’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse! Oh wait, that’s the wrong holiday. Halloween is here and its time to make the most of this spoopy event! If you’ve planned to go to a couple of parties or paint the town red with your friends, great! If you’re probably going to sit at home and hand out candy to that one trick-or-treater that comes around (like me), then here are some movies to keep you in the Halloween spirit!
1. Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
Trick ‘r Treat is a lesser known and extremely underrated thriller. The movie is composed of several story lines on Halloween night, where the holiday becomes a bit gruesome. The twists and turns in this movie will keep you glued to the couch. Trick ‘r Treat is kind of a more of a mature movie, so you probably shouldn’t watch it with your 5 year old cousin (unless you want to give him a good scare for revenge - then it’s great!)
2. Hocus Pocus (1993)
Hocus Pocus is such a classic and great movie to watch on Halloween. It has all of the Halloween clichés - witches, a black cat, and even a catchy musical number! What’s better than spending Halloween with than the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy)? After being freed from a spell, the three of them will take the whole family on a journey to Salem where they attempt to make themselves immortal.
3. Halloweentown (1998)
Like Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown is a great Disney movie that’s fun for the whole family. If you can’t get enough of this classic, then I have good news for you - there are four Halloweentown movies! I’m still trying to make my way to Halloweentown after watching this movie.
4. The Scream Team (2002)
Ghosts have never been cooler than they are in The Scream Team. Kat Dennings stars as one of the Carlyle children trying to figure out why their recently deceased grandfather cannot rest in peace. Hocus Pocus’ Kathy Najimy tries to help them out, along with two other ghosts in this family friendly Disney channel movie.
5. Halloween
You can’t not watch Halloween on Halloween. There are so many versions of Halloween to watch that you can probably spend all of Halloween watching Halloween. Watching Michael Meyers try to kill Jamie Lee Curtis and other innocent teens never gets old.
6. Friday the 13th
After you’re done hanging out with Michael Meyers, take a trip down to Camp Crystal Lake and chill with notorious killer Jason Voorhees. Like Halloween, there are a lot of versions of Friday the 13th, the best one being the 2009 remake. Nonetheless, it’s fun to watch a bunch of stupid teenagers get killed in any year.
7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
Halloween is the best time to see dead people! You’ll be so intrigued by this movie that you’ll forget about all the trick or treaters outside knocking at your door. Keep the candy for yourself and pig out while you focus your attention on M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller.
8. Poltergeist (1982)
Poltergeist: the movie that made you fear clowns and little blonde girls. 34 years later and it is still an all time favorite. The supernatural aspects of this movie are just enough to scare you without being tacky. It doesn’t get spookier than Poltergeist!
9. The Woman in Black (2012)
I lied, it gets a lot spookier than Poltergeist. The Woman in Black will keep you awake all night. It’s all fun and games to watch Daniel Radcliffe in another role until you’re hiding under the covers wondering why Harry Potter would ever do such scary things. Trick or treaters will be dying to get inside if they know you’re watching it!
10. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The best thing about the Nightmare Before Christmas is that it satisfies the need for a Halloween movie while simultaneously preparing you for Christmas. Halloween will come to an end, but not to worry - Freeform TV will soon start their 25 Days of Christmas special!
