October 28th, 2010
Favourite Halloween Movies for Chills, Camp and Cheesiness
I’m not a big scary movie person- they’re all blood, gore and (worst of all!) people jumping out from behind things. Three things that I can definitely do without, I hate being scared! That being said, I’m a huge movie fan and I have a soft spot for mysteries, well told stories, and thrillers. And cult movies. And campy horror and sci-fi! Be still my geeky heart.
One of my favourite Halloween traditions is to have a movie marathon on Halloween night, these are the ones that are topping my list this year…
Pontypool – This is hands down my favourite horror movie in years! Set almost entirely inside a radio station as mysterious events unfold outside, this is an intensely smart zombie movie that’s not cheap and gory but that’s claustrophobic and beautifully executed. And it’s Canadian! (trailer here – but it doesn’t do it justice!)
Shutter Island – Shutter Island was one of the best surprises I’ve had at the movies recently. It’s a gorgeous drama that’s beautifully pieced together and tense psychological drama, and just gets better with repeated viewings. (trailer here)
Hocus Pocus – Do you remember this one? I can’t think of a more fun Halloween movie than Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as witch sisters who ride vacuum cleaners! I loved this movie in the 90’s and it’s cute and campy to revisit. (trailer here)
Beetlejuice – Over the top live action Tim Burton having so much fun! Beetlejuice is so outlandish that I can’t resist it. Sand worms and shrunken heads? Definitely Halloween material. (trailer here)
Rocky Horror Picture Show – “Come up to the lab, and see what’s on the slab!” I have no words for my fondness for Rocky Horror, I first discovered it in junior high around the same time I saw RENT and every Halloween I have to watch at least part of RHPS. This is one of those movies that I can recite word for word, love it! (trailer here)
The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness – You can’t beat Bruce Campbelll! These are a trilogy of totally over the top horror movies featuring cheesy and wonderful special effects. Evil Dead II is my favourite, and features the classic possessed hand and cabin furniture. (trailers here, here & here)
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die – A scientist’s girlfriend is decapitated in a car crash, and he keeps her head alive while searching for a body. Of course, right? What else is science for? It’s from the early 1960’s and is full of all the head on a tray shots that you can imagine. The best part? It’s in the public domain! You can watch it online here– though I would recommend watching the MST3k version, old sci-fi is even better when it’s being heckled (also online for free!)
Never heard of Pontypool, but sounds great! Any zombie movie I haven’t seen, I would definitely be interested in. Love all of the Evil Dead movies for sure. Campy and fun!
have you ever watched Pan’s Labyrinth? It’s more of a dark film but I recommend it! I’ll check out your “For Chills” section!
Haha, my boyfriend recently made me watch Bruce Campbell’s cheesy movies. They’re ridiculous! I haven’t seen a lot of the other ones, but I’ll be sure to add them to my “to-watch” list (yes, I really have a to-watch list).
If Hocus Pocus comes on there is no way I can turn it off – I love that movie!
I LOVE zombie movies, especially Canadian ones! I am stoked to watch Pontypool!
As for favorite scary movies, I really love the Rob Zombie movies…I have a thing for over the top gore….House of a 1000 corpses was awesome!
I love how you broke this out. I’m not a HUGE scary movie person but sometimes, it’s just right. I have not seen all of the movies on this list but I will have to check a few of them out.
I adore Hocus Pocus and Beetlejuice!! ADORE! Hrmm… If you like older cheesy flicks, we used to love to watch Tim Burton’s, “Frankenweenie” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087291/) and they’re actually doing a reboot of it out in 2012!
For creepy but sort of more indie/cult classic, we are sort of getting addicted to Trick ‘r Treat, which is sort of 4 intertwined horror stories based on a comic: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862856/
And for the completely not scary, we totally watch “Garfield’s Halloween Special” every Halloween as we prepare to hand out candy! LOL
I loved Shutter Island. I’ve read the book, so I was so excited for it to come out! The music is amazing. I was scared within the first 3 minutes and I knew what was going to happen! :)
This is a great list! I will definitely be watching Beetlejuice this Halloween. My favourite Halloween flick is “Double Double Toil ad Trouble”, the Olsen twins classic. It was pretty scary when I was a kid! I bought it on dvd last year so I can watch it every Halloween :) Rocky Horror is another one that never fails to please!
I Walked with a Zombie is perfectly for camp and chills. It’s quite funny at moments, really scary in others and artistically, it’s beautiful. Ah back in the good old days when movies relied on shadows and tension to scare people.
I swear I’ve only become a bigger wimp as I’ve gotten older, but there is still something intriguing about the scariest of movies.
HA! I love the movies you posted – my pals and I watched Beetlejuice last weekend and are planning on getting Hocus Pocus for this weekend :)
Hocus Pocus. Hands down, that’s it. LOVE that movie.
I LOVE all three of your camp choices. They all have special places in my heart!
LOVE hocus pocus! i also love the addams family. :)
i’m terrified of scary movies. i can do the occasional suspense/thriller flick. i love hitchcock films because they’re creepy but not overly scary. but as far as horror goes, i just can’t do it. i get super scared and have nightmares from just watching trailers for horror movies! ;) i am DYING to see shutter island, though… i love martin scorcese and basically everyone in the cast, but i haven’t watched it, yet, because i think it might to be too scary. i kind of just want to suck it up and rent it! ;)
i’ll be watching Hocus Pocus tonight as i watch it every year around Halloween, LOVE that movie. i also try and watch Practical Magic and Sleepy Hollow, i heart them both.
Love it! Hocus Pocus! Best ever, know if off by heart!
We kiwis dont celebrate Halloween as intensely as you guys (I wish we did! Maybe I will start a revolution…) but ive booked in a fright night as inspired by you! Pontypool sounds good.
You cant unwatch Paranormal Activity so if you are like me and scare easy and then have to sleep with the light on for a month, just dont do it.
xo
Halloween would not be Halloween without Hocus Pocus! This year I’m doing my first ‘Horror Movie Marathon’ though I’ve wanted to for years. I may just have to sneak Hocus Pocus in there for some comedic relief! Loved this post! <3
Oh, I love your Halloween tradition! What a fun night to look forward to. Because I don’t have any Halloween plans, I’m thinking I may have to steal your idea! Thanks for all of the great movie suggestions! Now I think I want to watch “Hocus Pocus.” So fun! I love “Rocky Horror”! The first time I saw it was at a Halloween midnight showing. I also got to see a live performance two Halloweens ago! Thinking about seeing “Shutter Island.” Hmm. To me, psychological thrillers are way scarier than typical horror movies! A month or so ago I was getting a mani/pedi and the nail salon was playing that movie on their TV. I thought that was SO WEIRD! Not exactly the type of movie you want to see when you’re trying to relax! And I think I saw a part that gave away some of the ending. Boo.
My favourite zombie movie is hands down Shaun of the Dead.
Hocus Pocus is one of my must-watch movies every Halloween! LOVE it. Also, I have this obsession with the cartoon network movie The Halloween Tree based on the same-named Ray Bradbury book. He even narrates the movie! But it hasn’t been released on DVD. I literally had to bribe a friend to let me borrow his VHS player so I can watch it this year.
I still have yet to see Rocky Horror, which I think is a punishable offense in some social circles. I should probably fix that this year.
I LOVED “Shutter Island.” What a well-done thriller! I was so disappointed to hear the bad reviews it got because I, for one, thought it was amazing.
I have been wanting to see Shutter Island for awhile, so I will definitely be adding that to my Halloween movie list. Also, I think Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice and Rocky Horror are must watches EVERY Halloween season. I am also a huge Tim Burton fan so I would add Alice in Wonderland and Sweeney Todd to the list. I am also obsessed with Coraline.
I am a campy girl all the way. It is not halloween to me without Beetlejuice and Rocky Horror.
all great movies! but i would like to add to the cheesy: 1983 sleepaway camp…..just saw it this weekend totally great 80’s cheesy scary movie, A MUST SEE!!
xo,
cb
My love for Rocky Horror might be a little ridiculous. It’s so fabulous.
While it’s not Halloween-focused, per se, I am a big fan of Serial Mom by John Waters. So campy, cheesy and fun.
I don’t like scary movies so I don’t have any to suggest! They just freak me out way too much!
But tomorrow night I am going to a silent movie called “Nosferatu”. it’s being played at my friend’s church (but has nothing to do w/ religion of course) and then their organist will play the soundtrack which should be pretty cool. :)
HOCUS POCUS IS MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE HALLOWEEN MOVIE, EVER.
And whoa, I just got a little (all caps!) excited just then. But I have big plans to (do nothing else but) watch Hocus Pocus Halloween night. And maybe Zombieland, because while it’s definitely a little gory, it’s also hilarious and I verily love it.
Another favorite of mine that is again more zombie/less Halloween/still hilarious is Shaun of the Dead. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It makes me laugh quite a lot. Especially the opening scenes.
Also, this is totally random, but have you ever seen The Halloween Tree? It was a movie I vividly remembered watching as a kid and I just watched it again (via YouTube, what what) this week and holy CREEPY kids movie, Batman. It was ridiculous! And hilarious. But wow.
Shaun of the Dead is the only remotely scary / gory movie I’ve seen in, oh, EVER and I only watched it to impress a boy, and I was cringing the entire time … but I actually enjoyed it. Probably because it falls into the camp category more than anything else.
LOVE Hocus Pocus. I want to live in Max’s house (the actual house is in Salem, along with many of the filming locations). My sister and I just watched this when I visited her a few weeks ago and I still love it now as much as I did when I was 8. I definitely need to pick up my own copy :-).
I am a HUGE fan of Hocus Pocus AND Shutter Island! Truly scary/grotesque movies (Hello, paranormal activity) freak me out TOO much though and I won’t watch them!
I got really excited when I saw “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” on your list but then I realized it wasn’t the movie I was thinking of. I saw a movie on scifi many years ago that is beyond bizarre and ridiculous and could never remember the name. A girl’s boyfriend is murdered and his brain is put in an animatronic dinosaur. I finally found the name, “Tammy and the T-Rex”. If you ever have absolutely nothing else to do, check it out. :)
ARMY OF DARKNESS! I love Bruce Campbell times a million.
Like you, I really am not into scary movies at all, but I can appreciate a well-told mystery story. I think I want to see “Shutter Island” for Halloween!
I love your list! I’m a total fraidy cat when it comes to scary movies also. My favorite “scary” or Halloween appropriate movies include Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hallow and Sweeney Todd. And can I count the Ghost Busters movies as scary/Halloween? Cause I love them and quotes those movies all the time.
A friend and I are doing the very same thing! We might do some Hercule Poirot mysteries, or perhaps Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein.” I tried to suggest Hocus Pocus, but that didn’t get the best response…ah well. We’re also going to make Greek pie and have pumpkin bourbon cheesecake for dessert. Yum.
I love Hocus Pocus! I’ve already watched it a few times when it was on tv. Its bascially right up my alley because I’m a big scaredy cat who hates people jumping out from behind things. I haven’t seen Shutter Island yet, but its in my netflix queue.
Yay MST3K! ^_^
I looooooove Shutter Island. After seeing that and Inception, I have a HUGE appreciation for Leo. He rocked both of those movies.
Also, Shutter Island the book is great, too.
I looove Hocus Pocus!!! Did you see the Glee Rocky Horror Picture Show episode from this week? I’d be interested to hear your opinion (I’ve never seen it, so while I enjoyed Glee I figured I didn’t really “get” it).
For hilarity:
Shaun of the Dead
Zombieland
I only like to watch them around Halloween-time, and saving them is ALWAYS worth the wait.
Zombieland was hilarious! I second that recommendation.
I too hate being scared and mostly refuse to watch “horror” movies no matter how much Andrew begs.
I LOVE Shaun of the Dead!
Reason #43574 why I love your blog: You remind me of things I wanted to do that I am too organized to keep track of! Boyfriend and I used to keep a running list of movies we wanted to rent (because $25 is too much to spend to see a movie in the theatre unless its very special, like Harry Potter) and Shutter Island was definitely on that list last summer. Only, I wanted to wait until Halloween time because that is the only time of year I like scary movies (and like is a stretch, but its when I want to watch them) and with all the craziness I totally forgot. So now I have plans for tomorrow night! Thanks!
We love Bubba Ho-Tep. It’s another strange Bruce Campbell one, and so bizarre – a mummy zombie that stalks a nursing home sucking peoples souls out their bums, and only an Elvis impersonator can save them…
Also? The song that Sarah Jessica Parker sings on her broom, summoning all the children? Come little children….. I sing that in the shower. Every other day.
I LOVE Hocus Pocus. It’s a movie I watch anytime I see it on television. Also, I’ve never seen RHPS, but there is a channel playing it all day on Halloween this year, so hopefully I’ll catch it.
I love to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I’ll also occasionally watch Halloweentown (made in 1998) on the Disney channel.