Halloween Movies: The Nostalgia Edition

At a loss about what to watch this Halloween? Here are a few nostalgic favourites to get you in the mood. These are more fun and scary than blood and guts, just so you know. 

I've never seen  Hocus Pocus or Bedknobs and Broomsticks, so I decided to correct that oversight.  Hocus Pocus is witchy fun for the whole family, and not in that sickly sweet way. Loved it. Bedknobs, on the other hand... Well, it has an equal amount of fun and cringeworthy moments. The  way it reduces different minorities into stereotypes (Portobello Road, I'm looking at you) and the awful, recycled animation from Robin Hood were among the low points, and I didn't love Eglantine's character arc from independent witch to mother. The Nazi thing feels very stapled on, especially as the movie is set during wartime but doesn't really get into the real issues that much, it's all just background noise. I did like the dancing shoes, the armour coming to life in the end, and the opening of the movie, though.  

Want something a bit more grown up? Check out The Witches of Eastwick or Death Becomes Her. These movies, too, are of their time, and the gender roles in Death kind of bug me, but it's hard to be objective about movies you first saw in your teens.  

And who could forget The Addams Family? *snap, snap* Still so good. The Craft is the ultimate teen witch movie, in my opinion. 

And last but not least, Practical Magic. This does fall in the rom com category, and whether you'll enjoy this probably depends on how you feel about Sandra Bullock films.  

Watching these movies again it surprised me how many of them were about women chasing after or fighting over men. As a kid/teen, those weren't the things that stuck. I remember the twisting-the-neck around and hole-through-the stomach special effects from Death Becomes Her, the cherry stone scene from Eastwick, and the midnight margaritas from Practical Magic. It didn't occur to me to question how they portrayed women, but these were the gender roles we were offered in the 1980s and 1990s. Today these movies would be very different, I think. The world has changed a lot, hasn't it? 

What about you? Any childhood favourites that didn't age too well?