Trenedy’s pick: Monster House

With Halloween right around the corner, many of us are looking for spooktacular ideas to do with friends and family. Movie nights are a classic way to spend the cool autumn nights, and they never get old. Cult classics like “Hocus Pocus” and “The Addams Family” are a staple to most everyone’s Halloween traditions. 

But when you can start to quote them line by line, It’s time to switch it up! Move onto movies that you may have forgotten about in your freaky hunt for a good time. 

A perfect example of a fantastic movie that has long been forgotten is Monster House. Rated PG, this is a movie that can appeal to everyone in the family. There’s animation for the kids, horror for those who enjoy the fright and some inside jokes for the adults. The movie was a box office hit at its release in 2006, making $141.9 million. 

The story follows three youths — DJ, Jenny, and Chowder- on Halloween in 1983 who are on a mission to protect the neighborhood kids from the resident grouch and his seemingly living house. Old man Nebbercracker is hostile toward everyone and anything that touches his yard, leading him to steal a little girl’s tricycle on the day before Halloween. 

The three kids are all on a mission to save the toys and people who have been victimized by Nebbercracker and his house. When the old man seemingly has a heart attack after getting worked up over his yard and is taken to the hospital, they assume all the horror is over. Then they witness the house claim a neighborhood dog. 

Realizing the house is haunted by a human soul, they begin to treat it like it’s alive and move forward carefully. 

No spoilers, but the movie takes the audience down a spooky story full of twists and turns that were certainly before its time. The animation style was popular at this time because of the Tim Burton stop-motion takeover. The haunting visuals make for an interesting watch and allow for a lot of different aspects to come through. The best part about the movie is how natural and accurate the characters act, the kids act like kids and the adults act like adults. The three main characters act exactly how kids of that time would act. Overall, this movie is an excellent addition to your watchlist this season.

Whitney’s pick: Coraline

I’m not personally a huge fan of horror movies, however spooky movies are different. My favorite is Coraline. To start with, the claymation style and puppetry keep me visually attracted to the details in every scene. This is important, because a big part of understanding the movie is keeping track of the details and easter eggs that are hidden in plain sight. The surface plot is easy to follow for those wanting to simply enjoy a cozy night with friends, but there are also layers to it which makes the thousands of fan theories online so much fun to investigate for those who really like to analyze things like I do. Even after seeing it many times over the years, I always find new realizations and possibilities that I didn’t see before. Things are never as they seem with this movie, which makes it worth watching again and again.

Amberly’s pick: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Personally, when I think of a fun Halloween night, I think of a night in with friends. Now, that’s more than likely the introvert in me talking. Regardless, movie nights are one of the best ways to stay warm and have a good night. When I think of Halloween movies, it’s hard not to think of Tim Burton, specifically The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was released in 1993 with a PG rating. The directorial debut of the stopmotion director Henry Selick. The movie was produced and imagined by Tim Burton and made a whopping 93 million dollars in the box office, more than doubling their original budget. 

The Nightmare Before Christmas follows the story of Jack Skellington, the King of Halloweentown, as he accidentally stumbles upon Christmastown. Skellington is absolutely overcome with joy seeing Christmas town and all of its cheer. In an attempt to spread the joy of Christmas town, Skellington tries to bring Christmas to Halloweentown. Although Sally, a ragdoll completely infatuated with the Halloweentown King, tries to talk Skellington down into loving Halloween and not changing their town. 

The villain of the story Oogie Boogie seems to be the one who brings Jack to his senses. All in all, this movie is one of the most iconic movies, if not ever, especially for the season. You’re able to learn to accept what you have and still be able to make it better without completely changing it. This movie is definitely a classic and one that should be on the watchlist every single year.