Top 10 Halloween Movies
by Mary Matus

Every holiday has its own set of traditions, the things you have to do every year, or else it just wouldn’t be right. Halloween has its own set: trick-or-treating, costume parties, etc. Personally I’ve tried to sit down and watch "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" every year since I was a child.

More and more today, movies have become a big part of our traditions. Every Halloween I like to sit down and watch a good horror movie. If horror movies are too scary, you can just sit down and watch a good whodunnit.

Here are some of my favorite movies that help get me in the mood for Halloween.

10. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
“Insanity runs in my family... It practically gallops.”

Cary Grant is hilarious as the frazzled Mortimer Brewster, who suddenly realizes his elderly aunts are serial killers. Among the supporting cast are Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre at their creepiest as two murderers hiding out with the Brewsters.

9. North by Northwest (1959)
“Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring.”

While Alfred Hitchcock made too many classic movies to list, North by Northwest is my personal favorite. Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, who finds his life endangered after a case of mistaken identity. The suspense builds slowly, and for most of the movie it is hard to know what is really going on and who is on what side. The cross country adventure culminates in a chase scene at the top of Mount Rushmore.

8. Scooby Doo (2002)
“Those creatures are taking over the world... that's so mean.”

Scooby Doo has always been one of my favorite cartoons, and the recent movie adaptation incorporates much of the cartoonish silliness while keeping the Scooby Doo/Shaggy friendship at the heart of the movie. Linda Cardellini fits perfectly as the bookish Velma, but the real highlight of the movie is Matthew Lillard’s dead-on portrayal of Shaggy.

7. Murder by Death (1976)
“Locked, from the inside. That can only mean one thing. And I don't know what it is.”

This parody is a must see for any fan of old detective movies. Murder by Death features spoofs of Charlie Chan, Sam Spade, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Nick and Nora Charles. The all-star cast features Peter Sellers, almost unrecognizable as Chinese detective Sidney Wang, and Peter Falk as Sam Diamond.

6. Arachnophobia (1990)
“Rock and roll!”

Who knew spiders could be so scary? Jeff Daniels stars as Ross Jennings, a likeable doctor with a fear of spiders who makes a new start with his family in a small town. Unfortunately, the town is soon invaded by deadly South American spiders. The movies features some scary scenes but is not without humor, most memorably John Goodman as the local exterminator, Delbert.

5. Ghostbusters (1984)
“Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!”

It’s hard to go wrong when the core cast consists of Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. Ghostbusters is one of those movies where practically the entire movie is quotable. And let’s face it - it’s hard to beat a giant marshmallow man.

4. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
“Don’t dream it, be it.”

It’s hard to describe a movie that combines catchy rock songs with a cast of unusual characters, most prominently Tim Curry as the “Sweet Transvestite” Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Sure, it may be a little bizarre, but it’s fun and you’ll find you can’t stop singing the many memorable songs. Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick star as the conservative couple Brad and Janet, while Meatloaf has a small role as a motorcyclist.

3. Scream (1996)
“Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative."

This is my favorite recent horror movie mostly because of its tendency to make fun of the genre and of the movie itself. Minutes after Neve Campbell complains about how victims in horror movies always run up the stairs, she does the same thing. Jamie Kennedy as Randy, the slightly off-beat horror movie fan, steals every scene he’s in.

2. The Shining (1980)
“Heeere’s Johnny!”

Stanley Kubrick’s 1981 masterpiece is the ultimate haunted house story. Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who takes a job as an off-season caretaker for The Outlook Hotel after his drinking causes him to lose his job and hurt his son. Eventually, the ghosts of the hotel take over, and Jack is unable to resist. As Torrence descends into madness, Nicholson’s performance is absolutely mesmerizing.

1. The Exorcist (1973)
“What an excellent day for an exorcism."

This is one movie definitely not for the faint of heart. Ellen Burnstyn plays Chris MacNeil, the mother of an 12-year-old girl who begins showing strange behavior. Desperate for solutions, she finally cannot deny that the changes must have a supernatural cause and goes to the priests for exorcism.