A little personal history in which I recall how, some years back, the parish Halloween Party almost got a little too spooky. Returning from the video store with what the clerk had assured him was a scary movie, the priest handed the co-ordinator The Blair Witch Project. After a pause, she said, “Yes, well, Father, I think it might be a little too scary for the younger kids, and I’m pretty sure the language isn’t appropriate either.”
With that in mind, here are some not-too-scary Halloween movies with ghosts and other creepy things from the past.
Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad (Disney, 1949)
Blackbeard’s Ghost (Disney, 1968)
The Canterville Ghost with Charles Laughton (1944) or Patrick Stewart (1996)
Child Of Glass (Disney, 1978)
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1947)
The Ghost Goes West (1935)(My mother saw this one being filmed on Chobham Common near where she lived as a girl. When she saw it in the cinema later, the actual scene she’d watched being filmed was in it for less than a minute. That’s show biz!)
The Ghostbreakers (1940) (My personal favourite.)
Hocus Pocus (Disney 1993)(I think this is what someone hastily got in place of The Blair Witch Project!)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Disney, 1983)
Thirteen Ghosts (the 1960 version – not, repeat, NOT the 2001 version)
What about “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948)? It’s spooky scary fun!
Thanks. Abbott & Costello movies were always good, funny, family fare, and even though I don’t think I’ve seen that one, I’m happy to include it. I try to base my DVD & book suggestions on what I’ve watched or read personally, but am definitely open to the suggestions of others. And yours reminded me of my childhood favourite, The Ghostbreakers. I don’t know how I could have forgotten it!