Entertainment
14 Essential Halloween Movies For '90s Kids
I love Halloween more than I love my own family, and work very hard to capitalize on all the retro films with spook factor from my adolescence. I mean, I don’t have to tell you that the ‘90s was rife with perfect Halloween films; presumably, you were there, or you are literally 16-years-old and under. But, if you were a ‘90s kid that was, well, a kid in the ‘90s, you may have missed a few choice picks here and there, and now is the time to fix that. So, you’re looking for a line-up of ‘90s films to watch this Halloween? From the lightly spooky Disney films to the teenager-rich bloodbaths, I've rounded some up for you.
Now look, there are many different roads one can take when it comes to Halloween marathons, in the ‘90s or otherwise. Some years I’ll budget time to watch some of the first few Simpsons' Treehouses of Horror. Feel free to experiment and what figure out what’s right for you. But, if you need a starting place, allow me to suggests these classically Halloween-esque films that rule the era, and take note of the ways they should flow into one another. I mean, you don’t go in guns a-blazing with the spook factor, fam.
1. Double, Double, Toil And Trouble (1993)
Start in a more innocent time, back when the Olsen Twins were wide-eyed little witches instead of fashion hipsters clutching onto venti macchiatos.
2. Halloweentown (1998)
A perfect homage to the holiday, and you really can really feel some resentment that Aggie isn't your grandma (like, no disrespect to Nonna, but she just lives in Westchester).
3. Witches (1990)
Ronald Dahl's most horrifying entry for the de-masking scene alone, and that's saying a lot.
4. Addams Family (1991)
The first family of creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky, how can you not delve into this Halloween essential?
5. Addams Family Values (1993)
Though it exists at least in part as a bizarro summer camp movie, we can't disrespect the beautiful, pastel-shrouded insanity of one Debbie Jellinsky-Addams.
6. Casper (1995)
It's so surreal to see the snark-laden Wednesday cave to that dopey-looking specter, and at least mildly to moderately entertaining.
7. Hocus Pocus (1993)
At the midpoint of the marathon, you'll need something potently Halloween to reinvigorate you. Look no further than the Sanderson Sisters, the veritable queens of the season.
8. Ed Wood (1994)
It's probably Tim Burton's best effort, and the perfect homage to the B horror movies of yesteryear.
9. The Craft (1996)
Oooooh, this takes you back to your own days of dark lipstick and drinking blood with your teenage gal pals.
10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Truth be told, it hasn't aged gracefully, which makes it somehow a soft lead into the scarier films.
11. Scream (1996)
You could probably place this one after Ed Wood, if you're really feeling crazy, since it serves as its own celebration of another horror genre: the slasher flick that was revitalized mid-way through this era.
12. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Speaking of which, remember when Michael Myers was introduced to Gen Xers? It's a glorious, stabby time.
13. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Still the sexiest Dracula of all time... minus all those weird scenes where he's a gorilla-wolf or has boobs on his head. But what's more '90s and classically Halloween than a Dracula adaptation with Winona Ryder?
14. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Oh, come on. By the time you've reached the end of Jack's journey, you'll be thoroughly ready for the next holiday season.
If you want to disrupt this neat order that I've laid out for you, that's your prerogative. But these films lead into one another very well, and, by the time you get to the end, will get you all ready to forget Thanksgiving is a thing — or, as I call the holiday between Halloween and Christmas, not-Christmas.
Images: Walt Disney Pictures; Giphy (14)
