Choosing a Halloween movie can be a delicate art. Much like how all thumbs are fingers but not all fingers are thumbs, all Halloween movies work as spooky movies, but not all spooky movies are Halloween movies. “Friday The 13th”? Not a Halloween movie. “The Addams Family”? Kind’ve a Halloween movie. Vibes are the North Star, and viewers better beware if they’re in for a scare.
However, while there are plenty of canonical favorites that pop up around October each year, I’m looking at you “Halloween 1 – H20 + Remake + Legasequels” and the all-time king “Trick r’ Treat;” there is plenty of deep cut spooky cinema to sink your teeth into as All Hallows Eve draws near! So when “Hocus Pocus” and “Halloween Town” won’t quite cut it, and you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path, settle back for a night of FRIGHT with these deep cut Halloween classics!
HAUNTED HOUSE HALLOWEEN
HELL HOUSE, LLC.
HELL HOUSE, LLC. is certainly the greatest movie ever made about a haunted attraction. This 2015 found footage chiller follows a group of Halloween haunters’ attempt to turn an aging bed and breakfast in upstate New York into their seasonal haunted house. Sadly for them, the former owner, who just so happened to commit suicide on the property, fancied himself a denizen of the occult and left a portal to Hell waiting for any unsuspecting tenants who might come after. One of the finest found footage films of all time, HELL HOUSE, LLC. tickles the itch of anyone who ever wondered what would happen if what happened inside a haunted house was actually real!
SPOOKIEST SCENE: Spider Hallway Strobe Stalker.
HELL HOUSE, LLC. is streaming on Amazon Prime and Shudder.
OLD SCHOOL HALLOWEEN
CITY OF THE DEAD (or HORROR HOTEL)
CITY OF THE DEAD is an eerie black and white tale of witches’ curses, long-lost loves, and a town populated by the damned. Starring the always iconic Christopher Lee, the film follows a young woman as she is led to visit a town famous for its history of witchcraft, only to find that sometimes folklore takes on a life of its own. Filmed in sumptuous black and white that oozes dread and mystery, CITY OF THE DEAD (renamed HORROR HOTEL in some countries) was a recent watch for me and quickly leapt to the top of my Halloween playlist.
SPOOKIEST SCENE: THE DEAD DANCE
CITY OF THE DEAD is streaming on Shudder, Kanopy, and Amazon Prime.
HALLOWEEN-CORE FUN
WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
Easily the most obscure of the selections on this list, the WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL has cemented itself as a modern classic with horror and Halloween fans alike. A mock-news program featuring a team of “ghost hunters” investigating a house said to be haunted, the film’s pure charm is in its devotion to simulating a night of early eighties local television, with in-universe commercial breaks as it were recorded off the live broadcast. Come for the silly commercials, stay for man on the street Frank Stewart, whose absolute disdain for the supernatural proves unwise.
SPOOKIEST SCENE: THE BASEMENT EXORCISM.
WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL is streaming on Shudder.
KIDS HALLOWEEN
SCOOBY DOO AND THE WITCH’S GHOST
The second in a series of animated feature films that reinvigorated Mystery Inc. for a new generation in the early 2000s, WITCH’S GHOST feels more like an elongated episode of the original show than the previous SCOOBY DOO ON ZOMBIE ISLAND. All the same, WITCH’S GHOST is a classic all the same, with the gang visiting a New England town plagued by the ghost of a long-lost witch. Featuring the voice of Tim Curry and the musical stylings of the HEX GIRLS, SCOOBY DOO AND THE WITCH’S GHOST is the ideal gateway monster mash for the scaredy cats, and dogs, in your coven.
SPOOKIEST SCENE: NEVER DOUBLE-CROSS A WITCH.
SCOOBY DOO AND THE WITCH’S GHOST can be streamed for purchase on Amazon Prime, OR is available for rent from Future SHOCK VIDEO.
SCARY HALLOWEEN
ODDITY
A quietly terrifying entry with enough innovative jump scares and creeping dread, ODDITY deserves to be placed in the higher pantheon of modern horror. Heralding for Ireland, the film follows a psychic’s attempts to find the murderer of her sister by use of a full-sized wooden golem (a haunting man-like figure). Drenched in the shadowy darkness of a small house in the Irish countryside, ODDITY is clever, disquieting, and deeply poignant; as all the best ghost stories ultimately are. Cue this one up on Halloween night if you’d like, but expect to get up to investigate odd noises all throughout the night.
SPOOKIEST SCENE: THERE’S A MAN IN YOUR HOUSE.
ODDITY is streaming on Hulu and Shudder.
See y’all in the moonlight!
