10) Trick Or Treat (1986): Not only is this a Halloween based movie (henc
e the name) with that 1980's cheesy charm, but it has Skippy (Marc Price) from Family Ties with a kick ass mullet. The movie also has cameos by Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons. The story is also quite simple- the school outcast played by Marc obtains a demo from his late rock hero who died in a fire. The tape possesses him and he seems revenge against his tormentors. Even though this is #10, it's a MUST for Halloween viewing.
9) Monster Squad (1987): I would have this a bit higher on my list, but I dunno- I don't seem to love this movie as much as other genre fans. Granted, it's a very, very fun movie and a staple of the 1980's, but it's something that I can only watch every couple years or so. The movie is about a group of kids who form a monster club called The Monster Squad and have to defend themselves when Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mully and Frankenstein's Monster come to their town in search of an amulet that will give them powers to rule the world! Bwuahaha! It's a very fun movie nonetheless, and basically horror's answer to The Goonies.#8) Neon Maniacs (1986): I actually have not watched this in a while, but it's one of those films that not only screams 1980's, but Halloween as well. It's about a group of kids who are being hunted by a band of these odd, deformed creatures who live under the Golden gate Bridge. The creatures ultimately find them at a school costume party where a band is playing and everyone is armed with squirt guns-- that's how the creatures are defeated. It's a mix of absolutely horrible with cheesy fun and it also stars three Friday The 13th alum; Marta Kober (Part II) , Alan Hayes (Part IV) and Allan A. Appone (Special effects Part III).
#7) The 'Burbs (1989): You can't go wrong with mullets on Halloween, and Corey Feldman proves this in The 'Burbs. The movie stars him and Tom Hanks and is about a local family of murdering lunatics and how Tom Hanks tries his hardest to make his wife and friends believe him after he witnessed the family dispose of dead bodies. The movie is a Halloween staple for me and is funny as hell.
#6) The Midnight Hour (1985): Another Halloween staple for me since I was a kid and saw this made for TV gem on cable. The VHS and DVD are OOP and will put you in the poor house to obtain, but the movie is almost worth it. The movie is about a group of High School teens who wake up a witch from the dead, who resurrects the dead to get back at them. Within the group of dead people a kind (dead) teenage girl comes back to help the teens. The cast is star studded (LeVar Burten, Peter Deluise, Dick Van Patten) and is fun, funny and sad- I fucking love this one.
#5) Trick 'r Treat (2008): This is going to be a new Halloween ritual for me- fun, creepy and just well done movie! The movie revolves around Trick 'r Treat is just about a handful of people on a street block who have some mishaps on Halloween... don't wanna spoil this movie too much for people who have not seen this gem yet, but do yourself a favor and watch this. It's most certainly an instant classic!
4) Fright Night (1985): This movie just screams Halloween for me- we not only have vampires but it also revolves around a vampire slayer played by the awesome Roddy Mcdowell who hosts a weekly creature feature TV show. A vampire played by Chris Sarandon moves next door to Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) and creates a living hell for him. Once Charley finds out that he is indeed a vampire, he basically has to fight for his life with help of Peter Vincent (McDowell). Fucking awesome Halloween movie!
#3) Night Of The Demons (1988): In my opinion, this is a MUST for any Halloween list and should be at the least in the top 5 of any. It's basically about a group of misfit teens spending the night in a haunted funeral home where some murder once took place. They decide to perform a séance to talk with the family, but it ends up awakening demons, possessing and of course their untimely deaths! The movie is full of awesome characters, sweet ass scenes (coughLinneabooblipstickcough), awesome one liners and a cool side story about a mischievous old man passing out apples laced with razor blades to the children on Halloween! Unfortunatley, this film is being remade-- fortunately it stars the beautiful Shannon Elizabeth.
#2) Night Of The Creeps (1986): Another Fred Dekker film on this list (The Monster Squad), Night Of The Creeps is as much as a cable TV staple as anything else. Growing up in the 80's I think every kid saw this on cable and it took until now to see this gem on DVD. It's a silly and fun flick about aliens landing on Earth in 1959 and creating little slug-like worms to invade people's brain and turn them into zombies. Many years later the carrier body is thawed and they are back to their brain-eating ways. However, they have never had to deal with Tom Atkins and his flame thrower!
#1) Halloween 3- Season Of The Witch (1982): Okay, this is NOT the best Halloween film- Parts I and II are (the only ones that are) better-- Season Of The Witch is the best one (in my opinion) to watch on Halloween. Yes, Halloween (1978) is on Halloween and is about Halloween, but Halloween 3 really has more Halloween spirit and Halloween-ness than Halloween (1978). The plot of this movie is something sinister- it's about a Halloween mask company's (Silver Shamrock) plot to sell their masks to children and essentially use them to kill the little bastards. Apparently the Silver Shamrock Mask Corporation acquired some sort of stone that's used with some sort of computer chips inside of the mask to activate and kill all of the children when their annoying, yet catchy jingle plays on Halloween. Silver Shamrock has concocted a prize giveaway at 9pm to all of the mask buyers where all of the kids will gather around the TV, watch their commercial and... die. Of course, Silver Shamrock Corporation has not met Tom Atkins, who again (Night Of The Creeps) saves the day. In my mind, this is the definitive Halloween movie and cable networks in the 1980's and 1990's seemed to agree with the sheer amount of times that this was on-- and I watched it.
Who can not get this movie out of their head? Every freaking Halloween since I can remember I'd head "Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, happy, happy Halloween- Silver Shamrock!"
This movie is fucking creepy and quite sinister. The score was once again done by John Carpenter and it just adds so much creep to the already creepy story.
Happy Halloween!
I love the list, man. Burbs, Fright Night and Halloween 3 are movies I always check out each year. I am with you on Trick r Treat. Great movie andthe perfect Halloween atmosphere.
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