Greatest Halloween On Screen
It’s my favorite time of the year for movie viewing—when the shadows get longer, days shorter, and the horror movies come out on cable TV to play. But you know, I’m kind of picky about my Greatest Halloween movies. Don’t get me wrong; any good horror will do during the holiday. But there are tons of great horror movies out there that, for one reason or another, don’t quite feel right to me. For example, The Thing is a great horror movie. But it doesn’t quite fit into my ideal Halloween ambience. Ditto for Alien. In fact, most sci fi horror doesn’t quite make the grade. They don’t have the right vibe, the right atmosphere. So what do I want? What makes for Greatest Halloween horror?
Well, for one thing I don’t think that the movie has to objectively great. There are a lot of movies I watch at Halloween that don’t necessarily warrant high praise. But a sense of fun can go a long way. Even a little camp. But at the same time, the movie can’t be complete and utter dreck (for example: Freddy vs. Jason) to make the Greatest Halloween list.
Setting is important. Locales that remind us of the holiday’s agricultural origins like isolated rural landscapes and bucolic small towns. Old creepy houses also make fine settings. Ditto graveyards, mausoleums, crypts, and tombs. Lots of nighttime scenes. If it lacks any of these, it helps if the movie is set around Halloween or has a strong autumnal atmosphere.
A nod to paganism is good. Old rituals, witches, ancient cults, Satan. Lots of seasonal images like scarecrows, corn fields, pumpkins, and full moons. Further, it helps if the monsters are reflective of some of the same things Halloween celebrates: death/undeath, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, flesheaters, demons. Werewolves, I think, are particularly great Halloween monsters. And if the movie lacks prototypical monsters, then it should be eerie: inspiring fear, dread, or uneasiness or at least hinting at the supernatural and mysterious.
I think a Greatest Halloween movie has at least two of the above qualities. The really good ones have more. Few have them all. That said; let’s look at 100 movies that I think qualify for great Halloween movie viewing. Keep in mind, this isn’t a list of my favorite horror movies overall or the greatest of all time. In fact, a lot of really great horror movies aren’t on this list. But when I think of Halloween, these are the sorts of movies I like to see.
Be warned: this Greatest Halloween list is entirely arbitrary and reflects the tastes of a horror fan who doesn’t particularly love slasher flicks or torture porn. Also, I will use the word “creepy” an awful lot (I find there is no adequate synonym for the word at times). Furthermore, you may find that I enjoy the word “autumnal.” You should, too.
City of the Living Dead (1980)— Halloween attributes: set around the season, lots of undead, gates to hell…what’s not to like? The first Fulci on the list, but not the last. Fulci gives good Halloween, if you ask me.
STREAMING? No.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)—Halloween attributes: Satanic cults and, though it doesn’t have a creepy house, it does have a really sinister and creaky apartment. Bonus: Satan gets a sex scene that’s just dreamy.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Carrie (1976)— Halloween attributes: The supernatural, atmosphere in spades. Sissy Spacek is mesmerizing in the title role.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Nosferatu (1922)— Halloween attributes: The undead, castles, coffins, and shadows.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Plus, Hulu, YouTube
House of the Devil (2009)—Halloween attributes: Old creepy house…in the woods, autumnal atmosphere. And Satan, of course!
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu Plus
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)—Halloween attributes: It’s a fucking cabin…in the woods, people! Loads of cool monsters. Lovecraftian occult references. And it’s fun as fuck.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Plus
Banshee Chapter (2013)—Halloween attributes: Eerie. Just fucking eerie as hell. Things lurking in the darkness.
Bonus: Jump scares that actually work. Also, Ted Levine channeling his inner Hunter S. Thompson
STREAMING? Yes: Netlix
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)—Halloween attributes: Backwoods setting; I can’t think of a movie that has more fun with slasher conventions than this one.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Plus
Stake Land (2011)—Halloween attributes: The undead; empty houses, roads, and landscapes.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Legend of Hell House (1973)—Halloween attributes: Supernatural spookiness, creepy old house.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Plus
Wake Wood (2011)—Halloween attributes: Old pagan rites and a rural setting. Mud and trees and murder.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
John Dies at the End (2013)—Halloween attributes: Scary and fun. Coscarelli does a great job of balancing monsters, mayhem, and wry comedy. This isn’t the last film of his on the list. Like Fulci, he gives great Halloween.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Blair Witch Project (1999)—Halloween attributes: Woodland settings; lots of nighttime shenanigans; a possibly undead witch; dread. If you don’t like it, go stand in the corner!
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Re-Animator (1985)—Halloween attributes: Lots of dark humor; the quest for life after death.
Bonus: Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton are together and they are spectacular.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)—Halloween attributes: This movie is so creepy and eerie it just has to be here.
Bonus: Lots of 70s haircuts and that crazy dog-thing.
STREAMING? Yes:Netflix
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)—Halloween attributes: Ancient pagan rites; lots of fun WTF?! moments; Hugh Grant looking totally out of his element.
Bonus: A large…apparatus is donned. You’ll know it when you see it.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Night of the Living Dead (1968)—Halloween attributes: Rural Pennsylvania setting, at night; loads of undead. A Halloween staple for good reason.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Candyman (1992)—Halloween attributes: The supernatural; urban legends, and folklore; plus, it’s just hard to keep a horror flick off a Halloween list when it has the word ‘candy’ in the title. What’s that in the mirror?
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu Plus
Black Sabbath (1964)—Halloween attributes: Classic horror anthology that has a little bit of everything; undeath.
Bonus: Boris Karloff both stars in one segment and hosts the anthology.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Prime
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)—Halloween attributes: Creepy old mansion; ghosts and other undead; healthy dose of camp; Vincent Price.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu
Night of the Creeps (1986)—Halloween attributes: From the mouth of director Fred Dekker: “I took every B-movie cliché you’ve ever seen: nerds, wise-cracking detectives, corny bit characters, and slimy monsters. I jammed them all together and called it NIGHT OF THE CREEPS.” And thank you for that, Fred.
Bonus: Tom Atkins as ‘wise-cracking’ Det. Ray Cameron answering every phone call with a laconic ‘Thrill me.” This will not be the last time Tom Atkins appears on this list.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Hellraiser (1988)—Halloween attributes: Monsters and creatures; life after death; hints of paganism and the occult; Frank.
Bonus: It will tear your soul apart.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu Plus
Fright Night (1985)—Halloween attributes: The undead; a sense of real fun mixed with the scares; Chris Sarandon was born to be in this movie. Make sure you see the original, not the remake.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Hulu Plus
Creepshow 2 (1987)—Halloween attributes: A troika of tales that don’t take themselves too seriously. Great to have on in the background while dishing the candy. “The Raft” is the strongest segment. Features an undead Creep between segments.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
C.H.U.D. (1984)—Halloween attributes: Lots of monstrous flesheaters, pulpy fun. Bonus: One of the more interesting non-Psycho shower scenes.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Dunwich Horror (1970)—Halloween attributes: Pagan rituals; cemeteries; old houses; B-movie pleasures abound.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)—Halloween attributes: Set during the season; paganism and witchcraft; film isn’t just off the rails, it never bothered with rails to begin with.
Bonus: Tom Atkins heroically manages to keep a straight face throughout and his performance alone salvages the movie. Also, though the plot is absurd, there are a few deeply creepy and disturbing scenes that make it worthwhile.
STREAMING? No
V/H/S and V/H/S/2 (2012 and 2013)—Halloween attributes: Both are hit or miss, but they feature plenty of occultish happenings, the undead, spooky houses, and creepy creatures.
Recommended: the first and last segments of V/H/S (“Amateur Night” and “10/31/9”) and “Safe Haven” from V/H/S 2
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Black Sunday (1960)—Halloween attributes: Witches; undeath; gloomy landscapes; crypts and tombs. Not to be confused with the 1977 movie featuring a blimp.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Crow (1994)—Halloween attributes: Set during the season; the undead; cemetery settings; lots of night scenes.
Bonus: Micheal Wincott channeling his inner Gary Busey as Top Dollar and The Crow quoting Thackeray as narcotics ooze from trackmarks on a woman’s arm.
STREAMING? Yes: Neflix, Amazon Prime
Donnie Darko (2001)—Halloween attributes: Set during the season; though not a horror, creepy as hell.
Bonus: features a monster rabbit named Frank. Also, Jena Malone.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Conqueror Worm/Witchfinder General (1968)—Halloween attributes: Paganism and witchcraft, Vincent Price.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Kill List (2012)—Halloween attributes: Weird occult happenings and pagan rites; relentless tension and dread; bucolic settings.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Zodiac (2007)—Halloween attributes: a non-horror that is eerie as hell and never lets the viewer off the hook.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Berberian Sound Studio (2013)—Halloween attributes: Dreamily dreadful; atmospheric; you can play it with no picture just for the unnerving sound effects.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
Don’t Look Now (1973)—Halloween attributes: Deeply weird, which makes it kind of great. Lots of night scenes; images of decay; dripping gothic structures.
Bonus: features an ending so shocking and strange that I’d say you couldn’t make it up, except Daphne du Maurier did, which…I don’t even know how to comment intelligently about that.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
ParaNorman (2012)—Halloween attributes: The undead; family-friendly frights; will amuse adults as well as children.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)—Halloween attributes: Set during the season; loads of Halloween imagery; ghouls, goblins, undead in spades; features a killer Danny Elfman score.
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix
An American Werewolf in London (1981)—Halloween attributes: Some rural settings; full moon; the undead come back and chat with you about your lycanthropy problem; wickedly fun and funny.
STREAMING? Yes: Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)—Halloween attributes: This is just a really creepy silent film. That is all.
STREAMING? Yes: Amazon Prime, YouTube
Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1958)—Halloween attributes: Rural settings at night; loads of traditional Halloween imagery; ghosts.
Bonus: Ichabod’s rival, Brom Bones (voiced by Bing Crosby), sings a song about the Headless Horseman and uses jazz hands. Fantastic.
STREAMING? No
The Sentinel (1977)—Halloween attributes: The occult and Satanic; the undead.
STREAMING: No
The Evil Dead (1981)—Halloween attributes: Isolated setting in the woods…at night; the undead; Satanic rites and demonic possession; good, scary fun.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Ginger Snaps (2001): Halloween attributes: Loads of scenes at night; autumnal bucolic setting; darkly funny
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
From Beyond (1986)—Halloween attributes: Creepy creatures and flesheaters; Glorious gory fun.
Bonus: Barbara Crampton dons a leather S&M outfit, looks great.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Shutter (2004): Halloween attributes: The undead; dread and unease.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Night of the Demons (1988)—Halloween attributes: Satanism and demonic possession; set in a mortuary at night; campy as hell.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Equinox (1970)—Halloween attributes: Satanic or demonic elements; isolated woodland setting; Cemetery.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Isolation (2006)—Halloween attributes: Rural agricultural setting; creepy-crawly flesh-eating monsters.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu
Fiend Without a Face (1957)—Halloween attributes: Slithery, flesh-eating monsters; rural agricultural settings; splat-tacular fun.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
The Beyond (1981)—Halloween attributes: References to Satanism and the occult; creepy old house; the undead; considerable cheese-factor.
Bonus: That’s right, more Fulci. What’s going on in this movie? I don’t know. Nobody does. Just sit back and enjoy the carnage.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
The House by the Cemetery (1981)—Halloween attributes: Come on! Look at that title! Old creepy house. By a cemetery. Just to be safe, it’s also in the woods. Are there undead? Hell yes!
Bonus: This flick features a gonzo bat-attack. That’s right, someone gets attacked…by a bat. Not a vampire bat. Just a regular old abnormally large bat. Why? No reason. It’s ridiculous. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Kuroneko (1968)—Halloween attributes: The undead; dark, seductive, and eerie.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Inferno (1980)—Halloween attributes: The undead; Satanic and occult references.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
The Prowler (1980)—Halloween attributes: Love the night scenes; bucolic setting; the undead make a cameo.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)—Halloween attributes: A rural, agricultural setting; the undead.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
The Lords of Salem (2012)—Halloween attributes: The occult and Satanism; the undead; cemetery scenes.
STREAMING? No.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)—Halloween attributes: The undead; shallow, but has a sense of fun.
STREAMING? No
Day of the Dead (1985)—Halloween attributes: Loads of flesheating undead. In my opinion, the most disturbing of Romero’s ‘Dead’ movies.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus, Netflix, YouTube
Them/Ils (2007)—Halloween attributes: Creepy old house out in the country invaded by murderous little shits.
STREAMING? Yes: Hulu Plus
Last Man on Earth (1964)—Halloween attributes: The undead, Vincent Price.
STREAMING? Yes: YouTube
Trick ‘r’ Treat (2007)—Halloween attributes: All of them. You cannot be MORE Halloween than Trick ‘r’ Treat. It is impossible. This is the apex of Halloween movies.
STREAMING? No. You’ll have to buy or rent this sucker. You should.
Halloween (1978)—Halloween attributes: Set during the season; small town; lots of action at night; iconic score. This is a movie I appreciate more than I actually like it.
STREAMING? No. But it’ll be on TV like a gazillion times, so don’t worry.
The Ring (2002)—Halloween attributes: The undead; sustained dread.
Bonus: Random and severely disturbing horse death two-thirds of the way through the movie.
STREAMING? No.
Phantasm (1979)—Halloween attributes: The undead; lots of cemetery action; Pagan/occult overtones; The Tall Man; fun as hell.
Bonus: Those crazy, glittering balls of death whizzing through the air. Wheee! Also, Reggie Bannister.
STREAMING? No.
Pumpkinhead (1988)—Halloween attributes: First, it’s hard not to include a horror movie on a list like this if it has the word ‘pumpkin’ in its title; Paganism and witchcraft; Backwoods setting, often at night; awesome demonic creature.
Bonus: Lance Henriksen AND Stan Winston working together on the same film
STREAMING: No. And don’t watch the crappy sequels if they pop up on Syfy or Chiller or wherever. They suck.
The Skeleton Key (2008)—Halloween attributes: Creepy old house; the occult; possible presence of ghosts.
STREAMING? No.
Poltergeist (1982)—Halloween attributes: There are NO childhood fears and anxieties this film does not exploit; the undead; references to the occult and The Beast; cemetery action.
STREAMING? No.
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)—Halloween attributes: Lots of disgusting monsters; Lovecraftian and occult overtones; bucolic Hobbes End.
STREAMING? No
Cemetery Man (1994)—Halloween attributes: The undead; set in a cemetery; funny as hell.
Bonus: Remains on the most eminently quotable and hilarious horror comedies I’ve ever seen. Suck it Shaun of the Dead.
STREAMING? No.
The Orphanage (2007)—Halloween attributes: Ghost children in a dark, old mansion.
STREAMING? No.
Paranormal Activity (2009)—Halloween attributes: Occult/demonic references; scary night scenes that take place while people are sleeping.
STREAMING? No.
The Company of Wolves (1984)—Halloween attributes: Werewolves and flesheaters; full moon lunacy; a mingling of surrealism, wonder, and dread that meshes well with the holiday.
Bonus: Angela Lansbury is marvelous as the storytelling grandmother.
STREAMING? No
Creepshow (1982)—Halloween attributes: Not a great movie by any standard, but it contains lots of campy fun; the undead; cemeteries and other Halloween images. “The Crate” is by far the best vignette.
STREAMING? No
Army of Darkness (1993)—Halloween attributes: Everyone seems to be having a grimly great time; undead armies; occult and pagan references; Ash is back.
Bonus: Tons of quotable one-liners.
STREAMING? No.
The Changeling (1980)–Halloween attributes: a ghost haunts a spooky old house inhabited by a grieving widower.
STREAMING? No.
Diabolique (1955)—Halloween attributes: Tons of suspense; a wandering corpse.
STREAMING: No
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)—Halloween attributes: Approaches camp, but never quite gets there; set in a small town at autumn; steeped in occult/satanic myths.
STREAMING? No
The Haunting (1963)—Halloween attributes: Big scary house; ghosts and supernatural happenings; aura of dread.
STREAMING? No
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)—Halloween attributes: Spine-chilling ghost story; suspense and dread.
STREAMING? No
Kwaidan (1963)—Halloween attributes: Ghosts and hauntings; celebrates the macabre and the marvelous
STREAMING? No
Frankenstein (1931)—Halloween attributes: Death imagery; gothic settings; it’s a fucking classic.
STREAMING? No
Horror of Dracula (1958)—Halloween attributes: The undead; crypts, tombs, and gothic grandeur.
Bonus: Christopher Lee owns this shit.
STREAMING? No.
Frankenweenie (2012)—Halloween attributes: Tim Burton retells a classic tale with family-friendly panache.
Bonus: It’s in black-and-white, a nod to the classic horrors of yore.
STREAMING? No
Slither (2006)—Halloween attributes: Bucolic settings, autumn, night; undead-like zombies and slimy creatures; brilliant sense of fun.
Bonus: Michael Rooker is fabulous as the primary antagonist.
STREAMING? No.
Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers 2 (2001 and 2003)—Halloween attributes: Isolated rural setting; nighttime scares; flesh-eating monster; gory fun.
Bonus: Beautiful shot of the monster flying away near the first movie’s end with a gorgeous full moon in the background.
STREAMING? No.
The Black Cat (1934)—Halloween attributes: References to the occult and Satanism; creepy gothic mansion; Lugosi and Karloff in the same film
STREAMING? No
The Wicker Man (1973)—Halloween attributes: Isolated rural setting; creepy locals; references to the occult and pagan.
STREAMING? No.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)—Halloween attributes: Rural agrarian setting; lots of Halloween-type images; night scenes; the undead.
STREAMING? No.
Evil Dead 2 (1987)—Halloween attributes: Everything that was in the first Evil Dead; more Bruce Campbell
STREAMING? Yes: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Sleepy Hollow (1999)—Halloween attributes: Gothic atmosphere; woodsy setting; lots of night action; the undead; plenty of traditionally Halloween-ish images.
STREAMING? No
Dead Alive (1992)—Halloween attributes: The undead…often dispatched in a variety of gruesome and amusing ways.
Bonus: The infamous lawnmower scene. Also, mommy issues play a central role in the plot.
STREAMING? Sadly, no.
The Conjuring (2013)—Halloween attributes: Haunted house; murderous ghosts; occult references. A bit pedestrian for my tastes, but it beats the shit out of Insidious or Sinister.
Bonus: Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor.
STREAMING? No.
The Gate (1987): Halloween attributes: A gate to Hell; cheesy as all get out.
Bonus: Metalhead kid wears a Killer Dwarfs jacket…so you know he’s legit.
STREAMING? No.
Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)—Halloween attributes: The undead; one of the craziest plots I’ve ever seen.
STREAMING? No.
The Exorcist III (1990)—Halloween attributes: Satan and demonic possession; buckets of dread.
STREAMING? No.
The Devil Rides Out (1968)—Halloween attributes: The Devil, of course; creepy creatures; night scenes; lots of fun.
STREAMING? No
Salem’s Lot (1979)—Halloween attributes: The undead; set in a small town; bad things happening at night.
STREAMING? No.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)—Halloween attributes: Aura of dread; supernatural things lurking in the darkness; ghosts…possibly.
STREAMING? No
So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? What movies do you like to see on Halloween? Let Randy know in the comments or find him on Twitter.
The plot sickens: If you loved Greatest Halloween from Randy Brzoska then check out his case for 80’s horror!
(Photo from Bloody Disgusting.)