Recommendations for spooky (non horror) movies for this Halloween?

[Dice]

I'm not really into horror movies but love spooky stories/movies. Any recommendations?

[Mer-Man's Minion]

I'm not really into horror movies but love spooky stories/movies. Any recommendations?

I'm the same way!

Here are some of my favorite Vincent Price spooky/atmospheric films:

• The Fall of the House of Usher (or, "The House of Usher")
• Pit and the Pendulum
• Diary of a Madman
• Twice-Told Tales (anthology)
• The Comedy of Terrors

[H.A.L.9000]

the Changeling With George C Scott...

[Mer-Man's Minion]

I haven't gotten to see the whole movie yet, but I want to see Gosford Park --- it's a British murder mystery, where all the suspects are gathered together and kept in a room to determine the truth. I just saw the last scene when channel surfing one day and was like "omg, I wanna see this", lol.

And while it's a little more light-hearted, the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" portion of Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is nicely atmospheric, with quite a climax scene.

[zodak74]

Lady In White fits the bill!

[Benedict Judas Hel]

Donnie Darko

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Dice, you might enjoy this site; I've discovered some rare treats here!: Halloween Videos: Rare Cartoons, Specials, and Movies

[H.A.L.9000]

The Jeff Goldblum Sleepy Hollow TV movie is also a good one.. i watched that on youtube.. with the original commercials form the 80ies... it was great!

[Dice]

A lot of good suggestions here! thanks guys

Lady In White fits the bill!

I had asked about this one a while back and then forgotten about it! I'm definitely watching this

[Spikor1982]

I'm the same way!

Here are some of my favorite Vincent Price spooky/atmospheric films:

• The Fall of the House of Usher (or, "The House of Usher")
• Pit and the Pendulum
• Diary of a Madman
• Twice-Told Tales (anthology)
• The Comedy of Terrors

this is a great list especially if you are sticking with older creepy classics as I like to call them
I'd also add
Masque of the Red Death
The Premature Burial
Tales of Terror

If you are looking to expand beyond the Price era I would also suggest for great spooky/creepy [not gory] Halloween viewing
The Uninvited 1944
Frankenstein 1931, essential
The Invisible Man 1933
The Black Cat 1934
The Raven 1935
Dracula 1931
House on Haunted Hill 1959
The Bad Seed 1956
Village/Children on the Damned 1960/1964
13 Ghosts 1960
Castle of Blood 1964
Nightmare Castle 1964
Black Sunday 1960
City of the Dead 1960
Horror of Dracula 1958
The Hounds of the Baskervilles 1959

[Mer-Man's Minion]

this is a great list especially if you are sticking with older creepy classics as I like to call them
I'd also add
Masque of the Red Death
The Premature Burial
Tales of Terror

Those are good too; regarding Price, I was listing my big favorites of his, and The Premature Burial doesn't have Price in it, although it was made for him.

If you are looking to expand beyond the Price era I would also suggest for great spooky/creepy [not gory] Halloween viewing
The Uninvited 1944
House on Haunted Hill 1959
13 Ghosts 1960

Oh yeah Dice, check these out too. I've seen these as well. My only big complaint of HoHH is that the house doesn't really look like a haunted house; more like a museum or hotel or something, with the exterior quite disappointingly looking like a government building, lol.

Oh, and Margaret "Wicked Witch of the West" Hamilton is in 13 Ghosts! A smaller part, but it's still neat to see her in a "spooky" movie.

I love "spooky". I love old haunted manors, drippy candles, secret passages, trees and owls outside, windy/rainy/stormy nights, "ghosts", seances, eerie hallways and rooms, inheritances and will readings, New England landscapes, British moors, swampy bayous...

Other good candidates are:

The Old Dark House (1932)
The Cat and the Canary
Bell, Book, and Candle
Arsenic and Old Lace

Also, Hitchcock's old black and white The Lady Vanishes, and Rebecca.

and most anything old with Boris Karloff!

Oh, and while they're not spooky, if you like campy/fun atmospheric sort of Halloween films, I would also recommend the 1980s installments Haunted Honeymoon and High Spirits.

[griffen112182]

these are on YouTube, they are campy cartoons and specials but they are so fun to watch.

Will Vinton's Comedy of Horrors this is on YouTube in pieces
Part 1 and 2 from Devon Scott
Part 3 from The Animation HQ


Disney Halloween Treat from the 80's
Aka A Disney Halloween

Halloween Night is Grinch Night


Halloween with the New Addams Family


Lumpkin the Pumpkin

The Pumpkin who Couldn't Smile (with Raggedy Ann and Andy) title may also be The Pumpkin that wouldn't smile

Witch's Night Out

The Halloween that Almost Wasn't

The Devil and Daniel Mouse

Marc Summer's Magic Halloween Special

My Pet Monster(the live direct to tv special is on YouTube)

The Worst Witch with Tim Curry

Purple People Eater with Neil Patrick Harris and Dustin Diamond

Elvira's 1986 MTV Halloween Special(it is old vhs transfer but it is worth it)

A Pumpkin Full of Nonsense

[Shredder]

I'd say the Frighteners. It has some gross elements, but not too many. also a few laughs.

[Nekk-ra]

I'd recommend the original Thing From Another World with James Arness.

[gbagok]

The Haunting (1963) is a great gore-free horror movie, as is Eye of the Devil (1966), if you like black and white classics. I'd call them more spooky than horror by today's standards anyway.

[IceyCat]

I grew up watching old black and white horror movies with my Mom. They are not scary by any means, but fun classics. Not a horror movie, but I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, not the show) the other night to get me into a Halloween-y crafting mood. I did a craft show yesterday and made a couple hundred bucks. Not too shabby!

[He-Dad]

Watcher in the Woods. Definitely creepy non horror.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Ghost Story (1981) -- And OMG, what a cast!

Seven

Misery

Cujo

[Ornclown]

Any of the silver-screen Universal Monster Movies.

Also, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Monster Squad is fun too.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Oh, Dice, I saw another one with Vincent Price this weekend I'd never seen before. House of the Long Shadows from 1983. It's got a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, a dark and stormy night, continuous rain, creepy portraits, candles and candleabra*, secret passages, cobwebs, family secrets, even a girl in peril, lol.

*(most people think a holder with more than 1 candle is a "candleabra", but that is actually the plural form of more than one such fixture; the singular is "candleabrum")

Seven

Misery

Cujo

I've seen these, and, with all due respect Mr. Jack (which is a lot!), I would think of those as "horror" rather than "spooky".

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

We have to agree to disagree. Cujo is a dog -- a rabid one, granted, but not a horror creature. Kathy Bates is plenty scary, but she's no Freddy. As for Seven, draw your own conclusions.

Oh, Dice, I saw another one with Vincent Price this weekend I'd never seen before. House of the Long Shadows from 1983. It's got a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, a dark and stormy night, continuous rain, creepy portraits, candles and candleabra*, secret passages, cobwebs, family secrets, even a girl in peril, lol.

*(most people think a holder with more than 1 candle is a "candleabra", but that is actually the plural form of more than one such fixture; the singular is "candleabrum")




I've seen these, and, with all due respect Mr. Jack (which is a lot!), I would think of those as "horror" rather than "spooky".

[Mer-Man's Minion]

We have to agree to disagree. Cujo is a dog -- a rabid one, granted, but not a horror creature. Kathy Bates is plenty scary, but she's no Freddy. As for Seven, draw your own conclusions.

But the two categories mentioned in the title of his thread are "spooky" and "horror". Those films are closer to "horror" than simply "spooky".

Actually, reflecting on that, maybe we could say those 3 films are closer to the genre: "thriller"; more intense than spooky, but not as intense as horror, lol.

Whaddya say? Genre truce? lol

[MJOLNIR]

[*]Diary of a Madman[/LIST]

That’s also one hell of an album.

Check out The Changeling (not the Angelina Jolie one). Is a 1970s ghost story murder mystery staring George C Scott. Is spooky as hell but classy and tastefully done.


Also Salem’s Lot and Silver Bullet are good scary classic Halloween monster movies with out today’s level or gratuitous visceral gore.


And though not scary in anyway, never, ever overlook, Young Frankenstein.

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Dam sorry man saw your recommendation after wards, good call.

the Changeling With George C Scott...

[Stagnataur]

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Or, campest of the camp... "Carry On Screaming"!

[MJOLNIR]

this is a great list especially if you are sticking with older creepy classics as I like to call them
I'd also add
Masque of the Red Death
The Premature Burial
Tales of Terror

If you are looking to expand beyond the Price era I would also suggest for great spooky/creepy [not gory] Halloween viewing
The Uninvited 1944
Frankenstein 1931, essential
The Invisible Man 1933
The Black Cat 1934
The Raven 1935
Dracula 1931
House on Haunted Hill 1959
The Bad Seed 1956
Village/Children on the Damned 1960/1964
13 Ghosts 1960
Castle of Blood 1964
Nightmare Castle 1964
Black Sunday 1960
City of the Dead 1960
Horror of Dracula 1958
The Hounds of the Baskervilles 1959

Fantastic list. The classic Frankenstein touched my heart as a little boy and the novel did so as a young man. It is such a sad tradgedy. I found an original printing for sale, one of the first six to come off the presses that were set aside fo Shelly,s personal use. This copy was signed and gifted from Shelly to Lord Bryon, whom she wrote the story with while on a couples retreat. Sadly the copy was priced at $300,000. My house was about the same price fifteen years ago so obviously the copy was beyond my means lol.

Love the old Christopher Lee Dracula’s too.

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Any of the silver-screen Universal Monster Movies.

Also, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Monster Squad is fun too.

My wife and I watched Monster Squad the other night. Fun kids Halloween movie.