It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, we’re not talking about Christmas or the Holiday season; we’re talking about Halloween. This year, Halloween is going to be different due to COVID-19. Less partying, less trick or treating, and less dressing up. With people at home and hopefully staying safe, there’s time to dig into a nice horror movie marathon to celebrate the most fun holiday of them all. To celebrate Halloween, we’re offering up an array of Halloween horror movie recommendations, but if you’re looking for more family-friendly Halloween movies that aren’t horror, we got you covered there as well.
Bad Hair (On Hulu)
From the creator of Dear White People, Justin Simien, comes a well-crafted horror movie with exceptional style. With its grainy aesthetic and look at Los Angeles in the late ‘80s, Bad Hair has a look and feel that gets under the skin. It’s low-key unsettling, but then slowly builds to its big laughs and horror. There are some well-timed scares and laughs in Bad Hair and it concludes with madness that mixes lunacy and terror. The horror also feels personal, too, with a protagonist you constantly feel anxiety and empathy for.
Bliss (On Shudder)
Here’s a punk rock horror movie with a punk rock performance from Dora Madison. She is ferocious in this overwhelming, 16mm-shot and Los Angeles-based horror story about an artist-turned-cannibal. Within minutes, you’ll know whether Bliss is for you. It’s gnarly, messy, and ugly stuff, in a good way. Bliss is a visceral, character-driven horror movie with a fantastic lead performance that would maybe pair well with Bad Hair.
Demon Wind (On Shudder)
The movie lives up to its title. Charles Philip Moore’s movie is a barrel of laughs with a bit of creepiness. A group of friends find themselves trapped by ghastly evil spirits. Demon Wind came out in 1990, but it plays as a relic from the 1980s. It’s hilarious. Whether the laughs were intentional or not, Demon Wind is a great, bloody disgusting time with legit creepy effects and big belly laughs.
Grizzly (On Amazon)
The Jaws ripoff is a blast. The 1976 film is shameless in ripping off the Steven Spielberg classic. It even has the exact same ending. It’s sometimes comical, but for the most part, it’s an effective horror-thriller with a grizzly bear eating humans for lunch. Nobody is safe in Grizzly. It’s good, nasty fun with a sense of humor. It’s the B-movie version of Jaws.
Hush (On Netflix)
Mike Flanagan is one of the great horror filmmakers working today. He directed The Haunting of Hillhouse and The Haunting of Bly Manor for Netflix, as well as the moving horror epic, Doctor Sleep. Flanagan’s eye and ear for character and scares are on full display in Hush, which is a tight home invasion thriller starring Kate Siegel (Hill House). The lead, who is def, is terrorized by a madman in her isolated house in the woods. Hush is a fast-paced horror-thriller that taps into very real fears.
Jennifer’s Body (On Amazon)
The Diablo Cody-penned horror-comedy only gets better with time. Jennifer’s Body was released in 2009 with little fanfare. Eleven years later, Karyn Kusama’s film is already a cult classic. Starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer’s Body is a horror-comedy with a real sense of humor and personal horror. There’s also a dynamite supporting cast with J.K. Simmons and Adam Brody bringing even more laughs to the party.
Mayhem (On Shudder)
Mayhem is arguably more of an action movie than a horror movie, but its premise is complete horror. Set in an office building, a chemical unleashes the worst instincts in people, causing a tidal wave of violence. Mayhem is a bloodbath with two star performances from two of today’s most charismatic young stars, Samara Weaving and Steven Yeun. As a pairing, they’re terrific fun in Joe Lynch’s good time of a movie. It’s like a horror spin on Die Hard.
Rebecca (Available on Blu-Ray)
Last week, Netflix released their new adaptation of Rebecca. It’s a fine movie. It’s a fine movie that pales in comparison to the original adaptation from Alfred Hitchcock, whose vision for the story is a dreamlike horror show. It’s a drama, first and foremost, but Hitchcock’s gothic-horror love story is an unnerving piece of beauty. While many Netflix subscribers are discovering the iconic story for the first time, they should go back in history and check out this black-and-white classic. It’s chilling.
Train to Busan (Available on Netflix)
Imagine World War Z on a train with actual real characters, that is the experience of Train to Busan. The zombie thriller was a worldwide hit, for good reason. It’s extremely entertaining. The movie never slows down, only ramps up with the fun, scares, and characters. Yeon Sang-ho’s film, in my book, is one of the most entertaining movies of the 21st Century. It’s emotional, hilarious, and frightening. It is a near-perfect piece of damn fine crowd-pleasing entertainment.
The Wailing (Available on Netflix)
Speaking of the most entertaining movies of the 21st Century, we can easily add The Wailing to that list. It’s a horror epic. Again, it is a movie with everything to offer. From drama to comedy to the scares to the emotions, the South Korean film is a dense piece of pie to dig into. Na Hong-jin’s possession movie is masterful with an innately watchable ensemble, unpredictable turns, and unsettling horror matched with some slapstick-esque humor.
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