How To Make The Most Of The Halloween Movie Season - Opinion
From Shane Conto
What do you love most about Halloween? Is it the endless candy that is around every corner? Is it the hours of deliberating the fades into prepping for your costume? Is it the days of decorating (and the unfortunate inevitability of having to take it all down? I have certainly eaten too much candy in my life. I am not particularly a fan of decorating (for any situation honestly). I do love to figure out my costumes (I legitimately was Darth Vader for like 5 straight Halloweens when I was a kid). Every year, I spend so much time trying to pick the right movie or television character to dress up as. And here is the big surprise…my favorite part of Halloween is watching all my favorite horror and Halloween-themed movies.
Are you ready to enjoy all of your favorites? There are so many options to enjoy where there are new horror films coming out in theaters (Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Exorcist: Believer, or Saw X) or on streaming (Hulu’s The Mill and Monster Inside). The month of October is just the climax of this horror movie season that even dates back to September (The Nun II, A Haunting in Venice, and Shaky Shivers). But it is not just the focus of new cinema when it comes to this spooky cinematic season. There are so many opportunities across theaters and streaming and get a healthy dose of all of our favorites.
How about getting those scares and thrills on the big screen? October turns out to be the perfect time to check out some big name re-releases in theaters. October started off with a bang… The Exorcist. 50 years ago, this horrific mix of faith-based themes and frightening terror arrived in theaters. It is about time to give it a watch for the first time on the big screen. But for the rest of the month, we have a couple of non-horror Halloween classics arriving to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Theaters are going to get a little witchy with Hocus Pocus magically appearing back into theaters. Then there is Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s towering multi-holiday stop motion achievement, The Nightmare Before Christmas, brings all the creepy imagery and catchy songs back to the cinema (I know I will be taking advantage of that re-release for sure).
Let’s find some hubs of Halloween fun, shall we? Disney+ has their fine share of Halloween content in their Halloween Collection. There is a wonderful mix of new films/shows like Goosebumps and The Haunted Mansion (from 2023). They have plenty of big named classics like Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Frankenweenie. There is a healthy dose of short films as well from their favorite brands (Disney Animation, Marvel, and Star Wars). Those Disney Channel originals like Halloweentown and The Phantom of the Megaplex make a nice splash too. But let’s not forget The Simpsons are in the Disney family so let’s enjoy all of the Treehouse of Horrors episodes.
Where else can you find some great content? If you need your Peanuts fix in the form of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, head on over to Apple TV+. You better head over to Hulu for the Huluween festivities! There are plenty of new films and series but also some heavy hitters like It, Doctor Sleep, and The Babadook. They even had a handy breakdown into “Scary”, “Very Scary”, and “Very Very Scary”. They even have Saw and The Leprechaun as full collections. MAX is here to play too with their “House of Halloween”. There are plenty of options including classics like The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, Beetlejuice, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, and plenty more. They even have some laughs for you with all the Scary Movie franchise. Make sure to take advantage of their “Scoobtober'' section for all your Scooby-Doo content. But don’t leave Peacock out with their extensive franchise heavy “Halloween Horror'' Collection and a whole collection just for John Carpenter. Let’s not forget that they are owned by Universal so bring on all of the classic Universal Monster movies. They even break it down for “Little Monsters”, “Pre-Teen Screams”, “Old Souls”, “Halloween High”, “Grown-Up Ghouls'', and “Gorehounds”. Do you like particular creatures for the season? This streamer even breaks things down by Slashers, Vampires, Zombies, and more! To be honest, you can have a whole October of fun with any of those streaming services.
Sounds like a lot to catch up on, right? The world of cinema shifts to the horrific and macabre this time of year and theaters and streamers have plenty of options for everyone. Whether you want to watch something with the whole family, want something creepy and spooky in atmosphere but not scary, or you just want to have your pants scared off of you, there are plenty of options. I know I will be popping in my favorite DVDs and Blu-Rays to get me into the right feel for the Halloween season.
