There are plenty of good Halloween movies out there, finding the great ones is the hard part
It’s no secret by this point that I love candy. But what may come as a surprise is that although I moved to Bigfork from Alaska, two locations well known for their Christmas celebrations, I am actually a huge fan of Halloween for reasons other than candy corn.
Not everyone loves the holiday, and I can understand why considering its shady roots. But, there’s plenty of ways to celebrate, whether it’s dressing up as someone or something else for a night, going to a haunted house, or just watching some scary movies while eating obscene amounts of candy and pumpkin-flavored everything.
Movies are a dime a dozen, and every fall there’s a new batch of them to go along with Halloween. But, newer isn’t always better.
For families with children, or even for those young at heart, I highly recommend “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” It’s a clay-animated musical about a skeleton from Halloween Town who is bored with his holiday. When he discovers Christmas Town he quickly decides to take over Christmas for a change of pace and to give Santa a break. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the town get Christmas completely wrong.
It was a favorite of mine as a young kid, and still is. Although the movie came out in the early 90s, there’s been a bit of a revival of interest in it recently with compilation albums from rock bands covering the soundtrack.
Don’t let the title fool you, it shouldn’t give nightmares since it is rated PG, but that’s mostly due to the creepiness of the characters and scenes such as when a group of trick-or-treaters go on a mission to “kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws.”
For the slightly older crowd, “Beetlejuice,” and “The Addams Family” are still family-friendly but a little more bizarre. “Beetlejuice” is about a dead young couple who are haunting their old home and don’t like the new residents. But, while trying to scare them away they make friends with their slightly-morbid daughter.
“The Addams Family” was originally a comic strip from the 1930s through the 80s that was made into a few movies about a macabre family dealing with “normal” society. It’s definitely good for some laughs without losing the Halloween vibe.
Then there’s the adult horror genre.
It’s been a very long time since an actually good scary movie has been made; it’s all special effects and torture scenes to make the audience cringe. If that’s your thing, then by all means, check out any scary movie made since the “Saw” series started in 2004 because it’s all basically the same.
As for those looking for some actual suspense from a scary movie with a plot, check out “The Shining.” It’s often referred to as the perfect horror movie, and I agree since the first time through it leaves you guessing what will happen next.
I’m usually more of the cheesy B-movie type. Anything that tries (or doesn’t actually try) to be scary and is just begging to be made fun of is where my attention is drawn. I’m not sure if horror-comedy is a genre, but if it were, then “Shaun of the Dead” would be my favorite.
It’s a quirky British romantic-comedy…with zombies. Basically it’s about an average guy, Shaun, who gets dumped the night before a zombie apocalypse breaks out. Of course, the warning signs were everywhere, but he didn’t notice. Once he realizes what’s going on, he keeps his plans to try to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend while also keeping everyone safe.
I won’t ruin the rest of it, but I will say it does involve a scene where pool cues are used to fight off a zombie to the beat of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Brilliant.
Other funny horror movies worth checking out are “The Evil Dead,” “Zombieland,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” or if you’re feeling weird then the cult classic “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is easy to find on DVD but is also being performed at FVCC.
Back to my main point, it’s fun to get a little scared. Unlike the previously mentioned movies, there are plenty of relatively new zombie movies and TV shows that have a plot that actually makes sense given the situation and leaves the audience wondering “is it possible.”
If that kind of suspense sounds like it’s up your alley, then check out “Dawn of the Dead,” “28 Days Later,” “Resident Evil,” and the TV series “The Walking Dead.” Each has the gore factor down for the cheap thrill seekers, but there is just enough realism to leave you awake at night.
Fortunately for us, we live in Montana where pretty much everyone has a gun and knows how to shoot, so we don’t need to worry about zombies. (Or do we?)
For the truly hardcore thrill-seeker who craves exposure to the most terrifying creations mankind’s twisted minds have thought up, just turn on any major news station and watch the political commentary segments.