As you walk the streets going from party to party, you will surely be in the Halloween spirit. In order to get in that spirit, however, you absolutely must watch some horror movies. A good horror movie can make any night feel extra spooky, so what better time to watch them than Halloween? To get excited for the big day, you need a good set of movies to get you in the spooky mood. That being said, here are some of the best classics that never fail to make your night during arguably the best time of year:
Candyman
This 1992 classic has one of the coolest storylines in recent horror history. Jam-packed with action, it follows the story of a grad student finding out about the myth of a man who comes to murder people if they say his name five times. The storyline is unique in that it doesn’t take place in the typical isolated area full of mystery. Instead, this movie takes place in an inner city area, the Cabrini-Green district in Chicago. This makes the story so much more interesting as most of the action takes place in sketchy, abandoned apartment complexes. It’s a refreshing take, and it’s worth a watch if you’ve never seen it.
Rosemary’s Baby
From the great mind of Roman Polanski, this classic horror film is fitting for its time period. It’s filmed with psychedelic and wacky shots and sequences and has some of the most fun cinematography of any horror film of its time. You can tell this was created in the late ‘60s, as it has the funky charisma that you’d expect from the era. Rosemary’s Baby has an innate sense of horrific humor, which makes it stick out from the rest of the horror films of that era. The horror in this film is almost eerie, and the storyline feels like it creeps along until the end when it hits you in the face with a shocking revelation. This film will give you goosebumps in the best way possible.
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is one of the more horrifying films that’s been put out in recent years. What sets it apart is how real the story feels. It follows a group of documentary filmmakers that are trying to unravel the truth behind the myth of “The Blair Witch.” In order to do so, they travel into the woods to camp out until they find evidence of the myth’s truth. The story unwinds as they start to get further lost in the woods and discover startling shrines and other evidence that make them scared of staying in the woods. This eventually drives them crazy, and you can feel them slipping from sanity.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This 1974 classic is one of the most iconic thriller-horror films to date. The villains in the movie are realistically the best part, especially the chainsaw wielding maniac, Leatherface. This hulking, cannibalistic monster of a man is what makes the movie. The overall terror he creates for the van hippies can be translated into how the audience feels about the situation. This is a classic movie throughout which you can yell at your T.V. screen in anger at the stupidity of the victims or just scream because you’re terrified by the gore.
The Thing
The Thing is another classic in the horror industry. With a stellar cast led by Kurt Russell, this movie makes viewers paranoid. The story is centered around a group of expeditioners that travel to the Antarctic for research and discover they are the prey of an extraterrestrial being that takes the form of its victims in order to attack other “prey.” In this case, the prey are the researchers that just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This classic is a fun one to watch due to the way you root for Kurt Russell to beat “The Thing.”
The Birds
This Alfred Hitchcock classic is another that will leave you on the edge of your seat. A ridiculous storyline of birds who turn killer and attack a town, the film is nonetheless amazing in both its delivery and the acting. Hitchcock is one of the greatest cinematic minds, and as a result, we get some pain-staking horror with some amazing cinematography that puts it all together and allows the audience to view the movie in a new way that unravels the overall horror of the plot.
Poltergeist
Made in the early ‘80s, this classic film details the experience of a suburban family that moves into a neighborhood built on top of a Native American graveyard. The events that follow their moving drive the film as the family becomes haunted by a very disturbing entity. The poltergeist is a ghost or spirit that disturbs the host entity through loud noises and moving objects around. As the story progresses, the poltergeist that lives in the family’s house becomes more and more violent to the extent that the family has to find an escape. This horror film is slow at first but progressively picks up until the story feels ultra-realistic, and that progression is what makes the movie so fun to watch.
Midsommar
Midsommar is a newer horror film, so, we can’t call it a classic quite yet. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not criminally underrated. This film is packed with suspense and the acting is great, which drives the story forward. Florence Pugh’s delivery in the film is integral to the believability of the entire story. As the story drags along, everything becomes more unbelievably crazy, and you can feel reality slipping away for the characters as it does for the audience. The psychedelic aura captured in this film makes the action much more eerie and terrifying. The cast provides some amazing acting, paired with masterful cinematography that makes this movie a disturbing yet very interesting watch.
The Shining
This film is possibly the most classic horror film to date. This a masterful display from timeless actor Jack Nicholson. This is one of Nicholson’s most iconic roles, and every film lover is sure to know his famous line, “Here’s Johnny!” What is underrated, however, is Shelley Duvall’s performance. Her acting is what makes the movie feel so real as you relate to her character's horror at the sight of her husband driven mad by isolation. Director Stanley Kubrick is known for delivering twisted storylines, but none more so than this 1980 classic that’s unlike any horror film.
The Exorcist
You would expect a horror film from 1973 to be cheesy and not put together well, but this staple in the horror industry proves that assumption wrong. The graphics are beyond their time and hilariously crafted, though the sequences within the shots of the actual exorcism are genuinely terrifying. The little girl is completely deformed by the demon possessing her body and the stunts within the exorcism scenes are seamless and realistic. There is a general presumption around this film that the movie becomes cheesy as it edges along, but it’s actually quite the opposite. The movie slowly progresses until all of a sudden, the action hits you in the face and then it’s over in the blink of an eye. This movie is the perfect late-night viewing with some friends on a dark Halloween night, especially if you don’t want to sleep easily.
