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Halloween classics – Metro US

Halloween classics

With Halloween only a few days away, everyone is suddenly in the mood to enjoy some good old fashioned morbid entertainment.

Last week the latest Saw movie debuted and next week Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly will provide us with some Twilight Zone inspired chills with The Box.

But if you don’t feel like venturing out to the multiplex for an annual dose of horror, there are still plenty of ways to excite your eyeballs with Halloween entertainment at home.

To make your holiday viewing schedule a little easier, we’ve compiled a list of the essential Halloween classics.

Halloween: John Carpenter’s 1979 horror classic has become a Halloween favourite for a reason. Not only does the movie take its title and setting from the holiday, but it’s also the movie that launched the slasher genre that dominated horror for years (this may or may not be a good thing).

A subtle horror movie that relies more on suspense and dread than goopy gore, Halloween has lost none of it’s ability to give audiences sleepless nights in the thre decades since it’s original release.

The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror:
For 20 years (yep, you’re officially old) The Simpsons have been providing horror/comedy for Halloween with what is typically their best episode of the season.

What better way could there be to celebrate the holiday than by watching Homer threaten the world’s favourite animated family with an axe in an homage to The Shining or seeing a creepy merchant handing out possessed Krusty dolls with delicious bowls of frogurt?

This Halloween tradition might be the most missed aspect of The Simpsons when the show finally ends its groundbreaking run.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Before The Simpsons claimed supremacy over animated TV holiday specials, there was Charlie Brown. Charles Schulz’s beloved awkward youngster and his group of charmingly childish friends set out on a night of trick or treating and a search for the mysterious Halloween monster “the great pumpkin” in this TV classic.

It might not be scary and it’s definitely not as beloved as the Peanuts Christmas special, but this is vital viewing for anyone craving nostalgia.

Trick R’ Treat: Released only a few weeks ago, it might seem like jumping the gun to call Trick R’ Treat a holiday classic, but one viewing of Michael Dougherty’s directorial debut should be all you need to add it to your annual Halloween viewing list.

This anthology horror movie set on Halloween combines liberal doses of comedy and horror for pure giddy holiday entertainment.

The combined tales of an evil principal, mysterious partygoers, a Halloween prank gone wrong, and a murderous little trick or treater are sure to be October slumber party staples for years to come.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Tim Burton’s stop motion classic might just be the perfect movie to watch on Halloween. After all, when you go out on Nov. 1 the stores will already be stocking the shelves for Christmas.

Watch this movie and you can knock two holiday viewings off at once and go back to your regularly scheduled programming. Perfect Halloween viewing for the lazy or attention span impaired.