#Middlebury #Halloween
If you’re looking for some frighteningly fun films this Halloween, you’re in luck. Spooky and scary topics play well on the small screen, and there’s plenty to choose from – witches, pumpkins, ghosts and more. But what to watch? It depends on the audience.
For a mixed group, you need a crowd-pleaser: safe enough for the kids, but real entertainment for the adults. For family friendliness, you can’t do better than the following – all of which are suitable background viewing for a spooky Halloween gathering.
Bette Midler in “Hocus Focus” (Disney photo)
“Hocus Pocus” is a Halloween classic where a trio of witches (Bette Midler chief among them) is freed in Salem, and a couple of kids must take action to stop them from their wicked plans for immortality.
“Halloweentown” centers around a 13-year-old girl who finds out on her birthday that she comes from a family of witches and is transported to a magical town by her grandmother, played by Debbie Reynolds.
“The Addams Family” and its sequel “Addams Family Values” have a young Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams and Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia.
“Beetlejuice” isn’t strictly Halloween, but it delights all age groups, with Michael Keaton as an undead offender who tries to get a recently deceased couple to bring him back to life permanently.
“Practical Magic” tells the story of two witchy sisters, each with a unique approach (and repercussions from) love as they fight to break a family curse. This one’s aimed at a slightly older crowd.
There’s plenty more: “The House with the Clock in Its Walls,” “Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Casper,” “Goosebumps,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Hotel Transylvania” and “Disney’s The Haunted Mansion.”
Now, how about those terrifying treats for after the kids go to bed? Classic slasher franchises include “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream.” For throwback thrills, check out “Child’s Play,” “The Amityville Horror,” “Pet Sematary,” “Children of the Corn,” “Carrie” and “The Exorcist.”
For more modern horror, look no further than director Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” where a young man (Daniel Kaluuya) visits his girlfriend’s family, and their behavior goes from suspicious to shockingly and terrifyingly unexpected. Another from Peele, “Us” centers around a woman (Lupita Nyong’o) who brings her family to visit her childhood home and ends up having to fight off a gang of doppelgangers.
Need more? A gang of kids in a small Maine town faces down the forces of evil – the terrifying Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard), who emerges every 27 years to target the town’s children. In “The House on Haunted Hill” an eccentric millionaire offers a select group of guests a reward to spend the night in a haunted house, but nothing is on the level. Choose from the 1959 version with Vincent Price or the 1999 version with Geoffrey Rush. Happy Haunting!
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.
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