10 Scary Movies to Watch For Halloween
October means many things—fall foliage, the return of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, more pumpkin-flavored items than any sane person could possibly desire—but it also means it’s almost Halloween, also known as time for scary movies. Thanks to streaming video services, there are now almost as many ghoulish and gory options as pumpkin snacks to easily consume. Here are 10 surefire bets for your Halloween scare fest.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s demonic-possession masterpiece is beautifully made, well acted, and scary as hell. Simply put, there’s no better film to watch—for the first time, or for the 100th—very late at night, with the lights off, by yourself.
Night of the Living Dead
It created the modern zombie genre, and its fondness for sociopolitical echoes. But even more than that legacy, George A. Romero’s low-budget black-and-white original proved that you don’t need money to create a horror classic; you just need braiiiiiiiins.
Halloween
John Carpenter’s bogeyman slasher nightmare spawned a legion of inferior sequels that couldn’t diminish the ominous power of his original, about a psychopath who returns to his hometown years later to don a misshaped William Shatner mask and stalk Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Shining
Arguably the scariest film of all time, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s bestseller generates terror from its meticulous filmmaking. And, courtesy of Jack Nicholson’s turn as a murderous paterfamilias, it also features the most memorable horror-movie performance in the past few decades.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The story of a child molester who returns from the dead to prey upon his killers’ children in dreams, Wes Craven’s seminal shocker recognizes that you’re never more vulnerable than when asleep.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Ignore all the remakes, remake sequels, and remake prequels, and stick with Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 grindhouser, about a slightly unhinged hippie-hating family with a house notable for its giant meet hooks, human bone furniture, and slammable slaughterhouse metal doors.
Psycho
A cautionary tale about the perils of stealing from your boss—and, also, about staying at roadside motels run by mamma’s boys—Alfred Hitchcock’s 1961 gem still retains its power to get under the skin.
American Psycho
Christian Bale is a yuppie with a taste for axe-wielding mayhem in Mary Harron’s wicked black-comedy adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, which, among other things, recognizes that nothing is quite as bloodcurdling as the sound of Huey Lewis and the News.
The Human Centipede: First Sequence
It may be too nasty for most to stomach, but there’s real artistry—albeit of a demented, go-for-broke sort—to this notorious 2009 film, about a deranged German scientist with plans to create the ungodly title creature.
Carrie
Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is an unbearably disturbing portrait of youthful alienation and fury, with one of the genre’s most unforgettable fire-and-brimstone endings.
All of these movies can be found on Amazon, Netflix or Hulu. For more scary movies to watch this Halloween, click here.
