halloween movies classic guide stars where are they now© Photo: Getty Images

A guide to the best Halloween movies - and where their lead stars are now

Spooky season is here!

Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
October 13, 2022

The moment the calendar marked 1 October, "spooky season" officially commenced, and as Halloween approaches, there's nothing like a Halloween movie marathon!

MORE: Halloween 2022: Celeb photos, costumes, recipes and more

Though each year a new batch of ghostly and hair-raising films debut, few tend to beat the classics.

WATCH: Meghan Markle reveals Archie and Lilibet's adorable Halloween costumes

MORE: 25 amazing celebrity Halloween costumes you probably forgot

As people turn on their televisions or go to the theater to watch movies like Hocus Pocus, Carrie, Scream and more, some can't help but wonder, where are their main stars now?

Beetlejuice

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The 1988 comedy stars Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Catherine O'Hara. With a star-studded cast like that, it's no surprise none have left the spotlight, with Catherine receiving critical acclaim for her role in Schitt's Creek, Michael as well for Dopesick, and Winona for most recently starring in Stranger Things. Alec has appeared in Supercell, and Geena in 2020's Ava.

Carrie

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Sissy Spacek absolutely stole the show and haunted viewers with her role in the 1976 thriller. This year, she starred alongside J.K. Simmons in an Amazon Prime Video show titled Night Sky, which follows "Franklin and Irene York, a couple who years ago discovered a chamber buried in their backyard which inexplicably leads to a strange, deserted planet."

Halloween

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Of course, Halloween needs to be mentioned, as not only is it the ultimate Halloween thriller, but its star, Jamie Lee Curtis, just premiered the franchise's very last iteration this October.

MORE: Jamie Lee Curtis poses in a swimsuit by the pool amid final Halloween premiere

Halloweentown

It's difficult to find a millennial, zillenial, or gen-z'er who didn't grow up watching the Halloweentown movies on Disney every year. The movies' original leading lady, Kimberly J. Brown  – who was later replaced with Sarah Paxton – recently delighted fans by revealing she is actually engaged to her former onscreen enemy in the second movie, Daniel Kountz.

Hocus Pocus

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This October has no shortage of Halloween movie reboots and reprisals, with this 1993 classic premiering its sequel nearly thirty years later earlier this month, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters together again.

MORE: All you need to know about Hocus Pocus 2

Scream

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Scream has been making viewers scream since its first installment in 1996, which expanded into six movies, the most recent having premiered in 2022 and another one for 2023 already in the works. David Arquette and Neve Campbell won't be in the sixth movie, since the latter has some television shows in the works and the former most recently starred in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. But Courteney Cox is set to reprise her role as Gale Weathers yet again.

The Addams Family

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The Addams Family is yet another Halloween film receiving a reboot, with a Netflix show following Wednesday set to premiere in November. Its original cast consisted of Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, and Raúl Julia. Unfortunately, Raúl passed away in 1994, three years after the first film premiered. Anjelica most recently starred in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, and Christina will actually be a part of the Wednesday spin-off, as Marilyn Thornhill.

The Craft

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There's no time like Halloween to get your witch on, and who better to get inspiration from than Robin Tunney, Rachel True and Fairuza Balk? Robin is still acting, having most recently starred in 2002's Horse Girl. Rachel kept the mysticism close to her heart, and is now the author of True Heart Intuitive Tarot, a guidebook to tarot which includes a 78-card illustrated tarot deck as well as 22 memoir essays about her "mystic minded Hollywood life." Fairuza expanded her work into other sorts of art, and she releases music under the name Armed Love Militia.

The Witches of Eastwick

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Halloween movies tend to have the best star-studded ensembles, and this 1987 comedy is no exception. Michelle Pfeiffer most recently portrayed Betty Ford in The First Lady, Susan Sarandon is booked and busy, having had tons of back to back projects in recent years and with more to come, plus Cher continues to be her iconic self, and never shies away from sharing her hilarious takes on Twitter. 

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Jack Nicholson is the only one of the lead stars still not working. He retired in 2010, his last film being How Do You Know, and his team cited memory loss as the reason for his retirement. However, he was spotted in 2021 enjoying a Lakers game with his son Ray Nicholson, who is also an actor.

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