Best Halloween movies to watch with your family

Halloween movies for family viewing

There are actually some excellent, family-oriented movies that you can watch with your family on Halloween, including:

• Mad Monster Party
  • An animated Rankin-Bass production, with the voice of Boris Karloff as Dr. Frankenstein, who wants to retire as the head of the worldwide monster organization – but Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy — and Francesa — may not agree! Excellent for viewing with younger children, as the monsters are more silly than scary
• The Raven
  • A wonderful film, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, a young Jack Nicholson, and the lovely Hazel Court – with moments of serious scary, and lots of moments of humor as well
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
  • The first of the many meetings Abbott and Costello had with Universal movie monsters, and probably the best – with Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man, Glen Strange as Frankenstein’s monster. A comedy with some outright chilling moments as well.
• The Monster Squad
  • A frankly well-done homage to the Universal monsters, where they are escaping from their imprisonment, until a group of teenage fans of monster movies can stop them. An excellent moment is when the “scary old man” in the neighborhood reveals that he’s not scary — and he’s had experience with monsters.
• The Lost Boys
  • Definitely not for the younger children – a scary, atmospheric thriller — with a young Kiefer Sutherland as the leader of a gang of teenage vampires
• Fright Night
  • What if a vampire moved in next door? A great, frightening vampire movie that’s also not for the younger children – with great performances from Chris Sarandon and the great Roddy McDowall