5 Movies to Watch If You're a Fall Person & 5 to Watch If You're a Halloween Person

5 Movies to Watch If You're a Fall Person and 5 to Watch If You're a Halloween Person

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the perfect movies to watch on those chilly October nights, whether you call it fall or spooky season.

#5: Fall: “Knives Out” (2019)

A revival and a modern reinvention of the classical whodunit genre, “Knives Out” is a hilarious and visually stunning movie with a stacked cast. The premise is fairly simple at first. A detective with a thick Southern accent and a nurse who can’t lie without throwing up, investigate the presumed murder of a mystery writer. Of course, things get very complicated very fast. If the threat of murder and the country manor setting weren’t season appropriate enough, the movie also outfits its cast and locations with many rich browns, oranges, and other autumnal colors.

#5: Halloween: “Donnie Darko” (2001)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays the disillusioned and emotionally disturbed teenager whose enigmatic friend, a demented person in a rabbit suit, puts him on a collision course with fate. Set in October 1988, the movie is brimming with a cynical 80s anti-nostalgia. It’s paced like a dream and full of wistful montages. It also has some deliciously creepy moments, with a major scene taking place at a Halloween party. While it didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, the years have been kind to this psychological thriller. The dedicated cult fandom surrounding “Donnie Darko” speaks for itself.

#4: Fall: “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009)

If you doubt this movie’s fall credentials, just know that its main villain is a turkey and apple farmer who’s a heavy cider drinker. Every frame of this stop-motion movie is pure fall vibes. From a story by Roald Dahl, writer of “Matilda” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” it’s about an erudite fox who has turned his back on a career as a burglar to raise his family. His last big heist puts him and his entire community of talking animals in the crosshairs of three ruthless farmers. As funny and entertaining as it is, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” also just looks incredible. Its detailed miniatures and orange-soaked sets are a feast for the eyes.

#4: Halloween: “Beetlejuice” (1988)

Tim Burton and his Victorian Gothic aesthetic has had a chokehold on Halloween for nearly 40 years. “Beetlejuice” was the movie that put him on the map. If the 2024 sequel weren’t enough to recommend a watch, “Beetlejuice” has become essential Halloween viewing. In a reversal of the traditional haunted house story set-up, two freshly dead ghosts hire Betelgeuse to terrorize the new living family that’s just moved into their house. With mile-a-minute laughs and gross-outs in equal measure, the movie and its rambunctious titular character are timeless. But if it’s jump scares you’re after, it has a few of those too.

#3: Fall: “You’ve Got Mail” (1998)

Don’t you just love New York in the fall? You will after seeing this incredibly 90s romcom where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks play two penpals who meet in a chat room and fall for each other despite not exchanging their real names. Then, things get complicated when one of them realizes they actually do know each other. They’re actually professional rivals in the bookstore business. Even if you’re a true love skeptic, “You’ve Got Mail” has some great images of bookstores, pumpkin stands, and autumnal cityscapes to look at. It’s a great flick to get you excited for the season.

#3: Halloween: “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993)

Look, we can argue all day about whether it’s a Halloween or a Christmas movie, or we can just settle this right now and say it’s both. Jack Skellington rules over Halloween Town, a village full of the creepiest, crawliest creatures you can think of. When Jack accidentally stumbles upon a door to Christmas Town, he becomes infatuated with the holiday, and plots to kidnap Santa Claus. Despite its premise, it’s actually a rollicking good time for fans of both holidays. With its ghostly visuals and music, this stop-motion fantasy musical is a Halloween-themed treat for the whole family.

#2: Fall: “Practical Magic” (1998)

In this fantasy flick, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play sisters who don’t just share the gift of magic. They also have inherited a curse on their bloodline that ensures any man who falls in love with them will suffer a grisly fate. To say this complicates their love lives is an understatement. Although it’s about witches and revenge, “Practical Magic” is not really a horror movie. Instead, it’s about the power of sisterhood and solidarity. Paying attention to the romantic elements of the story, as well as the sisters’ relationship, makes the movie a lot more cozy and approachable. “Practical Magic” is chock full of incredible autumnal aesthetics and a fun, witchy vibe that its stars wear well.

#2: Halloween: “Hocus Pocus” (1993)

The citizens of Salem, Massachusetts burned the Sanderson Sisters for their witchcraft in the 17th Century, but you can’t keep a good diva down. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy form the wickedest and simultaneously dumbest trio of witches you’ve ever seen in this nostalgic Disney hit. Once they’re resurrected on Halloween night, they set about plotting to steal children’s souls and dazzle us all with spectacular musical numbers. If they could figure out the public transit system, they’d be unstoppable. “Hocus Pocus” is a great Halloween movie for the more fainthearted among us.

#1: Fall: “When Harry Met Sally…” (1989)

It’s the quintessential romcom. Director Rob Reiner and writer Nora Ephron based the title couple on themselves, and it’s set the standard for intelligent movies about relationships ever since. The screenplay is crackling with wit and genuine emotion. What’s more, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are outfitted in some of the best looking sweaters ever. What makes it a fall movie is its warmer tone and colors, jazzy score, and absolutely stunning shots of New York covered in leaves. It’s the kind of story you want to cuddle up with as the temperatures drop.

#1: Halloween: “Halloween” (1978)

A horror movie set on Halloween seems like a no-brainer. Even the makers of this movie pointed out that no one had done it before. When this slasher flick was released on unsuspecting audiences in 1978, it invented a genre and launched careers. Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as the babysitter who faces off against Michael Myers, the escaped murderer who returns to his hometown on Halloween night. What makes it so scary is how sparse it is. There’s little gore to speak of, and very little in the way of explanation. That tinkling piano music, the tricks of light and shadow, and the killer’s relentless but slow pursuit of every victim makes this Halloween a night to remember.

What movie do you always watch when fall comes? Tell us in the comments.