Halloween. If you believe the movies, it's a mash up of fun, sex, partying and death. From hordes of trick or treating children to teenagers finding themselves in precarious situations, it truly is a night to remember. In reality, Halloween has never been that 'cool'. Perhaps it's because here in old Blighty at least, parents would never let children run amok on the streets after dark. It's couple of bags of Haribo and a handful of witches and vampires knocking at your door. And parties are never as wild as movies make them out to be. I've been to Halloween parties back in my university days...I don't think there was a serial killer slashing their way through the guests in sight. I wondered if perhaps the Halloween we see in the movies was what an all-American Halloween was like. So I spoke to fellow US-based WhatCulture writer Mikey Heinrich and got his thoughts on the matter. A kind of trans-Atlantic feel to this article. Hordes of trick or treaters? Not really. Turns out US parents are as sensible as us Brits. With that in mind, I look at 10 movies that are far cooler than real life. Or at least my perception of what Halloween is really like. If your experiences are far different, feel free to comment below!
8. Costumes Are Put Together At A Drop Of A Hat (Hocus Pocus: 1993)
Really? Every Halloween costume in the movies looks fantastic. It looks expensive. It looks easy to make. It doesn't smell (I'll come to that in a minute). And it makes you look sexy and dashing. Of course, that's a load of old rubbish, isn't it? I'm talking about Halloween parties with teenagers and adults, like the big party scene from
Hocus Pocus. Every parent has somehow found time in their busy lives to make their costumes from scratch. (Sure some of these made were shop bought, but not all of them) In
Hocus Pocus, the costumes are elaborate and classy, as you'd expect in any big Halloween Hollywood film. The truth however, is far from classy. No, you can't put a great Halloween costume together at a drop of hat. And I say this from experience. I attended three consecutive Halloween parties in my university days and they were a lot of fun. I took a great amount of time, effort and money to create some great costumes. Let me talk you though my preparations... Year 1: Freddy Kruger costume. I trawled the charity shops for three days before I finally found a red jumper that would suffice. (And wasn't too expensive!). I also bought a cheap brown hat. My easiest purchase was a Freddy Kruger glove. I then got some brown spray paint and some masking tape. I spent a whole day putting masking tape strips across the jumper and spray painting the exposed lines with the brown paint. I applied three coats. In the end, I had a great Freddy Kruger top, hat and glove. However I had applied so much paint, I stank of it! Year 2: Wolverine costume (X-Men movies style) I had an old black jacket from my pre-uni clubbing days. I got two silver coins and painted black triangles on them to make the X symbols and super glued them to my collar. I then bought a pair of black gloves, dismantled my old Freddy Kruger glove and glued the knives to the gloves to make Wolverine's signature blades. I put on a pair of black trousers and shoes and applied pretty much an entire pot of hair gel to transform my hair into his wild Wolverine style. A lot simpler this year. Though my wife (then girlfriend) went as Storm and used an entire can of white hair spay to get the effect she needed! Year 3: The Riddler costume. I bought an old suit from a charity shop, a bowler hat from a joke / costume shop, two cans of green spray paint and one pot of black model paint. It took me an entire day to spray paint everything green. I then realised I needed purple card and elastic and trundled down to a nearby arts and craft shop to obtain these and made myself an eye mask. I then painstakingly painted black questions marks all over the jacket and one big question mark over the bowler hat. Finally I put on a black shirt and purple tie, the spray-painted suit, bowler hat and eye mask. The end result was pretty fantastic, but yet again, I kind of smelt of paint. The reason for this little story? Costumes can't be put together at a drop of a hat. Ever. They take creativity and time. If a movie tells you it's easy, then frankly, they're lying.