Chelsea Gubbels | Arts & Life Co-Editor

With Halloween quickly approaching, one of my favorite things to do is to watch Halloween movies. Now, I know I am not alone because at various times I’ve seen students post on social media with excitement about different Halloween movies that were on television. So, with that said, I sought out some of Buena Vista University’s (BVU) biggest movie gurus to see what their go-to movies are this time of the year.

If you’re looking for a more recent release, Skyler Gorsett says “Insidious” is the way to go.

“[It’s] definitely one of the scariest PG-13 horror films I’ve ever seen, and the way they used the song “Tiptoe through the Tulips” by Tiny Tim made it all the scarier,” Gorsett said.

He also says the 2007 release of “1408” is another one of his favorites.

“What’s scarier than a hotel room that wants to kill you? I’ve asked myself that questions many times since I saw the movie “1408” starring John Cusack, and other than clowns, I have yet to find an answer. The storyline is really great and goes deeper than most generic horror films where a group of teens try to stay the night in some haunted place or whatever. This movie takes the viewpoint of one who disagrees with the concept of haunting altogether and is, in the movies universe, a well-renowned author who writes entire books on how un-scary certain famous ‘haunted’ spots are. Of course now he meets his match when he discovers the haunted hotel room #1408,” Gorsett said.

I also asked Spencer Bottorff what some of his favorite Halloween movies were. He mentioned that two of his preferences were “Scream” and “Van Helsing.”

“’Van Helsing’ is the Hugh Jackman movie that has him playing the monster hunter chasing down and taking on classic monsters like Frankenstein, the wolf man, and Dracula. It is more of an action movie, but it has all of the classic Halloween monsters in one movie. And to top it off it has Hugh Jackman; I rest my case,” Bottorff said.

If you’re not one for the classic scary Halloween movies, no need to be discouraged; there are still a great array of options for you, too! Look for movies such as: “Hocus Pocus,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Practical Magic,” “Beetle Juice,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Halloweentown,” “Twitches,” “The Addams Family,” and “Casper.”

Whether you want a jump-out-of-your-seat scary or are looking for a fun, relaxing, Halloween movie, there is a movie out there for you! Halloween is one of the best times of the year, so sit back and enjoy these movies while they’re here because soon enough Christmas movies will take over.

Graphic by Justice Gage