Anticipation for a full night filled with candy and time with friends climbs as Halloween draws near, many celebrate the special day by watching movies. One of the ways I celebrate is to watch as many movies as I can, starting from my least to most favorite films.
“Killer Klowns from Outer Space” by Stephen Chiodo
While not entirely a Halloween movie, “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” is a very odd film that provides a classic eighties introduction to the killer clown genre as a whole. With three main characters, Mike Tobacco, Debbie Stone, and Dave Hansen in the movie follows the trio’s attempt to save the world from aliens called “Klowns” that look like killer clowns. The movie is a fun watch, but feels a little outdated so it claims the thirteenth spot on the ranking.
“The Addams Family (1991)” by Barry Sonnenfeld
One of the more iconic Addams family-related pieces of media follows the Addams family’s antics as they connect with Gordon Craven who pretends to be the family’s long lost Uncle Fester. This is a fun movie that captures the Halloween aesthetic with its ridiculous plot featuring Gordon and his mother’s scheme to steal the Addams family fortune. As a whole “The Addams Family” is an interesting film, but its only negative is that sometimes the movie over-explains certain elements rather than letting viewers experience the story. This negative is too hard to overlook placing it at twelve in the ranking.
“Corpse Bride” by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” is a perfectly executed movie discussing topics like death and love through its three main characters, Victor Van Dort, Victoria Everglot and Emily the Corpse Bride. Victor is forced to marry Victoria to increase his parent’s place in society but as he practices his vow he accidentally promises his ring to a dead woman, Emily the Corpse Bride. With its musical elements and bittersweet ending to an otherwise happy story, I would consider this to be one of Tim Burton’s strongest films in terms of writing. “Corpse Bride” is a sweet and simple movie that isn’t anything too special but a great watch, scoring it number eleven on the list.
“Little Shop of Horrors” by Frank Oz
One of my favorite movie musicals, “Little Shop of Horrors” is a perfect Halloween watch because of its charming but unsettling plot and complex characters. On Sept. 23 “in an early year of a decade not too long before our own” Seymour Krelborn, a doormat shop assistant in love with Audrey, discovers a sinister human-eating alien plant that attempts to take over the world. Something I’ve always enjoyed is movies with two endings, and this musical is no exception with a happier ending and an ending where the plant Audrey II takes over the world. I like the more ominous ending because of the ending song “Don’t Feed the Plants,” it creates a perfect sense of impending disaster by showing scenes of the alien takeover while the song plays, only to be cut off on a cliffhanger. “Little Shop of Horrors” is ranked number ten because I adore this movie so much, but many people do not like musicals so it may not be a suitable movie to recommend to everyone.
“Jaws” by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg creates an immersive horror movie based on suspense and a classic soundtrack. The movie follows three men as they attempt to kill The Shark before more people are eaten. The movie has a lot of good dialogue and overall is a mildly scary movie as long as you aren’t squeamish to gore, overall this places it at nine.
“Hocus Pocus”
After being killed in the Salem witch trials, The Sanderson Sisters attempt to regain their youth and completely come back to life years later. Max Dennison, the main character, is aided by Allison Watts and Dani Dennison, his sister in defeating the witches. “Hocus Pocus” is an iconic and instantly recognizable movie that anyone can enjoy because it’s just a silly movie that doesn’t get too far into a deep plot. The only flaw holding it back from placing above eighth place is that the plot feels cliché and childish at certain points in the movie.
“It (2017)” by Andrés Muschietti
Based on the hit Steven King novel of the same name, “It” follows seven children who are hunted by Pennywise, a shape-shifting entity that feeds on fear and humans every 27 years. There are some scenes that leave an unsettling aftertaste such as the projector scene where a giant Pennywise runs after the children or when the demon attacks one of the main children, Stanley Uris with a painting of a flutist who takes the form as a gross creature where the movie later shows the woman eating his face. The movie is a mix of horrifying and disturbing which is something essential to a good Halloween movie. This film gets seventh place because it’s not something I would recommend to everyone, since it can be a little too scary at times.
“Predator” by John McTiernan
This movie is what I would consider one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic roles. “Predator” follows Dutch Shaefer, the leader of a military group that stumbles upon The Predator. The Predator hunts any lifeforms for sport as a challenge, and the movie follows Dutch’s fight to survive this threat. “Predator” is a suspenseful action movie that captures the fearful Halloween spirit. It’s pretty scary and an overall fun watch and deserves its sixth place rating.
“Alien” by Ridley Scott
While my first time watching “Alien” at the age of seven was not a fun experience, since images of the infant Chestburster continue to be burned into my mind, I now find watching “Alien” as a teenager really fun. “Alien” still continues to be the standard of disturbing movies to watch when nearing Halloween. At fifth place, this movie is such a good mix of unsettling and scary that it should be homework to watch.
“Sabrina the Teenage Witch” by Tibor Takács
“Sabrina the Teenage Witch” is a funny and whimsical movie based on a comic series. While it may be a bit cliche, it provides a fun movie that viewers can casually view. It follows Sabrina Spellman’s antics as she discovers who she is through a witchy background. It’s cute and predictable and claims the fourth spot.
“Beetlejuice” by Tim Burton
While “Beetlejuice” has inspired some of the best Halloween costumes due to its several iconic costumes, it is also a very good Halloween movie in general. The film follows the Maitlands, Adam and Barbra, two ghosts who are unable to move on from their home. When a new family moves in and destroys their house, the couple attempts to drive them away and fails. The couple then summons the demon Beetlejuice before regretting their decision after realizing Beetlejuice is an uncontrollable troublemaker. The Maitlands, with the help of Lydia, try to force Beetlejuice out of their home. The film creates a perfect blending of humor, plot, costuming and special effects that gets it into the top three.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” by Henry Selick
People debate on whether or not it is a Halloween movie, because of its Christmas themed plot and it’s Halloween based setting. I usually watch it around Halloween due to its setting. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” creates a fairytale take on Christmas and identity. Jack Skellington is bored with his life and attempts to recreate Christmas to get away from what is familiar, the movie follows Jack’s naive journey where he ultimately fails. This movie is so nostalgic and rewatching it brought out a happy feeling as I watched Jack Skellington explore the world of self discovery, while it is a strong movie it’s plot is very simple and lacks the layers necessary to claim the number one spot.
“Coraline” by Henry Selick
Coraline is my all-time favorite movie and deserves first place on the ranking. The cast of characters creates a fun and inviting movie on the surface with a deeply unsettling undertone. “Coraline” is based on the 2002 Neil Gaiman book. It is a movie that is different from the usual happy story with mild conflicts and is instead an unsettling film with interesting and complex characters that help create vivid imagery around different main themes. These themes include scary topics that aren’t often discussed in children’s media, things like vulnerability, fear, loneliness and manipulation. Despite how bizarre the movie can be, it is strangely comforting and creates a good laugh whenever I need it.
by LEILA ALEXANDER
