With fewer parties and gatherings planned for Halloween this year, more people will be staying at home and creating their own scary Saturday night. Add to the spookiness with a themed dinner and seasonal cocktail or ale. Make it frightfully great with a classic slasher film or keep it light with a not-so-scary flick that’ll even make you laugh. Here are our Best Halloween Movies, both frightful and fun if you’re up for a spooky movie marathon date night. You know, Netflix and Chillers!
For Halloween Heebie Jeebies
Scream
The 1996 hit that spawned a 4-film franchise, a 3-season TV series and one of the most popular Halloween costumes of all time. Scream is a scary shout-out to the horror film genre.
Halloween
We had to include the ultimate John Carpenter classic, Halloween, the film that inspired a genre. No horror movie marathon is complete without serial killer Michael Myers on the loose.
Friday the 13th
Spawned from the success of Halloween, Friday the 13th generated 12 slasher movies featuring killer Jason Voorhees. This one inspired another favourite Halloween costume for hockey lovin’ Canadians.
Get Out
A more recent release to include is the smart, topical horror flick, Get Out. Directed by Jordan Peele, it tells the story of a young African-American man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend. Much creepiness ensues.
Hereditary
Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne star in the 2018 film, Hereditary. The story features a family haunted by a mysterious presence after the death of their secretive grandmother.
A Quiet Place
Talk about being on the edge of your seat! With only 25 lines of dialogue in an hour and a half film, this is the ultimate in suspenseful silences. A family must remain vigilant in maintaining complete silence in order to hide from monsters with hypersensitive hearing.
The Exorcist
It’s 47 years old but The Exorcist is still one of the scariest movies ever made. The depiction of young Regan MacNeil possessed by the devil made people faint and vomit when the flick was originally released in theatres. Most of the effects in the movie are pretty low-tech but very highly effective. Even today, this one will make your head spin!
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street has likely been causing many a sleepless night since 1984. A child-killer’s ghost is terrorizing a neighbourhood’s teenagers within their dreams and causing them to die in real life. Freddy Krueger’s glove-handed razors and fedora-like hat have since appeared in 7 sequels and 1 remake, no doubt contributing to those insomnia stats.
For the Scaredy Cats
I’ll admit I’m pretty much afraid of my own shadow and have begrudgingly seen the movies listed above. But, I am definitely more comfortable with Beetlejuice-type films. With that in mind, here are a few somewhat less scary suggestions for those, who like me, usually watch these movies through a curtain of interlaced fingers.
Beetlejuice
This classic Tim Burton film has become a cult favourite. The ghosts of a deceased married couple are harassed by an annoying family that has moved into their home and decide to hire a pesty spirit to drive them out. It’s Michael Keaton at his best and also stars the always funny Catherine O’Hara. It’s not scary, but it’s a zany original Halloween classic.
Shaun Of The Dead
This film is a zombie comedy romance starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Shaun is a bit of a loser but when his town is overrun with zombies, he rises to the occasion to rescue his mom and girlfriend. This movie is light on scares but heavy on hilarious horror and gore.
The Lie
A dad dropping his kid off at dance camp. What could go wrong? Turns out, plenty! This movie’s not terrifying but it is suspenseful until the end. Starring Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King, The Lie was filmed in the Toronto area. See if you can spot the landmarks!
Sweeney Todd / Sleepy Hollow
What’s Halloween without Johnny Depp’s heavily-eyelined, smoldering presence on your screen? Both Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow star Depp and were directed by Tim Burton. Both films are rich in production, mood and plot. Why not make it a double feature?
Where to watch? Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, Starz
What to snack on? Create a candy platter, nuts, popcorn, chips
What to drink? Mcauslan Pumpkin Ale, Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout, Pumpkin Patch Cocktail
Grab that usually-at-the-front-door bowl of treats, your choice of potion and a big blanket to hide behind. Time to settle in for a sleepless night of Halloween horrors with these Best Halloween Movies!
