HOPE E. TREMBLAY
I love Halloween. It’s kinda my thing.
I love to decorate for Halloween, I love dressing up and I love the movies – both scary and cute – that are associated with Halloween.
Every year I watch family-friendly Halloween movies with my kids. Despite being “too old” for animated movies (much to my dismay), they still enjoy watching Disney’s Spookley the Square Pumpkin with me. And I enjoy it too. What’s not to love about a misfit square pumpkin shunned by his perfectly round counterparts who ends up saving Jack the scarecrow from a fire and the rest of the patch from tumbling over a hill in a broken wheelbarrow? And a trio of bats named Edgar, Allen and Poe? It has so much to love!
The Halloweentown series is also a favorite. Debbie Reynolds as the wise matriarch teaching her grandchildren how to be witches never gets old.
And, of course we watch Hocus Pocus. The season just isn’t complete without the Sanderson sisters and Binx.
My kids are not into scary stuff quite yet. My son loves Harry Potter (both the books and movies) and enjoyed The House with the Clock in its Walls, but that’s as close to a horror film as he gets.
Personally, I love a good scary movie. Not so much the slasher films with blood and guts, but a psychological thriller or one that makes me turn my head at every noise and look over my shoulder is always unsettlingly thrilling.
One of my favorites remains The Exorcist. Released in 1973, it was shocking in its day. Linda Blair as Reagan spewing vomit and cursing at a priest was a really big deal.
I also think Rosemary’s Baby is relevant today. It was racy in 1968 – Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse impregnated by Satan himself!
Many classic horror films have been remade and my favorite old/new combo is Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Shaun of the Dead (2004).
My very favorite recent “horror” movie is Zombieland (2009) and my favorite scenes are with Bill Murray. This movie has the perfect mix of blood and guts, drama, humor and even a little romance.
Some of my other recommendations include Psycho (1960), Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Carrie (1976) and Poltergeist (1982).
My colleagues weighed in and offered their top horror flicks . . .
Lorie Perry:
Jeepers Creepers (2001) R
Poltergeist (1982) PG
People Under the Stairs (1991) R
James Johnson-Corwin:
The Conjuring (2013) R
Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) Not Rated
The Exorcist III (1990) R
Amy Porter:
Most beloved — Beetlejuice (1988) PG
Scariest — Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Not Rated
Best new/old combo — Frankenstein (1931, Not Rated) and Young Frankenstein (1974) PG
Peter Currier:
Blair Witch Project (1999) R
Insidious (2010) R
Beetlejuice (1988) PG
Chris Putz:
Halloween — Rob Zombie version – (2007) R
The Exorcist (1973) R
The Conjuring (2013) R
Honorable mention to Insidious
Tell us some of your favorite horror movies – send me a note at [email protected].
