The Definitely Non-Definitive, Highly Subjective List of the 20-ish Greatest Halloween Movies Ever (In My Opinion)
As you can tell from the title of this post, I’m already defending myself for the backlash that could stem from this (for some reason) highly controversial topic. It seems like anytime you tack the words “greatest” and “list” together, people come out of the woodwork to call you out for missing out on some either obvious or obscure flicks that no list of Halloween movies should be without. To you, I say: You realize there are way worse things in the world to get upset about, right?
Yet here I am, taking the time out of my day-to-day life to give you my picks for the greatest Halloween movies ever made, simply because I friggin' love Halloween. It brings some serious nostalgia percolating to the surface. It signals to me that Fall has truly arrived and 'tis the season to be cozy. It's apple orchards, pumpkin patches, gourds, and nature's signal to just kick back with a mug of hot cider and watch the leaves change.
So, I’m going to give you a list of movies that I think should be essential viewing for getting in the All Hallow’s Eve spirit (pun intended). And like all proper lists, this shit is numbered. Yet unlike proper lists, the numbers are not meant to denote an order of awesomeness.
#7. Donnie Darko
Some people may not consider this a Halloween movie. They’re wrong, but they may not consider it a Halloween movie. This 80’s period piece has all the undefined pre-requisites to be on this list. Costumes? Check. Halloween party? Check. Some supernaturalishness going on? Check. Killer soundtrack well suited to Halloween? Check. A bit of the ol’ creep factor? Check. Pedophilia?Scratch that last one.
#5. Ghostbusters
This one should be pretty self-explanatory, but lets go with it. When I think of Halloween, I think of ghosts, goblins, witches, werewolves, jack o’ lanterns, and Bill Murray. The main theme of the movie is about as synonymous with Halloween as you can get. I challenge you to go to a Halloween party and not hear “When there’s something strange, in your neighborhood...Who ya gonna call...GHOSTBUSTERS!” If you now have that stuck in your head, you’re welcome.
#2. Fun Size
This was a late addition to the list. You may notice a bit of a theme with a lot of these movies (all but four actually): They’re made before the year 2000. So this one might be a bit of an outlier. It’s also not scary in the slightest. It’s just good old fashioned Halloween-done-modern in a way that does a pretty darn good job of capturing the spirit of the night. It’s a teeny-bopper rom-com of an MTV movie, but it’s enjoyable across the board. I recommend it if you haven’t already seen it.
#1. Hocus Pocus
Now this is one that I would call a damn near requirement for getting into the Halloween spirit. Fun fact, this was the first movie I remember seeing by my lonesome in theaters. If I was a woman, I’d go as one of the Sanderson sisters for Halloween every year. Since I’m not a woman, the one time was enough. This movie captures the exact spirit of Halloween that I remember as a kid. Halloween is a night when the parents would fade away and everything I knew was turned upside down. This movie is an adventure, coming of age story, family movie that always gives me the Halloween warm fuzzies. Halloween isn’t only about the scare, it’s about the nostalgia.
#3. Trick R’ Treat
I’ve reviewed this recently, so I’m just going to say, I really hope they do a sequel to this movie because the world needs more classically awesome Halloween films.
#6. Halloween
Pretty aptly named and on the nose, this film is a classic in the horror genre for good reason. Despite being one of the first 70’s slasher flicks, the actual amount of slashing isn’t nearly as bad as you might think. This movie relies heavily on the creepy, voyeur scare that is sadly lacking in today’s scary movie. John Carpenter knew how to build up suspense so when the slashing did start, you were primed for the scare. The shot of Michael Myers standing in silhouette under that houses awning, with the backlighting of the porchlight is as foreboding and creepy today as it was then.
#4. Stephen King's It
As rave as the reviews were around the remake - and deservedly so - the remake just lacked the same level of creep that the old movie had. Pennywise was creepy, but there was just this sense that everyone was really going to be okay. In the original, the cutting between the younger and older versions of the character really played up just how traumatized they were from the experience. They were legitimately traumatized in a way that felt completely real. Sure, the film looks like an 80’s movie filled with 80’s actors, but that just lends to the nostalgia of the film and it’s spiritual attachment to Halloween.
#8. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
This is a straight-up nostalgia pick. It has that 70’s animation that just triggers something so visceral to my memory, even though I was born in the 80’s. When I watch it, I am transported to Michigan in the fall, picking apples in an orchard, eating fresh cinnamon sugar donuts, and then picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve in that stereotypical pumpkin face (you know the one I’m talking about).
#10. Scream
Not really a Halloween movie in and of itself, but this movie always gets added to my October viewing list. It’s the rebirth of the slasher flick that does a pretty good job of making you really question who the killer might be. It gave us the 90’s scream queens and really defined horror in the 90’s and early 2000’s before torture porn became all the rage. It was scary and real, but in that Hollywood “real” kind of way. It is horror escapism at its best.
#11. The Evil Dead
The movie that gave us Bruce Campbell as Ash. Also the movie that gave us Sam Raimi. This thing is ridiculous, campy, and the father of a thousand tropes that still exist to this day. It spawned the most ridiculous sequel that is so far removed from the source material, it’s hard to call it a sequel. But it’s a classic for all those reasons.
#12. Halloweentown
Kind of in the same school as Hocus Pocus. It’s a good Halloween movie for kids, with no risk of lifelong psychological trauma. Because I hear psychological trauma is a bad thing for children. Wish someone had told my parents that.
#15. Children of the Corn
We go from not traumatizing children to being traumatized by children. I blame this movie for instilling me with an unshakable belief that all children are in fact evil. I have yet to find any proof to the contrary. Watch this flick before you have children and you will never need to be reminded to use birth control again. Once you get older, you’ll forget the lessons or this movie and opt to get with the baby making. My hope is that while you are sitting there, holding your precious little genetic spawn, the memory of this movie creeps into the back of your head. Good luck sleeping for the next 18 years.
#22. The Thing
This is one of my all-time favorite horror films (the John Carpenter version). It has that perfect amount of 80’s you want in a John Carpenter film. It has practical effects and no CGI. It’s one of my three favorite Kurt Russell films and is just perfect in so many ways. It, like Scream, makes you question what you think you know. Who is “the thing”? The scene when they’re testing the blood is still amazing to this day. Sure the practical effects may not be as realistic as what CGI can do today, but I think that is one of the things that makes the film special.
#17. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Recently called “garbage” by a millennial friend of mine (former friend, I should say). I wore out not one, but two VHS copies of this movie as a kid. I was filled with awe and wonder, watching this iconic film set in a land that was about as alien to me as the title character. It has a sense of whimsy that still holds up today. Sure, it’s all practical effects. Sure, ET may have looked more realistic as a CGI creature, but then again, would we really want him to? In many ways, this movie spawned a generation of not-so-scary takes on aliens that allowed us to go outside on a cloudless night and not fear the great unknown. If only Spielberg had done the same for sharks.
#56. The Amityville Horror (Take your pick, original or remake)
Perhaps controversially, I prefer the remake with Ryan Reynolds. It has all the tropes of a good suspenseful horror and some gore to go with it. The funny thing is, only one living creature actually dies in the movie, which goes to show that you don’t need to litter the screen with dead bodies to pull off a really scary movie. It somehow manages to make me terrified of old houses while simultaneously making me really want one. Does that make me a sociopath?
#22. Friday the 13th
Jason. This guy has done almost as much for hockey in the U.S. as Wayne Gretzky did when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. If you don’t know who Wayne Gretzky is, he’s like the Michael Jordan of basketball. For those of you who don’t know who Michael Jordan is, he’s like the older version of Lebron James without the trade theatrics. Anyway, I digress. Jason, the man in the goalie mask. The man who made us all thankful we were teenage virgins because everyone knows that making the whoopie means getting brutally slaughtered by some dude that hangs out at a Summer camp.
#14. The Witches
Before Wes Anderson, before The Addams’ Family, Anjelica Huston haunted my dreams because of this film. Anjelica Huston starred as the Grand High Witch in a coven/convention of witches. A little boy stumbles on the secret and gets turned into a mouse. Ahh, what used to be spooky. Added bonus, Mr. Bean is in it as not-Mr. Bean. Oh and it’s based on a Roald Dahl book to boot. Straight up childhood favorite.
#45. Idle Hands
Jessica Alba in all her Jessica Alba-ness. And a devil possessed hand that wants what the devil wants. Hijinks ensue. Plus it’s got Fulton from Mighty Ducks. And that one guy from Final Destination that kind of disappeared from movies. The real question here is: What happened to Devon Sawa?
#32. Bugs Bunny’s Broomstick Bunny
It’s only like 7 minutes long and probably shouldn’t be included on a list of best Halloween movies. But I have two words for you: Bugs Bunny. I do not feel the need to defend my choice any further.
#18. Ernest Scared Stupid
Trolls and Jim Varney. It’s a match made in heaven. Now, truthfully, I have not revisited this cinematic masterwork in a number of years, but I do remember it fondly and it definitely scores the nostalgia points in my heart of hearts. Do Halloween right, get some Ernest in your night.
#21. Stir of Echoes
So you know that “I see dead people” movie that was SOOOOO popular with its completely “unexpected” twist that NO ONE saw coming? This movie came out around the same time and is far and away the better of the two. Both deal with the idea of seeing beyond the veil, but this movie does it in such a creepier way that it’s hard not to hate the other one for stealing the spotlight (kind of like Armageddon overshadowing Deep Impact). Plus The Sixth Sense is the reason why we have The Village, Lady in the Water, and whatever other junk Mr Shymalan has seen fit to golden shower down upon us. Except Unbreakable though. That movie was good. But this movie is better. To be fair, the last third isn’t as good as the first third, but that first third is great.
#28. An American Werewolf in London
Werewolves had to make it on this list somewhere of course. And this might be the best, if not tied for the best, werewolf movie ever made. The transformation scene alone makes this film deserve a place on this list. Every time I watch that scene I feel the pain. It also shows the beauty of what practical effects can be.
#88. The Exorcist
I don’t know that a movie has caused more nightmares than The Exorcist except for maybe Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas. This movie has spawned countless exorcist themed movies. But let’s not hold that against the original. The Exorcist, by today’s standards, probably isn’t all that scary. Much in the same way Star Wars to kids today is just a bunch of terrible effects and glow sticks. But go back to the 70’s when this movie came out and it’s a completely different story. People were leaving the theater scared, shaking, crying, throwing up, and fainting. Some claim it also holds the record for “film to have caused the most heart attacks”. Sounds like a new Oscar category to me.
So that rounds out my non-ranked list of the 20+2 subjectively perfect Halloween films ever created.
I know what you’re thinking: Derrick, how can you make a list of the greatest Halloween movies and neglect: vampires, zombies, mummies, and all the other classic Halloween creatures? Let me explain:
Zombies - Can we really claim these are Halloween-centric anymore? When I think of zombies now, I don’t think about Halloween. I think about half-eaten carcasses rotting in the hot Summer sun. I think about science experiments gone wrong. While they are most certainly a category of horror, I just don’t think they really line up with the spirit of Halloween anymore. They’re not supernatural, they’re pseudo-science. But to appease the masses here’s some honorable mentions from the zombie genre: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, About Schmidt.
Vampires - This one might be a bit harder to defend my position, especially since I went as a vampire on Halloween multiple times as a child. So here’s my rationale. Do vampires hold some special place in the annals of Halloween? Of course they do. So why would I leave them off? With the exception of Nosferatu, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and maybe The Lost Boys, do the other Vampire movies really scream Halloween? Let’s not forget, the entire genre has been Y.A.’d to death with the likes of Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and True Blood. Vampires aren’t scary anymore. They’re a category of gothic fetish porn. Even Let the Right One In can’t wipe the memory of Sparkles McFangFang from my brain.