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Not every holiday season feels like gingerbread and joy. Sometimes, you need a break from the twinkling lights and nonstop carols.

Whether it’s a chaotic family gathering or just the stress of decking the halls, these Christmas movies offer a much-needed escape from the saccharine side of the season.

From dark comedies to twisted tales, these films remind us that not all holiday stories need a happy ending — or even a cheerful tone.

(ner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)

These are the movies that make Santa’s naughty list look tame.

So grab some eggnog (or something stronger) and settle in for a lineup of films that bring holiday spirit with a side of mischief, mayhem, and maybe a little murder.

Are you ready?!

Krampus (2015) (Universal Pictures/Screenshot)

For those who think the holidays need a little edge, Krampus brings the perfect blend of festive cheer and dark folklore.

This twisted...

In 2009, stop motion animation films were forever changed with Coraline. It introduced audiences to a stunning and eerie stop-motion world unlike anything they had seen before. Directed by Henry Selick and based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, the film pushed the boundaries of animation, blending whimsical fantasy with unsettling horror in a way that resonated with both children and adults. Now, over a decade later, Coraline remains a landmark in animation, a haunting yet captivating tale of courage, identity, and the importance of family that continues to enchant new generations of viewers. So on today’s episode of not-so-Horror Revisited, let’s dive into why this is such a huge technical achievement but also why this film is an emotional masterpiece.

Back in 2002 is where our journey began. Henry Selick, known for his work on The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, approached author Neil Gaiman and...

Exclusive: Plenty to be merry about at Freeform, thanks to the network’s 25 Days of Christmas.

The annual month-long event kicked off with Freeform’s most-watched week of the year in both total day and primetime from December 1 to 8. The viewership surge was led by Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which was cable’s top movie of the month among adults 18-49.

Other top performers so far this month have been Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone and The Santa Clause 2.

Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas is also doing particularly well among adults 18-34, women 18-34, men 18-34 and women 18-49, according to Nielsen data.

The network typically performs very well toward the end of the year with both 25 Days of Christmas and 31 Nights of Halloween in October, which both include a lineup of fan-favorite films to draw audiences in. In fact, Freeform’s previously...

“It means you put on the suit, you’re the big guy.”

As the holidays approach, Disney+ is one of the best streamers to have for Christmas movies. From all-time favorites to more modern classics, Disney’s flagship streaming service has something to offer everyone this time of year. You will find plenty of Christmas favorites, though, including both “Home Alone” and “The Santa Clause” as well as all of their sequels (even the ones we try not to talk about).

There’s also the classic “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” and my favorite guilty pleasure Christmas movie, “Jingle All the Way.”

You can also find movies that are on the cusp of counting as Christmas fare. While we count Frozen more as a winter-season film than a holiday movie, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is absolutely a Christmas movie.

Sign Up Now $9.99+ / month disneyplus.com

Get Disney+, Hulu,...

Anime Limited, in association with Laika, are excited to reveal the brand-new 4K Uhd & Blu-ray Standard and Limited Edition Steelbook of Coraline – now available, to celebrate we are giving away a 4K Uhd & Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook!

Directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and widely considered one of the best animated films of all time, the dark fantasy Coraline celebrates its 15th anniversary by leading the line-up alongside the fantasy comedy The Boxtrolls on 2nd December 2024, with the family horror ParaNorman and action fantasy Kubo and the Two Strings following on 16th December.

he films all received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Film in their respective release years, with Kubo and the Two Strings also winning the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Films. Returning these celebrated films to the wider market just in time for the holidays marks Anime Limited’s continued commitment to celebrated animated film and physical media,...

The concept of the holiday movie began back in 1898 with G.A. Smith’s pioneering silent film Santa Claus. The first of its kind to show the depiction of Santa that only runs just shy over a minute.

Since then Hollywood has belted out an array of films that have either been true to the genre such as A Christmas Story; The Holiday; Miracle On 34th Street; Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey or films like Die Hard; Brazil, and Gremlins that have teetered on the edge of identifying as a holiday film.

Then there are the anti-holiday movies and the Christmas horrors. Subgenres of their own like the slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night, Black Christmas, and Christmas Evil, a John Waters favorite, so you are inclined to know what demented viewing you are in for.

Related: 50 Classic Valentine’s Movies Gallery: From ‘Amelie’ & ‘In The Mood For Love’ To ‘Paris, Texas...

It's that time of year again when we all start to enjoy revisiting some of our favourite Christmas movies, whether it's Die Hard (let's not get into that debate right now...), Elf, The Nightmare Before Christmas, or even Love Actually. 

However, for superhero fans, there really aren't that many options. It's rare to see any comic book adaptation set during a specific point in time as, like the comics themselves, avoiding that ensures they have a timeless feel. However, there are a handful of examples we think finally deserve to be recognised as Christmas classics in their own right!

Some might be a little more obvious to you than others, but there are a few here that we think finally deserve to be recognised among the greats mentioned above. While we list them here in no particular order, rest assured they all have that much-needed holiday feel. 

So, as the holiday season draws near,...

It took thirty-six years, but director Tim Burton finally got around to making a sequel to his 1988 hit Beetlejuice – and with that sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, having made over $450 million at the global box office, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that Warner Bros. wants another sequel. Burton has said not to expect Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from him… but perhaps he could be persuaded. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, Burton has completely ruled out the idea of making sequels to two other films on his résumé, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Speaking with IndieWire, Burton said, “There are certain films I don’t want to make a sequel to. I didn’t want to make a sequel to (Edward Scissorhands) because it felt like a one-off thing. I didn’t want to have a sequel for The Nightmare Before Christmas because it also felt like a one-off thing.

Johnny Depp may be cancelled in the eyes of some fans, but he’s certainly not in the eyes of pal and longtime collaborator, director Tim Burton.

The duo have worked together on such projects as ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ and there’s possibly still a lot more in store for them to do.

Tim Burton Knows There’ll Be Another Project That Will Likely Being Him and Johnny Depp Together

The worlds of Burton and Depp are ones that have collided together multiple times and seem likely to keep doing so in the years to come.

Fresh off from filming teen goth horror ‘Wednesday,’ the iconic director sat down with IndieWire at the Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday, Nov. 30 to talk about his projects.

During the interview, talks turned towards Depp, who has just come off from his second directorial project,...

The season finale of Agatha All Along helped push the Marvel series to its best showing in the Nielsen streaming rankings.

The Kathryn Hahn-led show tallied 744 million minutes of viewing on Disney+ for the week of Oct. 28-Nov. 3; the final two episodes of the season debuted on Oct. 30. That’s by far the biggest total weekly total for Agatha All Along, beating the 426 million minutes for its premiere week by a 75 percent margin.

Only Murders in the Building also had a strong showing, hitting a season high of 599 million minutes of viewing on Hulu for the week of its season four finale. The 599 million minutes is the show’s second-best week to date, behind only the season three premiere in August 2023.

The Lincoln Lawyer held onto the No. 1 overall spot for a third straight week, bringing in 1.45 billion minutes of watch time for Netflix. Season two of The Diplomat...

Well, someone finally cornered Tim Burton into talking about Johnny Depp. Asked at the Marrakech International Film Festival whether there'd be another Burton/Depp collaboration in the future, the filmmaker replied, "Well, I’m sure there will be" (per IndieWire). The duo have a longstanding personal and professional relationship, working...

Despite the success of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” director Tim Burton has reaffirmed that “Edward Scissorhands” is one movie that “I don’t want to make a sequel to.”

Burton was asked about the film and several others on the red carpet at the Marrakesh Film Festival. IndieWire reported Burton added, “I didn’t want to make a sequel to that because it felt like a one-off thing. I didn’t want to have a sequel for ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ because it also felt like a one-off thing. Certain things are best left on their own, and that, for me, is one of them.”

That doesn’t mean that he’s finished working with frequent collaborator Johnny Depp, though. The director said he’s “sure there will be” future movies with Depp, and added, “I never feel like, oh, I’m going to use this and that actor. It usually has...

While auteur Tim Burton doesn’t want to revisit projects like Edward Scissorhands for any potential sequels, he said he feels positive he’ll return to the beloved film’s leading man, Johnny Depp.

“There are certain films I don’t want to make a sequel to,” he said at the Marrakech International Film Festival following the box office success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, per IndieWire. “I didn’t want to make a sequel to [Scissorhands] because it felt like a one-off thing. I didn’t want to have a sequel for The Nightmare Before Christmas because it also felt like a one-off thing. Certain things are best left on their own and that for me is one of them.”

When asked if there would be further collaborations with frequent screen partner Depp — whom he’s directed in a slate of films including Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd and Ed Wood — he answered,...

Nothing screams the Christmas season quite like the music. And what’s better than door-to-door carolers? An at-home Christmas movie musical.

Whether you are in the mood for a classic tune like “White Christmas” or new tracks like Will Ferrell’s “That Christmas Morning Feelin,'” these movie musicals will prepare you for the holiday season that awaits.

Hang up the Christmas lights, dress the tree, bake some cookies and put on a movie musical from our list to bring your home some holiday cheer.

“White Christmas” White Christmas

The song that sparked a thousand dreams — “White Christmas” — is a holiday classic for a reason. The 1954 film follows two former soldiers turned entertainers. Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) join a talent sister act, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen), to perform a Christmas show in upstate Vermont. The foursome reunite with the boys’ former General to save his holiday inn.

Tana Mongeau was not used as a Spirit Halloween model. How do we know? Because the mystery model is Sierra Wright from Survivor 47.

An odd mystery occurred where YouTube celebrity Tana Mongeau thought that Spirit Halloween had used her likeness to create Halloween costumes.

The self-professed “social media juggernaut” has millions of followers on social media and her YouTube page. She was also in a short relationship with Jake Paul— the same Jake Paul who just boxed Mike Tyson.

“Tana Mongeau said on her podcast that she was suing Spirit Halloween because she and he fans believe that this Tana,” stated TikTik reporter Kate Riccio.

Kate showed an image of a Sally Costume (Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas) and stated that it looked much like Tana.

But it turns out this wasn’t Tana at all. And it all ties to the sister of someone on the Survivor 47 cast.

The latest film from The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers‘ is a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it Here), and Focus Features will be giving the film “a prime holiday season release” when they bring it to theatres on Wednesday, December 25th. Anticipation levels are high for this one, so we have decided to put together a list of Everything We Know about this version of Nosferatu:

Plot

Nosferatu tells a familiar story. An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle,...

With the fourth Thursday of every November comes an opportunity to give thanks, as families across the United States gather around warm fires and hand-decorated tables to break seasonal bread. The festive tableau — loved ones pulled close by the promise of turkey, stuffing, sides, and pie — is synonymous with what little it seems still unites Americans these days. And yet, the actual experience of the divisive holiday (notorious for its deeply dubious history origins and penchant for forcing fun with problematic relatives) can be enough to send you fleeing from the dining room in a fit of stressed-out gravy sweats.

When you’re done navigating the metaphoric minefield that is kith and kin, why not find comfort in a different kind of holiday hearth? We’re talking about the glowing screens that keep cozy all year long. Whether you’re enjoying a festive holiday movie or something else, films help...

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will make its global streaming debut on Friday, December 6, exclusively on Max. The film will debut on HBO linear on Saturday, December 7, at 6:10 p.m. Et.

Oscar-nominated, singular creative visionary Tim Burton and Oscar nominee and star Michael Keaton reunite for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s award–winning film Beetlejuice.

An American Sign Language (Asl) version of the hit film will also be available to stream on Max in the U.S. and Europe, along with a Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) version in Brazil. Produced by the Max Accessibility Team in partnership with Deluxe (Asl) and Iguale (Libras), the Asl version of the film is performed by Sophia Morales, a Deaf individual who gained popularity through her engaging Asl interpretations of popular songs on social media.

The Libras version is performed by Andrey Baptista. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in Asl and Libras...

Ever since he broke out with Beetlejuice in 1988, director Tim Burton has had a very distinctive visual style, one that might be most clearly on display in animated films like The Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride. His characters are dour and gloomy, with reed-like bodies and eyes too big for their enormous heads. That style has helped him build a successful career over the past 40 years.

And now, artificial intelligence technology is capable of absorbing his style and popping out reproductions of it in any form you can imagine. Is this ethical? Does Tim Burton find it disturbing? I don't know, but it is impressive, and folks have been using the technology in entertaining ways. For instance, someone used AI to show us what Game of Thrones characters would look like if Tim Burton had come up with them. Check it out:

Man, Sansa's neck is like a foot long.

Streaming viewers in the week of Oct. 21-27 made the following decision: We have to go back.

Viewing of Lost on Hulu and Netflix hit a high that week, finishing first among all acquired series with 1.03 billion minutes of viewing time in the United States, according to Nielsen. The former ABC series, which marked the 20th anniversary of its premiere in September, ranked second among all titles.

In first place was The Lincoln Lawyer, which spent a second week in the top overall spot and got over the 2 billion-minute mark (2.03 billion) for the first time in its three seasons. The drama based on Michael Connelly’s novels improved by about 24 percent week to week.

Tyler Perry’s Netflix series Beauty in Black was the top newcomer, scoring 740 million minutes of watch time for its opening week (it premiered Oct. 24). That was good for third place among original series behind The Lincoln Lawyer...

The third and final short in Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón’s holiday short collection comes to Disney+ this week

When a curious young owl finds himself stuck in a Christmas tree bound for New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza and a lost young girl loses her way in the big city, the unlikely duo come together to find their way home to their parents, forming an unusual bond. Disney+’s “An Almost Christmas Story,” the third and final installment in Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón’s holiday shorts collection, will premiere on the streamer on Friday, Nov. 15. Don’t miss the magic: watch with a subscription to Disney+!

How to Watch “An Almost Christmas Story” When: Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 Where: Disney+ Stream: Watch with a subscription to Disney+. Sign Up Now $9.99+ / month disneyplus.com

Get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for just $16.99 a month ($14 savings).

About “An Almost Christmas Story”

Directed by David Lowery...

The third season premiere of The Lincoln Lawyer moved the show to the top of the streaming docket.

The Netflix drama based on Michael Connelly’s novels recorded 1.64 billion viewing minutes for the week of Oct. 14-20 (season three premiered Oct. 17), according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings. That’s the third best weekly tally in the show’s history, behind season one’s second week in May 2022 and the debut of the back half of season two in August 2023.

The Lincoln Lawyer pushed the previous week’s No. 1 show, Love Is Blind, down one spot to second overall. The Netflix dating show had 1.21 billion minutes of viewing for the week. Outer Banks (1.1 billion) was the only other title to reach a billion minutes in the United States, though Bob’s Burgers (945 million) came close.

Lost, which made its streaming chart debut in July after rejoining Netflix (it also streams on Hulu...

Fans of the South Korean Netflix hit "Squid Game" are getting an early Christmas present. Before the second season of "Squid Game" drops on December 26, pop culture fashion company Loungefly is bringing "Squid Game" inspired apparel to the masses in the form of two backpacks.

Just in case you missed the "Squid Game" phenomenon when it premiered back in 2021, allow me to refresh your memory. The series, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for the streamer, imagines a world where 456 players hailing from South Korea are all given an ominous offer: they can compete in a series of children's games to win an astounding amount of money, but players soon realize the game is much more dangerous than they thought. Throughout the show's first season, we follow Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the 456th player, who ends up triumphing over his fellow contestants ... and who ends up discovering a particularly disturbing secret about the game in the process.

It’s never too early to start your Christmas movie marathons.

Ok, that’s not true. People shouldn’t be watching Christmas movies in April. But November is fair game! There still might be a few people who throw a side-eye at you for diving deep into the Christmas canon right after putting away the Halloween decorations but there’s an easy fix – find holiday movies that toe the seasonal line.

Save the big guns like “Home Alone,” “Love, Actually,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Christmas Vacation,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” for December. There’s plenty of other movies that can scratch the holiday itch for you to take up November watching.

These are the Christmas films we feel are marked safe to binge in November.

Sony Pictures The Holiday

This might be the hardest sell for Christmas movies to watch in November just because it’s such a top-of-mind film for the holidays.

It’s been a banner year for animated movies, with artists using the medium to tell stories about robots, cats, snails and the full spectrum of human emotion. These films are just as bold and boundary pushing as the dramas, musicals and historical epics that are seen as top contenders for Oscars. Yet they aren’t getting the same level of attention from the pundit crowd.

Well, if there was ever a time for things to change, it’s now. Heavyweights DreamWorks Animation and Pixar have launched awards campaigns for “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2,” which are virtual locks to nab best animated feature nominations. But, these movies also aim to break into major categories, notably best picture. And you know what? It shouldn’t be an either/ or scenario. Why not both?

Notably, “The Wild Robot” just won the Scad Savannah Film Festival Audience Award, beating out 122 narrative feature films,...

December and the holidays are one month closer. Now, Freeform has released the schedule for its traditional “25 Days of Christmas” programming. Last year, Freeform was #1 for holiday viewership for the 11th year out of 12 years reaching almost 37 million viewers!

This year, fans can expect holiday classic films and movies from Disney, Rankin Bass, and more during this year’s “25 Days of Christmas” Event!

Here is the 25 Days of Christmas Schedule for 2024!

Sunday, Dec. 1

7:00 a.m. – “Prep & Landing”

7:30 a.m. – “Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas”

9:00 a.m. – “Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas”

10:30 a.m. – “Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You” – Freeform Premiere

12:30 p.m. – “Arthur Christmas”

2:35 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”

4:15 p.m. – “Moana”

6:45 p.m. – “Home Alone”

9:15 p.m. – “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”

11:55 p.m. – “Home Alone 3”

Monday,...

Good tidings Freeform brings, as the network celebrates the adored seasonal tradition of 25 Days of Christmas. The programming event returns to spread holiday cheer starting on Sunday, December 1.

A delightful collection of Christmas favorites is being offered to make spirits bright, including Home Alone, The Santa Clause trilogy, and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Select airings of perennial favorite Home Alone will incorporate “pop-up” facts about the classic holiday movie.

Jingle all the way with Disney family classics like Frozen, the Toy Story franchise, and Disney’s A Christmas Carol. Other holiday faves airing throughout the month include Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Arthur Christmas, plus Rankin-Bass’ beloved specials, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, plus much more!

Plus, the merry lineup features a network premiere featuring the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey’s...

It’s November 1, and Freeform is already ready to start spreading holiday cheer.

The network released its 25 Days of Christmas schedule Friday, revealing all the programming coming up in December. There’s something for everyone, with things kicking off at 7 a.m. and extending through at least midnight every day from December 1 to 25.

The lineup includes classics like the Home Alone films, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Santa Clause movies, Miracle on 34th Street and multiple versions of The Grinch.

There’s also some non-holiday films sprinkled in, including Moana and Toy Story.

And, as always, Freeform has a few network premieres planned, including one for Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You on December 1, after which it’ll repeatedly air through Christmas Day. Dashing Through the Snow and Santa’s Little Helper are also getting a Freeform debut on December 8.

See the full schedule below.

Freeform’s 25 days of Christmas is back for another year just in time for the holidays.

Kicking off on Dec. 1, the lineup will include classics like the “Home Alone” movies, “Miracle on 34th Street” (1994), “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “The Santa Clause” franchise, both versions of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Disney family-favorites will also broadcast throughout the month, including “Frozen,” the “Toy Story” films and “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” while “Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Dashing Through the Snow” and “Santa’s Little Helper” make their Freeform debuts.

Here’s the full schedule for Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas.

Sunday, Dec. 1

7:00 a.m. – “Prep & Landing”

7:30 a.m. – “Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas”

9:00 a.m. – “Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas”

10:30 a.m. – “Mariah Carey’s...

One of the only movies that is popular during both Halloween and Christmas is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. While the film’s plot deals with both holidays, the movie is meant for Halloween. Here’s why the movie will remain an awkward fit for the Yuletide season forevermore.

‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ loves Halloween more than it loves Christmas

When fans think of The Nightmare Before Christmas, they think of the residents of Halloween Town, such as Jack Skellington, Sally, and Oggie Boogie. Santa Claus takes a back seat in the storyline. He’s less of a character in the movie and more of a plot device.

Furthermore, the movie seems to have more love for Halloween than for Christmas. The Pumpkin King is portrayed in a loving light. Meanwhile, Santa is righteously ticked off for getting mistreated, but he’s still a grump. Whereas most children...

Halloween is here, which means it’s time to get going on watching classic Halloween movies. If you’re crunched for time and need a cheat-sheet as to where to stream the best of the best, we’ve got you. Below we’ve rounded up a list of where to stream 15 classic Halloween movies right now. This includes true icons like the original “Halloween” and “Scream,” family friendly fare like “Halloweentown” and “Nightmare Before Christmas” and unforgettable ‘80s slashers that’ll have you hiding under your blanket.

Check out our list below, if you dare.

Compass International Pictures/Aquarius Releasing “Halloween” (1978)

Streaming on AMC+ and Fubo

The Og. The classic. The icon. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” was a small-budget indie that spawned a franchise as slow-moving serial killer Michael Myers tormented the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. Jamie Lee Curtis achieved “scream queen” status with her turn...

Netflix’s rom-com series Nobody Wants This attracted more viewing in its second week, moving up one spot to second overall in Nielsen’s weekly streaming charts.

The series starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody drew 1.21 billion minutes of watch time for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 6, a 16 percent improvement on its premiere week. It also moved up one spot in the overall rankings, as the prior week’s second-place title, Inside Out 2, dropped by 50 percent to a still strong 908 million minutes of viewing on Disney+.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story finished first overall for the third consecutive week with 1.41 billion minutes of viewing, down about 41 percent week to week. Netflix’s dating show Love Is Blind returned to the charts with a billion-minute week; its seventh season premiered on Oct. 2.

Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuted its season two finale on Oct.

It’s Halloween evening and your kiddos are more than ready to go trick-or-treating. But it’s a school night, so you don’t want to be out too late. How about a movie and popcorn? You can’t go wrong with that combo! That is unless your little one is not a big fan of scary movies. And if that’s the case, we’re here to help!

If you’re a fan of horror, but also a parent, I understand you all too well. I have been trying to get my kids into scary movies for the longest, but it’s tough to know where to start. I’ve been doing a lot of rewatching, going through some movies from back in the day to make sure there’s nothing that will send the kids with nightmares to bed.

Below, I share 5 great movies and shows available on...

Get ready for a spooky – and funny – Halloween. Special holiday episodes are a tradition for CBS’s Ghosts, and 2024 is no exception. This year’s spooktacular episode will air on Oct. 31, and we have all the details you need to know about when and how to watch and what to expect.

‘Ghosts’ 2024 Halloween episode airs Oct. 31

The fourth Ghosts Halloween special, “Halloween 4: The Witch,” airs Thursday, Oct. 31 at 8:30 p.m. Et/Pt on CBS.

In the episode, the ghosts are looking for some excitement after Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) cancel Halloween because of past holiday disasters. When uptight ghost Patience (Mary Holland) becomes convinced that Sam can summon the dead, she convinces the other ghosts to try her as a witch.

Sam isn’t concerned about her upcoming trial, but Jay is worried.

“Patience is not to be trifled with,” he says in a...

Looking for a Halloween movie for kids, adults, and everyone in between? There’s a whole roster of animated seasonal favorites that hit the sweet spot and most of the greats are available to watch on streaming this year.

Where can you find them? We’ve got the guide you need so you can watch your favorites without wasting time, because sometimes, nothing hits quite like an animated Halloween movie when you’re trying to tap into that sense of child-like holiday spirit.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” (Disney)

Streaming On: Disney+

The Goat and the one that paved the way for a lot of the subsequent movies on this list, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is the perfect film to carry you through the holiday season, from Halloween to Christmas. Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? Folks like to debate that one, but it’s there in stunning stop motion,...

As seen from the yearly tradition of re-releasing perennial Halloween favorites The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus, Disney fans and movie fans keep flocking to these horror favorites to liven the season. And as seen from the box office, audiences are surely turning up.

However, the studio has a lot more in their library that can make for great Halloween traditions in the cinema. Imagine these hidden gems and cult classics getting a second life on the big screen, with seats being filled by fans and first-timers.

With that, here are five potential Disney movies that make for great re-releases for every Halloween season:

Frankenweenie (2012)

Tim Burton always knows that his comfort zone is in stories with horror undertones and paying tribute to his horror idols. So, he went for the chance to do both with adapting his 1984 short film and turning it into a black-and-white stop-motion flick.

But...

Halloween is one of those days when families or even friends come together to feast on delicious food, spend quality time, and obviously, gobble down a truckload of sweets and chocolates. And honestly, it’s the best day to put on Halloween-themed movies and other horror/thriller flicks. When you talk about Halloween cult classics you think about movies like The Shinning, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Scream, Halloween (1978), The Conjuring and the list just goes on!

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian Owens in Practical Magic | Credits: Warner Bros.

But there’s one movie which despite its lackluster performance at the box office is considered a spooky season cult classic, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s iconic Practical Magic. However, its failure to achieve big numbers at the box office and positive reviews from movie critics might’ve been caused by a small accident involving an actual witch.

As the final stretch of October sets in, there is still plenty of time to catch favorite flicks, spooky, witchy, scary or cozy in the season of pumpkins, monsters and more. Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween has several classic films airing all month long such as Casper (1995), Arachnophobia, Goosebumps, Edward Scissorhands, etc.

More recent films like 2021’s Ghostbustesr: Afterlife, 2022’s Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) and Haunted Mansion (2023) will also be available. Disney+ is the home of several of the movies in the below list, as is Max. Follow along below for your favorite titles as well as what is available by streamer and network.

Movies:

While Bram Stoker’s Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola is streaming on MGM+, several other vampire movies like Interview with the Vampire are available on Max. Peacock also boasts a couple newer fanged flicks like Renfield (2023) and Abigail (2024). Twilight is not streaming anywhere currently, but...

The mainstream film industry seems like it’s finally ready to accept that animation can also be used to tell adult-oriented stories, but there are still very few animators that specialize in creating hand-crafted frights. In fact, most of the popular spooky animated films out there were actually directed by the same legendary filmmaker – the insanely talented Henry Selick.

However, after making it big in the ’90s with The Nightmare Before Christmas (as well as the less successful but still entertaining James and the Giant Peach), Selick decided that it was time to try his luck with live-action storytelling, a decision that led to the infamous 2001 flop Monkeybone. However, despite the film’s reputation as a nearly incomprehensible mess, today I’d like to discuss how this oddball production might still appeal to modern-day horror fans.

Before Monkeybone there was Kaja Blackley’s Dark Town. An indie comic-book about a...

2024 has been very kind to Tim Burton. After years of commercial or critical flops, Burton's comeback started in 2022 with "Wednesday" season 1 and peaked with the recently-released "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" — a movie that was not just a success, but also became one of Burton's biggest hits ever. Now, a beloved Tim Burton animated movie is climbing the streaming charts.

Halloween is upon us, and that means the Top 10 charts for streaming services across the United States are filled with spooky titles for all kinds of audiences (as well as a handful of miscellaneous titles that managed to climb the ranks). On Max, for example, Burton's 2005 stop-motion animated film "Corpse Bride" is currently sitting comfortably at the number four spot, sandwiched between M. Night Shyamalan's new film "Trap," the latest adaptation of "Salem's Lot," and two chapters in Ti West's "X" trilogy (via FlixPatrol).

"Corpse Bride" follows Victor (Johnny Depp...

On paper, everything about Laika Studios’ initial theatrical release of Coraline feels a bit like a fever dream: a stop-motion animated horror film geared towards children based on Neil Gaiman’s even darker namesake novella, released in early February during the tail-end of The Great Recession, whose lead talent included Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. By the time it was released in 2009, films like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and The Corpse Bride (2005) had helped pave the way for stop-motion in the mainstream. But for a little-known studio like Laika (Coraline was one of Laika’s first projects), banking on the success of such a niche concept felt quite ambitious. Sure, Laika had Nightmare alumni Henry Selick take the helm on the film, but it seemed like there was a lot stacked against it: the Recession had folks frugal about spending, social media was still way in its infancy to be effectively leveraged for marketing,...

“The Big War,” one of Europe’s most ambitious feature projects brought to market at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is heading the AFM with some incredible new graphics for its CG animal cast.

Inspired by the iconic two-part graphic novel “La Bête Est Morte,” written by Edmond-François Calvo during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II and published just after the liberation of Paris, “The Big War” is helmed by “La Haine” director Mathieu Kassovitz and produced by leading French producer Aton Soumache, whose recent credits include Annecy winner “Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be” and Netflix’s mega-hit “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, the Movie.”

Given that the original book has very little by way of narrative, longtime Tim Burton collaborator Caroline Thompson, the award-winning screenwriter of “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” was recruited to adapt the screenplay. Former Cannes Film Festival...

The top film of the box-office weekend seven days ago, Smile 2, found itself relegated to second place this weekend as Venom: The Last Dance debuted in first place and bested last weekend’s top film by $41.6 million.

In its first weekend of release, Venom: The Last Dance brought in $51.0 million for Sony Pictures Releasing. This was more than enough to unseat last weekend’s top film, Smile 2, and take control of the top ten. Despite falling to second place, Smile 2 still managed to bring in $9.4 million in its second weekend of release for Paramount Pictures, bringing its overall total to $40.7 million. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures saw The Wild Robot drop a spot and claim third place with $6.5 million in its fifth week of release – raising its total to $111.4 million. Focus Features enjoyed a $6.5 million debut for Conclave as well as a fourth-place finish as the film finished just south of The Wild Robot.

If you’re wondering what to watch on Max this month, here are the best new movies streaming in October 2024. They range from brand-new horror films to spooky classics to two very different serial killer thrillers, starring the likes of Josh Hartnett, Elizabeth Debicki, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. It’s a grab-bag of films perfect for your Halloween viewing. Check out our list below.

“Salem’s Lot” (Max) Salem’s Lot (2024)

Welcome (back) to “’Salem’s Lot.” While this new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel was originally meant for theatrical exhibition, it finally debuted this month on Max. In this latest iteration, Lewis Pullman stars as Ben Mears, the Soul/Lowe character, a novelist who returns to his sleepy (and potentially doomed) home town of Jerusalem’s Lot to work on a new novel and finds that this hamlet has been taken over by filthy vampires. (Don’t you hate when that happens?...

IndieWire has all sorts of horror and Halloween recommendations for you to have a scary-good time on October 31. But while “The Nightmare Before Christmas” teaches us the potential danger of indulging in Halloween all year round, perhaps you would like Halloween to stretch out a little longer?

That’s where TV can continue to haunt your watch list for weeks and months. This got us specifically thinking about Korean TV series and how they make use of supernatural and fantastical elements for more than just horror purposes — K-dramas love a comedy or heartwarming character piece with a ghost or reincarnation element; they equally love a silly rom-com or a poignant slow-burn with a ghost; and there are fantastic action series where the goal of defeating supernatural spirits and demons is what paves the way for the aforementioned rom-coms and slow-burns.

So, the IndieWire Crafts team has compiled a list of...

The Kardashians have always been known for going hard for Halloween, perhaps even a little too hard. And they’re happily – I like to think spookily – passing on this habit to the next generation.

Kim Kardashian Shares Latest Family Outing With Fans On Instagram: “@nightsofthejack with the Fam”

The kids are getting their Halloween spirit on on latest outing that saw sisters Kourtney, Khloé, and Kim take their wee ones for a day of proper scaring. Momager Kris Jenner joined along for the ride, as the grandkids enjoyed a festive time at Nights of the Jack in Calabasas, Calif., on Oct. 18.

Kardashian shared the immersive experience with fans in an Instagram Story carousel. The Skims founder kicked off the trip to the Nights of Jack documentation with a video of Kris looking adorable with her grandkids. She captioned the clip of the Og momager posing with the grandkids, “@nightsofthejack with the fam .”

Turns out we,...

Two new films cracked the box-office weekend top ten this past weekend, and one of them – Smile 2 – took over first place by a margin of $12.9 million.

Paramount Pictures saw the horror sequel Smile 2 debut in first place this weekend as it took in $23.0 million over its first few days in release. This was more than enough to best second-place finisher The Wild Robot which held onto second place for another week with $10.1 million. This gives the Universal Pictures product a four-week total of $101.7 million. Meanwhile, last weekend’s top film, Cineverse’s Terrifier 3 fell two spots to land in third place where it took in $9.3 million to lift its overall total to $36.2 million. Similarly, Warner Bros. saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice remained steady in fourth place, adding $5.0 million over the weekend, raising the film’s seven-week total to $284.0 million. The second debut of the weekend, A24’s We Live in Time...

Joker: Folie à Deux may have used Dick Van Dyke's "Put On A Happy Face" in its promo, but it's Smile 2 that has the whole world smiling with it. The entity clearly did its job, because the horror sequel spread to the masses in a big way.

For theaters still in shock over the historic collapse of “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.), there’s optimism with the “Smile 2” opening of $23 million and Sean Baker’s strong award contender “Anora” (Neon) becoming the year’s best platform debut. (Baker’s also joining IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit November 2.)

In its third weekend, Todd Phillips’ film grossed under $2.2 million to drop another 69 percent and place sixth. With $56.4 million in, its domestic gross will fall short of $65 million. Bad for the studio and worse for the theaters that counted on another $135 million or so in box office revenue (and accompanying concessions).

With “Smile 2,” Parker Finn’s sequel to his 2022 horror success inched slightly ahead of the original’s opening weekend, which went on to gross $90 million. “Smile 2” will have a hard time replicating that, particularly with “Venom: The Last Dance” (Sony) debuting this Friday.

‘Smile...

Paramount Pictures’s decision to turn Smile, which was originally meant to be a streaming-only film, into a wide theatrical release has continued to pay handsome dividends for the studio. Smile 2, the critically acclaimed sequel, managed to (narrowly) outgross its predecessor’s opening weekend, making a handsome $23 million this weekend (just slightly ahead of our predictions). With a budget in the $27 million range, that’s a solid result for what could become the studio’s first big horror franchise since the Paranormal Activity series ran out of steam some years back.

For the sequel, director Parker Finn expanded the scope, with star Naomi Scott (in an excellent performance) playing a Taylor Swift-style pop star who winds up cursed. Given the ending, Finn may return for a third film with an even broader scope, but one has to wonder how long he’ll stay committed to the franchise. He...