Top 5 Popular Movie Character Halloween Costumes for 2008

So, you are running around looking for a new Halloween costume. You don't want to spend too much time or money on it, but you want something that is going to look good, last into future Halloween seasons, and be recognizable to avoid any confusion as to what you are. With this summer's new crop of blockbuster movies, comes a number of different options for your Halloween costume. The rise of the superhero genre in American movies has led to their prevalence as Halloween costume options. While these costumes are all based on male characters, they can just as easily be worn by girls and women alike. All prices are from the website, www.costumesupercenter.com.

1) The Hulk
The movie, TheIncredible Hulk was released this June to wide audiences. The film was the second new Hulk movie to be released in the last five years, this time with Edward Norton playing the title character. The Hulk is an ordinary man who is transformed into a muscle-bound green monster when angered. The transformed green man always works as a Halloween costume because it is simple and immediately recognizable as the Marvel comic character. With renewed interest brought on by the movie, this character will make a good costume choice for you or your child.

Unless you make it out to the gym seven days a week, throwing steel and eating healthy mass quantities of protein, you are probably not just going to be able to paint yourself green, rip some pants, and be done with it. A good Hulk costume will have built in muscles, some face paint, and pre-torn pants. If you are going with the giant green anger man suit, then you have a couple of options. You can get an upper body suit with fake muscles and some green face paint. The suit will cost $44.99 and the face paint will cost another $2.99. If you go with the larger, inflated suit, that covers the entire body and includes some ripped blue shorts drawn on, it will cost $69.99. The inflated outfit could be a useful design if you are going with the funny angle for your Hulk costume.

2) Iron Man
Another marvel comic superhero film released in 2008, was Iron Man. Iron Man was a big early summer hit movie, with Robert Downey Jr. playing the title role. In the movie, Tony Stark is a man kidnapped and forced to design a destructive weapon. Instead, he builds a suit which helps him save himself, and keep the world free from danger.

The suit itself, colored dark red and gold, would be unbelievably difficult to replicate on your own. Store bought, the Iron Man suit comes with several options as well. For adults, you can buy a value suit, with just the padded shirt and helmet, which costs $44.99. The gloves are sold separate and cost $8.99 for the pair. The full suit with helmet is available for children in three varieties. You can buy a light up muscle suit, which cost $39.99, a regular muscle suit which cost $29.99, or a regular suit for $22.99. Again, the gloves are sold separately for these costumes, and will cost some extra money as well.

3)Indiana Jones
A classic Halloween costume is given new life this summer with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The fourth installment in the Steven Spielberg epic adventure series, The Crystal Skull, was one of the top grossing movies of the summer season, with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Indiana Jones.

In the films, Indiana dons a brown Fedora hat, leather jacket, and khaki pants. By his side are his satchel, machete, and trusty whip. A good Indy costume will include all of these these articles. You can purchase an adult deluxe costume, which includes the brown Fedora hat, faux leather jacket, and pants, for a cost of $44.99. The whip, machete, and satchel are all sold separately. The whip goes for a cost of $4.99, the machete will cost $7.99, and you can pick up the satchel to complete the costume for a cost of $6.99. Just be careful with the whip, overusing it can begin to wear on party-goers hoping to keep their drinks in hand.

4) Batman, and 5) The Joker
This summers biggest hit movie, turned out to be its highest grossing. In fact, while it is still in theaters, The Dark Knight, is already the second highest grossing movie of all time, behind only Titanic. The hero of the film is its title character, Batman, who is played by Christian Bale, his second go around as the winged crusader. The Batman costume is always a hit on Halloween, and the success of the movie should only increase the number of dark knights on the streets this year.

Batman costumes are usually pretty difficult to fabricate and you are better off going with the store bought versions. A deluxe detailed version of the costume is available for a cost of $399.99. While this price is not cheap, it won't get much better for detail and design, as the costume features all of the Batman elements, mask, cape, belt, and armored suit, all with a very real appearance. If you are looking for a costume that is a little less expensive, there are three different versions of the suit available at a cost ranging from $43.99-$49.99. There are also some great accessories available for the Batman costume. Gloves are available at a cost of $16.99, batarangs can be purchased at a cost of $7.99, and a grappling hook will go for a cost of $6.99.

The look and clothing design of The Joker is as distinct as any movie character. If you want to copy the Dark Knight version of the mad clown, and design your own costume, the cost will not be cheap, and it will require a lot of work. First, you will need a makeup kit. Then you will need to find a vintage clothing store with a purple jacket, green vest, bright colored tie, purple pants, black gloves, and a gray button down shirt. The ability to sew and design an outfit on your own may also come in handy.

If store bought is more convenient for you, a detailed, authentic version of the Joker costume is available for a higher price. For $159.99 you get a makeup kit, mask, gloves, vest, tie, jacket, pants and shirt, all coming together to create a scary and fun Joker costume. The design is slim and recreates Heath Ledger's creepy movie version of the villainous Joker. You can get a more economic version of the Joker costume for a cost of $55.99. The costume includes a mask, jacket, vest, tie, shirt, and pants, and if you want gloves, they can be purchased at a cost of $14.99. For both versions of the costume, a toxic green colored wig can be purchased for a cost of $16.99.

All five of these costume choices also have several options for your child and his or her Halloween outfit.So, you are running around looking for a new Halloween costume. You don't want to spend too much time or money on it, but you want something that is going to look good, last into future Halloween seasons, and be recognizable to avoid any confusion as to what you are. With this summer's new crop of blockbuster movies, comes a number of different options for your Halloween costume. The rise of the superhero genre in American movies has led to their prevalence as Halloween costume options. While these costumes are all based on male characters, they can just as easily be worn by girls and women alike. All prices are from the website, www.costumesupercenter.com.