It’s finally October, which means it’s time to make some plans for Halloween, like getting some costumes, throwing/attending a Halloween party, and going trick-or-treating with your kids (if you have any). If you’re the type to stay home and do absolutely nothing on Halloween night, though, chances are you’re gonna snuggle up on the couch and watch some Halloween movies — or films adjacent to them.
If you favor animated films more than live-action ones, we created a list of five movies for you to watch as trick-or-treaters knock on your door and ask for candy.
K-Pop Demon Hunters
K-Pop Demon Hunters may not be the first movie that comes to mind when you think of Halloween films, but demons come with the territory. Pop stars by day, demon hunters by night, K-pop girl group Huntrix — comprising Rumi, Mira, and Zoey — take down the monsters that threaten their world and perform songs to create the Honmoon, a mystical force field that keeps them at bay with the help of their fans. But things get complicated when a demon boy band, the Saja Boys, arrives to harvest the souls of people who listen to their music — and steal Huntrix’s fanbase in the process.
Monster House
Ever had an old man yell at you to get off his lawn if you so much as walked anywhere near his house when you were a kid? In Monster House, an old man does exactly that and then steals possessions to take inside his house. Around Halloween, three preteens — DJ, Chowder, and Jenny — discover that their cranky old neighbor’s humble adobe isn’t so humble at all. It is so sentient that it devours anything and anyone that goes near it, terrorizing them in the process. When most of the adults don’t believe anything the kids say about the house being literally haunted, they proceed to investigate.
Corpse Bride
One of Tim Burton’s best films, Corpse Bride centers on Victor Van Dort, who gets spirited away to the Land of the Dead by the titular deceased bride, Emily, after he accidentally places his fiancee’s wedding ring on her finger while rehearsing his wedding vows. Burton got the idea for the film after executive producer Joe Ranft, who died a month before it was released in theaters, introduced him to a 17th-century Jewish folktale about a woman who died on the eve of her wedding day and was buried in her bridal gown while wrapping up production of The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993. Speaking of which…
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Based on a poem Burton wrote in 1982, The Nightmare Before Christmas centers on Halloweentown’s Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, who has waxed bored of his town’s namesake festivities and discovers Christmas when he stumbles upon another town bearing the name of the winter holiday. Disaster ensues when Jack tries to put a macabre spin on Christmas by dressing up as Santa and delivering scary gifts to children. Several years after its release, The Nightmare Before Christmas gained a massive cult following within the alternative subculture, spawning a reference in the Blink-182 song “I Miss You” and loads of merch at Hot Topic.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Winner of the 2006 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit has the dynamic inventor and dog duo facing off against a monstrous rabbit that is plaguing their town just before the annual vegetable competition. The were-rabbit in question was created by an accident involving Wallace’s invention, which fused his brain with one of the rabbits in an attempt to brainwash them into disliking vegetables.
Whether you decide to watch one of these animated films or pick one of your own, here’s to hoping you have a spooky Halloween!
