DVDs for Halloween

With just one day until All Hallows Eve is upon us you may find your self with no plans for what to do. Well, that may just leave you with what I think is the best plan of all. On a cold autumn evening, the last one of October, why not curl up with some nibbles, drinks and some loved ones (or one special loved one) and put on a DVD?

Here are my picks for the best DVDs for Halloween.

All the DVDs are Halloween related and available to buy or rent.

One for the Family: The Simpson’s Tree House of Horror
Twenty years ago Bart and Lisa sat in their tree house on Halloween and recounted horror stories to each other whilst a terrified Homer listened in. As a result a new tradition was born. Every year the Simpson family come over all horror, the writers push their imagination to the limits and the viewers cackle at the spoofs and in jokes. A great family watch that just pips 'Hocus Pocus', if not just for Homer channeling Jack Torrence in 'The Shinning'.

One for the Classic Lovers: Halloween
The word classic gets used a bit too much I feel but, Halloween is exactly that. It reshaped the horror genre and bore the teen slasher phenomenon. It also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis and raised her horror status to icon. Who knew a Bill Shatner mask could be so frightening?

One for the Modern Retro Fans: House of a 1000 Corpses
Rob Zombie’s film, about the murderous redneck Firefly family and the mythical Dr. Satan, oozes 70s horror out of every orifice, a kind of Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets The Hills Have Eyes on speed. There are a lot of the things to like about Zombie’s first stab at horror not to mention references by the bucket load.


One for the Ladies: Ginger Snaps
So, it’s Halloween and you want to impress a young lady with a quiet night in. She doesn’t really know much about horror and leaves herself in your capable hands. You’ve chilled the drinks and popped the corn now what the hell are you going to watch? Well, first things first, steer clear of I Spit on Your Grave. If there is one horror film not appropriate for an early date that’s it. Instead, dig out Ginger Snaps. It’s cool and funny and she will relate to the subject matter, which is as good a metaphor for female puberty as Carrie ever was.

One for the Bad Movie Lovers: Night of the Demons
Directed by Kevin Tenney, starring Linnea Quigley and with a cheesy plot about a party in a morgue with naked women, sex and booze, oh, and it’s from the 80s. A good, bad movie at it’s best.
 
One for the Cult Fans: Donnie Darko
If one film has defined the cult film scene in recent years it’s Donnie Darko. A dark, brooding film with strange dreams, dead teens, a giant macabre rabbit and some time travel it clever to say the least and anyone who hasn’t seen it, must do at least once.

So, there we have it. Have a great Halloween and enjoy yourselves.