The following five films embrace the Halloween spirit while offering an alternative to traditional horror films. Think of these as “horror adjacent” films. They have the aesthetics of horror, mixed with other more palatable genres, laughs, and familiar storytelling that lessen the blow of the horror on screen. The list is ranked by the pleasantness of the viewing experiences, to offer non-horror fans a chance to test their comfort within the genre. All these films are available to stream and should make for an enjoyable and hopefully not too scary Halloween experience.

Certainly, fans of the Hitchcock film should enjoy this 21^st century take on the tale, which is as dark and intriguing today as it was in 1938. The action centers on the relationship between a young, naive woman (Lily James) who is swept off her feet by Maxim de Winter, a charismatic widower with a massive English estate called Manderley. The two impetuously marry, but life is not as the young Mrs. de Winter had dreamed.

Joel McCrea leads the way as John Jones, a New York newspaper reporter sent to Europe in 1939 to cover the looming possibility of a world war. For his first assignment, he is asked to cover an event hosted by the Universal Peace Party, an organization devoted to preventing the international conflict. The guest of honor at the event is supposed to be a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer (Albert Bassermann), but he cancels his appearance at the last moment. Days later, the diplomat appears to be assassinated.

By most accounts, 2012 was a good year for movies. Not only were there more quality theatrical releases than normal, the home video offerings were very impressive. The past year was particularly strong when it came to DVD and Blu-ray boxed sets. That’s important because it’s these collections that stand apart and have the potential to convince consumers that DVDs and Blu-rays still have advantages over the increasingly popular digital download. Following are five 2012 boxed sets that rank among the best of the best.  

Surely writer-director Joss Whedon found himself thinking about “Batman & Robin” and similar efforts when charged with bringing the Marvel Comics superhero group The Avengers to the screen. Success would mean merging characters from several previous Marvel movies – “Iron Man,” “Captain America,” “Thor” and “The Incredible Hulk” – and introducing them to even more players. The potential for failure was immense, making it rather astonishing that Whedon not only succeeded but produced one of the best films of 2012 so far. 

Filmcraft: Directing is composed of 16 interview-profiles of internationally acclaimed filmmakers. Goodridge also devotes five Legacy chapters to “innovators and pioneers in the filmmaking field.” The directors he chooses “to represent the first 115 years of cinema” are the usual suspects: Kurosawa, Bergman, Ford, Hitchcock, and Godard — the filmmakers whose films you wind up watching eventually, dutifully.