Three films that I will watch on Halloween
Posted Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 11:28 AM Central
by John Couture
It seems that we've gotten out of the Halloween spirit lately around here and that's really too bad. With young children on the cusp of learning about what will surely become one of their favorite holidays, I've found that my Halloween spirit has been recharged.
Despite nasty weather in the forecast, I'm looking forward to walking with my daughter for her first trek around the neighborhood. My son is still a bit young for the festivities, but fear not, he will also be decked out in a great film-related costume this year.
So, in the spirit of things, I've decided to resurrect (perfect timing, no?) our Halloween tradition with a list of the three films that I will watch tonight - if I can find them.
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - This was a childhood favorite and an annual tradition in our household. This year, our daughter actually has an attention span greater than 10 minutes, so I'm hoping that we can watch this as a family tonight before it's time to get the kids ready for bed. A little post-trick or treat, candy inventory viewing material if you will. I've queued up the DVR to record it tonight (it plays on ABC at 8/7 Central).
- Friday the 13th - Now that the kiddos are in bed, it's time for an adult bloody double-feature. I know this will be a controversial decision as I went with this film over its more topical peer Halloween, but there's just something about Friday the 13th that screams Halloween for me. And it has to be the original film. I save marathon viewings for actual Fridays the 13th, but for today, it's all about the original film and watching Kevin Bacon die.
- Slaughterhouse - This one is going to take some digging. I'm pretty sure that I have the DVD lying around somewhere, but I discovered this '80s horror gem on VHS as it should be. I went through a bit of a horror phase when I worked at a video store. Not as bad as Jamie Kennedy in Scream mind you, but let's just say that I could have given him a run for his money. Of all the gloriously bad films that I watched during this time, Slaughterhouse is the one that sticks out above and beyond the rest. More comedy than horror per se, it's like the backwoods grandfather to Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.
If you'd like to check out some of our past Halloween features, we created a list of movie-related Halloween costumes this year. A few years ago, I highlighted some classic, off-beat Halloween films. There's Fangoria's list of top 25 Halloween movies or Wired's top 10 Halloween films for kids. It's been a few years, but movie-themed Jack-O-Lanterns are always evergreen. Finally, we have our list and our readers' list of top 10 Halloween films.
What about you? What are your favorite films to watch today or traditions that you share with your family and friends?