Do you like being scared? Well with these movies, you will either get spooked by the ghosts and ghouls, or the quality of the movie. So grab a handful of Halloween candies and dive into these haunted romcoms! Happy Halloween!
The Mummy (1999)
Disney +
The Mummy (1999) is an action/adventure film that follows Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and Rick (Brendan Frasear) as they uncover the Egyptian city and bring back to life an evil mummy. To be transparent: this film is my childhood because when my sister was five years old this was her most favourite movie that she would force the whole family to watch. I now have a strong fondness for this movie and think it's an amazing Halloween film for anyone who’s not really into horror (like me!). I enjoy the action, I find the characters (especially Evelyn who I looked up to as a kid) likeable and the CGI is not half bad for a film from before the naughts. Granted, if you’re looking for films with diversity this one isn’t for you. For example, Evelyn, who is supposed to be half Egyptian in the film, is a British-American actress. Sadly this is just a product of its time. It also falls into a lot of Classical Hollywood tropes and falls the typical hero’s journey, but this is also to be expected. However, in part due to my nostalgia, I still adore this film and if you haven’t watched it I highly recommend it. If this review has made you 1) remember Brendan Frasear and 2) ask what happened to him and where is he now you should definitely read into it! I’ll provide this link to an article to get you started!
- Stacy
Warm Bodies (2013)
Prime Video
Warm Bodies (2013) can only be classified as a zom rom com. Starring Nicholas Hoult as our zombie soft boy R who falls in love with a very human Julie (Teresa Palmer). The film follows classic rom com conventions, even implementing a “Romeo and Juliet” type storyline. They are able to make the formula feel fresh however, by our forbidden love being that of corpse and human and having it all take place in a zombie apocalyptic wasteland. You kinda know what’s gonna happen within the first 5 mins as you get hit with a wall of exposition from our main character, but the journey to get there is still enjoyable nonetheless. Now I know the plot does sound a bit umm necrophilic… but unexpected warmth and good humour make this film work, transforming it from what could have been a possibly unsavoury tale. The cast is pretty strong, Dave Franco plays Julie’s ex-boyfriend (rip) who R eats early on in the story, and John Malkovich (who has never played a sane character in his life) is our unhinged antagonist. This movie feels so 2013 in the best way possible; R is a zombie indie boy who collects records and exclusively listens to vinyl because it “sounds better,” if the internet was still a thing in this movie you already KNOW my man would have a tumblr account. It’s the music for me that really makes this film, any movie with “Midnight City” by M83 automatically gets my gold star seal of approval. Somehow, against all odds, they were able to make a heartwarming zom rom com that is mostly cute and only sometimes a lil creepy.
- Holly
Love and Monsters (2020)
Netflix
Love and Monsters (2020) is neither a lovely movie nor is it a monstrously bad one, it’s just OK. Set in a world where mutated monsters have taken over the earth, the film tells the story of Joel Dawson, a bungling twenty-something who leaves his colony of survivors to find his girlfriend Aimee. The movie is made competently and has just enough meat on its bones so that I never found myself feeling bored. But I also rarely found myself feeling anything. It feels like a carbon copy of every other 2010s apocalypse/dystopian movie, without the passion that made some of those films great. It relies on genre stereotypes such as the tough little girl, or the sarcastic paternal figure (à la Woody Harrelson in Zombieland) without introducing any original ideas. Despite this reliance on tropes and clichés however, for fans of the apocalypse/dystopian genre, Love and Monsters is certainly worth a watch. It’s angsty, sarcastic characters are easy to latch on to and its contrived story can be fun, if you are willing to meet the film on its own terms. Dylan O’Brien is Joel Dawson; Jessica Henwick is Aimee. Directed by Michael Matthews.
- Gabe
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
Prime Video
So take the plot from Pride and Prejudice (2005) and throw in some zombies. That’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), which I guess they wanted to be obvious, based on the title. And weirdly enough, I kind of liked it. The 1813 romance novel by Jane Austin doesn’t seem like the kind of work that should be paired with zombies. The horror element of this movie takes away the soft beauty found in Pride and Prejudice (2005) that made it such a memorable romantic piece. However, I have to admit, it is kind of fun to watch the women in this film, who during this period were forced to prosper only through marriage, whip out knives from their hidden holsters and kill zombies. You can be elegantly beautiful in a 19th century style gown and be a badass. As someone who loves Pride and Prejudice (2005) and never gets tired of it, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) isn’t my favourite film. I definitely won’t watch it as much, but I do appreciate the added thrill it gives. It’s a weird, quirky, but entertaining movie if you’re in the mood for a period piece, but it’s October.
- Thalia
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Disney +
Buffy Summers is a 90s icon. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), we get to know Buffy (Kristy Swanson) before she knew she was the Slayer aka a vampire hunter. On its own, overall this movie is a fun, silly, black comedy horror film and the romance between Buffy and Pike (Luke Perry) is cute, but not significant. In comparison to the TV show, it is not my favourite version of Buffy (this ‘92 one is a little annoying). The TV show gives more badass fight scenes, more horror, more witty lines, and the cutest moments between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz), all in a couple episodes. Seriously, the chemistry between Buffy and Angel is undeniable. Overall, I had a lot of trouble not comparing the two while watching the film. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I hadn’t already seen the TV show version. Regardless, I do recommend anyone who wants to see the popular cheerleader kick some vampire butt and fall in love with Luke Perry, to check out this movie. And then if you’re thirsty for more supernatural horror, teen drama and romance, go watch the show!
- Thalia
Twilight (2008)
Netflix, Prime Video
Although it may seem dubious to categorize Twilight (2008) as a Halloween film, a seasonal film, or even a romantic comedy, the infamous desaturated, turquoise green-blue moody tint of the film’s mise-en-scène shrouds the Washington town of Forks with a gothic romantic, uncanny aura that quickly makes the categorization comfortable. When the film and book series were released in the early 2000s, teenage girls quickly identified with Bella Swan, (Kristen Stewart) became fiercely enamoured with the mysterious vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson)…and were then inclined to choose whether they were “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob,” Bella’s friend who, yes, you guessed it, was a shapeshifting werewolf. At the time of its release, we girls took this seriously because on an unconscious level, we all like the thrill of the mysterious, dangerous “bad boy,” that Edward embodied...in a supernatural way of course. It is hard not to sound facetious when speaking about the film and book series because thirteen years later (can you believe it) the film has and is being continuously mined for internet memes and jokes: the stiff and stonelike acting, the uninteresting dialogue, the push and pull dynamic between Edward and Bella, and who can forget the infamous vampires-playing-baseball-during-a-thunderstorm scene, that is now iconic simply because it’s so bad that it’s good? Twilight can be viewed as a cult film because its attempt to convey seriousness in retrospect, is downright hilarious. Twilight can be a romantic comedy, if you choose to evaluate its present status in the film world as ironic and meme worthy, or dare I say, pure cringe. The romantic aspect of Edward and Bella’s relationship is amusing, and I would not be honest if I said it wasn’t, but that was the opinion that most girls probably had when first reading/watching the series. Now, with more knowledge and maturity, we can see that their relationship..well.. was not always healthy. Despite this concern, the series still retains a large following of fans that cherish the films and books because with the story, there is a kind of nostalgia for our pre-teen years. Who could forget the days of awkward school dances, colourful clothing that hung on our awkwardly developing bodies, and where the biggest decision we had to make was what kind of lunch to take to school the next day? During that time, reading about girls who fall in love with vampires seemed like the best thing that could ever happen to us…and wherever we were at the time, and however we felt, Twilight was always there with us and still is…although in a much more different way. It is a reminder of our youth, but it is also a story that we can question and reflect on why it struck such a chord with us in the first place...and who can ever forget the memes.
- Monica
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Prime Video
Bored to death, is what I became while watching Death Becomes Her (1992). It’s about two bitter rivals, Madeline and Helen, their fight over a man named Ernest, and Madeline’s preoccupation with/fear of aging. The film spends far too much time on exposition. It tells us in dreary detail about how Madeline “stole” Ernest from Helen and how Helen plots to murder Madeline in revenge. It critiques society in a particularly ham-fisted way, lecturing the audience patronizingly about the ills of superficiality and immortality. The movie isn’t all bad however, the sequence in the hospital where Doctors are bamboozled by Madeline’s apparent lack of a heartbeat is absolutely hilarious. The film is also well acted, with both Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis delivering great comedic performances as Madeline and Ernest respectively. Unfortunately, however, great actors and a good sequence don’t redeem the film from being, for the most part, a drawn out, patronizing snooze-fest. Goldie Hawn is Helen. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
- Gabe
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