In Argentina, Spring is in the air, the polar opposite of what is associated with Halloween. So I’m here merely imagining falling red and gold leaves, chills that leave my cheeks red, and the subtle urge to reach for cosy knit sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes to keep the spooky season autumnal. But wherever you are, whatever the weather,  and whatever this season means to you, halloween is here! And of course with Halloween comes the spooky, quirky and strange, something wicked this way comes, and it comes by way of cinema! Usually, I prefer fantasy and feel-good films, but during October I like to pull out some darker films to bring on the holiday spirit! So here are my top 13 favourite Halloween films, and some spooky facts! 

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• Beetlejuice: I mean, come on…if you haven’t seen this Halloween classic already, who are you, my Fiancée?! (Among the many films she hadn’t seen before we met, this was one I was very surprised at, especially as she loves Halloween and quirky films as much as me). Beetlejuice is one of the best films of its time and in this genre. It pulls together comedy, dark humour and a little madness with excellent scenes that are still recreated to this day. Don’t believe me? Watch the Hadid family dancing on YouTube as the Deetz’s, can’t get more iconic than that.  Did you know that Angelica Houston was almost cast in the role of Delia Deetz?! She had to reject it last minute, due to illness, even though she’s a stunning actress I can’t imagine anyone other than Catherine O’Hara playing that role. This film has also inspired a Broadway show with a killer soundtrack. 

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• The Addams Family & The Addams Family Values: They will make you laugh right to your grave! These films were inspired by an old TV show that didn’t bewitch its audience. Thankfully the catchy tune stuck and a franchise was born. Unlike the original show, the Addams Family films were a huge success and people like Cher fought to be part of this odd family. Curious fact? Wednesday Addams’ name comes from an old nursery rhyme called “Monday’s Child” that states that “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”.

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• Practical Magic: If you’re looking for a Halloween themed rom-com, this is the film for you. Personally, it’s one of my all-time favourites thanks to the Owens sisters (Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock) and their magical story. The Aunts’ house is actually my ultimate dream home and I don’t seem to be the only one who fell in love with this house. Barbra Streisand wanted to buy it after watching the film, but sadly for us both, it was just a set! The director hired an actual witch to help as a consultant for accuracy, but after her demands for a percentage of the film’s royalties were turned down, she ended up cursing him, Warner Brothers Studios and the film! Perhaps that’s the reason the film flopped at the Box Office, despite the fact that now it’s a beloved cult classic. Despite all that, Practical Magic is a film that Pagans and Wiccans alike have praised,  saying that it’s a good portrayal of role models for young witches. 

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• Edward Scissorhands: This enchanting Tim Burton film is, in my eyes, Johnny Depp’s most iconic performance. Like so many films on this list, it’s another cult classic, of course, Halloween would pull all the cultists out of the ether! Sadly this is another my fiancée has still yet to see (don’t worry, it will happen and I’m only slightly side-eyeing her!). Winona Ryder actually dropped out of filming the third Godfather film to reunite with Director, Tim Burton. Little did she know, but he’d actually written her part as a joke. Knowing their similar tastes, he chose the furthest character idea he could imagine for her; a blonde cheerleader. Winona actually didn’t like her character, Kim, saying she couldn’t relate to it and it reminded her of her own school bullies. Regardless she did a lot of the heavy lifting dialogue-wise as poor Edward only speaks 169 words through the whole film. 

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• The Others: This eerie film will make you sit on the edge of your seat and it has twists and turns that make it wonderful for a night of fright. I’m not convinced by current talks for a remake as I think this is a classic. Nicole Kidman’s acting is superb, however, she may have been slightly out staged by the children, as their performances leave me chilled to the bone. It’s a family-friendly horror (12 BBFC, PG13 MPA), and one I enjoy a lot, it was actually my step-niece’s first “scary” film, though she was brave and apparently wasn’t scared at all! Oh, did you know? Just like their photophobic characters, both child actors were kept away from sunlight during the filming, even though it took three and a half months!

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• A Nightmare Before Christmas: I can’t talk about this movie, or Halloween for that matter, without getting the soundtrack stuck in my head! I mean, seriously?! If you haven’t heard or seen this film, you clearly celebrate neither Halloween nor Christmas! I think that Jack Skellington has become Disney’s Halloween mascot since its release nearly thirty years ago, try not to feel old! If you haven’t seen it, I am not recommending you to watch it, I’m lowkey demanding it! One cool thing I learned was that while Burton was working on other films, both his own and on Disney productions like The Black Cauldron and The Fox and the Hound, he was also trying out projects of his own. One of these side projects he took on, involved writing a parody on Dickens’ Night Before Christmas, a poem called The Nightmare Before Christmas. Additionally, the all too famous stick-thin pumpkin king appeared in several other of Burton’s films, up to half a decade before he finding home in this feature!

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• The Corpse Bride: Yeap, yet another Tim Burton’s film, I would say that half of the movies in this list are from him and I am not ashamed about it, what can I say, Tim Burton and Halloween go hand in hand and he understands the genre perfectly! I must confess that the first time I saw The Corpse Bride I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would, maybe because I wanted a different ending. However, as the years passed, it’s grown on me, and I think it’s a wonderful family treat to enjoy this season. It has one heck of a soundtrack (Danny Elfman crushing it here alongside Tim Burton and his regulars), with some beautiful piano scoring, and I may or may not have a slight crush on Victor’s gentle, kind and sensitive character. Oh, did you know that the premise of this film was based on a Jewish folktale that originated in 16th Century Russia? It also claimed it’s a true story! 

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• Silent Hill: Based on the well-known video game franchise, this film is one of the first “horror” movies I actually came to love and enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, it does have its share of bloody massacres and creepy monsters to haunt you in your sleep, but I love the storyline so much that I ended up loving it. To be fair, the games are way scarier than the film, but it’s worth your time. Oh, even if you haven’t seen the film, you might know about the bubble head nurses, and do you want to know a secret? The strange stumbling movements of these dark Nurses when they first “come alive” was created by filming them walking backwards, and then running the film in reverse. Clever, isn’t it?

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• The Craft: This is a 90’s film that showed how cool witchcraft can be. Most girls in the 90s wanted to be part of the universe of Clueless and the like, others however related more to that of The Craft. With quotes like “We are the weirdos, mister”, it celebrated something darker, while defining boundaries of just how far is safe to take it. This cult film is a must-watch during this season and a nod to all teen witches out there. A cool fact about this film, and also a bizarre one, is that actors and members of the crew claimed that during the ritual scene on the beach, some strange things started to happen, including the sea rising to wash out the candles, and a swarm of bat’s that hovered overhead refusing to leave. 

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• Sleepy Hollow: I think there isn’t a single person in this world that hasn’t heard of the legend of the Headless Horseman wandering around atop a dark steed, stealing heads from unwary citizens until he finds his own. This Tim Burton adaptation takes us deep into the mystery of Sleepy Hollow and, with an actress like Christina Ricci playing the love interest of protagonist Ichabod Crane, this film couldn’t be any more perfect. Also, as someone who loves costume design, this film’s wardrobe choices are exquisite.  Cool fact? Well, Ichabod is known for having many complicated instruments that he uses to investigate crimes, Johnny Depp, of course, got to play with all of these on set, but he actually got to take home a torture device when the movie was done being filmed. Creepy, right?

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• From Hell: This film is definitely not suitable for a movie night with children but, if you like Sherlock-Holmes-style detective sleuthing, dark gritty horrors, or have an interest in serial killers, this is a great choice.  The story revolves around the manhunt for Jack The Ripper, London’s most famous and widely debated, very real 1888 serial killer. For some people, it may be too graphic, but I promise you that the plot is totally worth it.

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• The Haunting: This 1999 remake of the Haunting of Hill House never really made it at the box office. But this outstandingly cast Spielberg film is still one of my Halloween favourites, it’s creepy without being deeply gruesome or gory (no machete-wielding psychopaths here), and has a melancholy, I think is perfect for Halloween. Despite criticised at the time for overuse, the CG effects hold up over twenty years later and at this point, when whole films are CG, they definitely don’t seem over the top or too frequent at all. Steven Spielberg is a fantastic director and to push the actors to have the most natural expressions of fear, he recorded and played creaks and moans to be heard throughout the house to spook the actors.  Additionally, as I’m from Argentina, I was excited to learn that the stunning interiors of Hill House were designed by Argentine production designer Eugenio Zanetti. 

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• Poltergeist: This 1982 Spielberg horror is one that still gives me the creeps. Aside from the film itself, and has several iconic horror moments, the biggest fear factor for me is the so-called Poltergeist curse that seemed to surround the set, cast and crew.  It is claimed that real skeletons were used in an attempt to save money as they were cheaper than replicas. After the cast and crew had been reporting mysteriously appearing and disappearing cold-spots, and places where they’d feel intense dread, one cast-member took this so seriously that he performed a genuine exorcism in the middle of the night, despite the fact that no one knew, several set-members reported a relief from the foreboding feelings thereafter. Perhaps the most bone-chilling part to all of this was the rash of deaths and accidents that surrounded the film. First, Dominique Dunne died, murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend who was later jailed for manslaughter. Then later, Heather O’Rourke, the actress who played Carol in the films, died suddenly at the incredibly young age of 12, with heart failure due to misdiagnosed digestive issues. Both of these deaths were shocking but that’s not all. Two other actors for the show also died, one of whom was the one who performed the exorcism. More recently another has been murdered by an escaped convict and another actor was the survivor of a plane crash in which over half of the passengers died. I’m sorry but that is spooky as hell. 

Have you seen all these films already? Do you have any spooky facts that I didn’t share or facts about other horror films? Personally, these are some of my favourite films and I enjoy watching them over and over again as Halloween rolls around each year. I thought this was as far as I could stretch when it comes to spooky films because I declare myself a chicken who believes in ghosts and monsters! I already sleep with a night light and take my cat to the bathroom when I wake up at night, and I bet I’m not the only one!  However, I’ve decided to watch more actual horror films this year and embed myself into the terrors of Halloween month, so, do you have any suggestions to actually scare this blogger? I’ll see you in the comments!

Till next time, stay spooky!

Xoxo,