Fun movies for Halloween

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Halloween is looking a bit different this year because, seven months later, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. That doesn't mean Halloween is called off for the year, however. All it means festivities need to be chosen or adapted for us staying safe, whether outside or safe at home.

Hollywood is also no stranger to Halloween, and my own family and I are celebrating this year with homemade treats and a movie marathon today.

We've spent the last few weeks finalizing which titles we should include, and you can use our list to choose which ghoulish films to bring home (and where to find them!)

Whether with children, families, or you have a group of adults who both love and loathe to be frightened, here's a roundup of some fun ideas for a Halloween movie night!

FOR ALL AGES

For a Halloween classic, the 1966 special It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is available online through Apple browsers for free until Sunday, November 1, 2020. It can also be streamed with Apple TV+, and you don't need to be a paid subscriber to watch it for today and tomorrow (but you do still need an Apple ID.)

For all ages feature films, my two personal favourites are two Oscar-winning animations: the first is the oft-overlooked Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) which is available on Netflix for subscribers. The second is Disney and Pixar's Coco (2017) about Mexico's Dias de los Muertos holiday (which falls on Monday the 2nd this year.) Coco is available for Disney+ subscribers.

FOR MOST AGES (10 AND UP)

Two works by director Henry Selick are great choices for this age group. First is his holiday favourite The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) which is available on Disney+. The other is his lesser seen, slightly creepier, and stunningly beautiful Coraline (2009), based on the book by Neil Gaiman. This film was the debut feature from Laika Animation and it's available on both Netflix and Starz subscribers.

FOR TEENS AND ABOVE

Sometimes the older kids want a Halloween movie but don't actually want to get scared. (Don't worry - many of my friends and I are in this category.) So what's the fine line between them?

One of the best films in this category is 1984's Ghostbusters. Part action, part comedy, part horror (without being scary), it features iconic lines and characters that have one of the greatest, ghostly legacies in film history. It's available on Prime Video, Netflix and Starz. Both Apple and Amazon are also renting it for only $1.99 this weekend.

Two more great choices are entertaining big screen adventures that made spooky fun. One is the musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) on Netflix in one of the best musical films of the last 20 years.

Another is the independent vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows (2015) from Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok and last year's Jojo Rabbit) - if you like The Office, you'll love this. It can be seen for free on Hoopla if you have an OPL library card.

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO BE SERIOUSLY SPOOKED

As I've admitted, I'm not a big fan of getting scared for real. But there are a few serious horror films I do enjoy, and this is the perfect time of year to see them.

Both Halloween films, including the 1978 classic and 2018 remake/reboot are titular classic that deliver true terror. The classic is on Hoopla while the new version is available to stream on Crave. (Read Oakville News' review of the 2018 film here.)

Another cinematic masterpiece is The Silence of the Lambs (1991), still the only horror movie to win Best Picture. This chilling crime thriller is also the last movie to have swept all major categories at the Oscars. It's available to watch on Netflix.

Those are our picks for Halloween 2020. Happy haunting!

Some honourable mentions across all categories include Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Casper (1995), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Zombieland (2008), Get Out (2017) and A Quiet Place (2018).

So long as you stay far away from Netflix's Hubie Halloween, you've made a great Halloween movie choice.