My 13 Film Recommendations for Halloween

It's the month of October, and since we celebrate Halloween in October 31, I figure I make a list of 13 horror/monster/sci-fi films that are worth watching and stood the test of time. This not a ranked list of the top 13 films, just a list of 13 films I recommend you see while celebrating Halloween. Here are the following films to see.

1. Halloween (1978)

John Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece centers on a serial killer who has escaped while being transferred to court and begins to stalk and murder teenagers while celebrating Halloween. This film has triggered Hollywood into making more slasher films and franchises. But what sets it apart from most slasher films is that it's very well made despite it's low budget. John Carpenter has done a great job of setting up the suspense level with his film-making and he also gives us a strong heroine at it's core, an intelligent and brave babysitter played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Halloween is a very special film.

2. Ghostbusters (1984)

I know it's more of a supernatural comedy than a horror film, but since the film has monsters, ghosts, and supernatural creatures, it has to make the list. It's about 3 New York scientists (Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and Harold Ramis) who have been fired from the university they work in and they open up a business to catch supernatural beings. Their first customer is a cellist (Sigourney Weaver) whose apartment appears to be a gateway to another dimension. In the 80's, Hollywood has started a trend to mix comedy and horror, and Ghostbusters is one of the best. It has witty and funny dialogue, excellent comedic performances (especially Bill Murray), and dazzling, if not perfect, special effects. Because of the way it blends horror and comedy, Ghostbusters is a comedy classic (NOTE: The film might be re-reviewed if I get a chance to write about the summer movies of 1984).

3. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

Let's give Hollywood a break and dive right in to the world of German Expressionism. Robert Wiene's landmark 1920 silent film tells the story of a hypnosis to controls people to commit murders. The film's visual style consists of warped buildings, lights, and shadows. They have a sort of haunting, bizarre yet charming quality that it reminds me of the stop-motion animation in The Nightmare Before Christmas (which I will cover later). The film is also a smart statement on authority, and insanity and it's also very scary. For people who are interested in horror films or film history in general, this movie deserves to be seen. 

4. Gremlins (1984)

Here's another horror film from the 80's that mixes horror with comedy. This time, it pays tribute to monster movies of the 1950's while telling us an E. T.-esqe fairy tale. A young man receives a small furry creature as a Christmas present from his father. The boy and the friendly creature get along great but there are 3 rules of taking care of it. He can't expose it to bright lights, he can't pour water on it, and he can't feed it after midnight. All of these 3 rules are broken and all hell breaks loose. The film has a tonally consistent balance between scares and laughs, and the special effects work on the monsters is very well done. This is Joe Dante's best work (NOTE: This film will also be re-reviewed if I get the chance to talk about the summer movies of 1984).

5. Evil Dead 2 (1987)

After the surprise cult following of Evil Dead, director Sam Rami once again teams up with Bruce Campbell to create a sequel. I've enjoyed other films in the Evil Dead series but Evil Dead 2 is my favorite in the series. Like Gremlins and Ghostbusters, Evil Dead 2 has found the right balance between horror and comedy. This film has everything, lots of gory violence, slapstick comedy, and eye-popping special effects. This film succeeds on all of these levels and gets better at repeated viewing.

6. Jaws (1975)

I already reviewed the film for my first entry on my review series on my favorite movies and I like to review the movie again as one of my horror film recommendations. You probably know the story by now, 3 characters from an East Coast fishing town are set on a journey to hunt and kill a Great White Shark before it eats more swimmers. The film became such a success that it, along with Star Wars, has triggered Hollywood into creating more summer blockbusters and has turned director Steven Spielberg into a household name. What really makes Jaws stand the test of time is the level of suspense, and the 3 main characters. The 3 main actors do a terrific job with their performances and Spielberg has made the right choices as a storyteller by not giving out the shark right away. Jaws receives a high recommendation from me!

7. The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's book stars Jack Nicholson as a struggling writer who takes his family to The Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Little do they know that the hotel is actually haunted and Nicholson slowly goes mad and attacks his family. While unfaithful to the book, the film delivers thrills with it's ambiguous images and ideas. This film makes you think when you watch the film. Jack Nicholson also gives one of the best performances in his career as the psychotic writer. The Shining is one of Stanley Kubrick's finest achievements as a director despite it's changes to the book (NOTE: This film was already covered in my summer movies of 1980 article).

8. Dracula (1931)

While not the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (that credit belongs to F. W. Murnau's 1922 film Nosferatu), this is the first and best Hollywood adaptation of the Dracula legend. Actually the film owes more to the 1924 stage play than it does with the book. The movie works or 2 reasons, Bela Lugosi's performance, and director Tod Browning's atmospheric visual style. Lugosi brings a lot of joy and charm to his performance and Browning has created a visually unique and interesting world filled with light, shadows, mist, and fog. This is one of the best adaptations of Dracula!

9. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

When Tim Burton was a Disney animator back in the early 80's, he wrote a poem that blends Christmas and Halloween after making his 1982 short film, Vincent. Burton was fired from Disney in 1984 but that did not stop him from becoming a successful Hollywood director with hits like Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), and Edward Scissorhands (1990). After gaining Hollywood fame for these 4 films, Burton was finally able to bring his vision to life (though he didn't direct the film because he was busy with Batman Returns, so he hired his friend Henry Selick to direct the film). The film was created using stop-motion animation, which is a painstaking animation process when an animator shoots inanimate models one image at a time. While not a perfect film, it's worth watching thanks to it's visually striking stop-motion animation and entertaining musical numbers.

10. King Kong (1933)

Speaking of movies using stop-motion animation, King Kong is one of the major cinematic in film history for it's groundbreaking special effects, innovative sound design, and for it's entertaining story of beauty and beast. The film later influenced filmmakers like Ray Harryhausen and Peter Jackson (who later made a remake in 2005), and it's easy to see why. Nowadays it's easy to figure out that today's special effects were done by computers. But back in 1933, you had to imagine for yourself because nobody knew how the effects were done but now people do thanks to the various sources of information we have today. It works as an adventure film, it works as a love story, and it works as a special effects extravaganza. This is Hollywood filmmaking at it's best!

11. The Exorcist (1973)

Based on William Peter Blatty's controversial 1971 novel of the same name, the film follows the story of a Hollywood actress living with her 12-year-old daughter while working on a movie in Washington D.C. But after the little girl plays with a wee-gee board, she get possessed by an ancient demon who may very well be the devil. Feeling desperate for help, the poor mother hires 2 Catholic priests to exorcise her or she'll perish. In addition of being a well-made and well-acted horror film, it's also very intelligent in the way the film deals with the conflict between good and evil rather than pander to the youth market with cheap shocks. A true horror classic! 

12. Young Frankenstein (1974)

Long before these stupid Scary Movie spoofs satirized films like Scream, The Ring, Saw, and The Grudge, Mel Brooks has made a very funny parody of the classic Universal Monster films of the 1930's and 1940's with his witty take on Frankenstein. Unlike today's movie parodies, which do nothing but emphasize on gross out humor and cheap pop culture references, this movie gives us some genuine laughs while also paying tribute to the films it's satirizing instead of putting them down, like the great Airplane did to 1970's disaster films. This is a very funny and passionate comedy!

13. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Like Young Frankenstein, this 2004 British horror comedy satirizes the genre of zombie movies while also paying tribute to them. This time the movie spoofs the late George Romero's Living Dead series and kick started the very funny series of British parodies directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. In addition of being a very funny zombie spoof, it's also very well made with Wright's trademark editing style.  Another fine mix of horror and comedy!

That's all for my 13 movies to recommend for Halloween and next year I might recommend 13 more films for Halloween.