Favorite Halloween Horror Movies
Posted on July 22, 2022 by Blake Leath
With Halloween only 102 days away, I've already had two friends ask for horror movie recommendations. Also, I suppose, because NOPE opens wide tonight.
Whatever the impetus, here's my [rather prosaic] list. I'll try and edit it annually, or as moved.
Admittedly, most of these are on here for sentimental reasons, not because they are, say, ‘good’ or ‘universally acclaimed,' so caveat emptor.
Anyhoo, here goes:
1. [An] Alien [or two]
2. [Lotta 1930s-1950s stuff:] Creature from the Black Lagoon, everything with Lugosi and Chaney [Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, etc. Poor ol’ Chaney died in 1930 at the tender age of 47. Swallowed too much fake snow!]
3. [Nearly every] Halloween
4. [Several] Friday the 13ths
5. [Several] Underworlds
6. 1408
7. 28 Days Later
8. Amityville Horror [original]
9. An American Werewolf in London [I love the pub scene and the airplane joke]
10. Antlers
11. As Above, So Below
12. Blair Witch
13. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
14. Children of the Corn
15. Creepshow [‘82]
16. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
17. Final Destination [the early ones are best]
18. Fright Night [‘85 & ‘11]
19. Gremlins [and at Christmas, too!]
20. Hocus Pocus
21. Hotel Transylvania [I love these! The opening/lobby scene in the first one is adorable and so high-energy!]
22. I Am Legend [new one forthcoming, I hear!]
23. Insidious [I’ve written about this a couple times, but can only find mention of it online here.]
24. It [’17 only]
25. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
26. Jacob’s Ladder [‘90]
27. Jeepers Creepers [1 & 2; I hope they make a 3rd installment]
28. Jennifer’s Body
29. Krampus [Lauren and I chortle every time: If Peter Jackson had a puppet show!]
30. Legend
31. Legend of Sleepy Hollow [Depp], and Disney’s “The Adventures of Ichabod Crane…”
32. Lost Boys
33. Love at First Bite [George the-tan-man Hamilton, 1979!]
34. Mandy [so incredibly gonzo!]
35. Manhunter
36. Overlord [I love the first 15 minutes in the airplane; wow! That reminds me: Twilight Zone with John Lithgow had a great airplane gremlin…]
37. Pan’s Labyrinth
38. Paranormal Activity
39. Pet Sematary [latest]
40. Prometheus
41. Pumpkinhead
42. Salem’s Lot
43. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
44. Scream
45. Silver Bullet
46. Stir of Echoes
47. Suspiria ['18], and if you like it, try The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Green Knight
48. Texas Chain Saw Massacre [‘03]
49. The Babadook
50. The Conjuring
51. The Descent
52. The Fly
53. The Good Witch
54. The Haunting [‘99]
55. The Howling
56. The Hunger
57. The Mothman Prophecies
58. The Night House [great music, BTW]
59. The Others
60. The Relic
61. The Ruins
62. The Sixth Sense
63. The Strangers
64. The Thing [‘82]
65. The Village
66. The Witch [yikes!]
67. Train to Busan
68. Werewolves Among Us [saw last spring; cute!]
69. When A Stranger Calls [original and latest]
70. Wrong Turn [‘03]
71. You’re Next
And if I could only recommend ONE each night between 10/5 and 10/31, my go-to bag would probably include:
1. [Anything with] Lugosi/Chaney
2. [Disney’s] “The Adventures of Ichabod Crane…”
3. [The original] Halloween...TO BE SAVED FOR 10/31, of course! That's when we eat the CHILI!
4. An American Werewolf in London
5. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
6. Creepshow
7. Friday the 13th [first]
8. Fright Night [from ‘85]
9. Insidious
10. It ['17]
11. Jeepers Creepers [either one!]
12. Manhunter
13. Pan’s Labyrinth
14. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
15. Scream
16. Stir of Echoes
17. The Babadook
18. The Conjuring
19. The Fly
20. The Haunting [‘99]
21. The Howling
22. The Mothman Prophecies
23. The Sixth Sense
24. The Witch [yikes!]
25. Wrong Turn [‘03]
p.s. NOPE is a blast, so I highly recommend it. And I've seen The Black Phone seven times now, so it, too, has my strong seal of approval. That (plus $8.00) might just buy you a coffee, so take my opinion for whatever it's worth.