What's the Ultimate Halloween Movie? It needn't be the most scary film, but why would you recomend it?

Uh, Halloween? It's got babysitters, pumpkin carving, popcorn eating, trick-or-treaters, scary b&w movies playing on a '70s TV, and a masked slasher. It was one of the biggest horror movies when I was a kid and it's still drawing fans after three decades. I think it's just the ultimate Halloween movie.

I agree

If you’re specifically looking for movies set during Halloween then, ET! Nah only kidding, Halloween wins, for all the reasons Tressa gave.

Honorable mentions go to:

Halloween II, more of the same night, this time with razor blades in candy bars.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch. No Michael Myers here but they make up for his absence with an abundance of cheese… guilty pleasure this one
Satan’s Little Helper: What happens when the kids go Trick r Treating with a serial killer….not for cat lovers.
Hell Night: dumb teenagers stay in a spooky house on Halloween night.
Night of the Demons: more dumb teenagers stay in a spooky house on Halloween.
House of 1000 Corpses: love it or hate it, it’s got some good tips on how to throw a Halloween dinner party.
May: if you’re gonna go on a killing spree Halloween’s the night to do it … which brings us to…
The Crow: revenge is a dish best served on Halloween.

I get terribly excited about Halloween sometimes, lol.

Oh, I checked out May a few weeks ago and didn't get to watch it. Will put it back on my list.

May is great.

Night of the Demons is a teenage classic!

Tressa wrote: "Uh, Halloween? It's got babysitters, pumpkin carving, popcorn eating, trick-or-treaters, scary b&w movies playing on a '70s TV, and a masked slasher. It was one of the biggest horror movies when I ..."

Agreed! lol

The Invisible Man (original, 1933, black & white)
What Lies Beneath
Psycho (original)
Halloween (original)
Halloween 2 (original)
The Fog
The Exorcist
Fatal Attraction
... (having a momentary lapse of memory)

Is What Lies Beneath the movie with Harrison Ford that they gave away the ending to in the previews? I hated that they did that.

I think b&w horror movies are the most fun for Halloween. The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Tressa wrote: "Is What Lies Beneath the movie with Harrison Ford that they gave away the ending to in the previews? I hated that they did that.

I think b&w horror movies are the most fun for Halloween. The Incre..."

Yes, it is! I love that movie.

I love the b&w movies too! Well, any of those old horror movies are great for setting the atmosphere. (Like the Vincent Price movies). TCM is wonderful at this time of year!

I definitely love the oldies for Halloween. (And, of course, Halloween for Halloween.) My picks:

Black Sunday
House of Usher (Price version)
Cat People (original)
I Walked with a Zombie
Curse of the Demon
Bride of Frankenstein
Lugosi Dracula
Son of Dracula
The Wolf Man
Horror of Dracula, and pretty much anything else Hammer ever made
Sleepy Hollow -- lots of good pumpkin/harvest atmosphere, too
The Haunting
Suspiria
Demons of Darkness
The Devil Rides Out
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Horror Hotel
Candyman

Yeah, Sleepy Hallow would be a good one for Halloween.

Yes, Sleepy Hollow is definitely a good one for this time of year! Thanks for reminding me!

Just re-watched that last week.

I like The Nightmare Before Christmas. *looks around sheepishly* There's also that new movie Trick or Treat but I haven't seen it yet.

I like Cathy's line of thinking, the old stuff. TCM all day. That's where I'm going to be! :-)

Speaking of Sleepy Hallow. The soundtrack (Tim Burton's version) is really good for atmosphere on Halloween.

I have Trick 'r Treat at the top of my Netflix queue, but it's got a long wait.

I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. And you can watch it in October AND December.

I love The Nightmare Before Christmas too Jamie! And you are correct Tressa! :-)

Tressa wrote: "I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. And you cant watch it in October AND December."

I know! It's my all-time favorite movie and I'll watch it any time of year. But I like to watch it on Christmas Eve. :-)

I always get that song "kidnap the Sandy Claws" stuck in my head and walk around singing it for day!

I love Sleepy Hollow!

Jo wrote: "I love Sleepy Hollow!"

Sleepy Hollow is a great movie. I rewatch it whenever I see it on.

Me too. Its really good

Scott wrote: "I have Trick 'r Treat at the top of my Netflix queue, but it's got a long wait."

GREAT movie... I highly recommend it to everyone for Halloween.
New here BTW, hi everyone ;)

Hi, Kyle. I'm going to have to get Trick or Treat through Netflix. Never heard of that one.

Hi Kyle!

Hey Tressa, yeah, make sure you get the Trick r' Treat released in 2008... I think there may be 1 or 2 others out there with the same name. This one is a horror anthology a little like Creepshow.

By the way, I see you're in Alabama, me too :)

Hi Jo!

I've put TRT and Dog Soldiers on my Netflix list.

Kyle, what part of Bama are you in? And more importantly, Alabama or Auburn?

I live in a suburb of B'ham called Vestavia. (Don't anyone track me down and kill me now.)

I'm in Decatur, work in Huntsville. You live close to my aunt, she's in Mt. Olive.

Oh, and Roooolll Tiiide!!!
Sorry everybody, we love college football in the South, its required discussion :)

You just told people where you live on a halloween thread! Watch out!

Roll Tide Roll!

Yeah, Mt. Olive is a little farther north from me. Was up near there Saturday.

I've been to Huntsville once. Nice place and your interstate system is so much better than ours.

Hello Kyle! (Can't tell which Jo you were saying hello to so I didn't want to be rude & not say hello back just in case, lol!)

Jo wrote: " Hello Kyle! (Can't tell which Jo you were saying hello to so I didn't want to be rude & not say hello back just in case, lol!)"

Hi other Jo!
:)

Lol!

Rowlf!

Our local annual Horror Festival started last night and I finally got to see Trick 'r Treat. Been waiting to see it for two years now (it was set for a release in 2007 but after getting great reviews Warner Brothers decided to shelve it)and it was worth the wait.

Great movie, really captures the fun and scary spirit of Halloween.

Some great ones have already been mentioned, but my top picks would be Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, and The Haunting of Hill House. The originals, of course. :)

It's easy to oversell Trick 'r Treat because people have been waiting for it so long -- it's not the single finest horror film ever made or anything, and I think some people have ended up disappointed just because of the hype. But I got it from Netflix last week and it really is a fun movie. Totally gorgeous visual design, it looks SO Halloweeny.

I "showed" House on Haunted Hill (the modern one by William Malone) one year.

I liked the remake of House on Haunted Hill better than the original. I know, sacrilege, but other than Vincent Price being brilliant as always it bored me. The remake is pretty creepy and the scene when they find the reporter's video camera freaked me out the first time I saw it. Oh! And it's got Taye Diggs in it. He's such a pretty man! :-)

The remake was pretty good, Jaimie, I tend to agree with you on that one. Not many remakes of horror classics even come close, but that one wasn't bad...

Scott wrote: "I have Trick 'r Treat at the top of my Netflix queue, but it's got a long wait."

Ditto, Scott. :-(

Tressa wrote: "I always get that song "kidnap the Sandy Claws" stuck in my head and walk around singing it for day!"

I have "This is Halloween" as my ringtone right now. Every time I hear it go off I get it stuck in my head. Damn you, Danny Elfman, with you're extremely catchy songs!

Jaimie, my husband and I both get "This Is Halloween" stuck in our brains too. Drives us mad! Elfman's songs are insidious, catchy, and eeeeevil.

I got to hear "Monster Mash" on the radio yesterday...corny song but I love it! :P

By the way, does anyone know of any good (free) websites where I can watch horror classics...I just have basic cable and I am so disappointed in some of the choices Chiller and AMC has been showing this year. They just rerun the same films every single day (although they have shown Halloween, but have neglected to run Halloween 2 and 3...). I really want to watch The Howling and I cannot find Slither on Demand, so I may have to rent it. And I am talkin' about free movies, folks... Any recommendations?

I can't recommend anything that would be considered legal, so no, I would recommend going and renting them.

You can PM me any other rec's, Jerrod....I don't mind! ;) I was thinking of checking out Hulu, too...

Things are a bit lackluster for scary movies & the like on tv this year for Halloween compared with last year. Ah well, good thing I've got lots of vhs & dvds!

Tressa wrote: "Jaimie, my husband and I both get "This Is Halloween" stuck in our brains too. Drives us mad! Elfman's songs are insidious, catchy, and eeeeevil."

And that's why he's GOD!

Chris, I was playing The Monster Mash on my ipod for everyone at work yesterday. It's such a cute song! I don't know if you have Netflix but you can watch a lot of horror movies on their site instantly. You might also be able to find some on hulu.com.

Chris wrote: "I got to hear "Monster Mash" on the radio yesterday...corny song but I love it! :P

By the way, does anyone know of any good (free) websites where I can watch horror classics...I just have basic ..."

We have the BEST library system, and have a huge selection of movies to order from and reserve. It only takes a day from reservation til the item is in my library, so that's the way we get almost all our movies. Even the really weird ones :)