Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Amazon Video’s Halloween Movie Recommendations: Trick-or-Treat!
Hey, Ricochet! I’m in the mood to watch a Halloween movie. Anyone want to watch one with me? You do? Yay! Let’s go over to Amazon’s Prime Video page and pick one out. I hear they have a lot of movies to choose from.
Whoa! Look at all those movies! How in the world are we going to find the Halloween ones? Wait a minute; I think I found them! If you scroll down, you’ll find a row called “Halloween Collection.” I bet we can find something to watch there. Don’t know why they didn’t put it closer to the top of the page, given the month we’re in – but oh well. We found it. Let’s see what they recommend.
Hmmm. There’s a bunch of different categories in this collection. I don’t like really gory movies, so why don’t we check out the section called “Kids and Family Halloween Classics.” That looks like it could be fun. Aw, come on. You’ll find something there you’ll like; I’m sure. Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with Skittles and candy corn and chocolate bars on top? Yay!
OK, here we are – “Kids and Family Halloween Classics.” Now, what are our choices? Oooh, looks like we’ve got some fun ones here – Halloweentown, Hocus Pocus, Hotel Transylvania. Not too bad. Oh, my goodness! Look over there. They have It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! I loved that when I was a kid! And The Nightmare Before Christmas is over there. That’s not a bad choice, either. I’m glad we decided to check this section out.
Is that all they have? No, no – there’s more. Over here we have …. wait a minute. What’s Gnomeo and Juliet doing here? Talking garden gnomes may be a bit spooky, but Halloween-type spooky? Really? What’s that over there? Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp? Well, that is one creepy-looking Mad Hatter, and the Red Queen was pretty creepy looking too. I guess I can see why they added it to the collection. But Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Why is it here and not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The Oompa Loompas weren’t scary. They were weird looking, but they weren’t scary-weird. So why did they put that one in the collection?
And what’s that over there? A Pinkaperfect Birthday? In the Halloween section? What in the world happens at that birthday party? Oh, I see. The birthday girl gets a present that allows her to turn everything pink. Well, that is a scary idea; so maybe it belongs here after all. But I’m pretty sure the Thanksgiving movie collection (Amazon has one of those; right?) wants A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving back. I don’t care if Thanksgiving dinners with friends and family can be hellish nightmares at times; that one’s been misfiled for sure. And what are all of these Christmas movies doing here? How the Grinch Stole Christmas? A Christmas Story? Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws? Mickey’s Magical Christmas? Elf? (Ok, maybe that one should stay)
(yelling) Hey, Amazon! Over here! Look, I know Christmas is trying to take over the entire calendar. That’s pretty obvious since it sneaks its decorations and music into the stores earlier and earlier each year. But you don’t have to help it out. I mean, Christmas movies in your Halloween collection? Really? What are you thinking? Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. If anyone can fight off that Swiper-like, creature, it’s you! Don’t give in to its greedy plan, Amazon! Be brave and bold! Take the sword out of that stone and force the greedy creature back into the month it belongs in! (And yes, that movie is listed as part of the Halloween collection too.) You can do it! I know you can!
(hears the sound of someone running away and turns around) Hey, Ricochet! Where are you going? We still need to pick a movie! Come back! Please? I still have candy, so come back! Please? Pretty please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?
Published in Group Writing
“Hey, Wiretap! What’s a good Halloween movie?”
OOPS! Sorry, wrong thread.
I haven’t heard such pleading like that since that dude in the white van was yelling at Me.
How could you miss The Addams Family TV series? Amazon has the first two seasons available with Prime. Vudu offers three seasons with ads, or $10 to buy the set for keeps.
There’s a series with murder mysteries and ghosts in 1829 called Gogol that I can’t vouch for yet.
Warehouse 13 is free with ads on Prime’s IMDB channel. That and Eureka involve the weird, but perhaps not Halloween weird. The Ghost Whisperer is another I can’t vouch for, not having seen it.
The Canterville Ghost with Patrick Stewart is a made-for-TV film, also on the IMDB channel with ads.
As for movies..
The Tomb of Ligeia with Vincent Price currently $5 on Amazon. Ole Vincent isn’t reliable, but with 94 five-star reviews, I’m intrigued. Any good, Ricochet?
House II also has a five-star rating. It’s free with Prime, so perhaps I’ll try it.
Two more with Vincent Price: The Last Man on Earth (colorized) and The Bat.
The Ghoul with Boris Karloff.
Gaslight is a mystery-thriller that’s definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it.
And… my app quit on me, as if to say “Pick something already, you schmuck!”
Night of the Demon (1957) directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, Out of the Past, I Walked with a Zombie); starring Niall MacGinnis and Dana Andrews. Hokey in parts. Excellent in others – like this scene. Don’t know if it’s available on Amazon Prime but worth a viewing if you’ve never seen it.
Horror Hotel, also known as City of the Dead. Still gives me nightmares. Free on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BChuMtWjYY&t=7s
And, of course, The Innocents, directed by Jack Clayton with Deborah Kerr.
Round 2!
What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer is a creepy mystery.
Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. The real puppet master.
The Gate is probably campy nonsense, but it creeped me out as a kid.
The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe is a decent ghost story, as I recall.
I haven’t seen Ju-On, but recall associates saying they preferred to the American remake (The Grudge).
The Haunting with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones is enjoyable, if unsurprising.
Something Wicked This Way Comes.
It doesn’t quite follow the book. Bradbury wrote it originally as a screenplay, then turned it into a novel in 1962. He then reversed the process for the movie with help from director Jack Clayton. Unfortunately, Disney was behind the enterprise, and they insisted on a rewrite to make the movie more family friendly. Bradbury and Clayton both resisted originally, but Clayton acquiesced. Bradbury was miffed, and unpleasantness ensued. Muerte al raton.
One of the creepiest ever
Arsenic and Old Lace (Filmed in 1941 and released in 1944).
“Aunt Abby! Aunt Martha! There’s a body in the window seat!”
”Yes, dear. We know.”
On the lighter side, there’s also the screwball comedy I Married A Witch (1942) directed by René Clair, starring Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward, and Cecil Kellaway. For the guys in the audience, both Veronica Lake and Susan Hayward are both stunning to look at. All the performances are wonderful and the dialogue is witty and crisp. It’s the movie upon witch (oh, my sides) the TV show Bewitched is based.
Definitely. One of Grant’s best performances…Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey, Edward Everett Horton, the aunties, and “Teddy” are also perfect.
Priscilla Lane wasn’t chopped liver, either.
”Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops!”
Nearly perfect. The play on Broadway had Boris Karloff in the role of Jonathan Brewster, but he wasn’t available for the movie. The description of Jonathan that the one cop gives (with Jonathan lurking nearby out of sight) is “He looks like an ugly Boris Karloff.” This line gets a worthy laugh in the movie version. On Broadway, it was pandemonium.
Or you could click here and listen to Agnes Moorehead in Sorry Wrong Number on Suspense…
Oh, he was available. He just refused. The aunts and the actor that played Teddy all originated their roles on Broadway. Frank Capra got everyone to Hollywood for an 8-week shoot but Karloff, who had a financial stake in the play and refused to take a leave of absence.
Kids these days. The Canterville Ghost (1944).
And speaking of ghost stories…
Nowadays, the studio would have offered Karloff a cut.
Listening to it now…… great stuff.
Great find. Wonderful. Thank You.
I can’t quit listening…
“… how could You…. how could You….”
The old time radio dramas were great.
Abbott and Costello Horror on Amazon Prime:
Free: Ghost on the Loose
$3.99 – Meet Frankenstein, Meet Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Meet the Invisible Man
This fine survey of movies that fit Halloween, or not, continues October’s theme: “Trick or Treat!” Look folks, there are plenty of days left. You really don’t want me filling them with my ideas, which have infamously included bears and outhouses.
Treat yourself and your friends to a post, nothing tricky about it. Our schedule and sign-up sheet awaits.
Interested in Group Writing topics that came before? See the handy compendium of monthly themes. Check out links in the Group Writing Group.
Well, you are all cheating. The prompt was for stuff available on Amazon Prime at no extra charge. If we could just recommend any tangentially Halloween-worthy film or TV show, the list would never end.
To know that, I would probably have to have Amazon Prime and know how to search it. As a word person, I really don’t see or care to see many movies.
They did a remake with Bob Crane that was pretty good, too, but I don’t think the Panama Canal ever got completed.
Well this makes sense and goes with the cable and dish networks – they play Christmas stuff during Halloween and plenty of horror at Christmas – in fact horror year round – it’s a plan….
Please tell me “The Panama Canal” is not a euphemism when it comes to Bob Crane.
Nah. It’s what Teddy was digging in the basement.