This collection features the must-see films of the Halloween season, complete with retro VHS-style poster art by DEFINITELY FIRST BLOOD and a list of streaming locations where you can view these essential Halloween movies.
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The Essential Halloween Atmosphere Films
Halloween (1978):
Halloween archetype John Carpenter basically invented the template for this whole subgenre with this one; Haddonfield's masked, lumbering stalker slinking amongst the rusted leaves and shadowed paths will likely forever be the go-to idea for such a movie for all of Halloween and for as long as there are movie slasher genre fans. Just the synth score is enough to soundtrack October, and a perfectly haunting time of year no doubt.
Halloween II (1981):
Picking up where Halloween '78 left off, this Halloweentime hospital sequel dials up the autumnal fear. Empty halls, cheap fluorescents, and the omnipresent threat of a masked serial killer make this one of the best late night watch-any-October movies.
Halloween III Season of the Witch (1982):
From reviled to cherished. A Halloween-themed anthology installment that jettisoned Myers for sorcery, killer masks, spooky synth, and outright apocalyptic Halloween dread. It put its silver shamrock on the face of retro Halloween cool.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988):
A perfectly delivered "cold October night" slasher pic. Field and country sets, 80s costumed trick-or-treaters, a rooftop sequence, and so much underappreciated atmosphere makes this one of the best follow-ups to the original pictures.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989):
Even more messy than part 4, but positively saturated with late-80's Halloween atmosphere--masked kids, haunting barns, dramatic gothic lights, and a creepy, heavy fall fog to tie it all together.
Halloween (2018):
In David Gordon Green’s Legacy sequel, Michael Myers returned to more straightforward horror. Those long tracking shots weaving through trick-or-treaters will feel instantly familiar if you've seen the original but feels eerily relevant for this updated iteration.
Cult Halloween Night Essentials
Hack-O-Lantern (1988):
VHS-rental lunacy straight through. The devil-worshippers and the orange pumpkin glow are the ones to watch if you’re interested in regional Halloween horror oddity. This has a heavy metal element thrown in with the suburban Halloween decorations as well.
Halloween Night (2006):
Indie budget slashfest. Feels like a walk through a haunted house attraction with the vibe of a backyard Halloween party.
Happy Hell Night (1992):
Halloween chaos on a college campus, bathed in gothic darkness and party energy. A cult darling of late-night October viewing parties.
HauntedWeen (1991):
Just the sort of surreal shot-on-video schlock that you'd find at the bottom of a murky bin at your local VHS shop.
Headless Horseman (2007):
Campy supernatural slasher fun, tapping straight into Helloween mythology and bursting at the seams with pumpkin-orange color!
Hell Night (1981):
A well-made, underrated slasher from days gone past in which Linda Blair is put to the test in a decaying stately mansion. The gloomy, unending corridors of a sprawling house, flickering light from candles, and chill of autumn air help create perfect Halloween terror.
Hellbent (2004):
It's a chic, gay slasher that takes place at a Halloween carnival that's underway in West Hollywood. Arguably one of the best new Halloween-night slashers out there.
Hollow Gate (1988):
Some total trash of a slasher movie that was released somewhere near the end of the VHS glut from a killer in a pumpkin mask wearing the scars of a childhood trauma. The film has got all of the ingredients necessary to properly age like a spoiled fruit in a time capsule… or Video Store time capsule, anyway. Budget Halloween ambience: Check. Fog: Check. Street effects: Check. Synthesis based tension: Check. Fake, plastic, creepy masks: Check.
House of Fears (2007):
Mid-2000s straight-to-DVD haunted house style horror.
Jack-O (1995):
Daft pumpkin-headed killer insanity with Linnea Quigley. Bargain basement VHS.
Madman (1981):
Story, spooky isolated woods, and those classic grainer horror film aesthetics - exactly what you want queued up when the nights start getting cold and long.
Rocktober Blood (1981):
Outrageous heavy metal horror lunacy delivered with all the grainy 80s VHS nastiness you can handle.
Satan's Little Helper (2004):
Satan's Little Helper (2004)
One of the cruelest Halloween horrors of all time. The most awful uncomfortable funny nightmare: A young child is introduced to a spree killer believing that it’s another masked ghoul partaking in the Halloween spirit.
The Fear Halloween Night (1999):
A straight-to-video, Halloween-time 90s schlock sequel loaded with costumes, a truly unsettling dummy, and a whole lotta madness.
The Pumpkin Karver (2006):
What else would you get with a mid-2000s Halloween slasher: Cornfields? Pumpkins? teenager parties? murder?
Supernatural & Monster Movie Halloween Staples
Ginger Snaps (2000):
Werewolf horror, teenage angst, and spooky season gloom all crashing together in the best possible way. It's tough to envision a movie that conveys the dreariness of sub-urban Octobers with greater conviction than this much-loved cult item-a perennial entry in movie lovers’ top ten lists of Hallowed Evening pics.
Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask (1995):
For most of millennials, this is Halloween nostalgia. Falling leaves, Costume Shop and that creepy mask; the kind of Halloween memory that's basically burned into your brain if you grew up in the 90s. Many will continue to return each October.
The Midnight Hour (1985):
An all-time Halloween comfort movie. Zombies, vampires, small-town parades, and one of the coziest autumn atmospheres ever captured on film.
Night of the Demons (1988):
The Halloween party horror is all present and accounted for. This cult flick essentially exists in real-time within the bounds of a single night of hellish Halloween at a funeral parlor - it’s replete with some crazy make-up effects, and 100% October vibe.
Pumpkinhead (1988):
This is a quintessential Southern Gothic revenge horror and honestly the creature design here might be the scariest thing to come out of the whole VHS era, complete with the creepy cemetery and curse folklore to enhance your autumn viewing.
Silver Bullet (1985):
Stephen King’s small-town werewolf horror at its very best. The whole thing builds toward Halloween night and it just hits different every October.
Definitely First Blood Website, Podcast, T-shirts and Social Media Links:
http://www.definitelyfirstblood.com/
https://www.stitcher.com/show/definitely-first-blood
https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1356344482
https://www.teepublic.com/user/scrywolf
https://www.instagram.com/definitelyfirstblood/
http://www.twitter.com/DefFirstBlood
https://linktr.ee/deffirstblood
Quite a variety. Hope you enjoy the month, and thanks for adding so much to it!
ReplyDeleteIt's going good so far :) Thanks Joe, same to you.
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