13 Days of Halloween!


13 Days of Halloween!
I meant to post this yesterday, but time gets away from me these days! Every October is designated as Scary Movie Month in the Whalen household! We love Halloween, maybe more so because Brad and I met at a Halloween party. But we both love curling up on the couch, in the dark with some popcorn, preferably on a stormy night and watching scary movies. We have our favorites and we are always on the hunt for some new ones. I am spooked more by ghost movies, Brad by alien movies. I’m not really in to gore or torture movies. Below is a list of my favorite scary movies to watch around Halloween:

Halloween (1978) – The original. I must watch this every Halloween and I love Jamie Lee Curtis as the heroine. And the music is great at creating the suspense.

Hocus Pocus – I loved this movie as a kid and I still do! The music, the Sanderson sisters legend and Thora Birch in her cute little witch costume! It a great movie for older kids!

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – Classic! I love when they follow Snoopy as the WWI flying ace and when he dances to the music Schroeder plays! And poor Linus, will he ever see the Great Pumpkin? Brad's favorite quote, "I got a rock."
Interview with a Vampire – My favorite vampire movie by far. And how can you go wrong with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderes as blood-suckers!

Pet Sematary – You should know that burying dead people in a place where they can supposedly come back to life will not turn out well.  Though the movie is sad, it is still really good and creepy.
30 Days of Night – Another good vampire movie with a different twist. These vampires come out only when Alaska experiences night for 30 days in a row.

Poltergeist – Just the right amount of suspense, creepiness and scariness. Not a big fan of the part where the guy peals his face off though.
Child’s Play - This movie crepped me out when I was younger and it didn't help that my brother's "My Buddy" doll, looked just like Chucky. 

Insidious - A child slips into a coma and strange things start happening in the house his family lives in. Some people may think the reason for the kid's coma is "out there" and it is, but I like it and the demon guy in it is horrifying!

The Exorcist - This is the scariest movie I have ever seen. I am not a big fan of posession movies, but this one is truly frightening.

The Shining - Jack Nicolson can play psycho pretty well and the kid with the "guy that lives in his mouth", plus the haunted hotel, great mix of scariness.
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - A scary, disfigured man with knives as fingers who haunts dreams, yeah I like it and was afraid to go to sleep for a while after I first saw it. Plus, young Johnny Depp!

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - I like the cast and the fact that the zombies run at top speed.
Honorable mentions: The Descent, The Silence of the Lambs, Identity, Shaun of the Dead, The Orphanage, Beetlejuice, Scream and the Paranormal Activity series.
In these next 12 days or so until Halloween, if there are any of these movies you have not seen, I tell you I am steering you in the right direction of a scary good time. I have other favorites of course, but these are my top ones. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Lincoln

http://www.imdb.com/list/VL4US2x9jkE/#lb-1



I have been waiting for a trailer of this movie to come out for a couple of years, since I first heard of its development. I have not read much about Abraham Lincoln, but I know I should take out some time someday to read about one of the most influential U.S. presidents in history. Maybe watching this movie will give me a tiny glimpse of this great man, which covers the last 4 months of his life and includes the battle he goes through with the decision to abolish slavery. 

This movie also tugs at my heart a bit because it makes me think of my dad. He loved reading and studying about history, the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to ask him why he was so fascinated with the Civil War and the life of Lincoln. But now I am fascinated and can’t wait to see this movie. 

The lead character, President Lincoln, is played by one of my favorite and in my and my husband’s opinions, one of the greatest actors of all time, Daniel Day-Lewis. It is also directed by Steven Spielberg, one of my favorite directors because of his vision and heart he puts into his movies. So of course, I have high expectations of this movie. My expectations are also high because they include what I think my dad would want out of a movie about a person he was so interested in. Watching the trailer gave me goosebumps. I hope the movie does the same.