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Movies I watch EVERY Halloween

I love a good scary movie. I love a good scary movie any time of the year. But, it's almost Halloween and that gives me the perfect excuse to select the "horror" genre on Netflix and not get any lip from the Hubs. Well, not a lot of lip. He may contest my choices but he always seems to man up. It always leaves me a little baffled though. What's not to love about good scary movies? The suspense. The tension. The jumps. I love it. I have noticed, however, that we go through this same back-and-forth every Halloween season. My suggestions are usually met with an unenthusiastic, "ugh, fine." Wait a second...It's not that he hates horror movies. It's that I suggest the same horror movies every Halloween. (And throughout the year, for that matter) Yes, we've seen them hundreds of times but I can't help myself. Is it nostalgia? Surely. Is it just that I love scaring my fradey cat husband? Most definitely. Whatever it is though, I return to these movies every October to get me in the Halloween spirit. Are they on your list?

Movies I watch EVERY Halloween:

Halloween 

Duh. It's Halloween. We watch Halloween. Michael Myers may be the scariest slasher in movie history; emotionless, mute, driven, insane. He is the quintessential boogeyman. His power walk combined with John Carpenter's EPIC score will forever keep this movie on every top ten list. This had one of the biggest box office openings (for horror) ever. This leads me to believe I'm not the only cinephile with a healthy bloodlust.



Night of the Demons

Matt and I have a category of movies we call "It used to come on HBO/Cinemax." They were movies you never would've seen except they were always on one of those channels when we were kids/teenagers, so you eventually gave in and just watched it. This is one of them. I'm just going to say it... it's not good. The acting is atrocious. The effects are just ok. And the story is kind of silly. But I can't help myself. I love it. I got sucked in in the first three minutes with the amazing animated title sequence. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClZbHLD5Eb4)  It is B movie campiness at it's absolute best!



Night of the Living Dead

 It may surprise you to know that I'm referring to the 1990 remake and not the original. (Which I should note that I love also) Another in the "It used to come on HBO/Cinemax" category, this movie terrified me as an adolescent. It keeps the tone of the classic; isolation and survival. The main character, Barbara, is fascinatingly dynamic. You believe in her evolution. And maybe it's just me but the closing sequence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2oWwEBICQ) always seems a bit too real. The story has a resolution but that's the bit that gave me nightmares.



 The Shining

 Need I say more? A haunted hotel. A slow decent into madness. Isolation. Creepy dead twins. All of these components make this movie one of the eeriest in cinematic history. I always seem to be overly confident when it begins as I've seen in many, many times. And then it gets me. The Shining never fails to deliver.



 Hocus Pocus

 Pure movie magic. A silly story about "three old hags versus the 20th century." Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and SJP make up the wonderfully goofy Sanderson sisters in this classic and I can't imagine anyone other than those three making it work. Also, we have Binx, the talking cat, a guy named Ice, Zombies AND a musical number! It never gets old and I am absolutely thrilled to now be able to watch it with my little girl.





Happy Halloween!!
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