What's the difference between a great horror movie and a great Halloween movie? Well, the only direct similarity is genre, but a Halloween movie itself feels somehow different from just any horror film. A perfect Halloween movie ideally takes place on or around Halloween, references this holiday either in its narrative or aesthetic, and is ideally enjoyed by a group of people.
Friends can binge-watch movies on Halloween or keep an eye on a film in the background as they put back Candy Corn and Tootsie Rolls. The perfect Halloween movie is probably for someone in their late teens and older; after all, kids will probably be out trick-or-treating. The perfect Halloween movie has very specific parameters, and we believe these are a few of the absolute best.
Updated on October 27th, 2023, by Ben Hathaway: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
30 Corpse Bride (2005)
Corpse Bride
- Release Date
- September 12, 2005
- Director
- Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
- Cast
- Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley
- Rating
- PG
- Main Genre
- Animation
Tim Burton may catch flack for always teaming up with Johnny Depp for what amounts to the same results, but there certainly are bright spots. Take, for instance, the gorgeously animated Corpse Bride, which has Depp's Victor enter into a marriage very different from the one his parents have arranged. Why? Because the woman they've chosen for him has a pulse.
What Makes It Great?
Outside The Nightmare Before Christmas (and perhaps Coraline) there's no film that skews towards the younger set that carries Halloween vibes quite as potently as Corpse Bride. Toss in some great songs and a quick pace, and Corpse Bride is a wonderful choice for families looking to pass an hour and 15 minutes or so on October 31.
Stream on Max
29 Scary Movie (2000)
Scary Movie
- Release Date
- July 7, 2000
- Director
- Keenen Ivory Wayans
- Cast
- Carmen Electra, Dave Sheridan, Frank B. Moore, Giacomo Baessato, Kyle Graham, Leanne Santos
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Comedy
For those who don't feel like screaming on Halloween so much as laughing, Scary Movie is a solid bet. Some of it may not have aged perfectly, but what comedies have by this point? An absolute box office smash, the Wayans brothers' brainchild went on to inspire several sequels, though only Scary Movie 2 again incorporates the family of comics.
What Makes It Great?
The film's ace in the hole, outside its decent replications of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, is Anna Faris. A lead performer who excels in comedy but can really do anything, Faris' Cindy Campbell is every bit as endearing a cinematic figure as Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. But Faris isn't the only high point, as Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, and American Pie's Shannon Elizabeth all threaten to steal their scenes.
Stream on Max and DirecTV
28 Scream VI (2023)
Scream 6
The sixth installment in the American meta-horror slasher franchise Scream.
- Release Date
- March 10, 2023
- Director
- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
- Cast
- Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Radio Silence's Scream VImay not be the flabbergastingly solid slasher their 2022 installment was, but it's a good time nonetheless. It's also the Scream movie that most explicitly takes place during Halloween. The plot again follows Tara and Sam Carpenter, this time in the Big Apple instead of Woodsboro. But, just because Woodsboro is in the rearview mirror doesn't mean Ghostface is.
What Makes It Great?
As far as the inclusion of the pumpkin-themed holiday is concerned, this is most notably seen during the opening act, e.g. after Tony Revolori's Jason Carvey kills Samara Weaving's Laura Crane. And, of course, there's the scene shortly after literally at a costume party (though with fewer Ghostfaces than at Scream 4's Stab party). Even outside Woodsboro, Scream VI keeps the IP (and spooky festivities) alive.
Stream on Paramount+ and Showtime
27 Lady in White (1988)
Lady in White
- Release Date
- April 22, 1988
- Director
- Frank LaLoggia
- Cast
- Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond, Jason Presson, Renata Vanni
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Fantasy
A good old-fashioned ghost story, 1988's The Lady in White is an atmospheric, creepy, and overall effective chiller with a dynamite lead performance from a very young Lukas Haas. But Haas isn't the only one strong in the film, as there's also Len Cariou as a suitably sinister everyman type of killer. The plot follows Haas' nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti, who witnesses the past murder of a little girl (seen by him as a ghost) whose killer may very well be closer to Scarlatti's family than he or his relatives could have guessed.
What Makes It Great?
The Lady in White isn't the choice for those looking for a serving of gore with their Halloween, however. Instead, it's more of a thoughtful tale about grief and processing, and a solid one at that. Not to mention, while it is rated R, there's nothing too forbidding in The Lady in White that it can't be considered for family movie day, provided none of the children are super young (they'd be bored, anyway).
Stream on Hoopla and Tubi
26 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T.
- Release Date
- June 11, 1982
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast
- Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, K.C. Martel
- Rating
- PG
- Main Genre
- Adventure
Not only one of the best sci-fi movies of the '80s, but one of the decade's best as a whole, Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has a sterling reputation that precedes it. With a perfect script and equally proficient work from the perfectly cast Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, and Dee Wallace, the story of a kindhearted alien reaching Earth is a movie that never hits a false note.
What Makes It Great?
With a tone that hits some horror beats nearly as much as it hits troubled family drama story beats, it's a movie that can be watched any time of the year. But there's something about watching E.T. during the spooky season, with its '80s vibes and adorable trick 'r treating scene.
Stream on Peacock Premium
25 Idle Hands (1999)
Idle Hands
- Release Date
- April 30, 1999
- Director
- Rodman Flender
- Cast
- Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, Vivica A. Fox, Christopher Hart
- Rating
- R
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Before Seth Green was doing Robot Chicken and spending exorbitant amounts of money on monkey NFTs, he had a pretty great run of roles in the '90s and turn of the century, including the really underrated Idle Hands. He steals the show here from lead Devon Sawa.
What Makes It Great?
The film takes the classic trope of a body part becoming possessed, cinematically originated in 1924 with Robert Wiene's film The Hands of Orlac, starring Conrad Veidt, and done very well by Peter Lorre in 1935's Mad Love. Here, a stoner's hand turns against him and becomes murderous, resulting in a good slapstick performance and some surprisingly bleak humor. The film climaxes with a very '90s Halloween dance party.
Rent on Apple TV
24 The Child (1977)
A creepy yet underrated '70s film, The Child is set in the Californian woods of the 1930s and follows a hired nanny who gets in over her head. She's come to help a widower, whose wife was recently murdered, and whose daughter is hiding strong telekinetic abilities. Things start to get weird, from eviscerated cats to dark figures in gloomy cemeteries, and everything comes to a wild head on Halloween.
What Makes It Great?
The Child is pretty out there, but it's always unpredictable, and it features one of the more creative uses of a carved pumpkin, or jack o' lantern, in film history. And, like the best Halloween movies, it does a great job of visually capturing the mood of the season.
Stream on AMC
23 The Guest (2014)
Brimming with gothic '80s music and brooding teenagers, The Guest is Adam Wingard's excellent follow-up to the equally excellent You're Next. A hybrid action-horror-comedy, the film stars a haunting Dan Stevens as the alleged military buddy of a family's deceased son, who ingratiates himself into their lives. But he's hiding much more than he lets on, something that will cause the whole family great danger.
What Makes It Great?
This is another film that climaxes with a great Halloween party setting, capitalizing on the lighting and decoration of a school dance. But, fortunately, it's not just the Halloween party scene that's so strong, as the vast majority of The Guest's runtime is an unbearable upping of tension. The best option on Halloween? A Maika Monroe horror trilogy, first with The Guest, then It Follows (released the same year), and concluding with 2019's Villains.
Rent on Apple TV
22 Ed Wood (1994)
Ed Wood
- Release Date
- September 27, 1994
- Director
- Tim Burton
- Cast
- Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, G.D. Spradlin
- Rating
- R
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, History
Tim Burton's classic black-and-white biopic Ed Wood follows the titular 1950s filmmaker behind such cult classics as Glen or Glenda and Plan 9 from Outer Space as he attempts to film the latter. It contains some immaculate period-specific set and costume design and features an amazing cast including Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Patricia Arquette.
What Makes It Great?
Ed Wood is an ode to cheesy filmmaking and artistic passion. It includes a delightfully low-key Halloween party sequence that leads to a beautiful moment where Landau, playing Bela Lugosi, gets into his Dracula character. Not to mention, seeing some of Plan 9 from Outer Space's behind-the-scenes struggles (e.g. the octopus) is a hoot.
Rent on Prime Video
21 Casper (1995)
Casper
- Release Date
- May 26, 1995
- Director
- Brad Silberling
- Cast
- Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Eric Idle, Ben Stein, Chauncey Leopardi, Spencer Vrooman
- Rating
- PG
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Somehow a film about a dead kid became a big family-friendly hit. Maybe it was the innocuous sheet that makes up the entire body of the titular friendly ghost; seeing his murdered corpse haunt children would probably have been too much.
What Makes It Great?
Nonetheless, the little ghost guy is a melancholic but encouraging delight in the '90s iteration of the classic story, which stars Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, and Eric Idle, and Malachi Pearson as Casper. Casper is almost entirely centered around a Halloween party at Whipstaff Manor, which Casper has haunted since he died.
Stream on fuboTV
20 House of 1,000 Corpses (2003)
House of 1000 Corpses
- Release Date
- April 11, 2003
- Director
- Rob Zombie
- Cast
- Chad Bannon, William Bassett, Karen Black, Erin Daniels, Joe Dobbs III, Judith Drake
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Rob Zombie's grisly redneck horror film, House of 1,000 Corpses, follows his favorite Firefly family as they do their dirty thing. On Oct. 30, a group of young people traveling the country to write a book about the obscure local treasures of certain American roadside attractions picks up a hitchhiker. Unfortunately, this leads them to the psychotic killers later seen in The Devil's Rejects (2005) and 3 from Hell (2019) — Baby, Tiny, Otis Driftwood, Mother Firefly, and Grandpa Hugo. What follows is a disgusting, nihilistic, and darkly funny Halloween party from hell.
What Makes It Great?
There's a looseness to House of 1,000 Corpses that both holds it back from being a classic and make it endearing all the same. It's pretty blatant the film is Zombie's first, and in terms of production details, The Devil's Rejects is more impressive. But House of 1,000 Corpses is creepier, without a doubt. Just look what happens to poor Rainn Wilson (of The Office fame).
Stream on AMC+
19 Among the Living (2014)
Among the Living follows three young boys who skip the last day of school before Summer and go exploring, stumbling across a masked murderer attempting to hide a body. The killer notices them before they run off back into town, and of course, no one believes them. But when the killer hunts them down, they will.
What Makes It Great?
What Makes It Great?
An underrated French film, Among the Living fits nicely into the French Extremity Movement but beats to its own drum. An incredible Halloween prologue (and crucial Halloween mask) guides viewers into the hellish world at hand.
Stream on Prime Video
18 Boys in the Trees (2017)
Boys in the Trees is a unique mash-up of fantasy and horror, utilized allegorically for an Australian coming-of-age tale that explores the darker aspects of growing up. On Halloween night, two old friends near the end of their high school experience meet again at a skate park and revisit their childhood. This involves an elaborate fantasy game they used to play, but things go awry when their game and ghost stories bleed into reality, resulting in a hallucinatory nightmare with great music from Shinjuku Thief.
What Makes It Great?
Nicholas Verso's film is a great choice for those looking for some depth on October 31st instead of scares. It doesn't really treat any new ground as a narrative, but the emotional beats it hits both feel universally relevant and well-executed.
Stream on Apple TV+
17 Tragedy Girls (2017)
Tragedy Girls
- Release Date
- October 20, 2017
- Director
- Tyler MacIntyre
- Cast
- Kevin Durand, Nicky Whelan, Josh Hutcherson, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Quaid, Alexandra Shipp
- Rating
- R
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror
Another film that capitalizes on the decorations and design of a high school Halloween party (making expert use of a gymnasium), Tragedy Girls is a genuinely morbid and nasty little comedy about two young high school women who are desperate for celebrity fame and influencer status. They're also downright psychotic and adore true crime. After a hilarious series of events, they become serial killers in secret, and extremely popular online crime reporters in public. It all culminates in a great Halloween party ending.
What Makes It Great?
Like The Final Girls, Tragedy Girls is a self-aware comedy horror film whose crafters are blatantly well-versed in the 1980s' contributions to the genre. And, with a cast list including Deadpool's Brianna Hildebrand, Dark Phoenix's Alexandra Shipp, and Five Nights at Freddy's Josh Hutcherson, and it's a Halloween flick chock full of familiar faces.
Stream on Shudder
16 Ginger Snaps (2000)
Ginger Snaps
- Release Date
- August 1, 2000
- Director
- John Fawcett
- Cast
- Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers, Jesse Moss, Danielle Hampton
- Rating
- R
- Genres
- Drama, Documentary, Horror
The werewolf genre was sadly underused in film for a while, but the 2000 picture Ginger Snaps incorporated the lore into its coming-of-age story perfectly. Somewhat like 2009's Jennifer's Body, Ginger Snaps follows two best friends (this time sisters) whose existence is threatened by the supernatural. When one of the gothic girls has her first period, the scent lures a werewolf that has been terrorizing the town's pets and bites her.
What Makes It Great?
The transformations and conversations that populate the film are darkly funny, and the film's sense of humor is one of its greatest strengths. But, the film is also a pitch-perfect metaphor for the experience of womanhood, making it smarter than much of the remainder of the run of teen-focused scarers that came out in the wake of Scream.
Stream on AMC+
15 Hocus Pocus (1993)
Hocus Pocus
- Release Date
- July 16, 1993
- Director
- Kenny Ortega
- Cast
- Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw
- Rating
- PG
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror
This one is mostly for nostalgia's sake, but thanks to great makeup and some delightfully goofy performances, Hocus Pocus is still a fun little Halloween gem. A young boy accidentally summons up an old trio of witches on Halloween night, played by the incomparable pairing of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, who then wreak havoc on the small Massachusetts town.
What Makes It Great?
Kenny Ortega's film became such a fixture in syndication every October that it lodged itself into the cultural lexicon and resulted in a sequel 30 years later. But, even still, it's only the first film that holds that special '90s time capsule power.
Stream on Disney+
14 Pumpkinhead (1988)
Pumpkinhead
- Release Date
- January 13, 1989
- Director
- Stan Winston
- Cast
- Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross, Joel Hoffman
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
It's hard to ignore a movie called Pumpkinhead when you're going for Halloween titles, and the film doesn't disappoint. It's hardly critically acclaimed, but it's filled with such wonderfully autumnal imagery that it seems inextricable from Halloween. The film follows a bereaved farmer who seeks out a witch to resurrect his dead son, resulting in the ungodly abomination that is Pumpkinhead, which embarks on a ghastly killing spree.
What Makes It Great?
Pumpkinhead is a surprisingly complicated film in emotional terms, even if the effects and scares aren't the greatest. But there's more that works than doesn't in makeup master Stan Winston's directorial debut. Namely, the design of the creature is unsurprisingly sublime, it carries a creepy and fog-coated ambiance that sticks with the viewer, and Lance Henriksen's lead performance is genuinely outstanding.
Stream on Paramount+ and Apple TV+
13 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Release Date
- October 9, 1993
- Director
- Henry Selick
- Cast
- Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens
- Rating
- PG
- Genres
- Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical
The Nightmare Before Christmas follows Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween Town, who discovers Christmas for the first time and falls in love with the different holidays, leading to all sorts of complications between their different worlds, not to mention some great songs. You'll be singing "This Is Halloween" throughout All Hallows' Eve.
What Makes It Great?
Is it a Christmas movie about Halloween, or a Halloween movie about Christmas? The Nightmare Before Christmas is a little bit of both, though it arguably works much better for the Oct. 31 holiday. This classic from stop-motion genius Henry Selick (Coraline) is arguably still as popular today, 30 years later than when it came out.
Stream on Disney+
12 Night of the Demons (1988)
Night of the Demons
- Release Date
- August 30, 2009
- Director
- Adam Gierasch
- Cast
- Edward Furlong, Shannon Elizabeth, Monica Keena, Bobbi Sue Luther, John F. Beach, Michael Copon
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Night of the Demons is a cult classic that continues to gain new acolytes today. The film is a perfect Halloween watch for the weirdos, misfits, outcasts, and goths among us, following some teenagers throwing a party at a mortuary. When they conduct a séance, it unleashes a terrifying demonic presence that can jump from one body to another.
What Makes It Great?
Night of the Demons has a very dated '80s vibe (which could be seen as a plus), but its practical effects, plot, and setting are just wonderful. It also has a performance from horror legend Barbara Crampton, which is reason enough to pop the movie in come Halloween.
Stream on Prime Video
11 Hell House LLC (2015)
Hell House LLC is an underseen-found footage film that purports to be a documentary about a haunted house where 15 people died, including the staff of the attraction. As the camera crew investigates, they are provided with tapes that document the production and preparation of the haunted house, and past and present collide in a horrifying manner.
What Makes It Great?
Hell House LLC is one of those horror movies that is actually scary AKA the type that's grown increasingly few and far between for big horror fans. It adds enough little spins to the done-to-death-and-then-some-found footage subgenre to be a worthy addition to it, not to mention a solid choice on Halloween.
Stream on Prime Video