It’s time for another holiday-themed elimination tournament!
The 2nd Annual Holiday Trilogy kicks off with our Halloween Special. We’ve chosen 16 Halloween movies (some lesser-known, others nostalgic favorites), entered them into the above bracket, and narrowed the list down to one winner: the Obscure Halloween Movie for 2022.
Who won? You’ll have to listen on October 28th to find out!
Here is all the movies in our Halloween tournament.
HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR’S REVENGE (2001)
Witches Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) and her grandma Aggie (Debbie Reynolds) race against time to stop Kalabar’s son (Daniel Kountz) from turning humans into monsters and monsters into humans forever.
The second part of the Halloweentown trilogy because let's all pretend Return to Halloweentown was just a very bad dream.
UNDER WRAPS (1997)
If three teenagers don’t return their friendly mummy to his sarcophagus by midnight on Halloween, their undead Egyptian pal will cease to exist.
This is the original movie from 1997, not the more recent remakes. No idea why the original is not currently on Disney+. Maybe they wanted to keep the attention on the new versions. Please send postcards to Disney+ beseeching them to add the original.
THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949)
This two featurette anthology begins with an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. The second, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, features some of the scariest animation to come out of the Disney Studios.
With much of his staff drafted into World War II, Disney had only enough manpower to make compilation films of unrelated animated segments. These became known as the package films. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was the last (and unquestionably) the best of those projects.
THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)
A group of young monster movie buffs attempt to thwart Count Dracula and his monster allies from dominating the world.
Director/co-writer Fred Dekker and co-writer Shane Black draw upon their obvious love and respect for the 30s/40s Universal Monster movies in this Goonies-esque pastiche.
THE HALLOWEEN TREE (1993)
A group of trick-or-treaters travel through time and learn about the origins of Halloween, while trying to save their friend’s lost soul.
This ABC TV movie aired on October 2, 1993. Based on a book by Ray Bradbury, the venerable writer (author of works like Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles) provides the screenplay and is the film’s narrator.
HALLOWEEN IS GRINCH NIGHT (1977)
On a windy night, the Grinch descends his mountain to scare the roast beast out of the Whos. But one Who boy wants to stand up to the Grinch.
Dr. Seuss wrote the screenplay for this half-hour short that premiered on ABC on October 28, 1977. Hans Conried (voice of Disney’s Captain Hook) replaces Boris Karloff, who voiced the Grinch in the Christmas Special.
CORPSE BRIDE (2005)
A nervous groom (Johnny Depp), worried about his arranged marriage to an impoverished aristocrat, accidentally marries a living corpse (Helena Bonham Carter) instead.
This is the third stop-motion film produced by Tim Burton, following The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. This is the first stop-motion movie he directed (alongside Mike Johnson).
FRANKENWEENIE (2012)
Young Victor Frankenstein is devastated when his beloved dog, Sparky, dies. He decides to use the powers of science to raised the pup from the dead.
A stop-motion animated remake of Tim Burton’s earlier live-action short. That film starred Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, and Barrett Oliver.
TWITCHES (2005)
Tia and Tamara Mowry star as two teen witches who join together to save the magical kingdom they were born in.
This film and it’s 2007 follow-up were based on a series of children’s fantasy novels by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld. There were ten books in the series.
THE WITCHES (2020)
A young boy and his grandmother uncover a plot by a convention of witches to destroy the children of the world.
Robert Zemeckis directs this second big-budget adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel. Zemeckis co-wrote the script with Kenya Barris (black-ish), and Guillermo del Toro.
GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989)
After disbanding following the events of the first film, the Ghostbusters reunite to investigate a river of ectoplasm flowing beneath the streets of Manhattan.
Various development problems, including script issues and interpersonal conflicts, delayed this anticipated sequel. The film was finally released 5 years after the original.
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)
This classic Judy Garland musical follows a turn-of-the-century family as they prepare for the St. Louis World’s Fair.
Several cast members would later reunite in the 1949 adaptation of Little Women, most playing characters very similar to the ones they played in St. Louis.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE (1993)
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen try to rescue their great aunt (Cloris Leachman) who was trapped in a magic mirror by her evil twin sister (also Leachman).
This was the first movie produced by the Olsens’s production company, Dualstar. The company produced their subsequent projects like the theatrically released It Takes Two and their direct-to-video TV series, The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley.
CASPER MEETS WENDY (1998)
Capser the Friendly Ghost befriends Wendy the Good Little Witch (Hilary Duff), and together take on the sinister machinations of a well-tanned sorcerer, Desmond Spellman (George Hamilton).
Alongside Terri Garr and Shelley Duvall, Cathy Moriarty plays one of Wendy’s witch aunts. Moriarty starred in the original Casper as the villainous Carrigan Crittenden.
ERNEST SCARED STUPID (1991)
After accidentally releasing a demonic troll, everyone’s favorite dimwit, Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney), tries to vanquish the child-snatching monster.
The “Ernest” character originated in a series of commercials that were so popular, he was spun-off into a series of 10 films and a television show.
GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990)
A group of scientists take Gizmo (Howie Mandel) to a high-raise skyscraper in New York City. After Gizmo is splashed with water, the mogwai begin to multiply and wreck havoc on every floor of the building.
Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the original film a negative review. He appears in this film giving the same review, only to be cut short as the Gremlins attack him.
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