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8 Classic Halloween Movies to Watch

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wisconsin chapter.

It’s October, which 100 percent means that it is time to celebrate Halloween. One of the best things about Halloween is watching spooky movies that really only feel appropriate for this time of the year. Before selecting your favorite flick, though, there are some movie rituals that you will have to follow for the perfect Halloween-movie-watching experience. First, you need to pop some popcorn (whether it’s homemade or microwave). Second, make sure you are wearing some sort of Halloween-themed item, such as earrings or socks. Third, go to the closest convenience store and raid all of their candy. Fourth, you must invite your friends over. Last, but certainly not least, choose the featured film of the night! Here are some Halloween classics to consider:

 

1. Halloweentown … all of them

Halloweentown is about a young girl named Marnie who finds out from her Grandmother Aggie that she is a witch. Marnie’s mother, Gwen, has been keeping the secret from her her whole life. Not long after starting her training to become a full witch, Aggie and Gwen are cast with a spell that freezes them in time. It’s up to Marnie and her two siblings, Dylan and Sophie, to undo the spell.

2. Tower of Terror

Journalist Buzzy Crocker learns the tale of five people when a curse trapped them in a hotel elevator and turned them into ghosts. Buzzy and his niece Anna (played by young Kirsten Dunst) set out to investigate the tale and to break the curse.

3. Twitches

Alex and Camryn were raised in separate and very different households. But when they accidentally meet in public, the two discover that they are not only long-lost twin sisters, but also witches. Together, the sisters piece together their past whilst learning to harness their newfound powers.

4. Hocus Pocus

A boy named Binx was turned into a black cat when he tries to save his sister, who was lured in and drained of life by the Sanderson sisters (they were witches). Many years later, another teenage boy named Max, his sister Dani and their friend Allison discovered the witches’ spell book, which prompted the sisters to come back for more lives. Max, with the aid of Binx, Dani and Allison attempt to rid the world of the Sanderson sisters forever. 

5. Casper

Kat moves into a haunted mansion with her paranormal therapist father when her mother passed away. Not long after their arrival, the father-daughter duo find out they aren’t the only ones living in the mansion. Kat befriends a ghost named Casper, as well as his three uncles who make up the Ghostly Trio. Kat’s father, who is urgently trying to bring his wife back to life, runs into complication when he discovers and uses an old machine in the mansion built to accomplish such tasks. Turns out, he isn’t the only one trying to bring the dead back to life.

6. Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice is about Adam and Barbara, a couple that dies in a car accident. When new residents move into their Adam and Barbara’s old house, the two, now ghosts, attempt in vain to scare their new residents away. They then resort to summoning Betelgeuse, a freelance ghost, to rid their house of the new owners; and chaos ensues.

7. Ghostbusters

Three parapsychologists, formerly professors, started a company tho capture and eliminate ghosts in New York City. Business started booming not long after its opening, and the crew recruited a fourth member. Peter, Raymond, Egon and Winston, also known as the Ghostbusters, take on a case in which an apartment owned by a woman named Dana is haunted by a spirit. Eventually, Dana becomes possessed by Zuul, and it’s the Ghostbusters’ job to save her life.

8. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington may be the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town (not to be confused with Halloweentown), but he tires over celebrating Halloween the same way every year. During his search for new ways to spice up the holiday, Jack ventures to Christmas Town and is fascinated by the holiday unbeknownst to him. After a failed attempt at explaining Christmas to the villagers of Halloween Town, Jack decides to integrate the two — and Santa had to get involved.

 

Now that you have a wide variety of Halloween flicks to choose from, feel free to start binge watching as the holiday inches closer. With Candy Corn in hand, you are sure to have one (or two) spooky-filled evenings!

Hi, my name is Alexandria Chapes and I am a senior at UW-Madison. I am majoring in Theatre and Drama as an Acting Specialist with a certificate in Digital Studies. I enjoy writing in my spare time, especially about theatre, because it is a world unknown to many that I loving sharing with others!