Spooky season is in full throttle and what better way, besides dressing up and going out, to celebrate than to have a movie marathon? Grab your friends, family, or even just yourself and indulge in some sweet treats and chilling tricks. If you’re like me, you like to return to your favorite holiday movies every year and relive the frights, suspense, and sinister moments. It doesn’t really feel like Halloween until I settle down with some blankets, snacks, and a friend or two to join me in watching those classic Halloween favorites. Whether it’s your first time seeing them or your tenth, here’s a list of Halloween movies that will for sure get you in the fall mood (and wanting candy too)! If horror isn’t your thing, which it usually isn’t mine, there’s lighter and more wholesome movies that you can watch safely with the lights off too.
1. The Halloween Film Franchise
The title says it all. There’s no better classic Halloween movie than Halloween itself. I’m not talking about the more recent adaptations released in 2018 and so on; I’m referring to the original 1978 film. Set in Haddonfield, Illinois, a young Michael Myers brutally murders his older sister on Halloween night and is then kept away in an institution. Years later on the night before Halloween, when he is supposed to be transferred to another facility, he escapes and goes back to his hometown to wreak havoc on the people who still live there. Considering it was released in the ‘70s, it’s the perfect amount of scare without the gruesome details. The attention is more on the suspense of the situation combined with sounds and lighting to scare the audience. If you enjoy the first movie and want to go a step further, there’s eight more just like it. They all, more or less, have the same formula as the first with Myers chasing victims as they run and he walks behind them, slowly catching up.
2. The Shining
While it doesn’t necessarily take place on Halloween, The Shining is another classic horror movie that should be acknowledged. Stanley Kubrick does an amazing job bringing Stephen King’s novel to life. It’s a creepy, psychological thriller that can be left open to interpretation and makes you notice something different each time you watch. Jack Torrance lands the job of being the caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in Colorado while it’s closed during the stormy winter months. He moves in with his wife and son in hopes the isolation will help his writer’s block. Soon after residing there, his son starts seeing these visions throughout the hotel that hint at the hotel’s dark and mysterious past. Instead of the remote location helping Jack, it starts to push him on a much more sinister path that terrorizes his family. With the music throughout the movie building on to the tension and suspense, it’s a must-watch every year on my list.
3. Night of the Living Dead
To keep it old school, the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead is a perfect Halloween film for a lot of reasons. It has everything you could want in a basic spooky movie: zombies, funny survival instincts, and conflicts. It was even shot in black and white which adds to the ambiance of the film, in my opinion. When corpses come back to life in search of fresh humans to eat, a group of seven terrified individuals take cover in an abandoned house. With lots of unanswered questions as to what to do or how to get rid of them, they have to work together to find a way out before the zombies surround the house. When cooperation fails and selfish urges pursue, the group is slowly picked off. It’s another timeless Halloween movie that has impacted the horror genre ever since its release.
4. It (2017)
I know clowns are something a lot of people don’t mess with, and if that’s the case for you, this movie might not be your cup of tea. However, every year you can always spot the iconic Pennywise costume or Georgie’s yellow raincoat with the red balloon, so It had to make the list. Based on another King novel, seven kids in Derry, Maine face their greatest fears at the hands of a shape-shifting clown that comes out of the sewer every 27 years. Over the course of a summer, the seven kids must overcome their fears and take down Pennywise before he can take any other children. It’s on the more gruesome side and definitely scarier than the other movies on this list but, if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s a film that’s really well done. There was an earlier version in 1990, but the storyline as well as the costumes and makeup can’t compete with that of the 2017 It. If you have to watch with the lights on too, that’s okay. I’m right there with you.
5. Psycho
Going back to the black and white films, Psycho should take the cake. A film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960, it features a woman who is on the run from stealing money and decides to stop at Bates Motel for the night. There, she meets Norman Bates who owns the hotel and has a “complicated” relationship with his mother. Psycho, as well as the other Hitchcock movies, uses peculiar camera angles to manipulate the audience’s perspectives in very creative ways. The plot twist, if you haven’t heard it already, makes the movie, along with the infamous shower scene. You can say they do a lot by only showing a little; that’s one of the many reasons why this movie was revolutionary for horror pictures from then on.
6. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Would it be a spooky movie recommendation list if The Nightmare Before Christmas wasn’t on it? You can argue whether it’s a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie, but for the sake of its characters and crazy amounts of merchandise, I would classify it as a Halloween film. It has practically taken over sections of Spirit Halloween. Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, gets tired of the same old holiday every year and wants to try something different. When he learns of Christmas Town, he tries to take over that holiday instead, but finds out it isn’t as easy as it seems. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a cult classic that people adore year after year.
7. Halloweentown
I don’t know about anyone else, but I used to watch the Halloweentown movies on Disney Channel as a kid, and so to rewatch them now is a pure nostalgia trip. On her 13th birthday, Marnie Piper learns she comes from a family of witches and, she herself, is also one. Her and her siblings then follow their grandma to Halloweentown, where all the supernatural beings can live a somewhat normal life. They soon learn that there’s an evil warlock that wishes to take over Halloweentown, as well as the mortal world. It’s up to Marnie to save her family and everyone else from evil. More on the playful side, it’s a family-friendly movie you can watch with younger ones. If you need a break from the scares and screams, Halloweentown is a safe bet for you. It’s fun and not as serious as the other films listed.
8. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Also on the lighter side of Halloween, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is an animated film from 1966. Who doesn’t love Charlie Brown – or Snoopy for that matter? The iconic Peanuts gang can be seen around any holiday, especially on Thanksgiving floating high above the city in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Halloween special, however, has a special place in my heart. It focuses on Linus, the child with the blanket, and his strong belief in the Great Pumpkin. He thinks the Great Pumpkin will appear on Halloween night, bringing toys to the good children just like Santa Claus would. When Linus sees that the other kids doubt the Great Pumpkin’s existence, he is determined to prove them wrong and waits very patiently in the pumpkin patch by himself all night. It’s another cute, heartfelt Halloween movie to watch that will undoubtedly make you smile every year.
9. Hocus Pocus
Another classic Halloween movie that should be on your watchlist is Hocus Pocus, of course. When three witches are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts by newcomer Max Dennison, he and his friends must stop the Sanderson sisters and steal their book of spells before they can become immortal. Hocus Pocus does an amazing job at balancing spooky, funny, and witty. With performances from lead actors like Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, you can’t go wrong.
10. Coraline
Last, but certainly not least, is Coraline. Directed by the same man who did The Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick, it’s another stop-motion film that’s perfect for Halloween. While it scared me when I was younger, I now can appreciate the movie with new eyes. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still a somewhat disturbing movie. After moving into a new house with her parents, Coraline finds a secret passageway that takes her to an alternate reality. In this alternate universe, everything seems better and what she’s wished for until she realizes her “Other Mother” wants to keep her there forever. Ditching the button eyed woman, Coraline must fight to find a way back to her own life before getting stuck in the “Other World.” I love the film’s themes with the importance of family and being grateful for what you have while also maintaining the dark atmosphere of the movie. It’s clever and unique in its own way.
There are a lot of other great Halloween movies out there that could be included in this list, but you can’t go wrong with titles like these. Whether you’re into the darker, horror pictures or want some lighthearted Halloween fun, hopefully this list has something for you. Whatever you decide to watch and with whomever, have fun this Halloween! Always remember, they can’t get you with the lights on.