Favorite Halloween movies

roundshort

Active member
Which Movie Puts you int he mood for Halloween, I will list a few that always make my top:

Sleepy Hollow, a damn near perfect movie
Adventures of Ichabod Crane, the Diseny Animated flick, very very halloween

For Horror Movies, the Frist 4 Fridayt he 13th are classic to me


and 1 more for kicks, Disney's Something Wicked This Way Comes, if that doesn't put you in the mood for fall, nothing will.
 

Indy4ever

New member
I like Poltergeist with little Carol Ann! ("They're herreee!")



AND for a kid-friendly choice:



I like Hocus Pocus and The Canterbury Ghost

I don't know if The Canterbury Ghost was released in theaters, but it used to come on the Disney Channel a lot when I was little.

Oh, and one more...The Worst Witch with Fairuza Balk. Cute movie about a girl at a Harry Potter-esque school for witches.
 

Paden

Member
roundshort said:
and 1 more for kicks, Disney's Something Wicked This Way Comes, if that doesn't put you in the mood for fall, nothing will.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a film that I've long admired, both as a coming-of-age story and as a study of the darkness of the human heart. Robards puts in an outstanding performance as Will's aging and guilt-ridden father. Jonathan Pryce is wonderfully sinister as Mr. Dark. The sets and cinematography really capture the sense of time and place, carrying the audience back to that lost autumn decades ago. Well worth watching. Bradbury's novel on which the film is based is a classic.
 
The Exorcist
The Exorcist III
Prince Of Darkness (John Carpenter)
John Carpenters Vampires
Night Of The Living Dead (1990 version)
Snow White: A Tale of Terror 1997

Just to name a few of my standards....
 

Jay R. Zay

New member
as this is about halloween, i agree to Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (although it is not exactly about halloween). something of the same quality and also by Tim Burton is "A Nightmare Before Christmas", which is, in my view, an excellent movie, at least the english version, the german translation is a waste of time.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Glitter
Showgirls
Gigli
Spice World
Battlefield Earth
Guarding Tess

Oh and
Howard the Duck

now that's scary
 

San Holo

Active member
Monster Squad is the ultimate Halloween Treat. It's not a movie, but the Garfeild Halloween Special always got me in the trick or treat mood. The Adventures of Ichabod Crane, the Diseny Animated flick, was also a favorite of mine.
 
Hmm, in the mood for Halloween...

...uh, what about the movie, Halloween?!
This is the horror movie. IMHO, most of the "slashers" of the '80's and beyond owe their existence and possble success (Friday the 13th) to Halloween. John Carpenter's music, cinematography, acting, and plot are perfect. I look forward to seeing this movie every year. Forget about the 7 sequels. This movie is still timeless by today's standards.

It's probably my favorite movie behind the Indy trilogy.
 

Heliograph

New member
Night On Bald Mountain

If your looking for Halloween mood view, try the "Night On Bald Mountain" sequence in Fantasia. Or you might try "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt.

As for vocal, how about Jimmy Buffet's "The Desperation Samba" which centers on All Hallow's Eve in Mexico.
 

Jay R. Zay

New member
well, i'm not a fan of teenie slashers. a very linear story, no surprises, no suspense. at least that's how i saw Halloween and most others.

i prefer movies like (stated above) Sleepy Hollow, the ring and The Blair Witch Project. actually, although i like the genre as such, there are few movies from it i like.
 

Paden

Member
It seems that what is effective in horror films is extremely subjective. What is truly frightening/effective for one individual is laughable to the next. To me, Halloween is the film epitome of the idea that something is lurking in the dark, waiting to spring out and harm you. I'll grant that my view may be skewed a bit by experience: Halloween was one of the first horror films that I experienced as a young person, and it scared the liver out of me the first time I saw it. At that time, it was really pioneering. Subsequent "slasher" movies have done nothing but make me yawn...I've never cared for them (with the possible exception of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but those more for Freddy's droll humor than any chill factor). But in the original Halloween, it seemed that Carpenter really captured the essence of some terrible presence hidden in the shadows. For some reason, I found the original Alien effective in a similar way.

Still, I tend to find myself most appreciating horror movies that play on the imagination, rather than expicit blood and gore. Although it's a movie that people either absolutely loved or hated, for me The Blair Witch Project was pretty frightening the first trip through. Proof, for me anyway, that what you don't see onscreen is often far more frightening than what you do. The most recent horror film I've seen was White Noise, a movie I really enjoyed until the last fifteen minutes. Without detailing the ending (for those who haven't seen it), for me the whole movie curved off in the wrong direction in its final sequence. The subtle terror established in earlier in the film was quite good.

Side note (and not an attempt to pull this thread off-topic, I promise): For fans of Myst-style adventure games, Dark Fall: The Journal is a game that can really send chills up your spine. If you like subtle scares and exploring haunted places, it's well worth playing.
 

IndyBuff

Well-known member
I'm generally not a big fan of horror movies but for Halloween purposes I have to cast my vote for the first two Alien movies. Not only were they somewhat spooky but it fits in nicely with Paden's post about something being scarey because you can't see it. Alien is a classic and Aliens is easily the best of the series. The movies were fun because you knew what the characters were up against but you were never sure exactly when or where they would turn up. The directing was excellent and the camera work and acting were spot on.

Forget parts 3 and 4 and just stick with the first two. :whip:
 
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Jay R. Zay

New member
Indy said:
Forget parts 3 and 4 and just stick with the first two. :whip:

i love the 4th one, the most unusual and bizarre one of all. but again that's a matter of taste - i agree about part 3. :)
 
Paden said:
It seems that what is effective in horror films is extremely subjective. What is truly frightening/effective for one individual is laughable to the next. To me, Halloween is the film epitome of the idea that something is lurking in the dark, waiting to spring out and harm you. I'll grant that my view may be skewed a bit by experience: Halloween was one of the first horror films that I experienced as a young person, and it scared the liver out of me the first time I saw it. At that time, it was really pioneering. Subsequent "slasher" movies have done nothing but make me yawn...I've never cared for them (with the possible exception of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but those more for Freddy's droll humor than any chill factor). But in the original Halloween, it seemed that Carpenter really captured the essence of some terrible presence hidden in the shadows. For some reason, I found the original Alien effective in a similar way...

I agree with you. I think that if you see all of the countless mediocre teen "slashers", it can take the enjoyment out of watching the original movies that they imitated.
John Carpenter even said that when he was making the script for Halloween II, he realized that he was making the same movie, only this one wasn't as good.
Halloween truly was the alpha and omega of all bogeyman flicks.
 

IndyBuff

Well-known member
Aaron H said:
Temple of Doom (I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this one yet)


I actually was going to mention that one. I can't believe I forgot to. :eek:

And Jay, I agree with you about the 4th Aliens movie. It wasn't great but it was a lot better than the 3rd one.
 

Lon

New member
Halloween is my favorite time of year and I love to watch my top 10 favorite horror movies between now and Halloween. My top 10 favorite horror movies are:

Halloween
Psycho
The Blair Witch Project
Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
The Exorcist
Evil Dead 2
Alien
Frankenstein
A Nightmare on Elm Street


I also like to watch all three Indiana Jones movies during this time since all three have elements of horror in them to various degrees.
 
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