We Got You Boo: 16 Spooktacular Halloween Movies To Watch With Your Family This October
With Halloween quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time to grab the chocolate and candy corn, try on those costumes, and set a spooky mood for the family before it's time for trick or treating. If you’re not sure what to watch, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered with a list of the best Halloween movies – new and old – for families to enjoy together.
Animated Movies
Rated PG, 1h 40m
1. Coraline (2009)
While exploring her new home, a young girl named Coraline discovers a secret doorway to a parallel alternate world. Although this world is seemingly warm and welcoming upon first impression, it becomes increasingly sinister the more time she spends there, as her “Other Mother” and the rest of her parallel family try to trap her there forever. To make it back home to her true family and life, Coraline must summon her bravery.
Rated PG, 1h 16m
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Christmas came early with this Halloween classic! Dreamed up by the king of Halloween, Tim Burton, The Night Before Christmas details the misadventures of Jack Skellington, the “King of Halloween,” who’s become bored with the same annual routine of staging spooky festivities for Halloween. After accidentally stumbling across Christmastown, Jack decides to kidnap Santa Claus and try his hand at bringing that holiday under his control instead.
Rated PG, 1h 45m
3. Coco (2017)
With stunning visuals and a catchy soundtrack, Coco is sure to warm your heart and keep you guessing. Despite his family’s befuddling ban on music, Miguel, a rebellious twelve-year-old Mexican boy, yearns to become an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Following a mysterious chain of events on Dia de Los Muertos, Miguel is magically transported to the distant, colorful, and stunning Land of the Dead. Along the way, he meets the charming scoundrel skeleton Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to discover the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
Rated PG, 1h 31m
4. Monster House (2006)
DJ, Chowder, and Jenny discover that the house across the street from DJ’s is alive and will eat up anything and anyone that trespasses its property. After failing to convince the babysitter, the police, and their video-game-addicted acquaintance Skull, the kids have no choice but to unravel the mystery of the house on their own and go inside.
Rated PG, 1h 17m
5. Corpse Bride (2005)
Corpse Bride is a stop-motion, animated feature that carries on the dark, gothic, and romantic tradition of Burton’s other notable films. Set in a 19th-century European village, the film follows Victor, a young man who is whisked away to a mysterious underworld and wed to a corpse bride, Emily, while his real bride, Victoria, awaits him bereft in the aboveground. Victor must make it back to the aboveground or else Victoria will be married to the villainous Barkis Bittern.
Rated PG, 1h 32m
6. ParaNorman (2012)
Set in the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is an outcast boy with a paranormal ability to speak to the dead but no one believes him, besides his eccentric friend Neil. One day, Norman receives news from his Uncle Prenderghast that a centuries-old witch’s curse on their town is real and that only Norman can stop it from coming true. As zombies begin rising from their graves, Norman must summon all of his courage and compassion to save the town.
Rated PG, 1h 27m
7. Frankenweenie (2012)
A young boy from New Holland, Victor Frankenstein is a bright outcast student who only has one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes when Sparky is hit by a car while chasing a ball. Victor is heartbroken, but his new science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski, gives him the idea to resuscitate Sparky back to life through electricity. The experiment is successful, and all is well until Victor’s envious classmates find out and revive several animals to win the school science fair – but with monstrous consequences.
Disney Channel Originals
Rated TV-PG, 1h 26m
8. Twitches (2005)
Despite having produced some of the most iconic movies, Disney Channel Halloween original movies often go overlooked. In Twitches, Tia and Tamera Mowry steal the show, starring as teen witches, Alex and Camryn, who were separated at birth when adopted by two different families. On their 21st birthday, the two are reunited and discover their unusual powers double in strength when they work together. Soon, the two must use their powers to save the fantastical world in which they were born, where their birth mother still resides.
Rated TV-G, 1h 24m
9. Halloweentown (1998)
On her 13th birthday, Marnie is shocked to discover that she is a witch and comes from a family of witches. After discovering a secret portal, she is transported to Halloweentown – a magical alternate world where ghosts and ghouls, witches, and werewolves live apart from the human world. While there, she soon realizes that there is a dark and evil force haunting Halloweentown and it is up to her and her family to battle wicked warlocks and activate Merlin’s wand and stop the force before it’s too late.
Halloween Classics
Rated PG-13, 1h 39m
10. The Addams Family (1991)
Here’s a classic Halloween movie that might double as inspiration for your family's costume this year! When an evil doctor claiming to be Fester, the missing brother of Gomez Addams, arrives at the Addams’ home, the family is thrilled. However, Morticia and Wednesday Addams begin to suspect that the man is a fraud, as he can’t recall details of Fester’s life even as he adapts well to the strange family. With the help of lawyer Tully Alford, Fester gets the Addams family evicted from their home. After realizing the two men are conspiring to swindle the family of their fortune, Gomez must challenge Fester.
Rated PG, 2h 32m
11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
The Harry Potter series is a year-round gem, but Halloween is an especially fun time to immerse yourself in J.K. Rowling’s fantastic wizarding world. The first film of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, follows Harry Potter, a boy who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses magical powers of his own. Soon, he is transported from his life as an unwanted child to becoming a student at Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards. There, Harry makes new friends (and enemies), as he explores the world of witchcraft and uncovers the truth about his parents’ mysterious deaths.
Rated PG-13, 1h 45m
12. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Another Tim Burton classic, Edward Scissorhands tells the story of Edward, a young animated man created by an inventor who died before finishing him, leaving him with scissor blades where his hands should be. After discovering Edward, a kind suburban saleswoman, Peg, takes him home to stay with her family. Soon, Edward finds himself cutting hedges, winning over people, and falling for Peg’s teen daughter. But, despite his kindness, life isn’t always so sweet.
Rated PG, 1h 40m
13. Casper (1995)
Casper is everyone’s boo. This movie tells the story of Casper, a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts an abandoned mansion in Maine called Whipstaff. Besides his three obnoxious ghost uncles, Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie, Casper has been alone and hoping to make a friend for over one hundred years. Upset that her late father’s only willed inheritance to her is Whipstaff, Carrigan Crittenden is ready to burn it to the ground before she discovers that there is treasure hidden inside it. While seeking it out with her partner, Dibs, Carrigan is frightened off by Casper and his uncles. Determined to find the treasure, she hires Dr. James Harvey, a ghost therapist, to exorcize the ghosts from the mansion. James arrives at Whipstaff with his teenage daughter, Kat. Although Casper quickly befriends Kat, their relationship is made difficult by his transparent state and his uncles’ mischievous antics.
Rated PG, 1h 55m
14. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T. After he is stranded on Earth by a group of fellow aliens, a harmless extraterrestrial is discovered and befriended by a 10-year-old boy named Elliot. Deciding to bring him home, Elliot introduces E.T. to his brother, Michael, and his sister, Gertie. Despite the blossoming bonds forming, government intervention and danger soon make Earth a prison for E.T. and Elliott must work fast to find a way to reunite E.T. with his otherworldly family before it’s too late.
Rated PG, 1h 31m
15. The Witches (1990)
While visiting a seaside resort with his grandmother, a young orphaned boy, Luke, stumbles upon a convention of witches who are hatching a plan to exterminate all children. He must find a way to stop them – a task that becomes much harder when the witches turn him into a mouse – before the witches, led by the “Grand High Witch,” can carry out their nefarious plans.
Rated PG-13, 1h 48m
16. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)
To celebrate their last Halloween together before graduation, Chuck, Auggie, and Stella decide to take part in one more night of mischief. After playing a prank on the school bully, Tommy Milner, the trio flees to a drive-in theater where a mysterious drifter, Ramon, hides and protects them. Together, the group decides to spend the night visiting the allegedly haunted Bellows Mansion, home of the legendary Sarah Bellows. Stella finds the book of stories written by Sarah Bellows and brings it home, and she soon realizes that the horror stories Sarah writes are becoming a little too real.
