Halloween, October 31, a day for kids to dress up in scary costumes and go door to door asking for candy. A dentist’s worst nightmare. 

What about before the holiday? We must be waiting for the day to come, right? How do we carry the Halloween ‘spirit’ all throughout October? There are tons of ways,but today I chose movies. Horror, thriller, slaughter, and certain animated movies; such as Tim Burton movies are all a part of the Halloween theme. I set up a poll and conducted interviews at WMS to see what Halloween movies people prefer. 

The movies that were chosen are; all of the Child’s Play movies, Ghostbusters, Halloween, Hotel Transylvania, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Friday the 13th, Girl vs. Monster, Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Monster House, Casper, and Lights Out. I’m more of a Goosebumps than Ghostbusters fan, but who cares about my opinion. Out of the ten movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas got four votes while every other movie except for Spookley the Square Pumpkin, got one vote each. 

THE BEST:

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The director of this movie is Tim Burton. He is one of the most famous directors of all time and is known for ‘eerie’ content. This movie is a classic and his most famous or popular movie. Most people don’t know this, but the entire movie was made with stop motion animation. Stop motion animation is when the director takes objects and take a picture of it, then move it and again slightly, and you keep doing that until the action you wanted the object to do is complete. They would get about thirty seconds of film per day. At that rate the film was done in three years. They had a total of 110,000 frames by the end of the making movie,  Another fun fact is that the film’s songs were written before the script was.

Burton got the inspiration in making this movie when he went to a store and there was an isle for Christmas decorations and an isle for Halloween decorations; he had stood there and looked at the two isles and wondered, “What would happen if Halloween took over Christmas.” Little did he know that, that thought would turn into a world-wide known movie.

The movie is about a skeleton with the name of Jack Skellington; Skellington lives in the town of Halloween. In the film here are these trees in the middle of a forest, they all have a symbol defining which holiday they are. The two holidays that are used are Halloween and Christmas. I watch it for Christmas and Halloween because it’s based on those two holidays. 

He comes out of the Halloween tree and falls into the Christmas tree, he tries to bring Christmas into Halloween. He then proceeds to become more greedy and tries to take over Christmas completely. He eventually kidnaps Santa and tries to become Santa. I don’t want to spoil anything in case you haven’t seen it, so I’m going to stop there.

Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Spookley the Square Pumpkin is an animated movie that is shown during the Fall season. This movie got two votes. It is rated G and was released on October 19, 2005. The movie is about a square pumpkin that is named Spookley; as you probably figured out. Spookley feels he is an outcast as a square pumpkin. If I had to describe it, I would say that it is a Fall or Halloween version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. They both feel like an outcast for their differences and try to run away.

Child’s Play

Chucky, the horrid doll that is in the famous movies of Child’s Play. The first movie was released on November 9, 1988. After that, the movie had eight more sequels in which the eighth Child’s Play movie was released earlier this year. The movies are all rated R. They are all put under the thriller and slaughter movie categories. By the fourth sequel Chucky gains a sidekick; his wife. We are introduced to this new character, the bride of Chucky.

The movie is about a serial killer being murdered and putting his soul into a doll using black magic. The protagonist, Andy’s, mom bought the doll for him not knowing the consequences. The doll; Chucky, then kills Andy’s babysitter. His mother and he have to convince the police that Chucky is a murderer before Andy becomes his next victim.

Ghostbusters

Next, we have Ghostbusters. The famous movie of three lads that are scientists in their city and become monster hunters. It is rated PG and was released on June 7, 1984. It has the wonderful song that we all know and love and will go down in history of movie songs; Ghostbusters, “when there’s something strange, in the neighborhood, who you going to call; Ghostbusters.”  Who doesn’t know that song unless you are under three. 

The movie is about three scientists that live in New York City and bust ghosts as the title says. They have high-tech equipment to battle the supernatural for money. 

They end up finding some kind of portal  for evil to come into our world and they have to stop it from destroying New York. Do they? I don’t know; I’ve never seen the movie, but I’m sure it’s a great movie and it sound interesting, that may be because I’m a huge science geek though, I don’t know. Anyways, onto the next movie which is Halloween.

Halloween

Halloween, I’ve heard a lot about this movie and how good it is. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad review. There are eleven movies; they all have that wonderful character that’s a killer and wears a white mask; Michael Myers. 

It is rated R and is under the categories mystery and slasher. Sounds like a pleasant movie. It is about one hour and forty minutes. The movie starts with a six year old Michael Myers murdering his sister; Judith Myers who is seventeen. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. While being transferred for a court date he stole a car and went back to his home town to search for his next victim. On to the next movie which is Hotel Transylvania.

Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania; an animated movie with Adam Sandler doing the voice over for Dracula. Selena Gomez does the voice over for Mavis. Wow, so many famous people. It is rated PG and was released in 2012, that makes me feel old and I’m only twelve.  I remember going to see the first one in theaters. It is under the categories of Fantasy and Comedy horror. 

There are three movies, each one is animated and has a different storyline which makes all of them worth watching. Like the Toy Story movies, the fourth one to me was a lot like the third one, but that’s another article for a different day. The movies are all different so this is going to take a while. The first one is about a hotel filled with monsters like Frankenstein, zombies, mummies, vampires, skeletons, and so on and so forth. 

Dracula’s daughter; Mavis lives at the hotel with him and this guy named Jonathan, crashes a party at the hotel. He is a human, or mudblood as wizards call them in Harry Potter. He falls in love with Mavis, Which her dad is not to happy about since he is not a monster or vampire. In the second one came out in 2015. 

In the second movie Dracula opens up the hotel to the public (including humans). Dennis and Mavis have a kid and Dracula is scared that he is human; his name is Dennis. Mavis and Jonathan go out to California to visit Jonothan’s parents, but little does Mavis know that back at the hotel, Dracula is trying to prove that Dennis isn’t a human and in fact a vampire. He does stuff like throw Dennis off a roof to scare him so the fangs will come in and he will turn into a bat and fly. 

The third one came out in 2018, in that one they all go on a cruise. Dracula falls in love with the captain who secretly hates monsters, but yet she runs a monster cruise ship. Funny, right? Probably not the best idea to go on that ship if you are a monster. She has an intention to cause harm to the monsters on the ship. She acts like she is in love with dracula as well to gain his trust and get close to the other monsters to find their weaknesses and use their weaknesses against them.

Friday the Thirteenth

Friday the Thirteenth, once again we have a slaughter movie with another famous ‘killer’ character. Our great friend with a chainsaw and a hockey mask; Jason. The movie is once again rated R like the other slasher movies. It is an hour and thirty-five minutes. It came out on May 9, 1980. 

The movie is about people getting murdered at a summer camp in a place with a high murder rate. That doesn’t stop the counselors though, and of course they set it up in the middle of the woods where nobody can get to them too easily, except for Jason apparently. Before the people get killed, they are stalked. The counselor fight to not get killed by this brutal slasher; do they succeed? I don’t know I’ve never seen the movie.

Girl vs. Monster

The next movie that was chosen is Girl vs. Monster. A Disney Channel Original Movie. This movie was released on October 12, 2012 and is rated PG. It stars Olivia Holt as the main character; Skylar. On Halloween night, she finds out that she is a fifth generation monster hunter. She has to stop the monsters before they can destroy their town. As every Disney movie it does have a good amount of music breaks. 

This is one of the movies that I’ve seen and it was a great movie. The next movie is going to be  Monster House. I got half way through the movie and got scared, so I haven’t seen the entire thing because I’m a wus. 

Monster House

Monster House is an animated movie that was released on July 21, 2006. It is rated PG, the movie is about three kids that live near the ‘Monster House’. An elder man lives in the house until he dies. The kids make it their mission to destroy the house before Halloween so innocent trick-or-treaters get to enjoy their candy.

 Imagine going trick-or-treating and dying because you rang a doorbell or knocked on a door. Not the best way to spend your night. Anyways, onto the next movie; Lights Out. Gosh, even the title sounds terrifying. 

Lights Out

This movie is one of the newer ones on this list being released on July 21, 2016. It is rated PG-13, and it looks as if rightfully so. This movie is about a girl that was terrified of the dark as a kid. She never knew what to believe what was real when the lights went out. When she grew up, she thought that her childhood fears would leave her. Her sanity and safety were at stake when the lights went out. Her brother is now experiencing the same issues. 

A supernatural entity has returned to their home. It is tormenting them, to harm them, to kill them. Wow, that sounds terrifying. What would you do if your entire family’s sanity and safety were at stake because of the supernatural?  Next, and final movie (for the best ones). I saved the best one for last. I watch it every Halloween and it never gets old. Casper; the classic movie of a friendly ghost and a love story. The only ghost that isn’t here to harm the world. 

Casper

The movie came out on May 26, 1995 and is rated PG. Casper is the ghost of a young teenage boy and haunts a mansion. A supernatural expert moves into the mansion with his teenage daughter; Kat. Casper goes to investigate the new house guests and falls in love with Kat at first sight, despite his appearance Kat doesn’t mind being his friend and quickly falls in love with him. I’m going to leave it up to you to watch and see what happens at the end. 

You probably think it’s over, if you came here to find out what Halloween movies seventh graders watch then you can stop reading. If you want to find out what the worst movies your peers have seen are, I suggest you keep reading. The first bad movie that we have on our list is Halloween Town.

THE WORST

Halloween Town

When Willmy Ruiz was interviewed, he was asked what the worst Halloween movie he had ever seen was. He answered Halloween Town, the first one specifically. “The graphics weren’t the best ,” Ruiz said when asked why. 

Halloween Town was released on October 17, 1998 and is a Disney Channel Original Movie. There are three movies in total, all involving sorcery; magic. The movie is about three kids with a grandmother that is a witch. She visits once a year on Halloween and goes back to where she lives, a place where being a monster or a witch/warlock is normal.

When she goes to visit her grandkids, they don’t want her to leave and follow her to where they think is a normal place. The oldest one is thirteen and she finds out she is a witch and has to battle evil that is trying to take over Halloween Town and their world. Is she able to stop it? I’ve seen the movie so many times, but I’m going to leave it up to you to watch it and see if you agree with Ruiz. Next we have one that is a bit confusing; Friday the 13th. 

Friday the 13th

It was upon the list of movies that people loved, but when Jaden Nance was asked what the worst Halloween movie he had ever seen was he responded with “Friday the 13th, it wasn’t scary enough.” I’ve never seen it so I can’t say if it’s good or not. I’ve already explained what happened previously so I’m going to move on. The next movie is It.

Stephen King’s It

Pennywise, the most famous clown in the history of horror. A clown that eats kids; sounds pleasant. I’m terrified of clowns so I’ve never seen it and don’t plan on ever seeing it.  This one was chosen by Ioannis Xidias and Brian Pena. When asked what the worst Halloween movie they had ever seen was they replied with It. Pena said “It didn’t seem real.” Xidias said “ I’m not the biggest fan of clowns. I don’t like them.” 

The movie is about a killer clown that lives in the sewers and comes out every twenty-seven years to feed on the town’s children. This clown’s name is Pennywise; an ancient killer clown that can shape shift. It’s up to seven children to stop this horrid monster. Sounds like fun to live in that town.