{"id":6422,"date":"2021-09-03T18:58:26","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T18:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/?p=6422"},"modified":"2021-09-03T20:21:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T20:21:51","slug":"the-best-movies-like-halloweentown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/movies\/the-best-movies-like-halloweentown\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Movies Like Halloweentown"},"content":{"rendered":"

The spookiest season of the year is almost upon us. The nights are getting colder and darker, coffee shops are beginning to <\/span>make pumpkin spice lattes<\/span><\/a> once again, and fright fans the world over are wondering how to put the finishing touches on their creepy ghost costumes. We are talking, of course, about Halloween, and it\u2019s not all about what you\u2019re wearing or what you\u2019re drinking. You also need to make sure you\u2019re making the right movie choices this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to Halloween movies, you really can\u2019t go wrong with <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i>. This beloved 1980s Disney classic stars Kimberly Brown, Debbie Reynolds, and Judith Hoag, who must navigate the difficulties of 80s family life while also (spoiler alert!) dealing with being witches. <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>is <\/span>a great movie<\/span><\/a>, but there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ve watched it enough times for it to get a little stale by now, especially if you\u2019re a huge Halloween fan. With that in mind, here are some of the best movies like <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i> to get you into the spooky spirit this autumn.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Spy Kids <\/i><\/b>(2001, dir. Robert Rodriguez)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$
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\nThe original <\/span>Spy Kids <\/span><\/i>isn\u2019t a Disney Channel Original Movie like <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i>, but it definitely has a similar tone. It stars Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara as siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez, who must follow in their parents\u2019 footsteps and become the Spy Kids of the title. This might not be one of the most obvious movies like <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>on our list, but if you like the Disney film, you may well love this as well. There\u2019s a darkness to it that elevates it beyond the usual kiddie fare, so give it a shot if you\u2019re a big <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>devotee!<\/span><\/p>\n
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Goosebumps <\/i><\/b>(2015, dir. Rob Letterman)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$
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\nAgainst all odds, director Rob Letterman found a way to film R.L. Stine\u2019s spooktacular children\u2019s book series. Jack Black finds the perfect energy to play the author of the eponymous books, who is here reimagined as a custodian of monsters he accidentally created in response to being bullied. Just like <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Goosebumps <\/span><\/i>is the perfect mixture of genuinely spooky and hilarious; it\u2019s perfect for kids of all ages, although it might be just a little too creepy for younger tots. This makes a perfect double bill with the Disney Channel movie.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Beetlejuice <\/i><\/b>(1988, dir. Tim Burton)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Beetlejuice <\/span><\/i>wasn\u2019t Tim Burton\u2019s first feature film – that honour goes to 1985\u2019s <\/span>Pee-wee\u2019s Big Adventure<\/span><\/i>. However, it\u2019s pretty much inarguable that <\/span>Beetlejuice <\/span><\/i>cemented what we now know to be Burton\u2019s inimitable visual style. Make no mistake: <\/span>Beetlejuice <\/span><\/i>is not a movie for kids. Don\u2019t bring your little ones in to watch this; it\u2019s got lots of cursing and adult themes, so it\u2019s really only for adult devotees of <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i>. Putting this on our list of movies like <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>might seem incongruous, but give it a watch and you\u2019ll spot the same irreverent mix of comedy and horror.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Hocus Pocus <\/i><\/b>(1993, dir. Kenny Ortega)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
The high-energy camp of <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>is a perfect fit for Kenny Ortega\u2019s early-90s exploration of the Halloween season. <\/span>Sex and the City<\/span><\/i>\u2019s Sarah Jessica Parker stars alongside Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as a trio of witches who are accidentally resurrected by Omri Katz\u2019s Thackery Binx. There\u2019s some genuine darkness to be found amid the hijinx, but this is a classic family-friendly romp through and through. If you love the sillier sequences in <\/span>Halloweentown<\/span><\/i>, then you\u2019ll adore <\/span>Hocus Pocus<\/span><\/i>. It\u2019ll probably become a Halloween staple in the same way <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>is.<\/span><\/p>\n
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The Nightmare Before Christmas <\/i><\/b>(1993, dir. Tim Burton)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Another entry for Tim Burton on this list, and another movie released in the apparently spooktastic year of 1993. <\/span>The Nightmare Before Christmas <\/span><\/i>is a stop-motion joy all about Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, and his discovery of Christmas. To our ears, <\/span>Christmas <\/span><\/i>still features the greatest Disney villain song (sorry, Scar) in Oogie Boogie\u2019s straightforwardly-titled \u201cThe Oogie Boogie Song\u201d, and it\u2019s got some of the all-time Disney songbook classics in \u201cThis Is Halloween\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s This?\u201d. This is another one of the movies like <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>that isn\u2019t much like it at all but still bears plenty of the same hallmarks.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Matilda <\/i><\/b>(1996, dir. Danny DeVito)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$
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\nAmid news that <\/span>Matilda <\/span><\/i>is <\/span>getting a remake<\/span><\/a>, now is the perfect time to revisit DeVito\u2019s classic Roald Dahl adaptation. This isn\u2019t technically a Halloween movie, but try watching any sequence involving the terrifying Miss Trunchbull and tell us that you\u2019re not cowering behind your sofa. <\/span>Matilda <\/span><\/i>is a fundamentally good-hearted movie all about a little girl with psychic powers and the fuming injustices of the school system in which she\u2019s forced to participate. It deviates from the book in a few ways, but that doesn\u2019t make it any less magical or delightful, so check this out if you want one of the movies like <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>with a decidedly positive spin.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Halloweentown High <\/i><\/b>(dir. Mark A.Z. Dipp\u00e9, 2004)<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
The last of the <\/span>Halloweentown <\/span><\/i>sequels to star original cast member Kimberly J. Brown, <\/span>Halloweentown High <\/span><\/i>transposes the spooky antics of the 1988 original to Marnie\u2019s high school. Exactly the kind of hijinx ensue that you would expect, making this a very safe and comforting choice. You\u2019re not going to come away from <\/span>Halloweentown High <\/span><\/i>thinking it\u2019s high art or masterful cinema, but it has plenty of chuckles and a big, warm heart, which is more than enough to keep you ensconced in its atmosphere this Halloween season.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The spookiest season of the year is almost upon us. The nights are getting colder and darker, coffee shops are beginning to make pumpkin spice lattes once again, and fright fans the world over are wondering how to put the finishing touches on their creepy ghost costumes. We are talking, of course, about Halloween, and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}