It’s that time of year again. The time of costumes, candy, parties, and scary movies. Happy Halloween season 2020.
I have always loved Halloween. I have since I was a kid. I can’t resist the costumes, the smell of pumpkin spice, and the spooky movies. For this Halloween season I am going to share some spooktacular films for you to enjoy. In the follow-up article you will get some movies that younger viewers can enjoy.
In the way that I have set this article up you will get a description of the movie, a trailer, and a link to the content warning. I advise you to check out the content warning for each movie, especially if you are thinking about showing it to younger viewers. This list isn’t meant for children.
Let’s get to it and let the frights begin.
13 Movies to Watch This Halloween Season
Halloween (1978)
The year is 1963, the night: Halloween. Police are called to 43 Lampkin Ln. only to discover that 15 year old Judith Myers has been stabbed to death, by her 6 year-old brother, Michael. After being institutionalized for 15 years, Myers breaks out on the night before Halloween. No one knows, nor wants to find out, what will happen on October 31st 1978 besides Myers’ psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis. He knows Michael is coming back to Haddonfield, but by the time the town realizes it, it’ll be too late for many people.
I chose this because it is the definitive classic when it comes to Halloween, horror, and slasher movies. Watch if you dare and introduce yourself to the timeless terror of Michael Myers.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
Scream (1996)
A year after her mother’s death, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends started experiencing some strange phone calls. They later learned the calls were coming from a crazed serial killer, in a white faced mask and a large black robe, looking for revenge. His phone calls usually consist of many questions, the main one being: What’s your favorite scary movie? Along with much scary movie trivia, ending with bloody pieces of innocent lives scattered around the small town of Woodsboro.
I chose Scream because it is full of suspense and keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you love horror movies you might appreciate this one if for no other reason because throughout the movie it gives nods to horror flicks that have come before. As an added bonus you will learn the rules to survive a horror movie.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
On Elm Street, Nancy Thompson and a group of her friends (comprising Tina Gray, Rod Lane and Glen Lantz) are being tormented by a clawed killer in their dreams named Fred Krueger. Nancy must think quickly, as Fred tries to pick them off one by one. When he has you in your sleep, who is there to save you?
Freddy had to make the list. He hunts you in your dreams, has knives on his fingertips, and there is no escape. We all have to fall asleep sometime.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
Carrie (1976)
Carrie White is the outsider of her class. She’s a mousy girl, all of her classmates hate her, and her mother is a religious fanatic who walks around in a black cape. After she unexpectedly has her first period, she is teased by the girls more ruthlessly than before. The gym teacher punishes the girls that were involved and one of them, Sue Snell, feels sorry for what she did and asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom instead of her. But another girl that has been banned from the prom, Chris Hargenson, isn’t so forgiving and hatches an evil plan with her boyfriend that involves Carrie and a bucket full of pig’s blood. But what none of the students realize is that Carrie has the power of telekinesis, the power to move things with your mind, and that when you make her angry, she transforms from an innocent girl to a rage-filled monster. And this is gonna be a prom no one will ever forget.
This one is included because who can’t relate to the plight of the bullied kid? We have all either been bullied, been the bully, or at lest witnessed someone else getting bullied. In the case of Carrie when she gets back at her bullies all hell breaks loose.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
Get Out (2017)
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Get Out had to make the list. It is part horror, part social commentary, and a complete thrill ride. Easily one of the best movies listed here.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
In search of a local legend, three bold amateur documentarians–director, Heather; cameraman, Josh; sound recorder, Mike–hike into Burkittsville’s gloomy Black Hills Forest to find a shadow: the fabled Blair Witch. Now, one long year later–after that fateful October of 1994–there’s still no sign of the student filmmakers, apart from the raw footage they left behind. Who knows what truly happened during their creepy five-day journey into the mouth of madness? Was there, indeed, an intangible supernatural presence in the dark woods that led to the team’s disappearance? Either way, the missing trio must have seen something. Could the nightmarish myth be real?
I included The Blair Witch Project here because it is arguably on of the scariest and most disturbing movies of the past couple decades. The first person approach of the film leaves you feeling uneasy. This is easily one of the modern classics of the horror genre.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
The Conjuring (2013)
In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Perron move their family into a dilapidated Rhode Island farm house and soon strange things start happening around it with escalating nightmarish terror. In desperation, Carolyn contacts the noted paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to examine the house. What the Warrens discover is a whole area steeped in a satanic haunting that is now targeting the Perron family wherever they go. To stop this evil, the Warrens will have to call upon all their skills and spiritual strength to defeat this spectral menace at its source that threatens to destroy everyone involved.
This movie is spooky, thrilling, and will make you jump. It is both scary and enjoyable. If you want a chilling movie that will put you on edge check out The Conjuring.
CONTENT WARNING
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Hereditary (2018)
As the miniature artist, Annie Graham, and her family prepare for her mother’s funeral–the unbearably complex and cryptic septuagenarian, Ellen Leigh–unsettling occurrences and palpable spiritual manifestations start nestling in the secluded house’s dark corners. Then–as a thick veil of grief, guilt, and a sinfully pleasant sense of relief shroud the already troubled mother–more and more, the mounting distress of Annie’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Charlie, becomes evident, as her older brother, Peter, begins to feel the relentless anguish of culpability. Now, little by little, a sinister dark presence robs Annie of her free will, demanding a cruel sacrifice in exchange for glorious rewards. Will the Grahams ever shake off the macabre connection to the unseen realm, especially when evil seems to be hereditary?
What can I say about Heredity? Dark? Check. Foreboding? Check. Chilling? Absolutely. This movie grips you and leaves you with a shocked and uneasy feeling. Check it out if you dare.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
It (2017)
Undoubtedly, something is going on in the once-peaceful late-1980s town of Derry, Maine, as a seemingly endless string of violence, murder, and unaccountable child disappearances terrorise the small community. Against the backdrop of anguished remorse after the recent death of the innocent six-year-old, Georgie Denbrough, the close-knit band of school pariahs, or The Losers’ Club–Georgie’s troubled older brother, Bill; the bullied new classmate, Ben Hanscom; the ill-treated, Beverly Marsh; the playful, Richie Tozier; home school kid, Mike Hanlon; the asthmatic, Eddie Kaspbrak; and the fastidious, Stanley Uris–pluck up the courage to confront their well-hidden childhood fears and the blood-curdling clown-like shape-shifter who lives in their twisted visions. Nevertheless, is the malevolent bright-eyed demon, indeed, the nightmarish creature that horrifies Derry? Either way, the otherworldly entity needs to feed, and the young team of defenders are no match for him. Do they have what it takes to face IT?
I had to include the It movies in this list. Let’s be honest. Pennywise is terrifying. An otherworldly shapeshifting clown that feeds on the fear of children? I can feel the goosebumps already.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
IT: CHAPTER 2 (2019)
Defeated by members of the Losers’ Club, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine, once again. Now adults, the childhood friends have long since gone their separate ways. But when people start disappearing, Mike Hanlon calls the others home for one final stand. Damaged by scars from the past, the united Losers must conquer their deepest fears to destroy the shape-shifting Pennywise — now more powerful than ever.
As I said above, I had to include the It movies in this list. Let’s be honest. Pennywise is terrifying. An otherworldly shapeshifting clown that feeds on the fear of children? If you watched the first one you need to watch this one as well so you can see the conclusion.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
Paranormal Activity (2007)
After a young, middle class couple moves into a suburban ‘starter’ tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.
Something you can’t see is terrorizing your family? An unseen entity drags you out of your bed in the middle of the night? Sounds like a great movie to watch this Halloween season to me.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
Pet Sematary (1989)
After moving into their new home, the Creed family’s cat is killed after wandering onto the highway. Jud, an elderly neighbor, shows Louis, the father, to an isolated hill behind the local Pet Cemetery and instructs him to bury the deceased feline there. Not long after, the cat reappears at the Creed home — only he is not the same. The docile cat is now vicious and destructive. When a dear one meets with a fatal accident, the distraught Louis buries him in the same location hoping to revive him. Unfortunately he unleashes far more than he had bargained for.
This is a good movie and a Stephen King classic. It is both creepy and a cautionary tale. Watch it this Halloween. Just be careful where you burry things.
CONTENT WARNING
Trailer:
The Shining (1980)
Haunted by a persistent writer’s block, the aspiring author and recovering alcoholic, Jack Torrance, drags his wife, Wendy, and his gifted son, Danny, up snow-capped Colorado’s secluded Overlook Hotel after taking up a job as an off-season caretaker. As the cavernous hotel shuts down for the season, the manager gives Jack a grand tour, and the facility’s chef, the ageing Mr Hallorann, has a fascinating chat with Danny about a rare psychic gift called “The Shining”, making sure to warn him about the hotel’s abandoned rooms, and, in particular, the off-limits Room 237. However, instead of overcoming the dismal creative rut, little by little, Jack starts losing his mind, trapped in an unforgiving environment of seemingly endless snowstorms, and a gargantuan silent prison riddled with strange occurrences and eerie visions. Now, the incessant voices inside Jack’s head demand sacrifice. Is Jack capable of murder?
I had to include The Shining. It is hands down one of my favorite horror movies. I promise if you check it out it will creep you out in all the right ways.
CONTENT WARNING
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There you have it. Prepare for the chills and enjoy these spooktacular Halloween flicks. In the follow-up to this article we are going to check out 13 Halloween movies that are more suitable for the whole family. Until then…
Tech on and have a happy Halloween.
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