... Halloween movie watchin'...

Clive the werewolf & my fella preparing to watch a movie

This is the time of year that even those who rarely watch scary movies watch them. Even my fella who isn't a big scary movie watcher has agreed to watch some horror movies. We watched Halloween last year, his first time; thanks to suggestions on Facebook, we have more than enough suggestions for him to catch up on his scary movie watching. 

I, on the other hand, enjoy Halloween films, ones where the actual holiday is part of the plot. I was always the kid who loved the Halloween shows on television where there was a Halloween party with a little something spooky added to the plot. I have mentioned before that I love the Halloweentown series on The Disney Channel. This week I’ve given two other Disney films a try and neither has held up to Halloweentown.

The first movie that I watched was Girl vs. Monster (2012).  

“When Skylar prepares for a Halloween bash with her friends, she unknowingly unleashes a monster. As her world is turned around, she learns that her parents have been the fact that she comes from a long line of monster hunters. It's up to Skylar and her friends to channel their inner strength and conquer more than just this monster.”

I really liked the idea of the movie and there were tons of nods to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Here we have a girl who was born with a special gift and she doesn’t find out until she’s a teenager. Simultaneously, her ghost busting parents collect naughty ghosts while fronting as mold specialists. There are cute parts in the film but then there is also the questionable, “Oh no! I just showed up to the Too Ghoul for School party and even with ghosts haunting the premises I’m going to take a moment to sing”. In that sense, it was a bit too Glee-like for my taste. But, overall it was good wholesome fun and the scary ghosts were very Hocus-Pocus-y.

The second film I tried was Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire (2000).

“The Hansen kids are in a jam. Adam and his best friend Duffy have gotten their hands on some tickets for the Headless Horseman concert, and his sister Chelsea has a date with her dreamy boyfriend Peter. The only problem is they're both grounded. Chelsea and Adam will do whatever it takes to get their mom Lynette out of the house, even if it includes a chance meeting with a very mysterious man. Everything seems to go according to plan until their little brother Taylor realizes that this stranger might be a vampire.”

While the main characters are technically the children, Caroline Rhea plays the divorced, ex-rockabilly singer mom who ends up going out on a date with a vampire. Again, this Disney movie seemed like there were several nods to the original Fright Night. The kids discover that the date is actually a vampire and have to contact a Van Helsing-like vampire hunter to help save the day. Much of the movie was predictable but what I really liked was the mom/ Caroline Rhea goes out on a date where she takes the lead and brings her vampire date to a  rockabilly club where she used to sing; they then go to the Harvest Festival… again, her choice. Dimitri (the vampire) is somewhat miserable. He’s used to calling the shots and he just can’t seem to get Rhea’s attention to mesmerize her. At the end of the scene, Rhea’s character says that she’s met someone she really likes whom she hasn’t seen in years. Here Dimitri thinks that his date is smitten but NO! She’s talking about herself. Here was a mom who never allowed herself to go out and have fun. It took a date for her to find herself! Okay, after that Dimitri is then able to mesmerize her and the rest of the plot is predictable and a bit shrug. I would recommend it for that Adult Girl Power scene itself.

While I really want to rewatch movies like Halloweentown and all its sequels along with Hocus Pocus, I’ll keep watching the new movies because I never know when I’ll find the next best thing.

Happy Halloween!