UVM BORED’s Frightening Flick Picks
While 2020 already feels like a bit of a horror movie t us (especially if you find Contagion as scary as we did), we can’t help but love a good Halloween-themed flick during spooky season. Plus – it’s not like halloween parties are a thing this year; so why not warm up the group watch/party watch/netflix party and host a horror our instead. While there are a ton of traditional staples like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare before Christmas – there are a select few that we dig on an annual basis.
Here’s the UVM BORED team’s 2020 picks for some frightening things (and slightly less frightening things) you should watch this month to get in the Halloween spirit:
Ellie:
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Watch it On: Hulu for free, or Rent on Amazon Prime
Where can you find a musical that combines provocative topics, frankenstein’s monster, aliens, ghouls, and hit music sensation meatloaf? Great question. You can find all those and more in the Rocky Horror PIcture Show. This show is more of an experience than a film. You must enter it with an open mind and zero expectations. I enjoy this obscure picture show due to its inability to be predicted. It is something that I would have never expected to come out of the 1970’s and brings a light heartedness to the spooky holiday season.
Minions (2015)
Watch it On: Rent on Amazon Prime or Youtube
The Minions movie is for kids, they say. This isn’t a horror movie, they say. If you’re anything like me, this movie haunts you. The image of those yellow monsters is the last thing I see before I go to bed at night and the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. This film was put on earth to begin a cult following that we may never understand. When this movie came out I first thought it was cute. Little yellow guys in overalls who love bananas, what’s to fear? Then capitalism got a hold of them. Everywhere I looked from the year 2015-2018 was all minions. Minions everywhere. The horror. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
Alex:
Ghost Busters (1984)
Watch it on: Hulu, or Rent on Amazon Prime, and Youtube
When I think about Halloween one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is some spooky ghosts running amuck, but when they start getting mischievous who you gonna call? Well it has got to be the Ghostbusters. This is one classic film that has stood the test of time for one reason, it’s really entertaining to watch. In case you don’t know, the movie follows a trio of scientists who make a living by hunting and catching the supernatural. Trouble is about to befall New York though as the Ghostbusters find out they are in way over their head.
Whether you’re in it for Bill Murray or a massive Stay Puft Marshmallow Man it has a little something for everybody, as long as you don’t confuse it with the remake.
IT (2017)
Watch it on: Hulu, HBO Max,or Rent on Amazon Prime, and Youtube
A relatively new addition to the Halloween scene, IT came into the thriller scene with a lot of momentum, making the movie a household name. IT based on the book by Stephen King is about a group of 7 kids who have to face a child preying, murderous clown named Pennywise. We all recognize the icon that is Pennywise from IT. And even without the craze of murderous clowns it stands as a staple movie for the Halloween season.
Danielle’s Picks
Twitches
Watch it on: Disney+ or Rent on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Youtube
When it comes to feeling like a little kid again on Halloween, I think of dressing up in costumes, running around the neighborhood trying to hit the houses with the big candy bars, and sorting and trading candy at the end of the night with my twin sister. I miss the silly (but serious) arguments that would ensue from the trading and passing around candy bars. We would sit down at the end of the night and watch Twitches. This mythical feel-good Disney channel original movie is sure to bring up back to 2005. Twitches came out in 2005 and features twin stars, Tia and Tamera Mowry. The movie centers around the two twins, separated at birth, reuniting on their 21st birthday to save their homeworld from the scary “Darkness.” The movie’s special effects are out of date and the fashion, but the sisters coming together and saving the world overrides it.
After watching this movie, you will think every set of twins has magical powers. You never know; you might wake up one morning and find you have magical powers.
Halloweentown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EdgGsmswIo
Watch it on: Disney+ or Rent on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Youtube
Another Disney channel original movie that reminds me of my childhood is Halloweentown. This 1998 a cult classic, gets the whole family around the tv, phone, laptop, or whatever you decide to watch the movie on. The fun family dynamic consists of Marnie, a 13 year old, her two younger siblings and her grandma…who turns out to be a witch. Marine’s grandmother lives in Halloween town, a town where supernatural beings can live a ‘normal life’. However, (du du du) there is an evil lurking around the town, and it is the family’s job to keep the world in order! Your fantasies of what halloween can be realized by watching this movie.
So, get together with friends after a night out trick or treating, and watch this feel good movie. The movie will take you back to being a kid, because as Marnie iconically says, “Halloween is cool”.
Cody’s Picks:
The Thing
Watch it On: Rent on Amazon Prime or YouTube
When it comes to scary movies – I’ve never given many props to a film with jump scares and gore. Maybe I’m desensitized…there are more frightening things out there (the cost of a college education – AHH!). My lone exception is for ‘The Thing’ – John Carpenter’s 1982 classic that follows the plight of a group of isolated researchers who stumble upon an organism that can perfectly copy people, and is picking folks off one-by-one. It’s basically Among Us in antarctica. A master work in suspense – with some epic special effects (for the time) and a deeply stressful thriller where you never know who is good and who is…well…The Thing. If two scenes in particular don’t make you jump – you’ve got nerves of steel.
This one is a legendary horror classic – and is well worth the watch for the street cred alone. The 2011 prequel isn’t terrible, but it lacks the suspense, charm, and physical props that make the original the best.
Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors
Watch it On: Rent on Amazon Prime or YouTube
The world is typically divided into three types of horror fans. Those who like Mike Meyers, those who dig Jason, and the Freddy Krueger stans. I’m the latter. In case you didn’t know, Freddy comes for you in your sleep – what’s scarier than that? I love all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies – but my favorite of the bunch is the third in line: Dream Warriors. Nancy is back (and still a deliciously terrible actress), but the ‘camp’ is cranked up to 10 as we watch a psychiatric ward full of troubled teams try to get rid of Freddy once and for all – with DREAM power. No joke. There’s a wizard at one point.
Watching the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie (with a baby-faced Johnny Depp) might help you appreciate everything that’s happening a bit more; but isn’t completely necessary. You can just pop this on and enjoy it for what it is. One, two Freddy’s coming for you…
CATAMOUNT PICKS
We asked our instagram followers for their favorite spooky szn picks and here’s what folks said:
- Coraline – I don’t trust cats, closets, or Teri Hatcher after watching this film from the Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- Hocus Pocus – One of our faves, but we can’t help but think Winnifred got a bad wrap in this. All she wanted was to be young. They could have given her a solid moisturizer and been done with the whole affair from the start.
- Nightmare Before Christmas – Our favorite flick to watch on or JUST after Halloween, since it covers two holidays in one!
- Beetlejuice – Is this a Moira-centric prequel to Shitt’s Creek, or a Tim Burton classic? Who’s to say.
- Rocky Horror – Even better with a crowd; but always a good watch if you enjoy some pulp-y goodness.
- Haunted Mansion – Oh man. We forgot all about this Eddie Murphy flick. Any film that can make bring Madame Leota a main character is alright in our book.
- Children of the Corn – Making corn mazes scarier since 1984. Thanks Stephen King.
Got picks of your own? Send em’ to [email protected] or drop em’ in the comments below. Happy hauntings, cats!
