In the whirlwind of costumes and parties, it's easy to forget what Halloween is really all about: candy. The apex of the food pyramid, candy comes in a variety of forms - from fancy treats like truffles and bon-bons to childhood favorites like Fun Dip and candy buttons - and places - from the pillow of a swanky hotel to the snack bar of your favorite sticky-floored movie theater.
This Halloween, instead of enjoying your Peppermint Patties while watching a slasher flick, why not look for that silver wrapper on the silver screen?
This list compiles ten of the best usages of candy in film, be it a mini Mounds bar-sized cameo or a lead role in which the candy Charleston Chews up the scenery.
So, this year, instead of obsessing over a clever costume, cut out the middleman and buy your own goodies, rent a few glucose-friendly flicks, and raise a bag of Pop Rocks in a toast to some of the finest moments in candy cinema.
10. Dancing candy ad, "Grease"
<$>In one of those moments where the scenery actually overpowers the actors, John Travolta belts out his saccharine (and not in a good way) lamentation for his lost Sandy while the real stars of the scene - animated candy boxes and soda cups - dance on the drive-in screen behind him. The back-flipping hot dog is technically a better pun for Danny's lusty heartbreak but the candy boxes are really what make viewer's mouths water.
9. M&Ms, "Empire Records"
<$>As Gina asks, "I got a brown, anybody got brown?" the other Empire Records employees scramble to match their color to hers. The M&M lottery to decide whose music gets to be played in the store that day proves that no modern workplace can function without candy: The M&M bag is the new water cooler.
8. Mind-controlling lollipop, "Zoolander"
<$>Maybe it's no orange mocha Frappuccino, but Will Ferrell's gigantic technicolor lollipop in the mind control video sequence is strangely tempting. More powerful than electroshock treatment, the swirling colors of "Little Cletus"' huge lollipop could easily catch moviegoers off-guard and make them take up arms against world leaders.
7. Chocolate meltdown, "Chocolat"
<$>Proving that you can have too much of a good thing, the Comte De Reynaud's chocolate orgy and subsequent breakdown is the most (and only?) tragic moment in candy on-screen history. Like all good chocolate, this scene is bittersweet as it makes the Lent-starved Comte realizes that it's okay to accept the treats that stand-in Easter Bunny Vianne brings him.
6. Caramels, "Good Will Hunting"
<$>Finally someone realized that it doesn't actually make sense to go out for coffee. Bonus points go to anyone who can use "or maybe we could go somewhere and just eat a bunch of caramels" as a successful pickup line. Also notable is the later scene in the novelty store in which Will makes the handful of caramels "disappear."
5. Pixy Stix sandwich, "The Breakfast Club"
<$>Really no more disgusting than Andy's half dozen sandwiches, Allison's Pixy Stix/Corn Pop hybrid was probably delicious. Ever the resourceful basketcase, Allison even uses the dregs of the Stix to sweeten her already teeth-achingly sugary Coke.
4. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, "Harry Potter"
<$>Enough sugar can make even the calmest person jitter out of control but candy that actually jumps out of its wrapper is something new. Every Flavor Beans don't make a lot of sense since the first rule of candy is that it shouldn't taste like anything that occurs in nature (blue raspberry, anyone?) but magical candy is nonetheless appropriate for Halloween.
2 & 3 (tie). Red licorice, "Wayne's World"; brown M&Ms, "Wayne's World 2"
<$>Everyone who saw "Wayne's World" dreamed that someday they would have their very own Mirth Mobile, complete with ceiling-mounted red licorice dispenser. In the sequel, Del Preston reminisces about macing a Bengal tiger and beating a candy shop owner and his son to death with their own shoes all in the name of getting Ozzy Osbourne a brandy glass full of M&Ms.
1. Everything in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
<$>From the chocolate river to the Scrumdiddilyump-tious bars to the Everlasting Gobstoppers to the candy teacup (my personal favorite), Willy Wonka's factory is a sweet tooth's paradise. And the upcoming remake with everyone's favorite Keith Richards impersonator, Johnny Depp, should only make this story sweeter.
