It’s Halloween, and there are an infinte amount of ways to celebrate. Pumpkin patches, trick or treating, and of course, watching spooky movies.
Watching Halloween movies is a time honored classic, and there are plenty of movies to choose from. They range from feel-good to scary movies and everything in between. The next time you have a movie marathon, here are some recommendations to get the vibes going. Just make sure you check the content warning first, because although they are all “spooktacular”, some of these films are pretty scary.
Stephen King is arguably one of the best horror authors of all time. He’s written so many books, and there have been lots of movie adaptations. One of my all time favorite movies based off of one of his books is the 1990 film Misery, about an author who gets into a car crash and the horrifying events that follow. Some more movies based on King Novels are It, The Shining, Carrie (1976) and (2013), Pet Sematary, Children Of The Corn, and more. Although it is not a movie, I couldn’t recommend the TV mini series The Stand enough.
Another popular subgenre of horror is slasher films, characterized by mass murders performed by masked killers. Some of my favorite slasher films are Scream, which is probably my all time favorite horror movie. The ending of the movie was very original, and definitely worth a watch if you’re tired of all of the cliché endings. Halloween (1978) is a decades old classic, but I would prefer the 2007 version, directed by Rob Zombie. Another classic is A Nightmare on Elm Street, it is undeniably a halloween classic. Nightmare on Elm Street is arguably one of the most classic slashers, and the plot is genuinely disturbing enough to keep you up at night. Trick ‘r Treat (2007) is also a really good, more recent, slasher, and it’s tied together really well with an interesting comic book style.
Creepy movies can be just as scary as the gory ones; here is a handpicked selection of some of the best. Coraline is an incredibly creepy movie, and one that a lot of GenZ grew up with. It’s plot is based off of a Neil Gaiman novel with the same name, and is very classic. While not strictly a halloween movie, Donnie Darko has very good cinematography, and the ending ties it together beautifully. Beetlejuice and The Addams Family are both classics that have made a resurgence to modern reimaginations with Beetlejuice The Musical and the 2022 hit show Wednesday. Another popular spooky movie is Edward Scissorhands, which goes hand in hand with Sweeney Todd, another Johnny Depp movie directed by Tim Burton.
However, spooky movies aren’t for everyone, which is why I have also compiled some feel good fall films. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a cult classic, and a relatively short watch. Another movie with cozy vibes, Fantastic Mr. Fox is an incredible movie. Directed by Wes Anderson, it’s a classic that was nominated for two grammys. It was loosely based on a novel by Road Dahl, and there’s an amazing level of depth. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is also an amazing movie, and according to the New York Times was record breaking, and made a lot of money in the box office.
There are a lot of Halloween movies out there for you to discover. These recommendations are only a sliver of what is out there, and I would recommend looking for more like these if you liked these. Happy watching, and happy Halloween Warriors!
