Austin's Halloween Movie Rotation

By Austin Johnson

Halloween deserves context as a holiday, but I don’t really care to get into that. I pretty much just like the watching movies aspect of October. There are tons of different Halloween rotations out there, so I wanted to share some of my own for shits and giggles. These four films aren’t necessarily my favorite Halloween oriented films, but they have found this strange place in my heart and never seem to leave or falter when October rolls around. I am constantly watching new shit to broaden my horizons, but these are the ones that have stuck around for at least a few years.

4.) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

“We've got to find Jack! There's only 365 days left until next Halloween!”

Kingdom Hearts came out in 2002 and my older brother used to play the absolute shit out of it. I would sit and watch him play through the various Disney worlds. My favorite was The Nightmare Before Christmas world because at seven years old, it was the only film represented that I hadn’t seen. When I did finally see it, my mind felt like it expanded and I knew I had some comfort in Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s wacky animated story about Jack Skellington.

3.) Donnie Darko (2001)

“Is that all the gusto you can muster?”

I know Donnie Darko doesn’t have a whole lot to do with Halloween, but there is a terrific Halloween party scene towards the end of the film. Joy Division’s "Love Will Tear Us Apart" plays in the background while Donnie (Jake Fucking Gyllenhaal) has a real existential kind of moment. The music then turns to eerie sci-fi sounds as Donnie and his friends ride their bikes to Grandma Death’s house. This 2001 gem always finds its way to my screen in October even though it isn’t really a horror flick at all.

2.) Monster House (2006)

“It's her! The house is her!”

I still can’t put my finger on it, but I really dig Monster House. It came out when I was 11 and going through a tough time as far as my relationship with animated shit goes. It broke through that barrier of being too cool for cartoons which was a short phase for me personally. Dan Harmon worked on the screenplay and has obviously gone on to do some pretty cool stuff while Gil Kenan directed and hasn’t really done anything noteworthy since. Animated films have always been right by my side and that’s probably why they sort of dominate my rotation.

1.) Halloween (1978)

“You've fooled them, haven't you, Michael? But not me.”

Yeah, I’m going to be that guy. Sorry, but John Carpenter’s Halloween is not only the best Halloween oriented film of all time, it's also one of the most well crafted 70’s gems and a personal favorite of mine, no matter what genre we are talking about. The music and atmosphere are both intoxicating as hell with an undeniably haunting villain in Michael Myers at the center. Halloween is also one of my girlfriend’s all time favorite films, so there’s zero debating when it’s on the screen.