60 Days, 60 Movies: Countdown to Halloween- Part 1

We're 60 days (from September 1st) away from Halloween, and my excitement merely grows- like a fungus. Of course, one of the most common ways to get in the spirit of Spooky Season is to watch some movies that emulate the spirit of the season right? Horror, thriller, comedy- basically anything that can relate to a scary good time. Well, I've got a lot of them that I want to share with you . . . in the interest of not making this list too exhaustive to finish, we'll be separating it into parts! So here, are the first 20 films:

1. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

A classic comedy featuring the masters of horror! I bought a box set of Abbott and Costello on a whim, the set featuring their encounters with Universal's most iconic creatures of terror, and it was genuinely one of the funniest movies I'd ever watched. Even over 70 years later the gags still hold up, and getting to see Bela Lugosi as the sinisterly charming Dracula is a treat.

2. Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man

Yes, for the most part I'll be grouping same movies together (the only exception I think are the Evil Dead series on here), and this one is just as funny, if not even funnier than the previous entry. These two act out hapless and terrified detectives taking on the case of a man who's found himself mixed up with the same formula that drove Dr. Jack Griffin mad!

3. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

Bangers only on this list- who can't spit out a line or two from this line on command? Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is the diamond standard of cartoon TV movies, and I'll hear nothing else about it. I still jam out to "It's Terror Time Again" by Skycycle and I know the chorus just blasted through your head reading that title!

4. The People Under The Stairs

Now we're getting into some seriously spooky stuff. It's a true Gothic tale in every sense of the word: a pair of insidious incestuous siblings, a commentary on society, and one haunted soul determined to break the madness with his bare hands. I read somewhere that this was sort of Wes Craven's homage to Flowers in the Attic? Unconfirmed, but, still a neat idea.

5. Midsommar

Ah, poor little Dani . . . a girl just looking for community. I saw this movie in a theatre where, when I drunkenly stumbled down some stairs to get to the bathroom (curse your quick work, Hurricane daquiri!), the stair's metal banister cut my index finger open! It's always carried some special meaning to me since- now whether that meaning has anything to do with me possible having offered some undetermined demon a blood sacrifice in a Cinemark . . . ?

6. Castle Freak

If you've ever watched Re-Animator, then you'll recognize Jeffrey Combs here! This is a really nice little horror movie with familial grief, a mystery in the walls, and some pretty cool horror makeup effects. I still cringe thinking about poor Sylvana . . .

7. Repo! The Genetic Opera

Silly! A little gruesome! But most importantly, silly! This horror musical is . . . would campy be the right word here? Gothic camp, maybe, but I do find myself continuously charmed with every watch of this. Come see troubled little Shilo figure out the mystery of her life, her mother's death, and her father's secrets!

8. The Others

The first non-horror film on here, but the tension and chilling atmosphere helps this title hold its own weight amongst the other submissions here. I personally think this is Nicole Kidman's best film- mother to two children with a rare photosensitivity disease, and who is suddenly besieged by hauntings in her cavernous home upon the English Coast. The plot twist of this film took my breath away the first time I watched it!

9. April Fool's Day

This was a great film to watch, and I loved the ending plot twist! Seems like the usual fare, right, a bunch of smarmy college kids gather together for a weekend party . . . but the party turns rancid very quickly, and they've got to figure out how to survive, or be left a bunch of dead fools. I don't think I've seen another film to focus on this holiday despite the wealth of potential here.

10. Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Yeah, sure, these movies veer wildly away from the popular game series- but they're so good! Mila Jovovich was in her bag making these films, and I can't say no to some cinematic Nemesis. And Jill Valentine?! Ugh, I loved getting to see her- would honestly love for her just to get her own movie but whatever. Zombies, rock soundtrack, and lots of guts and glory. What else do you need?

11. Rabid (1977)

Sweet, unfortunate, sinister Rose . . . I'd actually hear of its remake first, but never watched it and ended up finding the original on- Tubi? Something like that. It was such a complex tragedy, watching Rose spread chaos and misery everywhere she went, but she truly just didn't know what was happening to her! Talk about ripple effect. An original zombie flick set in Canada!

12. Uzumaki

Based on the popular manga by Junji Ito, Uzumaki is Japanese for Spiral, which is a shape you thought you'd love forever after proudly buying your Hidden Leaf vest from Hot Topic . . . but is instead pretty damn gross when applied to humans. Literally. Overall it's a great small town horror, original, and does well to gradually build dread amongst the characters and yourself!

13. An American Werewolf in London

I love this movie so much! It's not only scary, it's legitimately funny too. Also a pretty accurate portrayal (though one can only speculate) of what would happen if somebody became a werewolf. This film was so iconic that it spawned the creation of a whole new category for makeup in the Academy Awards. If Wuthering Heights didn't warn you off, let this movie be the truth- don't go walking on the moors at night!

14. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

A slightly scary, but mostly ridiculous, good time! That's the only way a movie about carnivorous clo- sorry, klowns, could end up being you know? This movie has everything you could ever need in a film- aliens, the circus, Pooh the hound, an awesomely catchy theme song, a dramatic love triangle that possibly morphs into a triad polyamory relationship at the end? Ok that last part might be stretching the subtext there, a little bit, but I love the idea and I canonize it.

15. Interview With A Vampire

Listen, you already know what it is with this film. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, being all coy with each other in the fledgling years of New Orleans. With a super cute Kirsten Dunst to boot! I enjoyed this movie, however fans would tell me throughout the years that they seriously skimped on some details from the popular book . . . although I hear the new show on AMC is doing pretty good, so, go watch that too and make sure it gets a second season!

16. Alien

There was no way I wasn't going to add the movie with one of the most incredible marketing slogans ever: "In space, no one can hear you scream." This film was ahead of its time, still holds up- and honestly, beats out a lot modern day sci-fi flicks churned out today. Is there a better alien design out there (Yes, E.T.)?! Plus, the indomitable Ripley, played by the ever so incredible Sigourney Weaver, can toss me off a bridge and I'd thank her.

17. Aliens

Look, the superior watching experience is to watch the first movie, then immediately watch the sequel right after. Which I will admit I'm only saying because for some reason Starz has been playing marathons of the Alien saga for, like, weeks now. But honestly this is one of the very rare instances- like, you can count on one hand how often this happens, rare- where the sequel is even better than the first. Plus, Bill Paxton! And Michael Bien as Corp. Hicks, who also played Kyle Reese in Terminator!

18. DOOM

I don't give a shit what anyone says, this movie was good. Maybe that's just my bias from getting to see Karl Urban and The Rock in one movie together, plus a kickass soundtrack, but what else do you need before you stop turning your nose up at this movie? And I will forever love the one long shot this movie gives you in the first person POV, just like if you were playing the video game on a VR headset.

19. Saw II

Weirdly enough, this was my "comfort" film for a solid two or three months a couple years back? Just background noise to me . . . but it's the best out of all the Saw movies, I think, and though Saw III had a more gripping story in terms of family drama, II had a better cast of characters all around. But you know for sure, as with all Saw films, there will be blood.

20. Get Out

Jordan Peele's directorial debut shook thousands when it first came out. Put a whole new flavor to that man's brand- who could have imagined Peele, the super soaker sweat meme Peele, would have that in him?! An amazing film, truly a breath of fresh air in the horror industry when it came out, dealing with psychological thrills and sinister scares in a setting and scenario that felt chillingly real . . .

Well, however you choose to watch these- IF you choose to watch these, I wish you a great spooky season! Let me know if you've seen these before, what you thought of them, and what else you do besides watch movies to celebrate the season's hauntings. See you in part two!

Hi! I hope you enjoyed this list, and if you did, please share and (if you're able) offer a tip! Perhaps you might like to reminisce with a list of have HHN houses here? Have a good one!