NIKKI INDELICATO
Staff Writer
It’s become that time of year again where the leaves are changing colors.
The wind starts picking up and there is a chill in the air.
The sky becomes darker and the glow of pumpkins are lining the street.
The spooky season is upon us, and there are numerous movies to help get into the spirit.
One of my favorite parts of Halloween is getting to watch all the movies inspired by the holiday.
These are some of my favorite movies that I watch every year to get into the spooky spirit.
10. A Quiet Place (2018)
While this movie isn’t about Halloween, it definitely can give anyone a good thriller.
This is personally my favorite horror movie that I have seen.
The movie follows the Abbott family where they live in a post-apocalyptic world where they can no longer make a sound.
As soon as a sound is heard, a big monster — reminiscent of Demogorgon from “Stranger Things” — comes and kills that person.
This movie makes you sit on the edge of your seat and in silence because even yourself could make a sound with the fear that the monster will kill you.
The movie stars John Krasinski and Emily Blunt with newcomer Millicent Simmonds as their daughter, who is also a deaf actress.
In May 2021, the sequel to this film debuted in movie theaters.
This movie is a great thriller that will have you holding your breath at all times with the hopes that no one will get caught making a sound.
You can watch this movie streaming on Paramount+ at no additional cost.
9. House of Wax (2005)
This horror film will be enough to make anyone feel uneasy as they watch but in a good way.
It is a modern remake of the 1933 film “Mystery of the Wax Museum.”
You follow a group of teenagers as they are headed to a football game but end up arriving in a ghost town called Ambrose where they visit the local “House of Wax” museum.
These figures are not what they appear to be though.
This movie is full of jumps and visuals that can make you shiver, but your eyes are constantly stuck at the screen looking to see what will happen next.
“House of Wax” stars Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton and Jared Padalecki.
This movie will give you the perfect scare to watch with any of your friends.
You can find this movie streaming on HBO Max at no additional cost.
8. Trick R Treat (2007)
This thriller movie takes place right on the night of Halloween.
In the style of a comic book, we meet four different plots that all end up coming together in the end due to one common foe.
In comparison to “House of Wax” and “A Quiet Place,” this film doesn’t deliver the same jump scares as them, but it does deliver the thrills.
We meet the night’s evil foe Sam, who spends the night torturing houses he visits as he is trick or treating.
If you are looking for a film that also has werewolves and vampires, you are in the right place.
You never know where Sam may start stalking his next victim on All Hallow’s Eve and that makes the film all the more thrilling.
This movie is streaming on HBO Max at no additional cost.
7. My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Another scary slasher film to add to your Halloween movie watchlist.
Debuting in 2009, the film starts with a flashback to Valentine’s Day 1997 where a bunch of coal miners were working on their job. After an underground explosion occurred, officials were only able to find one survivor, Harry Warden.
Even though this adventure takes place during Valentine’s Day, it gives the same amount of jump scares and spine tingling scenes as any Halloween horror movie would.
In its initial film release, the movie was titled “My Bloody Valentine 3D.” A lot of the graphics are designed to pop out at you as if it was in 3D, but it doesn’t hit the same.
“My Bloody Valentine” stars Jensen Ackles as Tom Hanniger.
This movie takes you through twists and turns that you won’t see coming.
You can find this movie on HBO Max at no additional cost.
6. The Addams Family (1991)
We join the infamous creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky families that we all grew up loving.
As a classic Halloween family, this puts you right in the spirit.
This Halloween comedy delivers the right sense of spook with laughs constantly.
This isn’t your ordinary family and they don’t strive to blend in.
While this family doesn’t follow any adventures that they are used to going on, instead they portray this movie with their own sense of individuality.
We follow Gomez as he meets his brother Fester who ended up being adopted from a loan shark and was trying to take the entire Addams fortune.
This cast features the iconic Anjelica Houston as Morticia, Raul Julia as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester and Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams.
From the success of this film, two years later the sequel “The Addams Family Values” came out.
You can purchase this movie from anywhere on demand.
5. Ghostbusters (1984)
“When there’s something strange in your neighborhood … who ya gonna call?”
This classic film of the 1980s is another Halloween classic.
In a town overrun by ghosts, just listen for that iconic siren and they’ll be there to bust them.
This movie has the right amount of spookiness with ghosts and comedies to be a Halloween film you can watch with all your friends and family.
The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis.
“Ghostbusters” became a cult phenomenon and ended up receiving a sequel and a cartoon television series following the initial film.
In 2016, the franchise was rebooted starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the Ghostbusters. The film received some controversy with it starring an all female cast, but still did pretty well in the box office.
In November 2021, a long awaited sequel to the original “Ghostbusters” film is being released to theaters titled “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” The new movie will star a new cast as well as bringing back some iconic characters from the original.
“Ghostbusters” can be found on the Freeform app with a cable provider.
4. Beetlejuice (1988)
Say his name three times and he’ll appear.
“Beetlejuice” is a staple in Halloween films that can be watched on TV every year.
This Halloween film takes us to the place after death as we join Barbara and Adam Maitland figure out how to navigate their new life.
We meet Lydia Deetz with her family as they move to the Maitland home.
Lydia would like to do anything else but live there, especially with her dad and new stepmom.
As Barbara and Adam try to function their new lives as ghosts, they team up with Lydia to try and scare the family away.
It’s only until they meet Beetlejuice that chaos ensues.
In a world with ghosts and hauntings, this is the perfect adventure to get your Halloween on.
You can purchase “Beetlejuice” from anywhere on demand.
3. Halloweentown (1998)
This Disney Channel Original Movie is a staple of my childhood.
This classic DCOM is the fourth ever original movie and the first installment of the franchise.
We start this film meeting 13-year-old Marnie Piper as her grandmother Aggie comes for her annual Halloween visit.
Little does Marnie know, both her mother and grandmother are actually witches.
Aggie wants to teach Marnie all about the world of witches but her mother objects.
After following her grandmother back home, Marnie and her brother Dylan learn that she lives in a place called “Halloweentown.”
Every part of Halloween that we love from werewolves, to vampires, to skeleton taxi drivers all live here.
The movie became a success and ended up having three more movies to follow it ending with “Return to Halloweentown” in 2006.
“Halloweentown” is available on Disney+.
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
This Tim Burton classic film has become a notable Halloween and Christmas film.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a stop-motion film made with great poise.
Jack Skellington is Halloweentown’s great Pumpkin King who accidentally visits Christmastown.
Completely enamored by all the decorations and bright lights, Jack decides that he wants to become Santa this year and deliver presents to children all over the world.
This movie delivers Christmas but with a Halloween twist.
The songs throughout the film are catchy and memorable and move you right along through the story.
This film is a great way to bring in the spooky season.
You can stream this movie on Disney+.
1. Hocus Pocus (1993)
“Hocus Pocus” has become one of the most iconic Halloween movies of all time.
Every year, Freeform has this movie on more than any others during their “31 Nights of Halloween” special.
The movie starts off in the year 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts where we meet Winifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson as they wreak havoc on the town trying to keep themselves young forever.
The sisters get caught and hung, but not before Winifred is able to cast a spell stating that on All Hallow’s Eve when a full moon is shining, a virgin needs to light the black flame candle and the sisters will be resurrected.
Fast forward to 1993, where Max and Dani Dennison along with Max’s crush Allison bring the sisters back 300 years later.
This film brings us iconic moments and lines from all three of our antagonists as our heroes try to defeat the Sanderson Sisters once and for all.
This film also features the iconic song “I Put a Spell On You” sung by the Sanderson Sisters.
This cult classic stars Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson, Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson and Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson.
This movie is not one to be passed on during the Halloween season.
It is a must watch every single Halloween season and my favorite film.
A sequel is in development to come out in 2022 on Disney+ with the original Sanderson Sisters returning to cast a spell once more.
You can find this Halloween classic streaming on Disney+.