Five Spooky Favorites

Oct. 30, Feast of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez.  Beset with tragedy, he was the picture of humility, living most of his life as doorkeeper for the Jesuits.  His piety attracted the attention of many, including the St. Peter Claver and fellow Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, who made him the subject of one of his poems.

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I first saw Beetlejuice when I was five years old at a friend's house, and while I wouldn't recommend it showing it to your kindergartner, it's been a favorite of mine ever since.  This campy goth movie is totally fun and features a young Winona Ryder!

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, not the awful WB televesion series!) hails from the same time period as Beetlejuice and is a cult classic.  It should be too, as it hilariously parodies the genre.  This one is so much fun!  I highly recommend it!  And hey, apparently the same guy created Firefly.  So win-win!

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Do you miss the good ol' Disney Chanel days before Lizzie McGuire (gag!)?  Remember when the Disney Channel Original movies weren't mass produced and actually approached interesting plots, rather than throwing a punned title out on the table and writing them from there?  Remember the original series that were thought-provoking, like So Weird, or actually entertaining, like Even Stevens?  Remember the good movies like My Stepsister Is an Alien and the Luck of the Irish?  Me, too.

Halloweentown falls in with the above.  There's a whole series of movies that progresses after this one, and they all have their charms, but when you must choose, stick with the original.

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The classic Halloween movie.  Hocus Pocus is a must-see.

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The Others is probably my favorite scary movie, period.  Now, I'm more creeped out by mind games and mysteries, so keep that in mind--there's no gore and a lot of things that are only circumstantially scary (not inherently so), but man!  This will creep you out!  In a good way!  It's the quintessential, turn-of-the-century, haunted English mansion ghost story.  But you won't be bored for a minute.

Runners up included:

• The Blair Witch Project--they say what we're scared of most is the unknown.  I think that's what did it for me in this movie.  The not-seeing.  It helped that it was creepily made to look like a found medium.
• Sweeney Todd--when you want to sing and dance a bit macabre, or a lot.  It's tons of fun, and the bloodiness is so over the top it swings back around 180 degrees and doesn't bother me.
• Sleepy Hollow--also with Johnny Depp, and Christina Ricci, if you like colonial history like me, this one is enjoyable and scary!  Thought it has a bit of a weird take on the source of the trouble.
• Rocky Horror Picture Show--excluded because, well, moral offense abounds.  I watch it up to the part when they finish singing the Time Warp--which, let's face it, is the most important part of the whole film!

What do you like to cuddle up to watch on a cold evening?  Any favorite scary movies to recommend?  What about Halloween favorites?

Five Favorites is hosted this week at Mama Needs Coffee.