Family Movie Night
By Karyn Bowman
At this time of year, what you are going to find are lots of scary movies. Movies about Vampires, Zombies, monsters, and serial killers.
But that is what happens in October, we get movies about crazed clowns and psychotic killers.
Not all of us are up for that. Seriously, I can handle only so many scary movies before I am done. I need levity and a bit of laughter along with my scares and creepy-crawly moments.
That explains why every Halloween season, I find myself watching Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The story is about two sisters who come from a long line of witches whom appear to be cursed. Their husbands die young and usually there is a warning song from a beetle.
It doesn’t help that the women are incredibly beautiful and some are heart breakers. Sally (Bullock) is beautiful but wants to stay close to home. She dreams of a normal life and had a deep love for her husband and their two daughters. That happiness is destroyed when he dies young. Jilly (Kidman) is a bit of a heart breaker and runs away from home at 18 to find the guy who can withstand the curse.
But one day Jilly meets that guy and he turns out to be something more than a regular guy. Soon the two women are dealing with a problem bigger than they can handle, denying the truth to their witchy aunts. Things get worse when a handsome detective from Arizona arrives to solve a missing person’s case.
This movie has some very serious moments about the supernatural, possession, and not messing with that you don’t understand or disrespect. There are funny moments as well when the four women have a margarita party or during a scene in Sally’s botanical soap and lotion shop.
This is a great scary movie for scardy cats like me because humor is scattered all over this movie. There are the ghostly parts and then there is funny or romantic scenes. It is not a good movie to watch around little ones, better for teens and older or those of us adults who want to watch something a little scary and a little sexy.
This lead me to think about Love at First Bite with George Hamilton and Susan St. James. While I am sure there are some funny moments to this movies, it is not one I want to watch and nor can I recommend. Hamilton is more famous for his tan than his acting abilities.
I can only suggest this movie about a vampire who loses his Transylvanian home and moves to New York as a possible movie to riff on with your friends as you watch it. The vampire’s goal is to find the woman who looks like his long lost love who is now in New York City working as a supermodel. Just three bites and he can make her his forever. That is if the grandson of Van Helsing doesn’t kill him first.
Like I said, this movie is great for being ridiculed. All you need is popcorn and a smart-aleck friend to get the ball rolling. Perhaps a drinking game can be made with it. I am going to guess that by the end of the movie what you will be horrified by is the badness of this plot which is better than being horrified because of one gruesome murder after another in my book.
Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 
My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus!
Disney has some other cute movies, too. You ever see the ones with Debbie Reynolds? Gosh, it’s been a while. I wonder if they’re still shown on the Disney channel.
Halloweentown is the movie and they have made a series of them.
Yes. I’m a sap for light and simple fun stuff, so I really liked the series. Haven’t watched Disney in a long time. More into Hallmark movies and mysteries now. But I like the ghosts, witches, and so on without the violence and the gore.
That is why I watch Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. I get my spook on without too much violence and gore, depending on the re-enactments.
I like that Hocus Pocus, too. (Not the scary movie fan) Hope your Holler-Ring is spooktacular
Yes! I like it, too!
Scaredy cat? Me?!!! Me-ow!!! Love Sandra Bullock. Fun movie. George Hamilton was a hoot!!! I’d forgotten I have the movie recorded. Happy Halloween!!!