifred, Sarah, and Mary, got hung in 1693 as a part of the Salem witch trials. But before they go, they cast a spell (because they are indeed witches) promising to return. Fast forward three hundred years, on Halloween in 1993, the witches return to Salem. The teenage protagonist, Max, explores the Sanderson house with his sister Dani and his crush Allison. He lights a candle which resurrects the sisters. The three of them must stop the witches from becoming immortal. Because if they don’t, the lives of Salem’s children hang in the balance!
2. Beetlejuice
The story of Beetlejuice has recently regained popularity because of its musical adaptation. This comedy is about ghosts trying to scare new tenants out of a house. The main characters, Adam and Barbara, get into a car crash and are stuck spending their afterlife haunting their old house (a house that is desired by many). Their house ends up getting sold and the couple tries to scare the new family away. Because they had no success, they call in the ghost Beetlejuice to help them out.
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? What’s stopping you from watching it on both occasions? This stop-motion animated movie is about Jack Skellington, the “pumpkin king” and the leader of Halloween Town. But he’s become bored with the same routine year after year. He stumbles across the Christmas Town and becomes intrigued by the unfamiliar holiday. Jack’s new-found love for Christmas causes chaos for both towns. This musical has elements of fantasy, romance, and spookiness that has led it to become a Disney classic.
4. The Addams Family
The 1991 movie adaptation of the classic cartoon is iconic in its own right. This supernatural family is approached by someone who claims to be Fester, Gomez Addams’ missing brother. At first, the Addams family is thrilled. But then Morticia, Gomez’s wife, begins to suspect that the man isn’t who he says he is. Fester hires a lawyer to steal the family fortune, which causes the Addams family to challenge the two men. This comedic movie reemphasizes the Addams family as a cultural staple.
5. Halloweentown
This is my absolute favorite Halloween movie. It’s about thirteen-year-old Marnie, her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie, and the information they learn from their grandmother. Marnie argues with her mother about why they can never go out for Halloween. Little does Marnie know she’s a part of a family of witches. Now, Marnie must help her grandmother defeat Halloweentown (where supernatural life resides) from evil forces. There’s a reason why this movie has so many sequels. It’s iconic.