My Top 10 Favorite Halloween Movies

I hate horror movies. None of these are horror movies, but if you are looking for a night of fright without the psycho-killing parts, or you want to enjoy movies with the whole family, this list is for you!

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10) The Rear Window (1954)

Most of Alfred Hitchcock's movies are obviously considered to be great for Halloween, as they are pretty horroristic. But I do not like horror movies. I actually hate them. This movie is on the verge but it actually stays between the lines that I consider OK. L.B. 'Jeff' Jeffries, played by James Stewart, has broken his leg and is forced to stay at home. Being incredibly bored, he stares at his neighbors from his window and he is pretty certain that he has caught a husband killing his wife. But what if his neighbor notices that he has been watching him all along?
This is a great movie if you wish for your girlfriend to cuddle up to you on Halloween night! Also, Grace Kelly is beautiful in it, a real sight for sore eyes!

9) The Haunted Mansion (2003)

This movie is based on a Disneyland ride by the same name. It begins with a death of a lady in the late 18th century - who was re-incarnated in our century and is now a married woman with two kids. Her family, during a family vacation, ends up in the Haunted Mansion, where the ghost of her previous self's lover is still in love with her and waiting to rest in piece with. The family goes through all kinds of misfortunes until they are literally running for their lives.
This is a great family movie, and again you can use it to get some serious cuddling done! In case you have arachnophobia do not watch it alone as one of the little children is afraid of spiders, so of course there are a couple of scenes where he needs to overcome his fear. The only problem with the movie is that Eddie Murphy isn't really a good father figure, but he comes around to the end.

8) Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

I have only recently come to know about this musical and it already has a place in my heart! The story of an extraterrestrial carnivorous plant that comes to Earth to conquer it. It starts to use a man named Seymour for his plans, however when this tries to eat his fiancée Audrey, Seymour gets mad and kills the plant.
Of course, the original musical does not end this way. In the musical the plant has a big number about how it is indestructible and the whole theatre gets covered in plants as these aliens take over. But the American focus groups did not like that one bit! The British musical's morbid ending was too much for their audience. So the movie ends on a happy note, with a little scene of one plant having survived: giving us the impression that the story is not yet over. I love the songs, the characters, it has great comedic timing and it is an awesome scary movie - perfect for Halloween!

7) Casper (1995)

Everybody knows the tale of the little boy who was turned into a ghost and is trapped in his house. This movie has been an eternal classic. It is only natural that it should make it onto this list as well. Of course it has some 'family movie' properties that I hate: e.g. the way the bad guys are punished. Also the three ghosts? God they are annoying! But being an eternal Christina Ricci fan, this is of course part of the tradition!

6) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

This is another classic. Charlie Brown's friend Linus is waiting for the Great Pumpkin to show up on Halloween night while the whole gang celebrates all hollow's eve.
This one is my brother's favorite. He has always been a Peanut fan, he even played Charlie Brown, when we lived in the US, in a school production. Although I've always found this one a bit slow, there is a The Simpons parody in the Tree-house of Horror XIX Halloween special, where Milhouse is waiting for the Great Pumpkin and he actually does turn up and happens to be a big douche-bag who can only be defeated by the giant Turkey of Thanksgiving. However, the latest also takes his revenge on the people who usually eat him on Thanksgiving... Anyway, the parody made the original that much more memorable, so do check it out! It is great if you have children!

5) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

"Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, but doesn't quite understand the concept." imdb recap.
This is what you call a classic. It is by far the best movie Tim Burton has ever written. You wanna know why it is also great? BECAUSE NEITHER JOHNNY DEPP OF HELENA BONHAM CARTER ARE IN IT!!! That said, it perfectly takes every single element that scares the living soul out of you and puts it in an acceptable environment. Of course, they are still spooky as hell, but a bit more likable. This movie literally scarred us and my siblings for life... we didn't have the courage to re-watch it for about 15 years. When we did, we remembered what it was that really ruined our childhood: the Professor in the wheel chair and Oogie Boogie. Brr... They symbolize perfectly what it is that I wish to never encounter in my whole life!
That said, I DO NOT recommend it to children below the age of 12, if somebody tells you otherwise, they are assholes! The music is great, the animation I think is wonderful and for a big Halloween AND Christmas fan like me, this is an absolute winner!

4) Shaun of the Dead (2004)

If you are not familiar with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost movies, trust me, you missed out on A LOT! They are one of the best comedic duos of the 21st century and they only work with great directors and wonderful scripts. One of my favorites being Hot Fuzz, and the other one Shaun Of The Dead.
Shaun's life is in a rut. They tell him that he plays too many video games for a grown man and his friends will not have more of it! The only one who hasn't left him is his best friend Ed. But he is done waiting for life to stop around him! He decides to get back his ex-girlfriend and mend his relationship with his mom. Only problem being that he is surrounded by zombies who want to eat him. Perhaps all of those skills acquired while playing with video games could come in handy... Will he and his friends make it out safely?
I don't want to ruin the ending for you, trust me, you'll want to see it!

3) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Brad and Janet are engaged and they decide to go see their old friend, the Professor, because it is in his lab that they met and they wish to share the good news with him. However, there is a storm and they are stranded in the forest, when they see the light of a big house where a party seems to be going on. The owner of the home is Dr. Frank-N-Furter, an alien who came to rule our planet (of course). At the mansion, the Professor reaches them, as he is originally looking for his nephew, last seen here. After a series of deaths and highly comical events, the aliens decide to go back home, leaving the humans here.
This is a musical too. Tim Curry is probably my favorite actor because even though he has a couple of silly roles, he clearly doesn't say no to anything and I like that. I hate picky actors - look at Brad Pitt, has he been in anything in the last 10 years that didn't scream "I want to win an Oscar for best actor!". Not really, but Tim Curry can sing, act, and he does the voice-over in many of my favorite comic based cartoons. Coming back, this movie is great fun: it has the same amount of thriller as it has comedy. Not to mention great songs!

2) Hocus Pocus (1993)

A family moves to Salem, where witches used to live and they have cursed their own house, leaving behind one cat that makes sure they never come back to life. However, hundreds of years later, Max (our lead) brings the witches back to life by accident on Halloween night. He, his sister Dani and girlfriend Allison, only have till morning to kill them. Will they succeed?
This movie is another classic, as I have recently learned from tweets by other famous people. This movie has it all: tension, drama, comedy, compassion and not to mention great music with a great cast! This movie is almost 20 years old and yet it still holds higher standards then many-many movies made in the last couple of years. Trust me, this is one family favorite movie you want on your shelf!

1) Addams Family Values (1993)

We all know who the Addams Family is. What many people don't seem to know is that the sequel is like a 100 times better than the first one! The first uses the usual family-friendly jokes that can easily be guessed in advance making many jokes fall flat and dumb... but thankfully many people like it and that was cause for a sequel: one of the best sequels ever made! The cast was already great and we have a fantastic addition, one of my personal favorites: Joan Cusack.
The Addams parents, Morticia and Gomez have a new baby, which causes tension among their children, Wednesday and Pugsley. They decide to hire a nanny to help out. This is Debbie, who makes Fester fall in love with her so she can steal his fortune. She also convinces the parents to send the kids away so they can't mess up her plans. The kids are sent to Camp Chippewa which is my favorite story-line! Anyway, we find out that Debbie is serial killer who marries for money and kills her husbands, and she almost kills the whole family as Fester doesn't seem to want to die in any way! The family is saved in the very last second by their baby.
This movie is fantastic! It has wonderful jokes that we recite as often as we can; there is a love story involving Wednesday; and all of the actors and actresses give a marvelous performance! The Camp Chippewa is by far the funniest thing ever written down on paper! It is 90 minutes of pure and genuine entertainment! And finally I need to mention the great celebrity casting: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci, Carol Kane, Jimmy Workman, David Krumholtz, Dana Ivey, Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski with cameo by Nathan Lane.
Now, people love the first, and that is OK, but if you decide to watch that, make sure you check out the sequel!

That's gotta do it, hope you like my list and you'll check out some of the things I mentioned. Have a very 2012: