Horror for the Holidays: Halloween

The penultimate, quintessential Halloween film. You could probably list most of the series, but the quality begins to rapidly deteriorate and constant reboots have never really helped to stem the loss of quality. Tarnished reputation and all, Michael Meyers remains a steadfast icon of horror and the face of Halloween. This is the perfect horror movie for any occasion, but especially October 31st.

A cleverly worked anthology based around several Halloween superstitions and legends. There are tremendous production values and immaculate attention spent to making it the most decorated Halloween vision ever captured on film. Not all the stories hold up, but the overall effect and interweaving of the plots makes for a vastly positive experience. Not to be confused with the mediocre heavy metal slasher Trick or Treat (1986).

Obscure film about a socially awkward officer worker who decides to attend what he thinks is a costume party. Turns out the invitation for a murder party is a little more literal. Enters the realm of pretentious as it sends up the whole concept of art communities. Whacky fun and clever dialogue makes this a totally memorable film for anyone lucky enough to have heard about it.

Tim Burton's cult animated classic is the perfect bridge between the Halloween and Christmas seasons. Considering there is a catchy song called "This is Halloween", how can you not include it on the list? Despite countless attempts by Hot Topic to murder the film's reputation, it remains a vastly praise worthy film.

The beginning of collaborations between the haunting Angela Bettis and kooky Lucky McKee. May isn't necessarily scary, but its definitely quirky and inexorably a horror film. Its Halloween roots don't really blossom until near the end, but this is the perfect film for carving a link between funny and scary. It may build slow, but the end reward is well worth the wait.

Don't let the massive metaphor for puberty scare you off. Ginger Snaps is probably the best contemporary werewolf film post-American Werewolf in London and truly has a lot going for it. Culminating scenes involving a Halloween party and a full moon bring it square into the realm of the season. Great effects, a fun script, and memorable characters really drives this film home.

The box cover and title scream bad B-grade horror so loud that it took me six years to finally watch Satan's Little Helper. Yet, off-beat director Jeff Lieberman delivers a truly engrossing film that seems to embody the term quirky. Sure everything is bad, but in that awesome way where you know it had to be intentional. Don't let this film scare you away, its best handled with some beer and raucous friends. The fact that its all taking place on Hell Night makes it perfect for getting amped before Halloween.

A TV movie? Yeap. A damn good one at that. Dark Night of the Scarecrow takes the premise of Of Mice and Men into the realms of the killer scarecrow subgenre. Original deaths, a great score, and some surprisingly good acting elevates this beyond its low budget TV movie base. Set around Halloween and featuring plenty of pumpkin patches, its a blessing that its finally made it to DVD and Blu-Ray.

Despite a PG-13 rating, Lady in White is a massively scary film and has haunted many unsuspecting viewers. Beginning on Halloween it moves forward into a child's investigation of a real world inspired ghost story. Fraught with tension between the supernatural ghosts and all too real killer, it wracks adults and children alike with suspense.

Taking some heavy cues from An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987), Idle Hands deploys a pre-fame Jessica Alba to sex up a twisted monster flick about a diabolical hand. It never takes itself seriously and neither should the audience. A fun romp into teen horror country with all the prerequisite sex appeal and gratuitous nudity. The best part is Alba dressed as one of the sexiest angels this side of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

80's demon possession film doing what they do best. Awful acting, ridiculous effects, and an abhorrent script all somehow work to elevate this into the realm of awesomely bad. Nothing like watching a Halloween party getting killed by ridiculous creatures. Worth watching for the lipstick scene alone. Might enjoy Hell Night (1981) as well if you're trying to round out an awesomely bad 80's horror night.