A Very Special Happy Halloween

Hey everyone. Happy Halloween! Today is my favorite day of the year (after all, I did devote an entire month of articles to it here on YDKS Movies) and, to celebrate further, I have prepared yet another countdown for you all. This one is pretty special. It is the Top 8 Halloween Movies / Television Specials (I couldn't come up with 10, sorry). In this countdown, I will cover movies and television specials that I believe evoke the Halloween spirit the best. So get ready because its about to get all Halloween up in this place. 

Honorable Mention: Trick R' Treat

As far as I'm concerned, this could be number one on this list if Warner Bros. would just wise up and release the damn thing. Seriously, I've been waiting to see this movie for over a year now. All the test screening reviews are glowing and it looks like it is so much fun. The trailer released for it just oozes the Halloween spirit. Plus, it's a horror anthology film in the vein of Creepshow but taking place entirely on Halloween. How could people not like that? This movie needs to be released and in theaters. I want to see it so bad.

Check out the awesome trailer for it below.

8. Freaks and Geeks- The Halloween Episode

Freaks and Geeks is one of my favorite television shows ever. It's incredibly funny, touching and usually very sad.  Like all the other episodes on Freaks and Geeks, this episode is really sad and kind of destroys the Halloween spirit. It basically presents Halloween as a holiday that only encourages more awful things to happen to good people (which, in all honesty, it can be). It also deals with the sickening realization of being too old to trick or treat. Still, despite it saying Halloween basically sucks, it's a wonderful episode (one of my favorites) and I just couldn't not mention it. For me, this episode kind of represents the Halloween of the junior high years. It's not really the glorified, fun holiday that we grew up on. Still, there are bits of that still waiting to come out (as can be seen in the end with Lindsey and her mother). 

Below I've included the costume montage. It's really funny. If you've never seen Freaks and Geeks, be sure to check it out.

7. The Office- The Halloween Episode

Much like Freaks and Geeks, The Office is one of my favorite television shows ever. In the Halloween episode in Season 2, Michael has to decide who he is going to lay off by the end of the day. He was suppose to take care of this task already but decided to leave it for Halloween because it is "very scary stuff." This is one of my favorite episodes of The Office. Everything feels very surreal with everyone in costume and the ending is really great. Plus, I just really like two-headed Michael. The scene where he acts like he is taking advice from it on whether or not to fire Dwight is amazing. Although this episode doesn't evoke the Halloween spirit in a classic sense, I still thought it was worthy enough to be on this list.

Also, I have a clip that isn't from this episode but from last night's episode (which had a Halloween opening). It features Creed, Kevin and Dwight all dressing up like Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight. It's pretty amazing. Check it out.

6. Goosebumps- The Haunted Mask

Just to get this straight, I'm referring to the television adaptation of this book, not the book itself. I have to admit, the Goosebumps television show really doesn't hold up very well. It's really cheesy and filled with bad acting and effects. However, the first episode of the show has always stayed with me throughout the years. It revolves around Carly Beth, a girl who is absolutely terrified of everything (quite the problem to have in horror related material) buying an evil mask that makes her...umm... evil and conforms to her skin. It all takes place on Halloween and that setting is really used well. There's a lot of shots taking place on foggy roads (not sure why, but I'll take it), lots of trick or treating and lots of Carly Beth running around scaring kids. Plus, there's a really bad effect of floating Halloween masks chasing people around. That sounds like Halloween to me.

Here's a video of some clips from it if you're not familiar with this one.

5. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

I watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown this past weekend on DVD. Even though it's only twenty-five minutes long and was made thirty years ago, it still holds up. It shows Halloween from a child's viewpoint and really manages to capture it's overall spirit in tone. It also manages to address some deeper issues with Linus' obsession and devotion to the Great Pumpkin, something that obviously does not exist. Overall, it's a pretty wonderful special that I feel like I could watch at any stage in my life and still really enjoy.

Below, I've embedded a clip of my favorite part of the special where Charlie Brown keeps receiving a rock instead of candy from people. Enjoy.

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of those movies that manages to work as both a great Halloween film and a great Christmas movie. The scenes dealing with Halloween absolutely define the Halloween spirit. Last year, I watched this movie on and off during the entire month of October. It was great. To show how awesome this movie is when it comes to Halloween, I embedded the "This is Halloween" scene below. 

3. Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus is one of those movies that I think everyone grew up with as a child. When I worked at Movie Gallery one summer, I ended up putting this movie in the DVD player on a very slow night and, when I did, I kept having customers come up to me saying how much they loved this movie. I don't blame them. Sure, it's a silly, kid's movie but man do I love it anyways. It's got one of the strongest nostalgic pulls of any movie I've seen. Plus, it's just bursting with the Halloween spirit. I don't think I'm friends with anyone who doesn't love this movie.

Below, I put clip of the witches' performance of "I Put a Spell on You." Enjoy it.

2. All the Halloween movies

This one was kind of a no-brainer. Since all of the Halloween movies take place on Halloween, they are going to be filled with Halloween-related material. Michael Myers himself is kind of like a demonic version of the holiday itself: a killer dressed in a costume that attacks only on that holiday. All of the movies contain various takes on the holiday. I particularly liked Rob Zombie's take with the holiday- he really pulled off the atmosphere of Halloween quite well.

Here's a video someone made with Michael Myers doing his thing. 

1. The Halloween Tree

I absolutely love The Halloween Tree. For some reason or another, I cannot find anyone who is familiar with this thing. Based on the children's book by Ray Bradbury, this cartoon special aired on Cartoon Network and unforunately is not available currently on DVD. It follows a group of kids on Halloween who chase the spirit of their friend Pip through time, experiencing Halloween throughout the years and in various countries and cultures. This cartoon special, for me, is the definition of Halloween. It not only explores Halloween in today's culture but the cultures of various countries through history. How could I not love this?

If you have never seen this, please watch the video below. It is the first part of the cartoon. If you want, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube.

I hope you all enjoyed this countdown. This officially marks the end of YDKS Monster Fest 2008. I hope you all enjoyed it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a break. Happy Halloween everyone. Go and eat lots of candy.