What's the best part about Halloween? Well, besides the copious amounts of candy? The scary movie marathons you can have with your friends! To make your movie marathon planning a little easier this Halloween season, here's a list of 10 must-watch horror movies. So grab a blanket and some popcorn, get comfortable, and prepare to be scared!
1. Halloween (1978)
You can't settle down for a Halloween movie marathon without this classic. In it, Michael Myers, a six-year-old child at the movie's opening, murders his sister on Halloween night. Fifteen years later, after an extensive stay in a mental institution, Myers escapes and returns to his hometown to continue killing. No other movie is as suspenseful as Halloween, and it's sure to have you peeking through the cracks in your fingers!
2. Evil Dead (1981)
This cult-classic follows five friends who retreat to a cabin in the woods for a relaxing vacation -- only to accidentally release a terrifying demon, intent on picking them off one by one. The low-budget film features exaggerated violence and cheesy effects might make you laugh, but I'm betting it makes you jump a couple times, too.
3. The Amityville Horror (1979)
The movie, based on a true story by writer Jay Anson, opens with a newlywed couple and their children moving into their Long Island dream home. Little do they know, the house's grisly past isn't only in the past. Evil spirits from the six murders that took place the year before drive the family insane, committed to forcing them out of the house or claiming their lives. What's scarier than a horror movie that's based on true events? You tell me.
4. The Crow (1994)
The Crow is yet another cult-classic, and my personal all-time favorite movie. In it, Brandon Lee plays Eric Draven, an up-and-coming rock star living with his fiancé Shelly Webster. The night before they are to be married, a street gang murders the couple in their home. A year later, Eric returns from the grave to enact his revenge. The movie is famous not only for its stellar plot and top-notch performances, but for the tragedy that struck while producing the movie. Actor Brandon Lee was shot and killed during a retake of the movie's shoot out scene (his father was also killed on the set of a movie...coincidence?). Give it a try this Halloween. I'd be surprised if it doesn't become one of your go-to movies, too.
5. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Sometimes, the best movies are the oldest movies. While House on Haunted Hill might not send shivers down your spine, it's sure to be entertaining. Vincent Price, the king of horror himself, plays a millionaire who offers $10,000 to five people who agree to spend the night in his haunted home with him and his wife. As you can imagine, their stay in the house isn't a walk in the park. Ghosts, murderers and other terrors haunt them from dusk to dawn. If they make it to dawn, that is.
6. The Craft (1996)
Not the slightest bit scary, but the ultimate girl gang movie. The Craft follows Sarah Bailey, a new student at a Catholic high school who falls in with the wrong crowd: a trio of witches who use their powers to make others bend to their will. If you watch this movie and don't want to join their coven, I'd be surprised.
7. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Two teenagers and their three friends set out to visit their grandfather's grave and their family home when they encounter a family of cannibals who aren't about to let them escape without a fight. I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything scarier than being chased down by a masked man with a power tool.
8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
In my opinion, The Blair Witch Project is one of the most terrifying movies of all time. Filmed as a found-footage rockumentary, three students enter the woods to document the legend of the Blair Witch. Here's the catch -- they never make it out of the woods, and a year later, their footage is found. Watch it just in time to see the sequel that comes out this September 16th!
9. The Shining (1980)
When a family agrees to stay in a vacant hotel for the winter, no one anticipates anything out of the ordinary. But, a evil presence in the hotel forces Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) into violence against his family and his son Danny into psychic visions of past horrors and future dangers. The Shining might be one of the most popular Halloween horror movies, and for a good reason. The movie holds you in suspense unit the bottom finally falls out and Jack Torrance succumbs to the hotel's spirits. Don't mess with a classic!
10. The Last Exorcism (2010)
I can't recommend most "contemporary" horror films, but The Last Exorcism gets it (mostly) right. The film is made in a documentary style in which an evangelical preacher agrees to let filmmakers film him "exorcising" his followers -- a practice that he doesn't even believe in. It isn't until he meets Nell Sweetzer that he considers that possession by evil spirits might actually be real. I liked this movie...until the very end. But, the first 80% is good enough to excuse the pretty cheesy last 20%.
If you can survive all ten of these horror-packed Halloween films, you deserve some kind of trophy. Or maybe just some bragging rights. Have fun and, as always, Happy Halloween!
