The Best Movies of the ‘90s: Halloween Edition
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Some of the best things in life came out of the ‘90s. The internet, portable CD players, cell phones, tattoos, belly button piercings, midlife crises, third wave feminism, the Spice Girls, and a few great Halloween movies. These iconic movies range from family friendly to downright terrifying, and all have entered our Halloween Movie Hall of Fame.
Just in time for spooky season, here are 16 of the best Halloween movies from the ‘90s.
Halloweentown (1998)
It’s not the ‘90s without a Disney Channel Original Movie—DCOM, if you’re nasty. Halloweentown follows a young witch who discovers her powers and a secret portal on her 13th Halloween, sending her to a magical town crawling with ghosts, witches, and werewolves. The movie remains one of the most iconic seasonal rewatches, plus it makes for perfect marathon material if you queue up the film’s three sequels.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
The Halloween movie to end all Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as three Salem witches who are resurrected by a pesky teenager on Halloween. Since 1993, the Hocus Pocus cinematic universe has expanded to include sequel films, video games, Lego sets, theme park attractions, and more.
Practical Magic (1998)
Practical Magic is a cult classic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sister witches in a small town who must defeat a curse that threatens their chances at love. The film also stars screen icons Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest as their aunts who care for them after the death of their parents.
The Addams Family (1991)
The original Addams Family came out in 1991 and starred Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia as Morticia and Gomez Addams, the heads of a strange family reconnecting with an even stranger long lost uncle.
The Craft (1996)
This teen horror follows a group of four teenage girls who, while students at a religious high school in Los Angeles, discover the power of witchcraft. In the years that followed its 1996 release, The Craft has amassed a huge cult following and inspired the 2020 sequel, The Craft: Legacy.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
This spooky animated movie comes from the master of strange, Tim Burton. The film follows Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween Town, who discovers a new rival destination, Christmas Town.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
This satire stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn fighting for the ultimate prize—Bruce Willis. The starlets play rivaling ladies competing for the affections of the same man, turning to mysterious magic potions that are said to inspire eternal youth, but naturally do not.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Another Tim Burton classic, Edward Scissorhands stars Johnny Depp as an artificial man constructed with scissor blades for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family, where he meets and falls in love with their teenage daughter, Winona Ryder’s Kim.
Casper (1995)
The cutest Halloween movie on the market is still Casper. The iconic ‘90s film follows an afterlife therapist and his young daughter who meet a young ghost, Casper the Friendly Ghost, in a spooky mansion.
Scream (1996)
The film that had the whole world screaming, Scream was released in 1996 and starred an iconic ensemble of David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. If you haven't seen it, where have you been? The film follows a group of teenagers terrorized by the Ghostface serial killer, and every movie that follows pretty much sticks to this script.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christopher Walken, this gothic horror is the screen adaptation of Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Depp plays Ichabod Crane, a policeman from New York who investigates the murders of the notorious Headless Horseman in the town of Sleepy Hollow.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
I see dead people. The Sixth Sense, which came out in 1999, is a must-watch come Halloween time. The film stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist counseling a young patient who claims to see dead people, played by a young Haley Joel Osment.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Francis Ford Coppola does mob movies, red wine, and (apparently) ‘90s horrors. Bram Stoker’s Dracula stars Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves. Horror films don’t always play well in the awards circuit, but this one did. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was nominated for four Academy Awards, took home three, and grossed more than $215 million in the box office.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The found footage horror genre was born in 1999. The Blair Witch Project follows three students who venture into the Black Hills of Maryland to investigate the myth of the Blair Witch. In stunning Y2K fashion, the film is also considered to be the first to be marketed mainly via the internet, largely through realistic newsreel-style interviews, missing persons posters, and fake police reports.
Arachnophobia (1990)
This 1990 horror movie is set in a small California town that becomes overtaken by a deadly species of spider. Warning: this movie, despite the ‘90s cheese factor, will only exacerbate pre-existing fears of spiders. Proceed with caution.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Of the 13 Halloween movies in existence, this one from 1998 is among the best—in fact, it was the highest grossing of the franchise until the 2018 remake, Halloween. H20 stands as a sequel to 1981 film Halloween II, and follows Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode in the aftermath of her most recent quarrel with the serial killer Michael Myers, who she now knows to be her brother.
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