As Halloween season seems to get earlier and earlier every year I figured I'd put out there my own personal favorite films (in addition to continuing a yearly tradition of giving a "top of the decade" list) and organize them into a sort of viewing guide for anyone looking to do some sort of crazy Halloween marathon, which I've always considered doing but never found the right time to. Here goes nothing. Sorry this is late! Happy (belated) Halloween!
First, a few briefings, I would recommend from my own personal experience that if you wish to turn this marathon into a viewing party of sorts, to seriously consider limiting the amount of people you invite, and seriously think about who you are inviting. Whenever I've hosted a viewing party with more than 3-4 people, and these people aren't necessarily big into movies or binge-watching, the evening often devolves into just talking while movies play in the background. Now, I love going to social events with friends and parties as much as anyone, but if you actually want to watch some movies with friends, I suggest you pick a group of friends who would be ready to commit to several hours of movie watching, with maybe some funny banter.
Now if you want to do a Halloween party, I recommend you do that separately. You can do both, but don't try to blend them because then the party/social atmosphere always eclipses the viewing aspect. I had this problem just last year, and surreally, in James Rolfe's terrific video here:
http://cinemassacre.com/2015/10/31/celebrating-halloween/ , he and his friend Mike Matei hit the nail right on the head about my problem literally a day later, as this vid was posted on Halloween.
Even when I have hosted a viewing party with friends who love movies recently, and as fun as it was, we still only watched a total of three movies. Why? Well, it often happens that we would end up talking at length ABOUT movies but never actually settling in and watching one, so hours ticked by like nothing. So if you're really thinking of strapping down for some ultimate Halloween marathon, I would suggest considering going solo or having an equally die-hard friend or two.
Also, no one says this marathon has to be done on the date of Halloween. For one, there's lots of cool stuff to do like going to parties, going to corn mazes and haunted houses and such on the day other than sitting around watching TV, so you may consider doing it a day or two before OR just within the month of October.
And you can spread this out into several days, too, or a few shorter bursts of bingeing is what I tend to do around the season, so feel free to mix and match or do whatever, this is by no means a definitive listing, and no one should be expected to follow this schedule to a rigid extent otherwise it's no fun at all.
As for the films selected, these are personal favorites, and while there's plenty on here that others have on their top Halloween movies lists, there are some I have yet to find on anybody's lists. Also: you'll find not every film on this list is a horror classic or even particularly scary (or objectively good), but like I said these are personal picks, so some are nostalgic for me, others I have a genuine respect for, some are guilty pleasures, you get the gist. And for me, Halloween is all about finding that right balance of fun and scary, so I actually tend to gravitate less towards truly unnerving or disturbing films around the season.
Just because this is a Halloween list doesn't mean a "horror" list. I love movies like
The Witch and
The Devil's Rejects but that doesn't mean I feel like watching them around Halloween. They just aren't really part of that fun vibe that Halloween has. Sure, something like
Eraserhead or
Requiem for a Dream or
Irreversible may be gut-wrenching to watch, but so are a lot of other movies and you don't see those showing up on Halloween lists (not saying these films do usually show up on such lists but I think you know what I'm going for).
Here are some videos by others I enjoy listening to about movies for their Halloween picks:
Chris Stuckmann-
(Original two-parter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYIz6Mexxy8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuC-A2lHigo
(Guilty Pleasures)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvoG9YYtfNs
(Binge-Watch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tijMPZFAul0
YourMovieSucks-
(Underrated horror list; however, a lot of his picks are more geared towards the genuinely chilling, so if that's not your cup of tea, or, like me, just don't think of those as "Halloween movies," maybe just save this list for another day)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPc5DGsudzs
Now with that monster (seriously, no pun intended here, it just happened that way) list of stuff out of the way, time to delve into my picks.
1. Start the evening off light:
I recommend something along the lines of nostalgic or ironic viewing with something like
Hocus Pocus or
Halloweentown, something dumb and airy and not exactly requiring attentive viewing. This will give you time to chat amongst the boring parts and laugh at the dumb moments and just kick the marathon off.
Other options include:
Scooby Doo! Where Are You?,
Ernest Scared Stupid, The Witches, Casper, and
The Halloween Tree, and really any of the in-hindsight-awful Disney Channel movies like
Tower of Terror, Phantom of the Megaplex, or
Don't Look Under the Bed; again, keeping with the nostalgia/non-serious theme, these little nuggets that evoke fond childhood memories as well as uncontrollable laughter at the bad acting and production values set the mood for the evening.
2. Treading into darker territory:
Now while I said there wouldn't be too many dark/disturbing movies, this is about as dark as I'll go, and this includes the balls-to-the-wall, campy, gruesome
House of 1,000 Corpses, which is Rob Zombie's rock n' roll tribute to grindhouse cinema, and the short film
Off Season. Now that short is genuinely chilling and well-produced, and I really put it on here because I feel it's kind of an unknown gem that doesn't take up much time (I believe it's about 12 minutes long), and can be found for free online.
Other options include:
Misery, the ever-praised adaptation of the Stephen King novel starring James Caan and Kathy Bates in a brilliant part which won her an Oscar;
Hellraiser, Clive Barker's twisted journey into the underbelly of society, using a unique and interesting ideology and mythos and introducing the world to horror icon Pinhead, leader of the S&M demon troupe the Cenobites, is still as effective and eerie today as it was in 1987;
Candyman, Clive Barker's equally nightmarish and disorienting vision of urban legend culture and the power of fear, featuring an understated and excellent performance by Tony Todd;
May, Lucky McKee's debut and an equal-parts upsetting, awkward, funny, depressing, and frightening character study of a young woman whose lack of social skills leads her life to fall apart around here. While that sounds like more of a drama than a horror, I assure you McKee delivers on the chills, particularly in the Halloween-set finale, which, by the way, is spoiled in the trailers so just trust me, it's worth a look;
Ju-On: The Grudge, the original Japanese version, and the only version I feel is worth a look, with a cool visual style and some very creepy concepts;
The Blair Witch Project; forget the sequel (most people already have), forget the abysmal-looking reboot, and forget the
Paranormal Activity films, this is found footage at its best. Funnily enough, I never thought of this as much of a Halloween movie, I always watch it over summer (that's when I first saw it, and I think the woods setting always contributed to me seeing it like a summer campfire story), but it definitely fits the feeling of a good scare. A lot of people feel it's more historically significant than genuinely a good movie, but I beg to differ, as I experienced it in the perfect way: I was in sixth grade, on a camping trip in a wooded area, with my friend, watching it on an old shitty VHS copy at night. If there was ever a way to see a movie, that was it, so I may be biased because of memories of how it first effected me, but the lore and the final moments of the film still stick with me to this day.
Sinister and
Insidious make solid picks as well from the past few years, but I rarely watch them around this season because I kind of tired them out through rewatches soon after I first saw them.
V/H/S and
V/H/S/2 are mixed bags, but each have some great individual shorts (the first has "Amateur Night," "10/31/1998," and "Second Honeymoon;" the second is far more thoroughly enjoyable, but "Safe Haven" in particular sticks out, followed by "A Ride in the Park" and "Slumber Party Alien Abduction"). Skip the abysmal third film.
The ABCs of Death is far too mixed a bag for me, but look up some individual ones on YouTube if you wish, just look up the sypnoses on Wikipedia and make your own call.
3. Wash that bitter taste out with some so-bad-it's-good fare:
While it may seem a bit counter-intuitive to follow up a negative ending to a film with a bad movie to boot but these films will provoke laughter, often intentionally, and sometimes unintentionally, and some even pack in some decent scares top top it off. These type of films include
Jeepers Creepers, the Francis Ford Coppola-produced mystery thriller-turned-B-monster fest which actually has a really effective ending;
Eight Legged Freaks, a tongue-in-cheek David Arquette vehicle following his success with
Scream, which sees the star and a group of quirky townsfolk face off with goofy giant spiders in true 50's B-movie fashion;
Killer Klowns from Outer Space, my personal favorite of this genre, which is exactly what it sounds like: aliens who looks like crazy clowns land on Earth in a beach town to harvest humans in cotton candy cocoons for food. It's crazy, self-aware, silly, while also packing in a few genuine scares and some awesome 1980's effects. One of my favorite films of all time also falls in here with
The Blob, the fun, poppy drive-in classic starring Steve McQueen and featuring a number of iconic scenes and a uniquely basic monster: literally a blob of slime. I definitely recommend it, it's just a fun throwback to the 50's.
Two nostalgic television shows I find are some of the best "so-bad-it's-funny" watches are
Goosebumps, and
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (though the latter has some more genuinely good moments than the former). Seriously, if you or your friends have an affinity for laughing at some trash than throw on some old
Goosebumps episodes and prepare to laugh till your sides hurt. While it may be long, I also recommend the 1990 miniseries
Stephen King's IT. Though you've probably seen it and remember being terrified as a kid, rest assured, the boring segments are well worth powering through to see some decent child performance and the most incredible Tim Curry performance since
Rocky Horror, and I mean it, Curry is having such a blast just being absolutely ham-fisted and laughable as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. His borderline cum-face as he tells little Georgie how the balloons float and his ridiculous library rant at the adult Richie have me rolling on the floor every time.
I would also throw in watching some old 50's films like
Tarantula or
Them!, perhaps the homage to the genre
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, and
Troll 2 as possible alternatives.
Return of the Living Dead is also a good 80's-style, pure rock n roll party type movie where nothing is subtle and it's all just a blast. Anything from Troma Entertainment, which has produced some of the most hilariously debauched and ridiculous horror movies of all time, including
The Toxic Avenger, Terror Firmer, and
Poultrygeist, is a great pick. If you're looking for a real trip then definitely check out the nigh-forgotten late 70's special
Halloween is Grinch Night, and if you want some low-budget camp fare look at
Monsters Crash the Pajama Party, whose DVD features hours of Halloween party stuff like background music, radio ads, and old unreleased shorts, so a great investment.
4. The Classics (Or Critical Darlings):
Now of course for the obligatory, can't-skip-because-it's-tradition horror genre classics. These are films that everyone seems to love or at least appreciate on some level and these are my favorites from that vast selection. I would say you have to have a Romero zombie film, so out of those,
Dawn of the Dead is the one to go with, though
Night of the Living Dead and
Day of the Dead come close, neither have quite the same amount of striking visuals and plethora of memorable moments and lines the sequel does. The social commentary may be obvious to current viewers and bit dated (mall culture is nowhere near the heights it once was), but this doesn't drag down the movie all that much because that's just one element.
The Exorcist and
The Omen are, of course, terrific choices which have starkly different tones to their endings, but both are incredibly ominous films that are about as "realistic" and effective as Satan-centered movies have ever been.
The Shining, another classic from the visionary Kubrick, brings with it a sense of dread and tension which has been nearly unmatched in the 30-odd years since its release.
An American Werewolf in London is a terrific choice as well as it perfectly blends some oddball humor and witty dialogue with a more realistic and urban take on the werewolf legend, with groundbreaking, award-winning effects which still are talked about to this day.
Others to choose would be the original
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which has a documentary-style, low-budget feel that puts you right with the characters, and has a still-terrifying portrayal of madness from the Sawyer family, played by Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and of course, Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface, still one of the most raw looks at insanity in film history. I would also throw out John Carpenter's
The Thing as a great pick, as it is still an entertaining, slow-burning thrill ride with some very impressive effects and a cast of terrific character actors led by Kurt Russell. And the score by Western legend Ennio Morricone is fantastic for a man who, to my knowledge, never experimented with synth music before. The 1976 adaptation of
Carrie from Brian DePalma which saw recognition of Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie for their breathtaking interpretations of the tormented and tragic Carrie and her domineering, horrifying devout mother Margaret, is another classic which should be considered.
5. Transition into Slashers, and more Action-Oriented Fare:
I would say that my top choices for this genre would be
Scream and
Scream 2 (
Scream 3 and
4 if you are a completionist), the original
A Nightmare on Elm Street,
Friday the 13th (either the 2009 version, the original, or anywhere between
II and
VIII, depending on if you want a quality slasher or just something to laugh at), and of course Hitchcock's
Psycho. Peeping Tom is a more genuinely unsettling British film that is from the same era as Hitchcock, and some 80's cheese like
The Burning and
Prom Night is always welcome. As for action, I would recommend
The Crow and
Nightbreed.
The Crow is not only set in Halloween season, but also has a Gothic style that fits perfectly in with the likes of Batman and Spawn, and is an entertaining cult thriller starring the late Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son), which would've definitely shot him to mainstream stardom had he not tragically died in an onset accident.
Nightbreed (more specifically
The Director's Cut), is Clive Barker's underrated if a bit uneven attempt at making another series of films, based on his short story "Cabal." It has some of that weirdness and "root for the monsters" feel that Tim Burton films do, while also packing in Barker's trademark gross-out imagery. It honestly balances tones between dark epic fantasy, horror, and a bit of superhero film with the final battle feeling torn straight from the pages of a comic book like
Hellboy or
Spawn.
Plus, it has cult classic filmmaker David Cronenberg in the role of a murderous psychiatrist with a uniquely creepy and cool mask, who is the foil to the main hero.
Despite the holiday settings,
Silent Night, Deadly Night and particularly
A Christmas Story director Bob Clark's raw
Black Christmas are great choices for classic cult slashers as well, though I personally save those with the likes of
Gremlins and
Krampus for the Christmas season.
Some more cult movies that are fantastic choices for fast-paced entertainment are Sam Raimi's classic horror-comedies
The Evil Dead , Evil Dead 2 and
Army of Darkness (though the earlier two are more horror, while
Army is where the comedy really came out). Raimi practically invented "splatstick" (a subgenre which combines Three Stooges-esque slapstick with excessive violence and gore), which continued with Peter Jackson's early work like in
Braindead/
Dead-Alive (which cranks up both the vulgar humor and the gruesome violence from
Evil Dead to unbelievable levels).
Saw, the first film, is a terrific little genre thriller with a cool gimmick and a stellar cast of character actors like Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Michael Emerson, Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell, and Ken Leung (a few
Lost alumni there). The sequels get progressively stupider but also more "satisfying" from a slasher film sense/for pure entertainment factor.
6. Try some comedies and parodies:
For this spot of lighter fare, some of my favorites are
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror annual specials (my personal picks from this vast selection are I, V, VI, XIII, and XIX). The parodies are amusing, the stories short enough to digest easily, and the wit of the writing staff at an all-time high. They just have so much fun with these specials and they're at this point the only reason people watch the more recent episodes.
The
Family Guy special episode "Three Kings" isn't really specifically horror but features some amusing adaptation of Stephen King works so I like it.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia features some good Halloween episodes with "Who Got Dee Pregnant?" (extensive flashbacks to a costume party at the bar) and "The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre" (I believe their first proper Halloween episode). The character-driven dark comedy is so perfect already and it's just an excuse to watch it honestly. I'm a sucker for
Sunny. And
South Park; speaking of, they have some classic Halloween episodes with "Cartman's Incredible Gift," "Spookyfish," "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery," "A Nightmare on Face Time," "Pinkeye," "Hell on Earth 2006," and "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers."
Other classic spooky sitcoms like
The Addams Family and
The Munsters provide some campy nostalgia, along with TV horror hostesses like
Elvira and
Vampira, and the Bay Area's old
Creature Feature specials. Classic sitcoms like
Roseanne, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and
Home Improvement, as well as newer ones like
The Office, have some decent if outlandish Halloween specials, though the
Roseanne ones are the best and most grounded. The BBC provides some twisted black comedy in the form of
Psychoville and
The League of Gentlemen, which are great for lovers of British comedy and the blackest of morbid humor, like myself.
Tim Burton's
Beetlejuice and Mel Brooks'
Young Frankenstein are indisputable classics of Halloween comedy, still being screened around the season to this day, so these are the most obvious choices, and they definitely still hold up. I would say
The Goonies might also be a good choice, though it hasn't aged very well at all.
Gremlins I see as more of a Christmas film so I wouldn't include it myself.
Tales from the Crypt is gorey and has some more chilling episodes, but the general camp of the series gives it enough leway to fall into this category. Continuing in the tradition of tributing EC comics, George Romero, Stephen King, and Tom Savini's
Creepshow is a fun, visually striking, and star-studded homage to the classic horror comics of the 50's.
Fido is an indie dark comedy satire with a talented cast and a unique concept and soundtrack. Kevin Williamson's
Scream series and
The Faculty are teen mystery-comedy-horror films which fall loosely in here but I like them a lot so I include them and they're a good dose of 90's nostalgia.
Re-Animator is an ultra-gorey cult schlock fest in line with
Evil Dead, Demons, and
Braindead in tone.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and
Little Shop of Horrors (either version), are great little cult classics with some nice music and a fun atmosphere for friends to laugh at and sing along with. The 90's films based upon
The Addams Family series are terrific selections as well.
7. Black-And-White for Late at Night:
It really isn't Halloween without taking a look at some of the all-time classics that have aged well throughout generations. The Universal Classics are the best choices:
Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the list goes on. But those are the ones that jump to my mind the most. Despite some over-the-top acting and lack of music (most of these were at the dawn of the sound age when the sound of talking itself was a novelty) are minor complaints when compared to the iconic imagery and lines, so much so these are the instant images and tropes that jump into people's minds when they think movie monsters.
1950's monster and alien films are excellent as well.
The Thing from Another World was produced by the influential Howard Hawks, known for his then-novel use of overlapping dialogue, which provides a naturalistic sense of comraderie to the men in the film and also grounds this from being pure schlock into something more. This film is on par with the more famous remake by John Carpenter, which was so influenced by this film and the short story it itself comes from that Carpenter recreated the title screen and references it in
Halloween.
Val Lewton's excellent psycholgical thrillers
Cat People and
The Leopard Man are extremely important and still chilling for their use of sound design, jump scares, and psychosexual subtext, all fairly uncommon for the time. Right up there is the German classic
M, starring then-unknown Peter Lorre in his greatest role as a both monstrous but ultimately strangely understandable child killer (his ending speech as the mob comes to kill him actually makes us question our thirst for vigilante justice over rehabilitation for psychopaths like him), which today is one fo the most eerie noir thrillers ever made.
Tim Burton has some terrific black and white projects as well.
Vincent, his short film from 1982, is perfect Halloween fare and is featured on
The Nightmare Before Christmas DVD I believe, and also on YouTube.
Franken-Weenie, both the 2012 stop-motion film and the original live-action short from 1984, are very sweet and not as weird as
Vincent, and are perfect for Halloween.
RKO's original
King Kong may be more categorized as an adventure film, but there's enough frightening imagery in it and a giant monster for it to be considered horror. It's pretty brutal for 1933 and also extremely technically impressive, utilizing groundbreaking camera and stop-motion effects and a full score by Max Richter, practically unheard of at the time. Without a doubt one of the best ever and more easily palatable than the 3-hour Jackson remake from 2005, though I love that one as well. This one clocks in at the more feasible 1 hour 40 mins, long for the time but now a common runtime. RKO also had the best film version of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which raises eyebrows even today for its racy content (it was Pre-Code and therefore not subject to heavy editing), and Frederich March was nominated for an Oscar for his role. The Hyde makeup is still imitated today, portraying the animlisitic monster as almost Simian in nature.
Toho's original
Gojira, in its original Japanese cut, is a dark and foreboding disaster film, inspired by the tragic fallout of Hiroshima. The Godzilla monster can actually be taken seriously here, being portrayed as a straight-up monster and not a hero as in later films. Don't let the campy nature of later films fool you (though I love those, too), this is a melancholy and brutal film that reflects the culture of Japan in the 1950's.
8. Literary Classics:
These are some of the more high-caliber films, based upon Gothic literature and modern novels. Some of these are based upon the same materials as the Universal classics, but have their own distinct vision.
Francis Ford Coppola, legendary Renaissance man and film director, directed one of my absolute favorites of this genre:
Bram Stoker's Dracula. Considered the most faithful adaptation of the source novel, James V. Hart's screenplay takes some major deviations at times but to me, they elevate the material, not detract from it. Gary Oldman is fantastic as Dracula, being young and old, detestable and tragic, etc. His hairdo is a bit ridiculous in the early stages of the film, and Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are the weakest players here, but they are outshined by the rest of the stellar cast (including Anthony Hopkins, Cary Elwes, Richard E. Grant, Bill Campbell, Monica Bellucci, Sadie Frost, and musician Tom Waits), and the impressive and unique visual style, produced by Coppola's insistence on using often-forgotten techniques of early cinema instead of modern visual effects.
The companion piece to this, the Kenneth Branagh-helmed
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is nowhere near as good or coherent, being far more Shakespearean and operatic than the material warrants (this may be the result of Branagh's own background in stage and screen), but it isn't as terrible as people often make it out to be, just not the best, so I would give it a shot. Again, far more faithful than most adaptations, while taking liberties and inspirations from other adaptations.
The Hammer horror cycle, which shot Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing among others to horror stardom, is a great example of Gothic cinema. These were the first times many viewers were exposed to more faithful adaptations of the classic Gothic novels such as
Dracula and
Frankenstein, as well as in full color with more graphic sex and bloodshed. The best of these films,
Horror of Dracula (as it's known in the US) and
The Curse of Frankenstein, hold up wonderfully well.
Tim Burton's
Sleepy Hollow is pure schlock and doesn't follow the short story at all but it's a great little Halloween piece. The Oscar-nominated stop-motion short
The Sandman is loosely inspired by the short story of the same name by E.T.A. Hoffman, is chilling and provides a quick and unique horror experience with terrific visuals and sound design. The original 1953
The War of the Worlds modernizes the H.G. Wells novel and has some great special effects for the time and it's in full color, another uncommon thing for the era.
This subgenre also includes some great musicals, including Tim Burton's excellent
Sweeney Todd film and Joel Schumacher's faithful and underrated adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's
The Phantom of the Opera, which was based on the classic French horror novel.
9. Films that center on the actual holiday:
Now for films that are more specifically geared toward the real holiday, finally. These are films that really have to do with the date and the traditions surrounding it, making them the perfect picks for a Halloween viewing session, or just capture the spirit a lot more than others.
While it is technically more a general slasher, it is far too iconic and important a film to ignore, that really does have a feeling of Halloween spirit to it, so John Carpenter's original
Halloween is a pick to obvious to not make the list. Here is James Rolfe's video on the film, coupled with his plan on how to make the viewing of it on Halloween night perfect:
http://cinemassacre.com/2011/10/24/halloween-3/
Also highly recommended is the underrated and often unfairly hated
Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which was intended to be the beginning of the series as an anthology after Michael Myers' death in
Halloween II. This third film has a great score by John Carpenter himself and ultimately is far more centered on the roots and spirit of the holiday than even the original, and the plot of the villain is a hell of a lot darker.
My ultimate pick, however, for getting into the spirit of the holiday, would be Michael Dougherty's
Trick r Treat, which was rushed into a limited release before going to DVD in 2007 for some reason despite being planned as a major release. It has slowly built a cult following over the years. It is just dripping with Halloween atmosphere, and functions as a black comedy/horror anthology exploring every possible aspect of the holiday. Everything from the impressive special effects, refusal to shy away from darker moments, coupled with the dark humor and commitment to authentically replicating the feel of Halloween night (hand-carved jack-o-lanterns, all unique, adorn the entire film) make this an absolute joy to watch.
Let's not forget the dark and morbid but critically acclaimed cult hits
Ginger Snaps and
Donnie Darko, which have a spooky feel for the season, as well as featuring Halloween prominently in major scenes. Dark indie director Jeremy Saulnier's black comedy
Murder Party is an up-and-coming favorite for fans of something a bit bloody and different. Even the frankly cheesy
Goosebumps episode "The Haunted Mask" captures the spirit of the evening pretty well.
10. Childhood Specials:
Now, after celebrating the holiday in a complete way, close out the evening, or welcome the rising sun, with a nostalgic trip back to childhood. My personal picks that I can't go through the season without watching:
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! and
The Nightmare Before Christmas. The former is not always loved these days for being slow and kind of old-fashioned, but it has such a unique charm and relaxing quality and puts me right in the spirit of the season. The music, the characters and jokes, as well as the inclusion of almost everything fall related into the story (from Halloween parties and games and trick or treating to rolling in leaves and playing football) are redeeming of any minor faults in the animation, and so I say it is essential.
The latter was actually directing by Henry Selick, who has since directed numerous beloved and twisted animated features, but is still very much Tim Burton's vision. The short poem (narrated by Christopher Lee) is also available as a special feature on the DVD and is absolutely worth a look this season. This one practically needs no introduction, as it is both a classic Halloween tale and a Christmas movie, so it capture the essence of the two best holidays perfectly.
Disney's
Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is also a necessary fall selection. The Mr. Toad segment can be skipped optionally as it really doesn't have to do with fall or Halloween, but it too is an excellent short. But the Sleepy Hollow segment is definitely the big hook of the film, as the music and narration by Bing Crosby is timeless and mixes humor with the horror, and the look and feel of the short perfectly captures the harvest season, and the final confrontation between Ichabod and the Horesman is so fluent and beautifully animated and exciting, it makes the somewhat slow and aimless first half of the story come together perfectly.
A newer choice is the genuinely eerie and brilliantly directed
Coraline (there's Henry Selick, again), based on Neil Gaiman's chilling young adult novella, which scared kids and adults alike. Overlooked specials gaining a cult following (some ironically, some for genuine talent behind them) include
The Worst Witch, Casper Saves Halloween, Fat Albert's Halloween, The Halloween Tree, and
Garfield's Halloween. Tim Burton's
Corpse Bride and
FrankenWeenie are heartwarming and incredibly charming little movies, as are
ParaNorman and
Hotel Transylvania (which has its share of dumb moments, such as the final musical number, but also features incredibly lively animation).
The TV specials I mentioned before
Home Improvement, Roseanne, Family Matters, etc. also offer some 80's and 90's cheese, and cartoons like
Spongebob Squarepants, The Batman, Invader ZIM, Grim Adventures, and
Courage the Cowardly Dog, among others, offer some darker fare for the Halloween season.
TV classics like
The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, and
Tales from the Crypt are another excellent source of some short-term horror for those not looking for a whole feature. A
Twin Peaks marathon would provide a genuinely creepy and mind-bending Halloween night for sure. My favorites- at least as far as straight horror- from the anthology series are:
The X- Files: "Home," "Humbug," "Fire," and "Jersey Devil."
The Twilight Zone: "The Masks," "Nick of Time," "To Serve Man," "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," "Eye of the Beholder," "Printer's Devil," and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." (
The Twilight Zone movie is another terrific choice which retells some classic episodes as well as newer stories.)
Tales from the Crypt: "Three's a Crowd," "Dead Wait," "Til Death," "Dig That Cat, He's Real Gone," "Collection Completed," "The Third Pig," "Strung Along," "The New Arrival," "Split Personality," "People Who Live in Brass Hearses," "None But the Loneley Heart," "Only Skin Deep," "Death of Some Salesman," "Report from the Grave," and "Last Respects." (Not to mention the motion comics featured on the DVDs being very entertaining.)
Some oddball choices on the last minute here are
Bag of Bones, Idle Hands, and
The Skeleton Key, just some stray observations I figured I'd throw in here.
Anyways, again sorry this is late, it depresses me I had nothing up for October this year, but this will give plenty of time to plan before next Halloween! Cheers!
(Image credits: Walyou.com, Pinterest, zombiepumpkins.com, Escape Adulthood, Doux Reviews, Comediva, Danny DoDat, Yell! Magazine, The Rhinestone Housewife)
