Halloween is a special time of year to watch movies. While films have been made about the day itself, one specific genre has dominated the season: horror. Halloween, at its roots, is a celebration of darkness, death, and trickery, making horror movies a perfect fit. After all, the objective of horror films, besides to entertain, is to frighten. There are a few horror movies that are well known among the general populace; films like Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), The Shining (1980), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Scream (1996). Still, there are other film recommendations equally excellent for a good scare but are a little off the beaten path. Warning: the following movies are not for the lighthearted. They can be very grotesque and frightening in parts. Most of them include jumpscares and onscreen deaths. Watch at your own risk. (If any of this is surprising, then why are you here?)
Slasher films, a subgenre of horror film, are very popular to watch during October. The typical plot is that an anonymous killer stalks a group of people, often teens, and kills them off one by one. Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is widely considered to be the first of these kinds of films, but is very different from the movies succeeding it. The premise of Psycho is that a young woman is forced to go on the run for a large sum of stolen money. After narrowly avoiding the law, she ends up making the largest mistake of her life by staying at an eerie roadside motel. What sets this movie apart from other slashers is its engaging plot, interesting characters, and many twists and turns that always keeps one guessing. If you are tired of predictable movies, then Psycho is for you! It can be streamed on Apple TV, Peacock, Amazon Video, Fandango at Home, Spectrum, or Philo.
The Birds (1963) is another movie directed by Hitchcock. In this movie, a young woman visits a small town on the California coast to chase a lover. Unfortunately, she soon finds herself facing an attack of vicious, bloodthirsty birds, who will stop at nothing to harm the people who live there. At first glance, birds may not seem to be the most threatening of killers compared to the masked murderers and gruesome monsters seen in other horror movies. However, this movie does a great job of proving that birds should be feared. It can be streamed on Apple TV, Peacock, Amazon Prime, or Fandango at Home.
The Fog (1980) is a lesser known film, a hybrid between a slasher and a ghost story. It was directed by John Carpenter, the same man who directed Halloween (1978). The story takes place in a small seaside town. It is seemingly peaceful, but it holds a dark historical secret. The revived corpse of a fisherman is hungry for revenge. His presence is shown by an ominous fog; whenever it gets close to someone, it means he is near. A group of citizens must figure out why the fisherman has returned, how they can protect themselves, and if there is any way to stop him from claiming more lives. This movie can be streamed on Amazon Prime, Philo, or Roku.
John Carpenter made another film called The Thing (1982), which is a science fiction horror film. The movie is about a group of researchers in the middle of Antarctica. Life is seemingly normal in their station, but after investigating multiple infected animals, they realize they have come across a terrifying creature: the Thing. An alien who has the ability to shapeshift convincingly into any form it wishes, it will stop at nothing to cause chaos, destruction, and death. In many horror movies, the characters make poor decisions, like splitting up to cover more ground. It can be extremely frustrating when this happens, as it takes away from the relatability of the character. The Thing is an exception to this trope. The characters make rational decisions, but still struggle against the Thing, making it all the more threatening. The movie can be streamed on Apple TV, Peacock, Amazon Prime, Fandango at Home, or Spectrum.
Continuing in the genre of science fiction horror, another notable film is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There are two versions of this film, a 1956 and 1978 version, but unlike a lot of films, the remake is considered to be the superior version. The premise is that there is a group of aliens who have found a way to perfectly clone humans. These clones are rapidly taking over Earth. A small group of humans, some of the last in existence, try to discover how the aliens clone humans and if there is any hope of escape or survival. Unlike the other movies listed, this movie is PG, but do not be fooled, it is just as scary as the rest. This movie can be streamed on Apple TV, HBO Max, Kanopy, Fandango at Home, Hulu, Disney+, or Zavvi.
A rarely talked about horror movie is called 1408 (2007), based on a story by Stephen King. The premise is that an author, famous for writing about paranormal investigations, decides to visit a notorious haunted hotel room, room 1408. This ends up being a mistake. The room does all it can to break him both physically and mentally in his one night stay, causing him to use all of his willpower in order to survive. This movie is a little different from the rest, as it is a psychological horror. Rather than rely on jumpscares or gore, the viewer is scared by the torment the main character goes through. It can be streamed on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, or Peacock.
If horror seems like an interesting genre, but the other recommendations sound a bit too scary, Poltergeist (1982) is a good choice. It is a PG movie that has horror elements but remains mostly family friendly. The plot follows a typical suburban family, when their youngster daughter starts to continuously stare at a static television, hearing voices no one else does. The girl eventually goes missing, with her frightened parents needing to figure out how to free her and combat the poltergeists (unseen spirits which cause chaos and destruction) that haunt their home. It can be streamed on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, or Crunchyroll.
Whether or not you watch one of these films or something else in the horror genre, Halloween is a great time for you to see movies you might normally be too scared to watch. What is a better time for spooky movies than the spooky season itself? Horror is not only great because it is scary and entertaining; it immerses the viewer into the story and ensures that they remember the movie for years after they watched it. Hopefully the recommended movies will be able to provide a good movie watching experience!