October brings on the official start of “spooky season.” With Halloween around the corner, everyone is looking to get into a spooky mood. Many times, this means turning on a scary movie and grabbing some popcorn. However, not everyone is a fan of scary movies. Instead, there are some classic Halloween movies that won’t keep you up all night.
10. Beetlejuice, 1988
Beetlejuice is an all time favorite Tim Burton cult classic to watch with friends and family, filled with much laughter from Michael Keaten, who plays the iconic character Beetlejuice. It follows a married couple Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) who died in a car accident, who as ghosts, haunt their former house. A new family, the Deetz (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffery Jones), moved into the house with their teenage daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder). The Maitlands tried to scare them away without any success–desperate, they hired Beetlejuice to help drive the Deetz family out of the house. Unaware that he has some mischievous plans of his own. The movie can be watched on Prime Video, Itunes, Google Play, and Vudu.
9. Coraline, 2009
Coraline is a PG stop-motion animated dark-fantasy horror film, written and directed by Henry Selick. Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, it follows Coraline (Dakota Fanning) and her family moved into her new house. Exploring around she found a mysterious tiny door that alternate her fantasy version of her house. There she found her ‘other mother’ (Teri Hatcher) as tempted as the fantasy version of her house that is all that Coraline can dream of, it comes with a sinister price. The movie can be watched on HBO Max.
8. The Addams Family, 1991
The film focuses on the bizarre, unique, and strange Addams family who reconnect with who they believe is the long lost brother of Gomez (Raul Julia), Fester Addams (Christopher Llyod). The movie went on to make three movies, The Addams Family Values in 1993, The Addams Family Reunion in 1998, an animated version of The Addams Family in 2019, and a spinoff of the iconic character Wednesday Addams, played by Jeena Ortega which became popular as a Netflix original TV-show. The movie can be watched on Pluto TV, The Roku channel, Freevee, Spectrum TV, Prime Video , and Apple TV.
7. Casper, 1995
Casper is a PG family fantasy live action/computer animated comedy. Casper (voiced by Malachi Pearson) the friendly ghost and his mischievous uncles haunt a mansion in Maine. There, James Harvey (BIll Pullman), a specialist in communicating with ghosts, brings along his daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). Casper and Kat bloomed a friendship while dealing with Casper’s appearance. The movie can be streamed on Peacock.
6. The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993
The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the most iconic and beloved Halloween or Christmas movies to watch. The film is a stop-motion animated musical fantasy. The film follows Jack Skeleton, Halloweentown’s “Pumpkin King.” Unamused by the same annual routine on Halloween Day, he seeks out change. Jack stumbles accidentally on Christmastown, and interested in the excitement of Christmas, he plans on taking over Christmas. This, of course, goes horribly wrong. The movie can be streamed on Disney+.
5. Corpse Bride, 2005
After creating the classic Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton and co-director Mike Johnson created an animated dark fantasy film, Corpse Bride. Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria’s (Emily Watson) families have arranged their marriage. Nervous about the ceremony, Victor forgets his ceremonial vows. There, he practiced in the forest. While successfully remembering his vows, he placed his marriage ring on a branch without realizing it was Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) the “Corpse Bride” ring finger. Technically married to Emily, Victor must try all his might to get back to Victoria before she marries the depraved Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant). The movie can be rented or purchased on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, and Google Play.
4. Edward Scissorhands, 1990
Edward Scissorhand is a heartwarming, iconic, and beloved Tim Burton film. The story starts off of a scientist (Vincent Price) who is building a human-being– that being Edward (Johnny Depp). However the scientist died before he finished assembling Edward, with his unusual appearance of hands as scissors. A suburban saleswomen, Peg (Dianne Wiest) discovers Edward and takes him in, where he falls in love with Peg’s daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder). Despite his kind heart, Edward’s hands make him an outcast in the community. The movie can be streamed and watched on HBO Max.
3. HalloweenTown, 1998
HalloweenTown is a Disney original movie. The day of Halloween Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) a 13 year old girl, and her two younger siblings Dylan (Jimmy Zimmerman) and Sophie (Emily Roeske) aren’t allowed to go anywhere on the night of Halloween. Not knowing why her mother (Judith Hoag) refuses to take them out. Their grandmother showed up for a surprise visit on Halloween. Marnie and her siblings live with a big secret, that they come from a family of witches. Living with her true identity, she must help save HalloweenTown (a town where supernatural beings can live a “normal life”) from dark forces. The movie can be watched and streamed only on Disney+.
2. The Monster House, 2006
The Monster House is a PG horror film. It follows three young kids DJ (Mitchell Musso), Chowder (Sam Lenner), and Jenny (Spencer Lacke) investigating a creepy, living, breathing house across from DJ’s house. The only person who lives there is DJ’s grumpy and suspicious old neighbor Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). The film can be watched and streamed on Hulu.
1. The Witches, 1990
Staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga (Mai Zetterling), a young boy, Luke (Jasen Fisher) accidentally stumbles at a convention full of witches. Overhearing their conversation, the witches turned Luke into a mouse. The Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston) reveals a plan to turn all the children into mice. With the help of his grandmother and the hotel manager, Mr.Stinger (Rowan Atkinson), they must fight back against the witches. The 1990 classic can be rented or purchased on Amazon, Vudu, Google play, and Itunes. The movie was remade in 2020. Starring Ann Hathaway, Chris Brown, Octavia Spencer, and more talented actors. The remade version can be watched on Vudu.