Five Halloween Flicks For The Perfect Spooky Film Night
It’s spooky season! Whilst for some, this means zombie meet-ups and gory horror films, others just want to enjoy a cosy night in with appropriate-for-the-occasion-but-not-too-graphic films, a takeaway and all the snacks. If you’re part of the latter, but still at a loss about what to watch, make this your playlist for the night!
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Arguably a cult Halloween film, Disney’s Hocus Pocus, set in Salem, follows teenage boy Max Dennison, his little sister Emily and their friend Allison as they accidentally free the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of witches who used to live in an abandoned house in the city. The kids must now find the witches’ book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal.
An easy-to-watch film for everyone, funny and witty, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Another 1990’s classic, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas tells the story of Jack Skellington, who lives in Halloween Town but desires something more than being admired as ‘The Pumpkin King’ by his fellow citizens.
Wandering around the woods one Halloween night, he stumbles upon a door that takes him to Christmas Town, where he discovers a whole different world to what he’s used to. Fuelled by the idea of merging the two together, the adventure unfolds.
With music by superstar composer Danny Elfman, this magical fusion of Halloween and Christmas is the perfect watch for the 31st of October - ideally around midnight, so you, too, can fuse Halloween and Christmas together.
Labyrinth (1986)
Starring David Bowie as the Goblin King, Labyrinth starts by introducing us to Sarah Williams, a 15-year-old girl, who is supposed to babysit her baby brother Toby one night. Frustrated and annoyed about his constant crying, she hastily wishes Toby be taken away by the goblins.
Shocked, she finds Toby disappeared and Jareth, the Goblin King, giving her 13 hours to solve his labyrinth and find her baby brother before he is turned into a goblin forever.
The soundtrack was composed by no other than Bowie himself, and includes instrumental as well as vocalised tracks.
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Slowly moving into a tad scarier parts, Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd is about a barber who’d been sent to exile as the corruptive Judge Turpin was particularly interested in his wife, Lucy, and his daughter, Johanna.
Now back in the Big Smoke, he has to learn that Judge Turpin poisoned Lucy and keeps Johanna as his ward. Filled with rage, he seeks revenge with the help of Mrs. Lovett, a lady whose pie shop is not selling particularly well…
Whilst this is one of the more visual films, the amazing soundtrack loosens the overall mood and makes it a much more enjoyable viewing experience, starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Jamie Campbell Bower and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Three’s a party: Another Tim Burton classic, Sleepy Hollow, once again stars Johnny Depp, this time as police constable Ichabod Crane, who, in 1799, is dispatched from New York to a small town called Sleepy Hollow, where a series of brutal decapitations has happened.
Allegedly committed by a headless horseman, Crane is initially sceptical about the paranormal story but slowly has to learn that there’s more to it than it first seemed.
Although more graphic than the first three films on this list, it’s still a thoroughly gripping and enjoyable film, starring Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Christopher Walken and Christopher Lee.