Halloween Movies You Haven’t Seen 100 Times
I love Halloween and love a good scary movie in October. The classics are obvious: Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Halloweentown. And then the horror greats: The Exorcist, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Shining. But what if you want something else?? These aren’t obscure movies, but something a little outside the same dozen movies on every other Halloween movie list. I’d say these are inappropriate for kids, and kids love to watch the same movie hundreds of times anyway, so they can’t relate to this issue.
In order from least to most scary:
Clue (1985) -
Practical Magic (1998) - A young Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock are witch sisters that have to deal with a family curse that kills any man that falls in love with them. It features a beautiful Victorian home so iconic that Barbra Streisand tried to buy it, but sadly it was just an architectural shell built for the movie. Immaculate witchy vibes and a margarita montage cannot be beat.
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I would not recommend the following movies to someone that says they “don’t like scary movies.”
Critters (1986) - Mean fugitive dustbunnies with teeth escape a space prison and terrorize a rural family, while two intergalactic bounty hunters pursue them. This came out two years after the wildly successful Gremlins, which tells you a lot. This one is more “edgy” and had a much lower budget, and therefore, it’s even campier. The Critters roll around and it is just a campy good time. Coming in at under 90 minutes, it is the amount of ‘80s shenanigans you want. It also has a young Billy Zane! With a ponytail!
Happy Death Day (2017) - Groundhog Day if Bill Murray was a hot co-ed that kept getting murdered. This film is better than it has any right to be. You expect generic schlock, but it is darkly humorous with a unique premise that kept me guessing. There’s also a sequel which is fun, but loses the originality of its predecessor.
Bride of Chucky (1998) - Everyone’s favorite serial-killer-possessed-doll is resurrected by his ex-girlfriend, only for them both to end up dolls that terrorize Katherine Heigl. It’s fine if you haven’t seen any previous Chucky films (aka Child’s Play); a serial killer is possessing a doll. There, you’re caught up. Jennifer Tilly is the perfect Tiffany. This movie has the horror movie tropes and gore, but with an over-the-top flippancy that’s just fun.
Malignant (2021) - An abused woman is terrified by grisly visions that seem connected to the past she can’t remember. This one is a wild ride, so avoid spoilers and just watch it. The first act has domestic abuse and pregnancy loss, as a warning. It also has a bunch of murders, but that’s to be expected in a horror movie.
Barbarian (2022) - Something is not right about this Airbnb. I never knew where we were going with this movie, which I adored. I’m usually pretty good at predicting what’s going on, but I think I was wrong about every single thing is this one. Like the protagonist, you don’t know who you can trust or what is going on. It features some very memorable moments that I think about often, even when I wish I wouldn’t.
Disclaimer: I am not a fan of gore-gore or gross-out horror. The likes of Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre are not for me. While these scarier entries definitely feature blood and violence, none of them made my stomach turn. But that’s also a very personal barometer!
