Since we are so close to Halloween, I thought I would list my personal list of the 5 best Halloween movies of all time (with an honorable mention). I hope you will enjoy this list; I will personally guarantee that all of these movies are worth watching. However, you are advised that "Signs" is very intense so it might not be a good movie for children under the age of ten(10).
I have doing this list of movies for over ten years. So far, the only change I have made is to add an "Honorable Mention".
1. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, Rated G)
It doesn't get any better than this Cary Grant movie. The scene is Brooklyn. It is Halloween night. The Brewsters have a few family secrets and more than their share of relatives that are not playing with a full deck of cards. This is a truly classic movie.
2. Spaced Invaders (1989, Rated PG)
The Martians have invaded the USA (Prepare to die Earth Scum!) on Halloween night and a small town fights back. Don't ask questions, just sit back and enjoy the fun. In many ways, this movie represents "Small Town America" and its values (on a comedy scale anyway).
3. The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. Toad (1950, Rated G)
Walt Disney knew how to do cartoons. This is one of his best. The second half is on the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and the headless horseman, with Bing Crosby singing and doing the narration. I have been to the real Sleepy Hollow on the Hudson River in New York. The animators of this cartoon have shown it correctly.
4. The Ghost Breakers (1940, Rated G)
This is one of the movies that gave Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis the idea for "The Ghostbusters". Bob Hope, pre WW2 Cuba, a haunted castle, and a hidden treasure.
5. The Thing from Another World (1951, Rated G)
With actor James Arness as a giant "carrot" man from outer space, this movie is both funny and "campy". (By the way, the title of this movie, and the year it was released, have nothing to do with me; regardless of what any of my relatives have said.)
Honorable Mention: Signs (2002, Rated PG13)
Mel Gibson is a preacher who has lost his faith in God due to the death of his wife. However, events are starting to happen in the world that will shake his quiet existence in Pennsylvania. I will give you a prior warning: This movie is intense. The first time I saw it, my wife had gotten it for me to watch while she went to a school meeting. I knew nothing about the movie at all and watched it only because she had gone to all this trouble to do something nice for me. About a quarter of the way through (after turning on all the lights), I realized I was looking at a true classic.
TRICK OR TREAT!