“A list of not so conventional, clever costumes that borrow from film to inspire frights and delights.”
With the moon’s glow incrementally enveloping more and more of the night’s sky, and the crack of stray, premature firecrackers punctuating the darkness, we creep closer to Halloween. In preparation, we’ve gathered some of our favorite shots from film of characters in character. Some cake themselves with layers of make-up and blood to attend ungodly ragers, while others haunt from behind a mask. But fear not (or wait, maybe do); if you’re looking for an option a touch more delicate, there’s something for you too. Peer on, for a handful of frights and delights…
Pick the low-hanging fruit straight from the patch, and select a Jack-o’-lantern mask like the kid from Drive. The easiest, still thought-out costume you’ve ever worn.
An early aughts girl’s dream, Eternal Sunshine’s Clementine (Kate Winslet), coolly embodies the skeleton of memories lost. But beware, you’ll more likely than not be mistaken as Phoebe Bridgers.
While Baz Luhrmann’s take on Shakespeare’s historical star-crossed lovers isn’t necessarily conventional, a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as a knight in shining armor and an angel are as classic of a couple’s costume as it gets.
Clowns: creepy, comical, or cool? Somehow, in her enviable, choppy green bob, Short Cuts’ Claire (Anne Archer) delivers all three.
If an optimal Halloween night looks like sitting on the couch watching movies while snacking on chocolate under the guise of handing it out to trick-or-treaters, you can never go wrong in a cozy, cheerful cat costume.
It wouldn’t be the season of the undead without a reference to those from the underworld. Borrow some branches from the realm of the living to become one with the living-dead…
What appears as glamorous on the surface sometimes masks a darkness lurking underneath. Dress as the entrancing, jewel-headed star of Dario Argento’s characteristically stylish horror.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s character ‘The Child Catcher’ sets the blueprint for why never to take candy from a stranger, as the old saying goes. But that doesn’t mean his campy, candy-coated costume doesn’t make for an enchanting wear.
Equal parts goth dream and Madonna in her Like a Virgin era, Angela, in all her possessed glory, became an instant ‘80s cult icon. Channel her or one of the cinematic figures that followed her fashion lead.
More opera, more masks. Take a cue from Brian de Palma’s unnerving musical that pastiches all kinds of literary and theatrical inspirations, from Faust to the titular Phantom (of the Opera, that is).
Absurd at its core, the Bear Man we see ever so briefly in The Shining might just be the scariest costume on this list. His significance in the film is the subject of several theories, each more disturbing than the last…
Last but not least comes one of film’s most memorable Halloween scenes, where Cady Heron gets acquainted with the girl-world tradition of dressing slutty for the season. Whether a Playboy-esque bunny or gnarly bride fits you best, marvel in the delight that for one night a year, anything goes. And, like Cady, if anyone asks why you’re dressed so scary, remind them: “It’s Halloween.”
Words by Marina Sulmona