Halloween 2K25 – Brandon’s Watchlist Part II

Clueless, Trick or Treat

Clueless was not a show I watched much. I love the movie, and I was excited about the series when it began, but after watching the pilot in 1996, I realized the show really wasn’t catering to the thirteen-year-old boy crowd. I was happy to see so many familiar faces from the movie return in the show, but it just wasn’t for me.

I have no idea why Clueless popped in my head while driving to the store, but I thought it would be interesting to see if they did a Halloween episode. Being that it was a 90s sitcom for pre-teens, it was safe to assume they did several, which they did.

I watched the Halloween episode from season two, Trick or Treat, and it was about par for what I was expecting. Cher blows off her dad’s big Halloween bash to go to a Steve Spielberg party in hopes of running into her dream teen heartthrob. What unfolds feels like a Disney TV movie, completely with an absurd coincidence.

Despite all this, the show did a great job with the Halloween theme, and it did take me back to a time when every show took time to make holiday episodes. It was a decent way to spend twenty-minutes, but I wouldn’t do it again.

Clueless, Scream Again Murray Part I and II

Despite my lukewarm reaction to the first Clueless episode I watched, I decided to see how the next one began. Much to my surprise (and delight) it begins with a Scream homage, and that was enough to sell me. This two-part episode is tremendously better than the previous episode I watched, although I still don’t think I’d recommend it for most folks. It does a fun job playing in the whole “meta” sandbox that occurred after Scream came out, and since I love this era in horror, there was a lot for me to enjoy.

Halloween with the Addams Family

Don Rickles in a Halloween episode of The Addams Family?! Sign me up!

This was a fun episode where two crooks find themselves hiding out in The Addams Family mansion, where of course they get the bright idea to rob the family. Lots of fun hijinks and I have a feeling this will become something I watch each Halloween season.

Poltergeist

Poltergeist is an iconic movie, although I don’t feel like its aged all that well. The pacing is just a little off in the middle, and although the visual effects are still tremendous and there are some great performances, it’s just not a movie I’d revisit again. The only reason I re-watched it was because my wife wanted to see it once again, and she felt the same way once the credits rolled.

The Last Halloween

From the director of Better Off Dead with visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic, this CBS TV special first aired in 1991. I would have been around eight or nine years old, and at the perfect age for this type of special, but I didn’t see it. In fact, I had no idea it existed until I ran across it on YouTube. I hit play just to have something on while I was working on my blog, and once it began, I thought something had to be wrong. The CGI was way too good. There was no way this was made in 1991.

Of course, then I learned that ILM did the alien designs and everything made sense. This is a juvenile Halloween special that almost plays like a demo reel for the visual effects. Not something I’d watch again, but I’m not mad about having watched it.

Intruder on The Last Drive In

I was excited for Joe Bob Brigg’s Splatterween special on Shudder Friday night. I made some pizza rolls, grabbed a soda, and settled in for a night of Joe Bob goodness. Then they announced the first film… A Clown in the Cornfield. Ugh. I already watched this and didn’t care for it.

I still wanted to watch some Joe Bob, so I decided to check out another special, and I ended up picking Intruder, the 1989 slasher film. I watched Intruder and enjoyed it a couple of years ago, and while it’s not a great film, it takes place entirely in a grocery store and I love that. I have so much fun looking at all the retro labels and branding, plus the kills are pretty decent. In fact, there is one kill in this film that is probably my all-time favorite. It’s so impressive what Greg Nicotero was able to pull off back then on a limited budget.

Spookies

Spookies… where do I even begin.

So, this is one of those movies, like Ghoulies, that I saw in the horror section of the video store, but never rented. The only reason I hit play on Tubi the other night was because the Spookies theme kicks serious ass and I wanted to see the movie that such a badass theme song came from. Well… I should have stuck with the theme song.

Spookies is one of those production hell cases. The movie was completed, but a producer had an issue with it, so he hired a different director, different actors, and shot more footage. Then they edited it altogether, and what turned out was well… about as terrible as you’d expect. It’s a nonsensible mess, that’s only redeeming element is the “sometimes” awesome practical effects. There are some great creatures in this film, but I’d rather have seen an edited cut of just the creatures, then sat through this turd.

Now, despite this hate, I will say, had I seen this as a kid I probably would have loved it. I unironically loved Mac and Me as a kid. Sometimes a movie doesn’t need to be good to be enjoyed, and of course, with a child’s mindset, you are so much more open to stupidity. So, I can understand if some folks absolutely love this movie. It has all the elements of a shitty movie one might love.

Cheers, Fairy Tales Do Come True

I’ve been watching Cheers over the past year, and I just recently watched this episode, but I wasn’t mad about revisiting it. It’s a Cliff episode that takes place on Halloween, where he meets a woman in a costume whom he really hits it off with. The bar is decorated, and it really leans into the Halloween theme, which I am such a fan of. This was a great episode, and a little change of pace since it’s more about romance than Halloween, but it works well.

Cheers, Diane’s Nightmare

This episode of Cheers aired right before Halloween, but isn’t Halloween themed. Instead, it’s one of those spooky themed episodes (well… it has a couple of spooky scenes), that doesn’t feature costumes or decorations, and sadly, just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Superstore, Multiple Episodes

I won’t recap this since I’ve already written a post specifically for it, but I also watched the Halloween themed episodes of Superstore.