I ain't afraid of no ghost. Welcome back to the
Learn English Podcast, the podcast teaching English
in context so you can learn naturally. My name
is Dr. C, and on today's episode, we will be
getting ready for Halloween. We are going to
get in the spooky season with five movie recommendations
that you can watch before Halloween. Now, if
you are not aware, Halloween is a pretty popular
holiday here in the United States, and it is
celebrated on the 31st of October. So no matter
what day of the week that is, the last day of
October is always when it's celebrated. It comes
with a lot of customs and traditions, which we
will discuss on next week's episode. But to prepare
for Halloween and get in that spooky season,
that spooky mood, we're going to discuss these
five films that are considered to be Halloween
classics. Films that are very popular here in
the United States and that people watch every
year during the Halloween season to get ready
for Halloween and enjoy the holiday. Now, a little
bit about these films. These films are not necessarily
very gory. Personally, I don't like a lot of
blood. I don't like a lot of guts. I don't like
what we would call slasher films, which is where
people get cut up. That's not really what I'm
interested in, so my recommendations are not
really on that side. These recommendations are
still very classic Halloween films, but they're
a little bit... less intense a little bit less
bloody and I tried to include a variety I tried
to include different types of films so hopefully
you will find one or more than one that you would
be interested in watching I'll also leave a link
in the description of the podcast for a website
that you can go on and search to see what streaming
platform these movies are on I have nothing to
do with the website but it's just a resource
that I personally use you can put any movie or
tv show on the website and see what streaming
platform it's on if you don't live in the united
states i don't think this link will work for
you you will have to use a different site for
whatever country you're in but if you're here
in the united states you might find it helpful
So let's start discussing our film recommendations.
The first movie on my list is by Tim Burton.
You're actually going to see him a couple of
times on this list because he is a director who
enjoys spooky, scary movies and does a lot of
movies that are seen during Halloween. Our first
one by him is 1999's Sleepy Hollow. This film
is based off of the legend of Sleepy Hollow,
which is a story by Washington Irving. If you're
not familiar with the story, the story centers
around a character called the Headless Horseman.
So the name kind of describes this character.
This character is a ghost. It is someone who
was a horseman, someone who rode on a horse and
his head has been removed. He's been decapitated.
So because of that, he does not have a head and
he is the headless horseman. Now in the movie,
the headless horseman is terrorizing this town.
There is a lot of people who have been killed
by this character. And the lead character, who
is played by Johnny Depp, comes to try to investigate
and figure out who is controlling the ghost and
why is it that he is doing these things and hurting
these people. Besides Johnny Depp, the movie
also stars Christina Ricci and Christopher Lee,
who is always great in a horror film. This movie,
I would say out of all of the movies on the list,
is the scariest or the spookiest. It also is
the one with the most amount of gore. It's not
a lot. It's not overly done, but just so you're
aware of it. It is there. If you don't like scary
movies at all, this might not be the best option
for you. But if you are a person who enjoys being
scared and wants to watch a scary movie, I would
recommend this one from the list. Our second
film is also by Tim Burton, and it is Beetlejuice
from 1988. This movie is pretty iconic. And the
character Beetlejuice is iconic. The movie itself
won the Academy Award for makeup. And when you
see this character, you will understand why.
The plot of the film centers around a couple
who get in a car accident on the way home and
die. And when they return to their house, they
realize that they are ghosts in their own home.
Now their home gets sold to a new family, and
when the new family moves in, the ghosts want
them to leave. So the ghosts contact Beetlejuice,
who is this fantasy horror character who is supposed
to help get rid of the new family, the people
who are still living, but living in the house.
Now, this film is a little bit more on the comedy
side. It's not strictly a comedy, but it has
more comedy elements. It has more dark humor
in it, we would say. So if you are interested
in that, this might be a good option for you.
Also, the film itself is pretty popular. The
character, like I said, is iconic. It's a beloved
movie, and it's so popular that other media were
spun out from it. So, for example, there was
actually a musical version of the film due to
the popularity of this film. There's also going
to be a sequel. So in 2024, next year, there's
going to be a sequel, Beetlejuice 2, which is
also being directed by Tim Burton and starring
Michael Keaton. If you're interested in seeing
that film, but you haven't seen the original,
I would recommend watching it. The cast is great
besides Michael Keaton. There's Alec Baldwin,
Geena Davis, a very young Wynonna Ryder. So if
you're interested, check it out. And then you
can always watch the sequel when it comes out.
Our last Tim Burton film is probably the most
popular Halloween film out of his films that
he's done. And the film is called The Nightmare
Before Christmas. Now, this one is actually an
animated movie and a musical. So if you like
musicals or animated film, it might be a great
option. Or if you have maybe teenagers or older
children that you would like to watch with, this
could be an option for you. The film is a little
bit of a controversial topic when it comes to
if it's a Halloween film or not. It's not really
a very intense controversy, but some people argue
that it's not a Halloween film, and I'm going
to describe the plot so you can understand why.
The movie centers around this character called
Jack Skeleton. So Jack Skeleton, like his last
name implies, is a skeleton and he lives in Halloween
Town. The movie is based in Halloween Town, but
it actually takes place at Christmas time. So
part of the plot is that Jack Skeleton goes to
Christmas town and decides to try to take over
Christmas. He actually meets Santa Claus. So
there's a lot of Christmas themes. And because
of that, people argue that it's actually not
a Halloween film. It's a Christmas film. I say
it doesn't really matter. Watch it for both holidays.
Watch it at Halloween. Watch it at Christmas.
Just enjoy the movie. The music, I think, is
really what makes this movie so iconic. The opening
song, the theme, This is Halloween, is one of
my absolute favorite Halloween songs. I play
it every year. And it is just iconic. The music
came from Danny Elfman. Danny Elfman was the
composer on this film. And he was also the composer
on the other two Tim Burton films. He and Tim
Burton have a pretty close relationship. So Danny
Elfman did the music. He also did the singing
voice for Jack Skeleton. And the reason he was
able to do the singing voice is because he was
actually the front man, the lead singer of a
band from the 1980s called Oingo Boingo. If you're
interested, if you like Jack Skeleton's singing
voice, I would say check out that band. They
had some pretty big hits. They were... very popular
here in the United States. And you can always
listen to their music. They do have one song
called Dead Man's Party, which is another song
that I play for Halloween. Great song, great
movie overall. And again, if you like animated
films or musicals, you can check this one out.
Our fourth film on the list is not a Tim Burton
film, but another classic Halloween film. And
it is called Ghostbusters. Now, this movie was
a massive hit when it came out in 1984. It was
considered to be a cultural phenomenon and was
the second highest grossing film of the entire
year. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd,
Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis.
When it comes to 1980s comedy, you really can't
get better than that cast. The movie is more
of a mixture of comedy, action, and horror. And
it was extremely popular. The plot centers around
this group of Ghostbusters. So what they mean
by Ghostbusters is that these are the people
that you call when you have a ghost. When there's
a ghost living in your house or at your work,
these people will come and they will get rid
of the ghost for you. So they will bust that
ghost for you. So they're called Ghostbusters.
Like the Nightmare Before Christmas, this also
has a classic Halloween song. The song I Ain't
Afraid of No Ghost is so popular, so iconic and
tied to this film. Again, one of those songs
that I play every year and you can't get tired
of listening to it. For Ghostbusters, because
it was so popular. There actually was a sequel
called Ghostbusters 2 that came out in 1989.
So if you watched the first film and you enjoy
it, please watch that second one. It is another
classic Halloween movie. For the popularity that
Ghostbusters had, they tried to reboot it in
2016 and they made an all -female version of
Ghostbusters. It wasn't as well -received, let's
say. It was a little bit mixed reviews, wasn't
as popular, but it's a fine movie. So if you're
interested in Ghostbusters, you can check that
one out. There's also a newer sequel that's called
Ghostbusters Afterlife. So the franchise continues
to live on, even though maybe they're not as
popular or the newer installments aren't as well
received. But again, if you watch this one and
you enjoy it, you can check out. those other
films and there's a total of four that you could
watch. The last movie on our list is Hocus Pocus.
This movie came out in 1993 and it is considered
a cult classic Halloween film. Now what that
means is that when this film originally came
out, it was not as well received. It was not
like Ghostbusters. It did not have the cultural
impact. So even though there was mixed reviews
and it did okay at the theaters, it didn't become
popular until after it got released on VHS and
then years later on DVD when people could watch
at home. So when people discovered the movie
on VHS or DVD later on, they fell in love with
the film and started watching the film every
year for Halloween. So it didn't get popular
until later on, and that's why it says that it
has a cult following or is considered to be a
cult classic. The film stars Bette Midler, Sarah
Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as three sisters
who are from Salem, Massachusetts. Now, I have
to say, in real life, Salem, Massachusetts has
a little bit of a dark history. It is tied to
Halloween because it is the site of the Salem
witch trials. We don't have time to get into
that today. That'll have to be on a different
episode. But it was a period of history where
women were accused of being witches. And that's
the setting for the beginning of the film. The
three sisters are accused of witchcraft and are
executed in the town square. Before that, though,
there is a curse that gets put into place so
that they can return on a full moon with the
blood of a virgin. After that, the movie flashes
forward to 1993, which at the time was modern
America. And of course, the witches get released
and now are exposed to modern day culture. So
this movie is more of a comedy, not really as
scary, but more dealing with the antics of these
women who are from the 1600s now getting transported
to 1993 American culture. Just like the other
films, this movie is known for its music. There
is a song, I Put a Spell on You, which is performed
by Bette Midler. If you haven't seen Bette Midler
in other films, or if you don't know who she
is, she's a woman with an amazing singing voice.
She's a wonderful performer, and watching her
perform I Put a Spell on You in this film is
the highlight of the movie, at least for me it
is. It's a great song, and it's a fun movie overall.
Just like Ghostbusters, because it is so popular,
they did come out with a sequel. There was a
sequel that came out recently. It's on Disney+.
If you have Disney +, you could watch it. Not
as well received, not as good as the original,
but if you watch this film and you want to see
how the story continues, you can check it out
and you can watch that one as well. Those are
the five films on my list for Halloween movies.
I tried to include a little bit of something
for everyone. So there's a scary option, action,
animation, comedy. Hopefully from that list,
you can find at least one film, if not more,
that you would be interested in watching. I've
said this before on previous podcasts, but I
believe that input is crucial when you are trying
to improve your English abilities or really if
you're trying to learn any language. Watching
TV and movies in English can help you with your
listening comprehension, your passive vocabulary,
your active vocabulary, and even your cultural
awareness. Those are all things that you want
to improve when you are learning English. Hopefully
you have the time to watch one of these films
and enjoy it and learn a little bit of English
and a little bit more about the culture of the
United States. If you want more episodes like
this, if you would like other film recommendations,
please write a comment and let me know. There's
a lot more movies that I could recommend, so
if that's something you're interested in in the
future, write a comment and tell me about it.
If you're watching on YouTube, please leave a
comment in the comment section below. Let me
know, what is your favorite Halloween film? Is
it something from this list? Is it something
totally different? Let me know because I would
love to hear about it. If you like the podcast
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keep learning English.