It's that time of year and it seems like everybody has made a list of Halloween movies so I thought I may as well jump on the bandwagon and do my own. Before you read through the list however there are a couple of things I should mention. First of all this is not intended to be some kind of definitive list of the best Halloween movies of all time, it is basically a selection of movies that I personally enjoy watching around Halloween. Secondly it was not my intention to have all of these movies be strictly Halloween themed, I just chose some that I think create a nice atmosphere for Halloween. Enjoy.
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
Ok, let's get the obvious out of the way first. It's kind of pointless for me to put the original HALLOWEEN on this list so instead I'm including this often overlooked and under appreciated entry in the franchise. The biggest mistake this movie made was to put HALLOWEEN in its title. Obviously a lot of people expected to see Michael Myers and were no doubt disappointed when he never showed up. But if you think of this as a standalone film then it is easily enjoyable and a great film to watch on Halloween night.
"A large Halloween mask-making company has plans to kill millions of American children with something sinister hidden in Halloween masks"
TRICK 'R TREAT (2007)
Another obvious addition, TRICK 'R TREAT is not only a great Halloween movie but also one of the best horror anthologies out there.
"Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband"
THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)
THE MONSTER SQUAD was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid and I still love it to this day. This tale of a group of young friends facing off against the likes of Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein's Monster and other nasties is fun, entertaining and humorous. A cult classic and highly recommended for viewing on Halloween.
"Dracula is alive. In fact, he plans to rule the world and that is why he seeks the help of other legendary monsters. However, a bunch of kids regarded by their peers as losers uncover the devious plan and prepare for a counter strike"
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
Zombies have long been a staple of Halloween so of course I felt the need to include at least one zombie outbreak film in this list. NOTLD is in my mind the best zombie movie ever made. Period. Even after more than 40 years it is as dark and powerful as ever. Imitated countless times but never bettered, one of my favorites to watch at Halloween.
"When unexpected radiation raises the dead, a microcosm of Average America has to battle flesh-eating zombies in George A. Romero's landmark horror film"
REC (2007)
Apart from being one of my all time favorite foreign-language horror films of all time, REC is also a fast, claustrophobic and terrifying ride. If you can't stand watching a film with subtitles then you could always go with the US shot-for-shot remake QUARANTINE but honestly there is no substitute for the original.
And with the relative short length of both films it's a good idea to watch REC and REC 2 back to back.
"A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying"
ERASERHEAD (1977)
David Lynch's bleak, industrial mindfuck is one of those films which begs deep discussion from a lot of viewers. Or you can just simply sit back and enjoy it because as the star Jack Nance said "It's only a movie"
Whatever you're preference it's no doubt that this is a strange film with an eerie soundtrack and the mutant baby is fucking creepy.
"Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child"
IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994)
One of my favorite John Carpenter films, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS has an intriguing, twisting, Lovecraft inspired story and a good performance from Sam Neill. The town of Hobb's End is filled with creepy and sinister characters. A very intelligent, dark, insightful and interesting movie.
"An insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational"
ZOMBI 2 (1979)
Also known as ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS or simply ZOMBIE, Lucio Fulci's undead masterpiece is at the opposite end of the spectrum as Romero's NOTLD. There's no social commentary but there is some great looking zombies and two iconic scenes, one involving a zombie and a shark and the other involving an eye and a big fucking splinter.
"Strangers looking for a woman's father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead"
DEEP RED (1975)
Even though SUSPIRIA is a great movie, my favorite Argento film is DEEP RED. A great example of giallo with an awesome soundtrack by Goblin and some great visuals and of course plenty of the red stuff. The main reason for including this in the list is the music because Goblin make a pretty awesome soundtrack for Halloween.
"A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a feisty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried"
THE THING (1982)
This is the kind of movie I could watch countless times over, but especially on a dark Halloween night because it has such a great claustrophobic and paranoid atmosphere. A cool score from Ennio Morricone and some of the best practical effects you will ever see make this not only a great Halloween movie but also a great movie in general.
"Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills"
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