Best Halloween Movies (and shows) to Get you in the Spooky Mood

 

By: Emma MacKinlay and Jonathan Rodriguez

 

1. Coraline

A classic Halloween movie that is great for those who don’t like to get too scared. It is a great stop-motion animation that adds spookiness to a childhood classic, a wonderful adventure movie with talking cats and creepy mice. Did Coraline’s parents set her up? I mean Wybie’s grandma did say she doesn’t rent to people with children!

2. Halloween (The Original)

The start of the Michael Myers franchise, the OG from 1978 is a classic to get some scares out. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching the Boogeyman attack babysitters, it’s the perfect scary movie to watch alone! He stalks his prey, and kills many along the way, make sure you always look behind yourself while walking at night who knows who’ll be behind you. The killer from the 70s is still killing today with a new Halloween movie called Halloween Kills that just came out a couple weeks ago and another on the way in 2022.

3. Hereditary

The first of our A24 favorites is this masterpiece of a psychological horror movie. Demons come in all shapes and sizes these days. The Graham family spend most of their days combating the demons inside of their own psyche, including depression, trauma, PTSD, and chronic anhedonia. They also must fight off a past life that was plagued with occult practices which contain their own demons out to torment them.

If you like the common anxiety produced by A24 movies, you’ll love this one, just keep in mind it is kind of messed up. Also, if you have already seen it and decide to get some cool merch, you can always check out Online Ceramics, an awesome streetwear brand that always collabs with A24 movies. (https://online-ceramics.com/)

4. Scream

 

A cult classic, Scream is one of the best Halloween movies to watch. The movie is full of twists and turns that’ll leave you wanting more, and luckily enough for you this movie has turned into a series as well, with even a new movie coming out next year. Luckily, we no longer have to worry about phone killers, you can just hang up and block the number. Do you think you could survive the Ghostface killer?  The opening scene is enough to make you SCREAM!

5. Ghostbusters

 

The Ghostbusters is another classic Halloween movie to watch, it’s another franchise film that takes on the Halloween theme in a different way. It is still filled with scary ghouls and ghosts with an amazing music soundtrack to make you feel like you are back in the 80s. Do not watch the female ghostbusters though, it totally ruins the amazing classics. It’s not even about the progressiveness of changing the whole team to women, it’s just not funny at all.

The predictable cheesy, corny jokes combined with stereotypical “funny fat friend” and handsome nerdy male characters do not leave much to the imagination. Honestly, it feels like they are trying too hard to suck up to what stereotype is preferred to most people, not using any creativity in terms of characters, conversations, or even the momentum found in the classics.

 

6. Halloweentown

 

A childhood classic, every time Halloween came around this is the one movie I looked forward to playing on the Disney channel. Follow along Marnie and her siblings as they save Halloweentown. This movie brings back so many memories, you can also watch the Twitches, twin witches who work together to destroy the darkness that lurks in their castle. These movie franchises bring back a lot of memories, it is a perfect Halloween movie to give you a joyful spook.

7. The VVitch

 

Another A24 movie that provides an eerie feeling of being watched and being a fever dream is The VVitch. Acting off the mysterious disappearance of the whole Roanoke colony in the 1500s, a family is settling in the unexplored forest area of New England when strange occurrences happen. When the youngest member of the family disappears in plain daylight with no trace, the oldest daughter is cornered into a situation where she becomes the main suspect of witchcraft. The VVitch is creepy and suspenseful by melding days into one another giving off the feeling of a nightmare that won’t stop.

8. Sinister

 

Ever seen a creepy snuff video? You might not want to know what a snuff film is ever again. Imagine you find out that you have a box full of them in your attic without knowing their origin. For a hardcore crime writer, this box is gold, but watching them also summons a demon that will do the same to you and your family with no remorse. A little predictable with the jump scares but the premise is great in my opinion.

9. Babadook

 

 

This is another interesting psychological horror movie where the Babadook represents the trauma that depression and grief can bring upon a normal life. With the desperate attempt of a child trying to understand their own emotions as they grow up with a single mother, mixed with a volatile and emotionally broken mother that is using anger and anxious methods of coping with grief, this movie is spooky.

10. The Haunting of Hill House

 

A beautiful story of family issues mixed with real-life ghosts makes the dynamic very pleasant when empathizing with any character. If you want to get creeped out while noticing how beautiful a healthy relationship can be in a family while also representing ghosts as real characters that develop over time. It’s a lengthy series on Netflix consisting of 10, 1-hour episodes, but it is definitely worth watching.

 

Cover photo credit: http://www.freepik.com”>Designed by pikisuperstar / Freepik</a>