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Nevermind the blood and guts, spend Halloween with a good spooky family movie says our movie guy, James Finnegan…
AFTER many weeks sitting at home eating too many sweets and wearing masks, it is good to have a more traditional excuse to sit at home, eat sweets and wear masks.
Working on the principle that Ghouls just want to have fun, here are some Halloween film treats for all the family available on Netflix that will hopefully lift your spirits.
The adventures of the Addams family are now established in every form of media, from the original Charles Adams New Yorker cartoons of the 1930s, to television series, musicals and especially a series of films from the early 90s.
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They concern the adventures of a wealthy, aristocratic family, seemly unaware of how different and frightening they appear to others.
In The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, Gomez Adams (Raul Julia), his wife Morticia (Angelica Huston), their children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsey (Jimmy Workman) live in a macabre household with Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), Lurch, the Butler (Carl Straycken) and Thing – the family pet disembodied hand.
The Addams Family.
The first film deals with finding a long, lost relative (……or is he????) and the second involves a serial killer and the children’s interaction with everyday children activities of a sort.
Suffice to say, it does not quite go as one would expect. Both are directed by Barry Sonnenfeld who also directed the Men in Black films.
There is a more recent animated film, also called, somewhat originally, The Addams Family, around what happens when the family move to New Jersey, a place “ no one would be caught dead in” staring the voices of Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron.
Another film that is better considered now than it was on its original release is Hocus Pocus. Three witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts.
Hocus Pocus.
Winnie (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) are disgusted that witches are not treated with the same fear they once instilled and set about reminding people of their witchful thinking (sorry, couldn’t resist it).
Do you remember the good old days when if someone went into a bank wearing a mask, it was a bad thing?
The Mask.
In The Mask, bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss gets hold of a supernatural mask giving the wearer the ability to change their appearance, and even reality itself, as well as other superhuman abilities.
This role confirmed Jim Carrey as a once-in-a-generation talent, and also introduced us to Cameron Diaz as a leading lady in the role of Tina Carlyle.
I know there is a market for the slasher films out there. I must admit they are not my cup of tea, but I can recommend Halloween (2018) as the best of the sequels to the original 1978 film.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, and the William Shatner mask is again used to gory effect Stay home and stay safe! Mwah Ha Ha!!!!
