Gather up your ghoulfriends, bring out the treats, and pop in one of these frightening flicks for *the* night of all spooky nights in.
Ah, October. The fall spirit is in full swing, and anything and everything spooky is on the mind! The best parts of Halloween aren’t just the sweet treats or the costumes though, they’re switching off the lights and jamming all of your friends onto one couch to watch scary movies, and yes, gorging on candy! Whether it be a slasher film or goofy Halloween classic, something many of us can agree upon is that the list of top-notch Halloween flicks can be daunting and a bit, “been there, seen that”. Have no fear (or rather save it for movie night)! Below, in no particular order, is a diverse list of 15 of the best spooky flicks to have ever hit the big screen!
1. The Birds (1963)
Although an unconventional pick given the typical paranormal/murderous vibes of most horror movie marathons, Hitchcock hit home directing this frightening film. Based on a real-world phenomenon that took place in Capitola, California in the early 60s, The Birds follows the romance of Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) as they experience the disturbing, unnatural behaviors and attacks by birds in their community. The charming small-town California location and sixties aesthetics of this film make it all the more terrifying.
2. Candyman (1992)
This classic slasher film follows graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) who befriends local mother Anne-Marie McCoy (Vanessa Williams) during her research of urban legends in Chicago’s Near North Side. From Anne-Marie, Helen learns of the Candyman (Tony Todd), a mysterious entity believed by locals to have been responsible for upwards of 25 deaths in the community. Skeptical, Helen and her friend summon the Candyman, unaware of the horrors to come. This fearsome flick combines all the elements of a classic slasher film with the paranormal (flashback to Bloody Mary as an 11-year-old, eek!), the horrors of racism, and hundreds of bees. Creepy, I know!
3.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Although this movie is considered part of the pre-slasher genre, don’t be fooled: there’s a whole lot of bashing and slashing. This action-packed horror flick surrounds protagonist Sally (Marilyn Burns) who with her friends and brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), goes to investigate the potential grave-robbing/vandalization of her grandfather’s grave. Unfortunately, their trip goes south when they’re met with crazy murderous cannibal neighbors, including the notorious Leatherface (human leather, in case you were wondering). Moral of the story? Never go for the hitchhiker!
4. Leprechaun (1993)
For all of you Horror Comedy buffs out there, I bring you none other than, Leprechaun! When a Dan O’Grady steals 100 gold coins from a leprechaun (Warwick Davis) during a vacation in Ireland, he’s in for a surprise when it follows him home. Dan locks the vengeful creature in a crate secured by the magic of a four-leaf clover. A whole ten years later though, a man and his daughter, Tory (Jennifer Aniston), rent O’Grady’s property and accidentally release the leprechaun, setting him on a murderous rampage in search of his gold. Make no mistake, this movie is a gory one. However, the villain is humorous and you’ll find yourself laughing as much as you scream! Plus who can resist an icon like Jennifer Aniston?
5. Veronica (2017)
Turn on your subtitles because you won’t want to miss this one! Based on a real incident that happened in Madrid c. 1992, this Spanish horror flick follows a teenage girl named Verónica (the real-life Estefania Gutierrez Lazaro) who, along with her friends, makes an attempt to summon the spirit of her deceased father using an Ouija Board during a solar eclipse. Their seance takes a turn for the worst; however, and Verónica blacks out, terrifying her friends and destroying the board (a major no-no in the paranormal world). Soon enough, a malevolent entity makes itself known within her home, tormenting her siblings and forcing its way into her mind. Watch Veronica for a truly terrifying paranormal experience with meticulously crafted scary moments that will leave you eager to turn the lights on.
6. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
This Wes Craven classic is a prime slasher film centering around a band of Midwestern teens that fall prey to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a disfigured demon that hunts them for the kill throughout their dreams, and in turn, kills them in the real world. It’s up to Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp *In his first ever film!*) to defeat Krueger before it’s too late. The movie is even spookier when you consider the true phenomena it’s based off of; that of a Cambodian boy who died during a nightmare after telling his parents the monster in his dreams would kill him. Watch this flick and you’ll hope your dreams stay far from reality. You can also catch the 2010 reboot if you’re craving a new-age fix!
7. Halloween (1978)
Excellently crafted and known for its stylistic prowess, Halloween is one slasher movie you won’t want to pass up. After murdering his teenage sister Judith in 1963 at the ripe age of six, Michael Myers was locked away for 15 years. That is until his escape during an asylum transfer on one fateful Halloween night in 1978. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he stalks new victims, one of which is Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who, ironically, turns out to be his other sister! As it so happens, this flick is scary no matter how many times you pop it in and you’ll be begging to get Carpenter’s theme song out of your brain by the finale.
8. The Boy (2016)
Imagine scoring the ultimate babysitting job overseas working in an elaborate English mansion. This is what Greta (Lauren Cohan) was hoping for when she accepts a job nannying an 8-year-old boy in a remote English village. When she arrives, however, she learns that Brahms, the child of her new employers, is actually a life-sized porcelain doll. As if her situation wasn’t eerie enough, they take care of the doll as if it were human in place of their deceased son who died twenty years prior. Greta is expected to follow a strict (and very odd) set of rules, and when she brushes them off in disbelief of her situation, a series of unexplainable and disturbing events lead her to believe the unthinkable: that the doll is actually alive. This spin on the haunted doll movement will leave you spooked to the core with its chilling paranormal moments and ultimate plot twist.
9. Dark Skies (2013)
There are only a couple of Science Fiction alien films that made the list, but let me assure you: this one will have you jumping out of your skin. Lacy (Keri Russell) and Daniel Barrett (Josh Hamilton) and their two sons, Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Sam (Kadan Rockett) are your typical suburban family. However, their peaceful life is disrupted when a number of strange happenings occur within their household. They wake in the mornings to a rearranged kitchen, their house alarm is set off on the regular, dark figures are seen standing over their sons’ beds, Daniel experiences extreme loss of time and memory loss, and hundreds of birds suddenly crash into the house (Think back to The Birds… Eek!). What one might attribute to the paranormal though turns out to be centering around UFO reports and alien abductions. This movie takes on an ambitious plot focused on aliens known as, “the Greys”, will leave you chilled to the bone and wondering who exactly is watching you from above.
10. Hocus Pocus (1993)
A break from the blatantly terrifying comes the ever-iconic Hocus Pocus. This spooky comedy is lead by the Sanderson Sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy), a coven of evil witches out to consume the life energy of children! When he moves to Salem, Massachusetts, virgin teen Max Dennison (Omri Katz) accidentally releases the witchy sisters when he dismisses superstition while exploring their abandoned home with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and his crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw). With the help of Thackery Binx turned magical black cat, the trio must work to recover the Sanderson Sisters’ book of spells to keep them from an immortal life of soul-sucking children. Yikes!
11. Ghostbusters (1984)
Another lighthearted fantasy for any spooky enthusiast, Ghostbusters will charm you with its 80s flair and stellar cast. After the members of a team of parapsychologists (Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray) are fired from their jobs at Columbia University in New York City, they open a “ghostbusting” business out of an old firehouse to fight the perils of the paranormal for cash. Their business goes south; however, when they stumble upon a gateway to another dimension and open a doorway leaving evil entities to wreak havoc on New York City! To make matters worse, their rockin’ female cellist Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) becomes possessed by the demon Zuul, servant to the shapeshifting god of destruction. The Ghostbusters must ward off evil and save the day!
12. It (1990)
Based on Stephen King’s hit novel, It follows seven preteen outcasts who become aware of an evil entity masquerading as a clown that shows up every 27 years to abduct and eat children. What’s spookier than Tim Curry as a murderous, child-hungry, demonic Pennywise you ask? No adult in the little town of Derry, Maine is capable of seeing any of its terrifying happenings. Nearly 30 years later, the group must reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown with a vengeance. Watch the 2017 reboot for a truly frightening tale with insane modernized special effects.
13. Alien (1979)
While some are skeptical of how scary sci-fi fantasies truly are, there’s no questioning the horror aspect of this film. Sigourney Weaver stars in her first ever movie as Warrant Officer Ripley on the commercial starship Nostromo. Set in the year 2122, the crew of the Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep stasis halfway through their journey back to Earth to investigate a mysterious distress call coming from an alien vessel. Terror is unleashed on the crew when they discover a room full of eggs belonging to an unknown organism on the alien ship. One of the organisms then attaches itself to a crew member and later wreaks havoc on the Nostromo, killing its crew members and terrifying moviegoers.
14. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
One of the first major found footage films, this terrifying movie is revolutionary to this day and established a basis for films such as the famed Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield. This flick is set in October of 1994 and follows 3 film students who travel to Burkittsville, Maryland, and set out to investigate the legend of the Blair Witch. If their eerie interviews with the residents of Burkittsville about haunting incidents dating back to 1888 weren’t enough to send shivers down your spine, their terrifying encounters with unseen entities in the woods will be enough to keep you from a good night’s sleep or at least make you hesitant to go camping anytime soon.
15. Coraline (2009)
Now for an esteemed spooky animation! Henry Selick’s Coraline takes viewers on a beautifully crafted and enchanting ride based off of Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as the protagonist, Coraline (Dakota Fanning), traverses an alternate world filled with a wondrous circus, theatrical performances, meals fit for a queen, perfect parents, and unseen horrors that could cost her the ultimate price. The soundtrack also makes for beautiful, haunting background music if you’re into that kind of thing.
There you have it, the 15 best spooky movies to watch this October! Happy spooky season and enjoy your movie night!