Top Ten Best Kid-Friendly Halloween Films

Now that I’m a father I’ve been thinking of what kind of films I’m going to watch on this spooky holiday that my son is going to be able to watch (when he’s older of course). Here is a list of films but I can assume more will be made by the time my son starts watching.

10. The Witches – Roald Dahl’s book comes to life with Anjelica Huston as an evil witch.

9. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – It’s a classic. Maybe not a full-length movie but for a kid it’s a must-see

8. Monster Squad – The classic ‘80s adventure film about a group of kids who must save the neighborhood from the original monsters, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolf man and Frankenstein. Goodness all around.

7. The Corpse Bride – This is a wonderful after-life love story from the mind of Tim Burton.

6. Beetlejuice – It’s just dark enough to be scary but ultimately a hilarious story of a recently deceased couple trying to scare the new owners from their house. Eventually they turn to a crazy ghost to do the job for them. Of course he goes rogue on them. Michael Keaton is awesome.

5. Spirited Away – While one might not think of this Miyazaki marvel as a Halloween story but it’s pretty eerie. I mean at the beginning Chihiro’s parents become pigs. Plus there are some wonderfully strange spirits to inspire any child.

4. Frankenweenie – Wait, Tim Burton again? A boy brings his pet dog back to life. Maybe watch the original ’31 Frankenstein first but do let them see this wonderful twist on the tale.

3. Coraline – A spooky story of a girl who goes to another world to spend time with her other Mother and other Father. Based on Neil Gaiman’s book and made byHenry Selick. When I saw this I knew I was watching an instant classic.

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas – This is the perfect warm up to prepare for the upcoming holidays.

1. Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit – I love this monster-themed comedy and it’s great for kids. Maybe they’ll eat their vegetables instead of their trick or treat candy afterward.

The Taking of Debora Logan (2014)

There’s a moment in this horror film that really got to me. This is a splendid found footage scare fest, where a documentary crew follows a woman who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Or is she? Like an onion, the story continues to expand into one of occults, snakes and kidnapping. Sure sometimes the technique of found footage gets a bit tedious and you can predict the jumps-scares they’re going to force on you, but I loved how this story unfolded even if it was a tad long. A great Halloween night film for sure. Grade: B+

The Walking Dead (Season 4)

After three seasons of this zombie drama, you might expect things to slow down. Not so. The first episode is actually the only weak part with every episode getting better. Some of the episodes of this season are the best of the series so far. As a whole the producers finally upped their game and gave us something more in line with the first season when Frank Darabont ran the show. Andrew Lincoln has never been better. What I liked about his character here was that he seemed to be more focused and less insane- not that he’s emotionally balanced.  All the characters go through a journey of some kind that brings depth to their interactions and explains their actions. The return of the Governor is so rewarding, the entire span of his rise back on top with another group of survivors could make an entire season but it’s actually the jumping off point that sends the characters we love on a lonely and unknown road to a place called Terminus. The best episode of the season is “The Grove”, a painful and horrifically sad episode from Carol’s point of view that will never leave my mind. “Too Far Gone” is the next best one, the point of change that the series needed if it was going to ever get better. Now I can’t wait for the next season to see what’s going to happen, who is going to live and for those who die, how. It’s not a very forgiving show but it certainly is one of the most entertaining right now on TV. Grade: A-

The Stoker (2013)

Park Chan-wook directs his English debut. Mia Wasikowska stars as India, a strange detached teenager whose father died in a car accident, leaving a mentally unbalanced wife, played by Nicole Kidman. At her father’s funeral her Unclie Charlie arrives and this sends her into a maddening journey of sexual awakening and curious destruction. It’s an eerie story with a main character that is so odd that at times I couldn’t figure out what she wanted, which was great. I wouldn’t say this is Chan-wook’s best work and it could have used some more clarity but it’s a decent little film. Mia is wonderful and the best part of the show. She’s proof she’s an up-and-coming talent. Grade: B

Carrie (2014)

This remake of the 1976 Brian Del Palma film is really kind of ho-hum. I’m a big Chloë Grace Moretz fan but she just can’t make this character work for her. I don’t ever believe that she’s as shy and detached from the world as Carrie White is. At times I feel like her performance, especially at the beginning, is forced. Her work opposite Julianne Moore is better and Moore is a terrific choice as the religious obsessed crazy mom but again there’s nothing new about their relationship. Sure they updated the story for our times with social networking and cell phones but it never can rise up to the standard that the first film brought to the table. I wish instead of using Del Palma’s film as their source they would have just adapted the book in a new a refreshing way. While some of the special effects at the end are pretty cool (the car scene) and Portia Doubleday’s over the top performance is screen stealing, this is one even horror fans should skip. Trust me, here’s an example where the remake is so forgettable it’s almost not worth mentioning. Grade: C

A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons (Novel)

I love Dan Simmons and while I thought this was a good book, it’s not his best. Strange enough it’s a sequel to Summer of Night with the main character Dale Stewart returning to try and write a book about what happened while he was a kid. I’ve read Summer of Night but I didn’t recall any of it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had but it was some twenty odd years since I read that last book. There is a great feeling of disquiet about the book that is pretty spooky. I also love how damaged he is, he makes for a compelling character. In the end the writing is solid and I liked how the story flows but it didn’t leave me completely satisfied. Grade: B

Resolution (2013)

What starts out as a young man locating his drug addict friend living in an abandon house in the mountains and forcing him to go through withdrawal quickly turns into a mysterious supernatural story of unexplainable tauntings.  It’s a spooky film with many eerie and mind bending twists. The ending is a bit of a letdown but not in a really bad way. I’d say check it out if you want to see a Twin Peaks meets Paranormal Activity. Grade: B