Whether you’re squeamish or you live for blood and guts, here are 31 movies to get you in the spooky spirit for Halloween. Featuring the best of the best, from classic to foreign, new and old, grab your popcorn and something to squeeze for dear life. The idobi Halloween movie Countdown starts now.
Childish and Nostalgic:
To kick things off, we have some childhood favorites that ring more silly than sinister, this collection of favorites is great for a cozy night with the family or a quick hit of nostalgia.
Halloweentown (1998)
When a young girl living with her secret witch mother learns she too is a witch, she must help her witch grandmother save Halloweentown from evil forces.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
A teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, MA, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches executed in the 17th century.
Casper (1995)
An afterlife therapist and his daughter meet a friendly young ghost when they move into a crumbling mansion to rid the premises of wicked spirits.
Monster House (2006)
Three teens discover their neighbor’s house is a living, breathing, scary monster.
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count’s teenage daughter.
The Little Vampire (2000)
A lonely American boy living in Scotland makes a new best friend, a fellow nine-year-old who happens to be a vampire.
Beetlejuice (1988)
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home and hired a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Absolute Classics:
Next up is a collection of flicks most would consider absolute classics. Emotional support pets or partners are recommended for optimal viewing experience.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
The Thing (1982)
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Alien (1979)
After investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin, the crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.
Saw (2004)
Two men awaken to find themselves on opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other or face consequences. These two are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Halloween (1978)
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Psychological Thrillers:
If adrenaline-pumping fear isn’t your cup of tea, we’ve got you covered with a collection of mind-boggling psychological thrillers.
Psycho (1960)
A secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother.
The Shining (1980)
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter, where a sinister presence influences the father into violence. At the same time, his psychic son sees horrifying forebodings from both the past and the future.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
The Ring (2002)
A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape that seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
Hereditary (2018)
A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
Blue Velvet (1986)
The discovery of a severed human ear in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Foreign Fear:
Paying homage to the underrated, underappreciated world of foreign film, here is a collection of flicks from abroad.
Ringu (1998)
When her niece is found dead along with three friends after viewing a supposedly cursed videotape, reporter Reiko sets out to investigate. She finds the tape, watches it, and receives a phone call informing her that she’ll die in a week.
Train To Busan (2016)
While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.
Parasite (2019)
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Twin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don’t recognize.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
[REC] (2007)
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Eyes Without A Face (1960)
A surgeon causes an accident that leaves his daughter disfigured and goes to extreme lengths to give her a new face.
Scariest Of Them All:
To top off your Halloween movie extravaganza, here are a few of the scariest, most chilling films you can get your hands on this spooky season.
Get Out (2017)
A young Black man visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.
The Babadook (2014)
A single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children’s book titled “Mister Babadook” manifests in their home.
The Exorcist (1973)
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
If you made it to the end of this list, congrats and happy Halloween! Rock on, and don’t get murdered!
