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Last night while we handed out candy to children, my husband and I turned on "Ghostbusters."
It just seemed like the right movie to watch on Halloween. (Well, OK, the day before Halloween, because our city decided to have trick-or-treat night on Friday instead of Saturday.) It got me thinking about other great movies to watch on or around Halloween.
Sure, there are the obvious movies, like "Halloween" and "Friday the Thirteenth," but I'm not a huge slasher/horror movie fan. So, here, in no particular order, are my top five favorite Halloween-season movies.
- "Nightmare Before Christmas" - Tim Burton's holiday story comes alive in claymation, a naturally creepy medium. The movie itself has a great story, about a skeleton called Jack the Pumpkin King from Halloweentown, who decides to give Santa Claus a break by kidnapping him and taking over his duties. It has a lot of creepy characters, but it's also full of dark humor and surprisingly whimsical songs. "Nightmare Before Christmas" also gets bonus points because you can watch it all the way through Christmastime!
- "Shaun of the Dead" - This British cult favorite is probably the most romantic zombie movie ever made. The movie follows slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) as he attempts to navigate the zombie apocalypse with his slacker best friend, mother, ex-girlfriend and two friends. It has a great mix of deadpan and madcap humor, but also has a lot of heart and some really tragic moments.
- "Frankenweenie" - It's not a full-length feature, but Tim Burton's short film definitely is one of my favorite things to watch around Halloween. In fact, the Disney Channel used to play it every year; now, I can watch it because it's on the same DVD as "Nightmare Before Christmas." The film is about a boy named Victor who brings his dog, Sparky, back from the dead after Sparky is hit by a car and killed. It's quirky and very funny, and I recommend you watch it if you've never seen it before.
- "Young Frankenstein" - Mel Brooks' spoof on the Frankenstein franchise is absolutely hilarious. In fact, it's one of Brooks' best films. Gene Wilder plays Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, who comes to his family castle to continue his grandfather's research with the help of Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Terri Garr) and, of course Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). It's wildly funny, and I still watch it every time I see it on TV (I just watched the last hour of it last night, in fact).
- "Beetlejuice " - OK, I know this list is heavy on the Tim Burton, but what can I say? Burton has the perfect mix of horror and humor. "Beetlejuice" is about a recently deceased couple (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), who try to get a freaky family (played by Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder) out of their house. Foolishly, they enlist the help of Beetlejuice, a shady bio-exorcist expertly played by Michael Keaton. Hilarity ensues, of course, right up to the freaky-deaky finale, where Beetlejuice & Co. try to haunt the family out of the house with the help of many weird creatures.
What movies do you like to watch around Halloween? Why? Do you like any of the movies on this list?
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