Dear Millennials. In the late 90s, when cable TV was important, the Disney Channel released TV movies called Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM).

“Blink,” “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century,” “The Smart House,” and “Johnny Tsunami” became “cultural classics.

It is difficult to explain the importance of DCOM to those who have not experienced it. Let's start here: “High School Musical 2” averaged 17.2 million viewers and the second game of the 2024 World Series averaged 13.44 million viewers. These movies were must-see TV shows, events that people would gladly watch at home on a Friday night.

The Disney Channel responded to seasons and holidays, one of the biggest being Halloween. The Disney Channel loved to celebrate the spooky season in October with new movies. Below is a ranking of the seven best Disney Channel original movies for Halloween.

In an example of great casting, Caroline Rhea of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” returns to her supernatural roots in “Mama Dates a Vampire.” Lynette Hansen (Rhea) is a divorced mother of three children: chelsea (Laura Vandervoort), Adam (Matt O'Leary), and Taylor (Myles Jeffrey).

To ease their mother's discipline, Chelsea and Adam ask their mother out on a date with the handsome Dimitri (Charles Shaughnessy). Unbeknownst to the children, Dimitri is an evil vampire bent on biting Lynette. It is up to the children and a mysterious vampire hunter to save their mother. Robert Carradine, Lizzie McGuire's father, plays the vampire hunter, Malachi Van Helsing, which is still funny and very shocking. At any rate, you should see it for that revelation alone.

Watch on Disney Plus

Tia Mowry and Tamela Mowry were Disney royalty in the 90s thanks to “Sister, Sister” After the show ended in 1999, the Mowry twins became movie stars on the Disney Channel and were featured in Twitches,” which became one of their best films. A royal witch (Kristen Wilson) gives birth to twins Alex (Tia) and Cam (Tamela) on Halloween night. To protect them from an evil entity called Darkness, the girls are separated and assigned adoptive parents to care for them on Earth.

On their 21st birthday, Alex and Cam are reunited and learn that they are witches, or “twitches” in this case. With their newfound powers, the witches must work together to destroy the darkness and reclaim Coventry. If “Parent Trap” had a child with “Harry Potter,” the result would be “Twitches. Whatever the case, it's a good thing.

Watch on Disney Plus

Great movies always come with sequels, and in the case of “Halloweentown,” “Halloweentown II” was made: Calabar's Revenge. Two years after saving Halloweentown, 15-year-old Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) becomes a witch thanks to the training of her grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds).

Unfortunately for Marnie, a spell turns the vibrant Halloween Town into a black-and-white world populated by dull humans. Aggie discovers that someone has stolen her spell book to carry out this evil plan. Marnie and Aggie must find the spellbook and restore the spell before it is too late. While the upcoming sequel has subtle results, Halloween Town II: Calabar's Revenge is the film that best recaptures the charm of the original.

View on Disney Plus

The scariest on this list is Don't Look Under the Bed. It takes the childhood fear of monsters under the bed and turns it into a terrifying film for children (and some adults). Frances Bacon McCasland (Erin Chambers) is a high school senior who grew up too fast. Francis never believed in the paranormal, but his views change when he is framed for a strange prank in his neighborhood.

Mortified, Francis becomes the target of a real boogeyman. When the boogeyman kidnaps her little brother, Francis enlists the help of an imaginary friend named Larry (Eric “Ty” Hodges II) and plunges into the supernatural dimension under her bed to save her brother. Watching this as an adult, one would wonder why this children's horror film was aired. In a way, it was admirable that the Disney Channel took a risk and succeeded.

Watch it on Disney Plus

Remember when people used to hang out in movie theaters? The Monster of the Megaplex is a love letter to the movie-loving teenager, 17-year-old Pete Riley (Taylor Handley), who loves his job as assistant manager at the local megaplex. Pete and his crew are setting up the theater for the star premiere of a new movie.

On the night of the premiere, things go haywire and many attribute the hijinks to a mysterious “phantom” who is rumored to haunt the megaplex as a ghost. Pete and his colleagues race against time to catch the Phantom before he ruins the night. It's the Disney Channel version of “Knives Out.”

Watch on Disney Plus

You know a movie is good when Disney remakes it with a new cast more than 20 years later. Disney Channel's first original film. Marshall (Mario Yedidiah) is a horror-obsessed 12-year-old, always looking for his next scare. Along with his friends Amy (Clara Bryant) and Gilbert (Adam Wiley), the trio accidentally discover an Egyptian mummy in an abandoned basement.

To make matters worse, the children accidentally revive the mummy. Luckily, the mummy is harmless, but if the children do not return the mummy to its coffin by Halloween night, it will cease to exist. Under Wraps perfectly blends just the right amount of terror with just the right amount of absurdity to create a funny and entertaining adventure.”

Rent or buy on Google Play

With Halloween in the title, “Halloween Town” was destined to be high on the list. Marnie Piper (Kimberly J. Brown) loves Halloween, but her mother Gwen (Judith Hogue) hates it. Thankfully, Marnie is able to bond with her Halloween-loving grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds); as her 13th birthday approaches, Marnie learns a family secret.

One night, Marnie follows Aggie to Halloween Town on a magical bus. Halloweentown is a place where witches, monsters, and ghosts live in peace, away from humans. However, the inhabitants of Halloweentown are disappearing, and Aggie needs Marnie's help to stop them. Halloweentown is not only an iconic Halloween movie, it is also one of the five best Disney Channel original films ever made.

Watch on Disney Plus