Spooky Films to celebrate the season

Fifteen movies to put you into the Halloween spirit.

Breadboard texture from Vered Friedman

A drawn cartoon of little kids in Halloween costumes.

By Kayle Trombley, Staff Writer

It’s finally Halloween! Here are 12 films to get you and your kids into the spooky spirit today.

 Hocus Pocus

After moving to Salam, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) explore an abandoned house with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and their new friend, Allison (Vinessa Shaw). Allison tells them a story about the three witches that used to live there. They don’t believe her, so they continue on. Max accidentally frees the evil witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy). A magical cat comes to help them. The kids must steal the witches’ book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal. The movie was directed by Kenny Ortega and was released on October 29, 1993.

Casper

Casper ( Malachi Pearson) is a friendly young ghost who lives in Maine. James Harvey (Bill Pullman) arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). Casper soon falls in love with Kat, but their relationship is complicated not only because he’s a ghost, but also by his troublemaking uncles. This film was directed by Brad Silberling and was released on May 26, 1995.

Frankenweenie

When Victor (Charlie Tahan) loses his dog, he uses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers, and the entire town soon find out what he created. This film was directed by Tim Burton and was released on October 5, 2012.

Goosebumps

Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette)  meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. Zach learns that Hannah’s dad is R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. Zach realizes that he is a prisoner of his own imagination and the monsters from his books are real.  When Zach accidentally releases the monsters from the books they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong. This film was directed by Rob Letterman and was released on October 16, 2015.

Addams Family Values

Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) and his wife, Morticia (Anjelica Huston), are celebrating the arrival of a baby. Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) are not happy about the new arrival, and try to eliminate the infant. When nanny Debbie Jelinsky (Joan Cusack) appears to keep the kids in line, her presence leads to an unexpected twist. This film was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and was released on November 19, 1993.

Monster House

 DJ (Mitchel Musso) is observing his neighbor Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) house. It starts to destroy tricycles of children that trespass his lawn. When DJ’s parents leave on the eve of Halloween and the evil nanny Zee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) stays with him. He calls his best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) to come over. The old man soon has a heart attack. They decide to investigate the house to get their things back. The house soon comes alive and they must rescue Jenny (Spencer Locke) from the house. They try to convince everyone that the haunted house is a monster, but nobody believes them. IT’s up to them to save the town. This film was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and was released on November 19, 1993.

 Corpse Bride

Victor (Johnny Depp) is betrothed to a woman named Victoria (Emily Watson). He goes into the forest to practice his vows. He places the ring on a branch, little does he know its the finger of a deceased bride. She soon comes to life and takes Victor to the land of the dead. He soon learns that she was murder before she was able to get married. Victor wants to get back to Victoria and convinces the magical Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough) to send him and Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) temporarily to the Land of the Living. He lies to them and says that he will introduce Emily to his parents. When they arrive home Victor rushes to see Victoria and confesses his love. Emily feels betrayed and drags Victor back to the Land of the Dead. He is told that Victoria is engaged to another man. He goes to the wedding and attempts to drink poison, Victoria tries to stop him, but Emily is holding her back. Emily has a shocking discovery about Victoria’s new husband. This film was directed by Tim Burton and was released on September 16, 2005.

 Spooky buddies

On All Hollow’s Eve Warwick the Warlock ( Harland Williams) tries to capture the souls of 5 puppies. One puppy escape, but he was turned into a ghost. He needed to warn the other puppies that he was trying to get. He went to them, but they freaked out. He told them that a warlock is out to get them and that he took his brothers and sisters. The warlock comes to get them and he manages to get one. Pip (Frankie Jonas) and the buddies must go to the mansion to save their brother. They recruit other members to help them stop Warwick. This film was directed by Robert Vince and was released on September 20, 2011.

 Caroline

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) stumbles onto a secret door. The parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life and the people in it, but people have button eyes. She meets her other parents who tell her that they have been waiting a long time for her. But soon the perfect world takes a turn for the worst, and her other parents (Teri Hatcher) are trying to trap her forever, Coraline must escape and save her parents. This film was directed by Henry Selick and was released on February 6, 2009.

 The little vampire

 Tony (Jonathan Lipnicki) and his parents move to Scotland. He struggles to make friends at his new school,  he is bullied and picked on by the other boys. Then he meets Rudolph (Rollo Weeks), a kid vampire and they become best friends. Rudolph’s life suddenly takes a turn for the worst as a hunter is hunting him and the vampire community.  Tony must find the courage to save his best friend. This film was directed by Uli Edel and was released on October 27, 2000.

 Halloweentown High

Marnie Piper wants to attend a mortal school, so she asks the Halloweentown Witches’ Council to have an open mind to let her and a group of her friends to go. In order to go, they had to promise if anything happened and they had to use their magic or anyone found out they would have their powers taken away. The Knight of the Iron Dagger comes to the mortal world determined to wipe out Marnie and her magical companions. This film was directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe and was released on October 8, 2004.

 Paranorman

In the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, lived Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a boy who can speak with the dead. He was bullied because of his strange abilities. Norman makes a friend named  Neil Downe (Tucker Albrizzi). He soon starts receiving visions of the town being overturned with witches. A couple of days later Agatha arrives and seeks revenge on the town, it’s up to Norman and Neil to save the town. Along the way, they recruit other members to help them save the town. This film was directed by  Chris Butler and Sam Fell and was released on August 17, 2012