By: Sam Lacey
Do you like scary movies? What’s your favorite scary movie? If you don’t have a favorite, that’s okay. As someone who recently got into the horror movie genre, I wanted to recommend great movies to watch this spooky season. This list includes both horror classics and some more funny, jumpscare and gore-less films for when you want some Halloween vibes without all the scary stuff. The next time you have a desire for a spooky film, most of these picks are streaming, be it on Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, or Netflix. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Beetlejuice
This film is a family classic. I remember that I watched it for the first time at a middle school Halloween party sleepover and, despite not liking anything remotely scary at the time, I really liked the movie and its all-star cast. Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O’Hara (yes that Catherine O’Hara), and Michael Keaton round out the cast of this Tim Burton classic. Plenty of laughs and a few scares abound in this movie, which focuses on a teen girl who befriends two ghosts who live in her parents’ house and pull her into their scheme with an unruly spirit to get the noisy humans to leave. Beetlejuice is currently streaming on HBO Max.
The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick is definitely an out-of-left-field pick, but I had to include it. The film features Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, and tells the story of three women who develop magic powers after getting involved with a strange new guy who’s come to their small New England town. It’s a little more adult than the other picks on this list and isn’t my all-time favorite, but my mom, who grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts where much of this film was shot, used to talk all the time about this movie and it definitely feels like a fun New England spooky witch adventure. The Witches of Eastwick is available via Tubi, or you can rent it via Redbox/Amazon Prime.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
I watched as many slasher films as I could this summer, and one of them was the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The first film from 1984 features a girl whose dreams are being haunted by Freddy Krueger, an undead being with knives for fingers. While Freddy seems to just be a nightmare, his powers extend beyond REM sleep – if the kids die in their dream, they do so in reality as well. The first film features Johnny Depp and Heather Langenkamp as they try to put an end to Freddy’s nightmarish agenda. It’s definitely a horror movie, so if that isn’t your cup of tea, then I wouldn’t recommend putting it on, but if you’re in the mood for some jumpscares and classic slasher gore, then you can find Nightmare on Elm Street on HBO Max. If you’re a Freddy fan looking for an all-day marathon, the full series is 9 films long and includes a trip to space and a Friday the 13th crossover.
Halloween
When talking about slasher movies with villains that always seemed to come back (hence the long series), you can’t forget the 1978 classic that started it all. Featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and a haunting theme song, the movie follows a masked killer that stalks a babysitter and her friends in Haddonfield, Illinois, on Halloween night. It was one of the first slasher films I watched, and, while it’s not perfect, Halloween was an instant horror classic for me. The first film launched a series of 13 movies, most recently the movie Halloween Ends, which hit theaters this fall. If you’re looking to get into the series, you can find the first Halloween film on Redbox for free, via a subscription to Amazon Prime Channels, or just available to rent on Amazon Prime.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Another Tim Burton classic, this Henry Selick-directed stop-motion animation film follows the Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (voiced by Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon) who grows tired of the same old Halloween traditions in Halloween Town and finds a door to a place called Christmas Town. Another HerCampus UVM member recently wrote more about this film, Ella’s Article, but the base plot is that Jack seeks to take over Christmas in Halloween Town and enlists the help of Sally (Catherine O’Hara) to help make him a Santa suit, despite Sally’s warnings that this endeavor will end in disaster. Featuring a journey to kidnap Santa Claus and a great soundtrack with songs by Danny Elfman, this family-friendly film helps to bring the spooky spirit even if you’re not a scary movie fan. The Nightmare Before Christmas is streaming on Disney+!
Hocus Pocus
After mentioning the Witches of Eastwick earlier, I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the classic Disney film Hocus Pocus. This film also takes place in New England, featuring the town of Salem, where a young boy accidentally sets a trio of evil witches from the 1700s free. This movie is a family-friendly adventure that follows the boy, his sister, and their friend as they try to stop the three newly resurrected witches from becoming immortal. The cast includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimi as the evil Sanderson sisters. If some good-old-fashioned Salem witchery is what you’re in the mood for, Hocus Pocus is on Disney+, as is its recent sequel for a full night of the Sandersons’ antics.
Final Destination
More of a thriller than a straight-out horror, the Final Destination movies are definitely spooky and will make you think twice before making any decisions. The first film in the series features a group of high school kids who get off of a plane right before it takes off and explodes, due to a classmate’s vision that the trip will end in disaster. Throughout the film, the kid who had the vision thinks that the plane exploding wasn’t an accident and that they are all destined to die, soon, and in a specific order, leading the group to try to avoid their fate. Interested in seeing what happens next? Final Destination is streaming on HBO Max.
Scream
What’s your favorite scary movie? If you asked me, I’d have to say Scream. Directed by Wes Craven, who also directed the first Nightmare on Elm Street film, this 1996 film follows Sydney Prescott, a teen whose mom mysteriously was murdered a year before the events of the movie. When a teen and her boyfriend are brutally murdered, Sydney’s small town is thrown into chaos, and her boyfriend quickly becomes a suspect. The cast is full of big names, featuring Courtney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Drew Barrymore, and Neve Campbell as Sydney. Shoutout to my friends for letting me talk them into watching this movie with me, but I just can’t get enough of it. There are four films in the original series, and the franchise was rebooted this past year with Scream 5. Scream 6 is out in March 2023, but if you’re looking to watch the original now to acquaint (or reacquaint yourself) with the series, it is currently streaming on Paramount +.
X
This movie is fantastic. The plot of X, released earlier this year, follows some young actors as they create an adult movie at an old couple’s farm in rural Texas. When things turn bad, as they are wont to do in a slasher film, it gets a bit gory. If slashers are of interest, though, X is available to stream on Showtime, and it features a great performance by Mia Goth, who plays multiple roles. The film’s prequel, Pearl, was also recently released and has stellar reviews as well.