Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. I also hope that you have a movie night (or two!) planned for this weekend. To be honest, we watch a lot of movies once Halloween season starts. We don’t really watch movies during the week as a family, but my husband and I tend to watch a few during the week after the kids go to bed. We do love to watch scary movies, but as a family we keep it fairly tame. I thought it’d be fun to share a few of our favorite family Halloween movies!
Hocus Pocus – I’m sure you’ve heard about this movie, but I wanted to share my thoughts on it. Although it’s a family-friendly movie as far as Halloween movies are concerned, there are a few parts about the movie that might bother you if you are more conservative in your movie choices. It is about witches who steal young children, and a virgin has to light a candle for them to resurrect from the dead. We started watching this as a family within the past couple years, when our youngest was almost 8. We love it!
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! – This is just a classic! I love watching this. When I was younger, I remember the movie feeling much longer than it actually it is. Personally, I would have to watch this with another shorter Halloween movie to really feel like I’ve had a ‘movie night,’ but that just leads me to my next suggestion…
Garfield’s Halloween Adventure – Funnily enough, this cartoon scared me when I was younger. The scene with the old guy on the island is still so creepy to me. My husband and I have discussed how it makes no sense … but we still love watching it! I grew up watching all of the Garfield holiday movies, so it’s full of nostalgia for me.
The Halloween Tree – This movie is more appropriate for older elementary school or middle school kids. This is based on the Ray Bradbury book, and it’s really cool. You can read more about it here.
Over the Garden Wall – This doesn’t really qualify as a movie, as it’s more of a mini series. It’s about two kids who essentially get lost in the woods on Halloween night. I love the ambiguity surrounding their adventure in the woods. Is it set in current time? Is it the early 1900’s? Are they in a town or city? Who knows? It leaves a lot of the story open for discussion, but which is half the fun of movie night.
Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special – I just love these classic Halloween specials. These used to come on tv once or twice a year, and now we can watch them whenever we want! Can you tell I love movies just a little bit? This ‘movie’ is really a series of Bugs Bunny Halloween shorts. This holds all the nostalgia of the 1980s for me.
The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad – Ahh, another classic. The classic tale of the Headless Horseman. This is definitely the family friendly version, although the headless horseman is a little scary. If you want a more adult version of the story, the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton movie is great. Again, discussing the movie is half the fun of movie night, so I have to ask you … is Ichabod the good guy or the bad guy?
Thanks for checking out my Family Halloween movies! I’d love to hear what your favorites are. Check out more Halloween content here.
