Halloween Movies

Halloween, or all Hallow's, is the most controversial holiday celebrated today. Spurred by rumors and religious hysteria, works of poor scholarship contend that Halloween is the day of the Devil, a satanic celebration of dark forces disguised as a children's holiday. Each year when October rolls around, Halloween fans look forward to one inevitability: Halloween Movies on television. Since Halloween first graced the airwaves of NBC on October 30, 1981, the series has been shown on TV, in numerous incarnations, throughout the world time and again.

United Kingdom Halloween Movies on TV history: Halloween was first shown on UK TV in the mid 80's on the BBC. Since 1986 the BBC always show Halloween Movies every other Halloween on BBC 1 or 2 and always with a one minute added on the chase with Laurie and Michael across the street, it was last shown on the BBC 2 in 1999 with a 35 minute interview with John Carpenter called "The Night He Came Come- Halloween" the interview was taken place in John Carpenter's home in L.A, John talked about how Halloween came about and how he feels about Halloween Movies now and talk about horror movies that was inspired by Halloween e.g Scream. Halloween has been shown on Channel 4's sky Film Channel 'FilmFour' many times in the last year also with a 1 hour and 10 minute Documentary called "Scream and Scream Again", the Documentary includes a interview with John Carpenter and a lot of information on Halloween and other horror movies.

The BBC have shown many of the Halloween Movies series, Halloween III was shown on the BBC for the first time in the a early 90's but over the years has never shown it again, Channel 5 have shown Halloween III nearly every Halloween since the Channel opened in 1997 but still shown the film with the 1983 cuts. Halloween II has never been shown on terrestrial TV in the United Kingdom; it was last shown on the sky Channel Sci fi in 1998 because of the Halloween: H2O release at the time. Halloween 4- The Return of Michael Myers was shown for the first time on TV in November of last year (2000) on BBC 1 with Halloween 5 showing for the first time 4 months later in March 2001 on the BBC, However Halloween 5 was shown a lot in 1998 through to 1999 on Sky Movie Max because of the release of Halloween: H2O.Halloween- The Curse of Michael Myers was first shown in 1997 on the older sky channel "The Movie Channel" since then it hasn't been seen of any sky movie Channels since 1997.In February 2000 the terrestrial Channel, Channel 5 showed the movie but with a large amount of cuts and was shown again recently. The Sky Movie Channel's have shown Halloween: H2O on Sky MovieMax nearly every month until two months ago when its stop playing, we expect Halloween: H2O will be show on terrestrial TV on Channel 4 sometime in 2002.

It is sometimes difficult to select good Halloween Movies for viewing. Here are some great Halloween Movies that would be a fun-filled experience for a Halloween evening at home or with friends. Use this list to rent a video at your local video store or click on a link to purchase the movie from the link at a discount. Don't forget to check your local library for any of these Halloween Movies; they can be a great source for videos.

Halloween: Killer Mike Myers, who, 15 years after murdering his own sister on Halloween, returns home to wreak mayhem on good-girl teen Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her fun-loving friends (Nancy Loomis and P. J. Soles).

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966): All of the Peanuts gang dress up for the enchanting night of Halloween. All, that is, except for Linus, who firmly believes that this year the Great Pumpkin will finally visit his humble pumpkin patch.

Casper (Available in Spanish): Steven Spielberg produced this live-action feature starring the friendly ghost created in 1940 by Joe Orolio. A ghost therapist and his daughter move into a haunted mansion to sweep out the ghosts so the greedy owners can get a hidden treasure. Casper, who only wants a friend, and his trio of ghastly uncles give everyone a run for their money.

The Nightmare before Christmas (1993): Tim Burton's stop-motion animated feature finds Pumpkin King Jack Skellington thinking the grass is greener over in Santa Claus's holiday. He marshalls all his goblins and ghouls to take over Christmas, but alas -- poor Jack belongs to Halloween. An amazing visual and musical feast that should be seen at least twice to catch all the kinks and quirks in the nooks and crannies. Academy Award Nominations: Best Visual Effects.

Dr. Seuss - It's Grinch Night! One cold October night, the town of Whooville is awakened by the Grinch--a terrible apparition with detachable flying eyebrows, glowing yellow eyes, and a penchant for mischief. All of the townspeople are terrified into submission, all that is, except for young Eukariah. In confronting the Grinch, Eukariah learns several important lessons about facing unpleasant facts and fears. (Formerly released as "Halloween Is Grinch Night.")

Casper Meets Wendy (1998): When evil warlock Desmond Spellman vows to destroy Wendy the Good Little Witch, she and her witless witch aunts hide out at Sunny Brite Resort, where the vacationing Ghostly Trio has been busy scaring up mega-mischief - and making Casper's afterlife miserable. Even though Casper and Wendy are told that ghosts and witches just don't get along, when these two kindred spirits meet, it's the beginning of a boo-tiful friendship. But Desmond is closing in...and time is running out. Now Casper and Wendy must prevent a supernatural showdown between their feuding families in order to defeat Desmond's dastardly plan.

The Witches (1990) (Available in Spanish): A nine-year-old boy and his grandmother discover adventure when they encounter the Grand High Witch and her diabolical plot to turn all of England's children into mice. Based on the story by Roald Dahl. This was the great Jim Henson's last producer credit.

James and the Giant Peach (1996): The classic 1961 story by Roald Dahl about a young boy who, by burrowing inside a magical giant peach, escapes from the tyranny of his aunts and travels to New York with his newfound insect friends. The stop-motion animation is supported by the voices of Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, David Thewlis and Simon Callow. Academy Award Nominations: Best Original Musical or Comedy Score.

Alfred Hitchcock Classics/ Halloween Movies:

Psycho (1960): Norman Bates, the tremulous manager of a dilapidated roadside hotel and an amateur taxidermist with a predilection for birds, suffers under the domination of his "mother," who rather savagely disapproves of fast women. Generally considered the progenitor of the horror genre, and an unmitigated masterpiece. Based on the eponymous novel by Robert Bloch. Director: Alfred Hitchcock Star: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh

The Birds (1963): Hitchcock, the master of suspense, ventures into the realm of horror with the depiction of a world in which nature can go suddenly, terrifyingly mad. When Hedren appears in the idyllic coastal village of Bodega Bay with two lovebirds in tow, the local birds inexplicably begin to wage an all-out war on humans. Hitchcock's follow-up to Psycho tops even that landmark for shock value. Loosely based on a Daphne du Maurier short story.