Whether it’s the excess of candy corn, the excuse to wear full-fledged costumes in public, or blissfully running through cornfields, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.
Since my birthday is only three days before Halloween, most of my childhood birthday parties involved costumes and pumpkin shaped cakes. I was groomed to like this holiday from the beginning.
Since I’m too old to trick or treat (I milked that for as long as I could, but the time is long gone), I like to watch Halloween movies to celebrate the occasion as I try not to devour all the candy for trick-or-treaters.
Here’s a list of some of my favorite (non-scary) Halloween movies:
Hocus Pocus
Does it get any better than Bette Midler?
Besides the hilarious characters (witches riding vacuuums?) and tweeny plotline, this movie takes place, and was partially filmed, in Salem, MA – my old stomping grounds. Therefore it holds a special place in my heart.
“Let’s light this sucker and meet the old broads.”
The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values
My FAVORITE Halloween movies, harkening back to the days of watching The Munsters on Nick at Night.
The Addams Family. That violent, yet loveable family of weirdos.
Am I the only kid who flipped her hair around in the pool pretending to be Cousin It?
(Really, the only one? Forget I said anything about it.)
“20 grand for summah camp and he’s Mister Woo woo?”
The ‘Burbs
Oh Tom Hanks, you are an adorable little man of yore.
Does it get any better than the neighborhood man-club investigating the creepy new family?
“The message to psychos, fanatics, murderers, nutcases all over the world is “do not mess with suburbanites”. Because frankly we’re just not gonna take it any more. Ya know, we’re not gonna be content to look after our lawns and wax our cars, paint out houses. We’re out to get them.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the original)
Color me embarrassed.
This is the original movie, pre-television show, when Sabrina discovers she is a witch.
It’s cheesy and everything you want the mid 1990s to be. It really takes me back to the good old days of roll-on glitter.
Jackpot! The whole movie can be found on YouTube here:
The Village
Okay, this M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller is actually kind of creepy, but with beautifully dreary cinematography.
This movie boasts quite the cast, including an adorable Amish-esque Joaquin Phoenix, who play a group of isolated villagers plagued by an outside force that lives in the forest. Get rid of everything the color red. Stay inside. Be afraid.
Just don’t let anyone ruin the end for you. If they do, they aren’t a good friend.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Bring out the Reese’s Pieces.
Watch classic kid Elliot befriend an alien who is stuck on Earth and can’t get home. E.T. is a classic American movie, ranking with the likes of The Sandlot, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. This fall we celebrate 30 years of E.T.
And in case you are wondering, it’s still okay to cry.
Edward Scissorhands
Ahh, the story of the irrefutable Avon Lady.
There isn’t much I don’t enjoy about watching this movie – from the idealistic Levittown neighborhood, to blonde pre-shoplifting Winona Ryder, to Edward’s far-out hair and landscaping businesses.
This movie is saturated with colors and a Tim Burton creeptastic delight.
“And I will bring the Ambrosia Salad.”
Rear Window
James Stewart? Check. Grace Kelly? Check.
A recovering Jimmy Stewart is wheelchair-bound during a sweltering summer month and begins spying on his apartment complex neighbors from the window. As a mysterious murder occurs, all helter skelter is let loose as Jimmy, lovely girlfriend Grace and the nurse begin to investigate the crime from their very own living room window.
Honorable Mentions:
Harry Potter (any of them!)
Pretty Little Liars
The Witches
What is your favorite Halloween movie? Do you like watching scary movies? (Unlike me!)
Being a responsible adult (who happens to love vampiric teen literature), I’m going to a Twilight pre-party and the movie tonight instead of at the midnight premiere.
Maybe it’s because I know I’d be in the house of Hufflepuff. I’m not brave enough to be in Gryffinndor. I am too much of a goody-two-shoes to be in Slytherin. Ravenclaw is a close second, but I don’t think I would ever be able to figure out the riddle passwords to get into my Hogwarts dorm room.
Maybe it’s because I feel like I know what Butterbeer and treacle tarts taste like. Maybe it’s because I can feel the warm, cozy buzz of sitting in Honeyduke’s on a chilly winter day catching up on Charms homework.
Maybe it’s because I love the thrill of watching a good game of Quidditch or the idea camping out for the World Cup with friends.
Maybe it’s because I know I would never want to be in the Tri-Wizard tournament, that I, too, would have disliked Lavendar Brown, and would cringe at receiving a howler from my Mom.
Maybe because I think my patronus would be a songbird. Maybe because I can see myself reading the Quibbler with Luna on the train.
Maybe because I think I’d be BFFs with Ginny. Maybe because I think I would start to be good friends with Hermione after I got used to her. (At first she would annoy me.)
Maybe because I know I would have joined the DA to protect my sorry self. (I don’t see myself being very good at defensive spells. Lack of rapid response.)
Maybe this is why I, along with many other people, have gotten lost in J.K. Rowling’s world of Harry Potter.
The last installment of Potter films premieres tonight at midnight. I am going tomorrow night (!!!) and can’t wait!
But I also feel a twinge of sadness. The same twinge I felt when I finished the Deathy Hallows book for the first time a few years ago. There was no more Hogwarts to learn about and explore.
Behold the power of a good book.
Fan fiction here I come!
Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?
-J.K. Rowling, “King’s Cross,” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore
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