10 Movies Set On/Around Halloween Everyone Should Watch – In no particular order

Halloween (1978) R

I mean, obviously – Halloween. On Halloween night, Michael Meyers returns to Haddonfield after escaping from the mental hospital he was locked away in after murdering his sister 15 years prior. This film is notable in that it provided the only acceptable reason for Jamie Lee Curtis to have long hair – because Laurie Strode had long hair. No other reason for her to ever do it. Long hair on Jamie Lee = She must be channeling Laurie.

Trick R’ Treat (2007) R

A truly wonderful anthology set on Halloween. There’s five interwoven stories, and of course the ever-adorable Sam (seen above). I feel weird typing this right now because I’m generally not her biggest fan, but the segment with Anna Paquin is my absolute favorite. And a lot of that is because of her fabulous performance. Seriously, if you haven’t seen this movie, you’re missing out.

Hocus Pocus (1993) PG

I mean, obviously Hocus Pocus. I don’t really need to tell you what this one’s about, right? As a general rule of thumb: always watch Doug Jones’ movies. I know this one isn’t his movie per se, but… every movie he’s in is his because he’s always amazing.

Gravy (2015) NR

A band of cannibals breaks into a Mexican cantina on Halloween night, forcing the staff to play along with their weird, creepy, and ultimately deadly games. Gravy is directed by James Roday (Shawn Spencer from TV’s Psych), and features a wonderful ensemble cast including Michael Weston, Jimmi Simpson (who is creepy and wonderful as usual), Lily Cole, Paul Rodriguez, and Gabourey Sidibe, just to name a few. It’s silly, it’s gory, and it’s loads of fun. I mean, how can you not love cannibal-based comedy?

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) R

The owner of the Silver Shamrock toy company plots to kill a bunch of people on Halloween using masks made by his company (which contain small bits of pilfered stone from Stonehenge, natch) in order to complete some fancy black magic.

People love to hate this movie because it was branded as part of the Halloween franchise back when there was still hope that the brand would amount to more than just an unkillable Michael Meyers. Screw all that noise – if you discount the Halloween III part, you’re missing out, man, cuz this is a pretty great movie. And Tom Atkins as Dr. Challis is fan-fucking-tastic.

Idle Hands (1999) R

Yeah, I know, another horror comedy. I don’t even care – when they’re done right, they’re perfection. This is 100% a hill I’m willing to die on.

Idle Hands is done right. You know how they say ( although I don’t honestly know who they are, but whatevs), “idle hands are the devil’s playthings?” Well, in this movie the interpretation is literal. Anton Tobias, played by Devon Sawa, is a teenaged stoner who wakes up one morning to discover his parents have lost their heads (literally), and it is all because his hand has been possessed by a malevolent force which has designs on committing murder and engaging in general malicious shenanigans.

Not only is it laugh out loud funny, but it’s sort of a late 90’s time capsule as well. Back when Devon Sawa, Jessica Alba, Seth Green, and that dude from Mighty Ducks (or Daredevil if you’re nasty) – jk Elden Henson, I know who you are! – were all just baby-adults! And

And

And

It features a musical performance by The Offspring. And Dexter Holland gets his scalp torn off by a rampaging severed hand.

And it’s rad.

Night of the Demons (1988) R

A bunch of teenagers are partying in an abandoned funeral parlor that’s totally not some sort of Hellmouth on Halloween night. They manage to awaken a demon who is just not having their shit. Folks get possessed, lipsticks get eaten by nipples, etc.

This one is actually part of the regular rotation in my house because we are a firmly Linnea Quigley-positive household (everyone should love her – she kind of IS 80s horror personified).

Featuring such endlessly quotable lines as “Eat a bowl of fuck. I’m here to party,” Night of the Demons is pure demonic perfection.

Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) PG

If you don’t love Ernest (at least this one and Ernest Goes to Jail), I don’t even know what you mean, Vern.

Evil trolls (which were accidentally released by Ernest because of course) intent on turning the children of Briarville into wooden dolls for some reason. Ernest Scared Stupid is a family-friendly treasure trove of amazing one-liners. It is also a treasure trove of Eartha Kitt being amazing.

At one point, Ernest actually tells a troll, “You’d better stay away. I know jujitsu, kung fu, karate, tai chi, and I saw Hulkamania three times. Once in slow-mo.” It’s never not time for a Hulkamania reference. And the running Miak joke is hilarious. And Sigma Brewing actually made a Bulgarian Miak stout (aaaaah!) at some point, although I can’t find a picture of the bottle anywhere.

Ginger Snaps (2000) NR

Becoming a woman and becoming a werewolf are basically the same thing, right? Pretty much? Ginger gets her first period the same day she gets bit by a werewolf – go figure. It sounds trite, but this movie is really fucking special.

Ginger and her younger sister Brigitte have a really, really close relationship. In a VC Andrews sort of way, although not the VC Andrews way you probably thought of first. They aren’t in love, they have a death pact. And general death reenactment-obsessions. They’re weird in an almost poetic way. Anyway, Ginger gets bit, and Brigitte does everything she can to try to save her.

It’s a story of a bond of sisterhood so powerful that literal transformations can’t break it. It’s like a meditation on the unbelievable horrors of puberty in general and the particular violence and physical trauma of menstruation. Good shit. Also, no CGI transformations – it’s all practical.

THANK YOU CANADA FOR YOUR ENDLESS WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO HORROR CINEMA!

Flatliners (1990) R

Did you know this is a Halloween movie? It totally is. When David makes his attempt, that is mentioned in a sort of throwaway fashion. *drops mic* Seriously though, I actually looked that up. It’s legit.

So this movie, if you’ve somehow managed to miss it is about 5 med students experimenting with near-death experiences in the hopes of gaining some insight into what comes after life ends, and end up suffering the consequences – both psychological and physical of their own past traumas.

I’ve loved this movie for as far back as I can remember. It’s not horror per se, but it’s isn’t not horror either. It’s like a SciFi/psychological horror/ dramatic general mind-fuck.

Alternates:

These didn’t quite make the cut, but are still totally worth watching:

• E.T. (1982) PG
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) NR
• Witch’s Night Out (1978) NR – this one has Gilda Radner in it! And you can find it streaming on the Shout Factory app this time of year.
• Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (2005) R – designer drugs turn Halloween ravers into zombies. This movie is nonsense. But it’s funny nonsense, at least.

What are your favorite Halloween movies? Did I miss any particularly good ones? Shawn and I debated Poltergeist and The Exorcist for a little while, but in the end I decided against including them because neither of us felt 100% confident they really happened on Halloween without a re-watch.