Checking out 10 BAD-looking Halloween movies to see if they're as awful as they seem. Thanks to Kainan from @ghostpirateentertainment for joining me! Make sure to subscribe to his channel!
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Daniel: Halloween is just a few days away. So, I want to talk to you about the absolute best Halloween movie...
Kainan: The best? Really?
Daniel: Whoa! Kainan from Ghost Pirate Entertainment?
Kainan: Yep. It's me again. And come on, Daniel. Everybody knows the best Halloween horror movies. Trick 'r Treat, Halloween, Night of the Demons. I mean, everybody knows the obvious ones.
Daniel: Oh, yeah. I guess. Then what would you suggest?
Kainan: How about we do the 10 worst Halloween movies? Like the grade Z trash of All Hallow's Eve.
Daniel: I don't know. I, I don't really watch most of that stuff.
Kainan: Well, there's never been a better time. Just scroll through the streaming services and look for the worst and just report back on them.
Daniel: You know, that actually sounds pretty fun.
Kainan: And I'll throw in some crazy ones that I find, too.
Daniel: Well, then let's get started.
Kainan: And with that, let's get to the list.
1. Wacko (1982)
Wacko from 1982. I kind of can't believe I didn't know this movie existed. This is a horror comedy Halloween movie with a pumpkin headed killer who kills people with a lawnmower. And it's directed by Graden Clark, who's actually, you know, kind of a famous infamous B movie director of this time period. Like he made Without Warning, which I really like.
But he's also made some 80s sex comedies like Joysticks, a movie that I tried to watch, couldn't get very far. And this is definitely a mix of B-grade slasher film with '80s sex comedy creating a total spoof of the slasher films of this era. Now, that could be really fun, especially considering it's got a lot of famous cult actors like Joe Don Baker, George Kennedy, Stella Stevens, even Andrew Dice Clay in his debut role. But it turns out they are all totally slumming it in a movie that is terrible. This movie is awful.
Really, really hard to sit through. Now, it is a full-on goofy, over-the-top comedy. It's really never going for horror at any point. Just laughs. And there's like 10 jokes every scene.
It is just boom, boom, boom, joke, joke, joke. And I would say at most there's 10 funny jokes in the movie, which you know doesn't sound too bad until you consider how many bad jokes that means there are. Oh my god, this is so not funny for almost the entire time. The most called back to repeated joke in the film is that George Kennedy's character as the main girl's dad, his main character trait is trying to spy on his daughters in various states of undress. What?
That's the kind of hilarity that's going to ensue in this movie. Look, I'm as down for dark humor as the next guy. I just think maybe it should include humor. A true low point for George Kennedy's career, and that is really saying something. Joe Don Baker, though, I would say is doing the best he can in a movie like this.
Like, he really tries to go big and over the top, and he's kind of fun to watch. And I thought Julia Duffy as the lead final girl was pretty good and pretty funny at times. The way she kept repeating the same thing over and over about how because she saw her sister get killed with a lawnmower, those are images that will scar her for life and she'll never be the same again. There is some inherent charm in any '80s comedy for me that it's going to be more watchable than like a horrible comedy from today. But it is still a horrible comedy that is really dull, really embarrassing to sit through for the sake of the actors, and I cannot possibly recommend this whatsoever.
2. The Pumpkin Man (2023)
The Pumpkin Man is a 2023 horror movie directed by Ryan Sheets. It stars Barbara Desa, Stephanie Kirves, and Matthew Beaton. Cromwell is a town intertwined with a local legend. People don't believe the tales, but when Catherine finds the missing piece of the legend, she and her friends will face the demon of the fall, Pumpkin Man. So, beware.
Beware the Pumpkin Man. So, when you're doing a list like this, this is kind of the movie you expect. It's very amateur. Like, there's not a lot that's super well done here. There's a lot of problems with it.
Like, the acting isn't great. The writing is pretty bad at times, especially the dialogue. But I did appreciate the overall feel of it and the genuine nature of it. Like everybody involved feels like they really are trying their best and they care about this project. It's just not a movie unless you're accustomed to watching the super lowbudget bottom of the barrel kind of horror and stuff that you find on Tubi and other streaming services.
You're probably going to have a hard time with it. I did also appreciate the props and the costumes. There was some really cool makeup designs and special effects, you know, especially considering what small of a project this is, but the overall story is pretty basic. It's kind of a paint by numbers story, you know, local legend about this demon thing and and you got a group of friends, they got to figure it out and track it down. The only other real positive thing I came away with with this movie is the performance from Barbara Desa.
I hope she goes on to do other projects. I know that she's done a few other things from what I saw, but doesn't look like she's gotten any major roles. But I do think she's got a bright future in acting. So, I really hope she sticks with it. There were a lot of times where it was like she was really acting, like given a legit performance, and it just made everybody else around her seem that much more wooden and that much more amateur.
But it's definitely not the worst movie I've ever seen. Like there were a few moments I had some chuckles and like I said some of the effects and costume designs and stuff were pretty cool. So it's definitely not the worst thing you could watch. And so I think it's one of those movies that mostly the family and friends of a project like this will really appreciate it. But for the most part it's not something for everybody.
3. The Legend of Halloween Jack (2018) & The Curse of Halloween Jack (2022)
The Legend of Halloween Jack from 2018. All right. You know what? This is getting kind of hot at this point.
It's one of those Walmart bargain bin brand of modern direct-to-video horror movies. The movies that have above kind of cover. You know what kind of movie I'm talking about, right? I really don't watch these kind of movies very often. By the way, all these movies are directed by the same guy, Andrew Jones.
And The Legend of Halloween Jack is one, a horrible, abysmal, atrocious movie, and two, it is a complete ripoff of Dark Night of the Scarecrow. So yeah, one night on Halloween, a man who's believed to be a serial killer is the victim of some misguided mob justice where a bunch of dudes from the town decide to murder him and then the next year he returns from the dead as a scarecrow to take all of them out. It's Dark Night of the Scarecrow. But look, I am not above a Dark Night of the Scarecrow ripoff, okay? Like a Scarecrow horror movie, that always sounds good to me.
And I think the Scarecrow in this, you know, he looks like a spirit Halloween costume, but I don't really care. It's a spooky scarecrow, so I'm into it. But the movie is so boring. It is unbelievably dull. I can't believe how little happens in this.
How many scenes are just the most dull and lifeless conversations you've ever heard in your life. And this thing is so cheap that it's just using so much public domain stuff. There's all these clips in here from horror movies that are in the public domain. Like the whole opening credits is just like clips from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Carnival of Souls.
And I am all for giving a movie grace for having an extremely low budget. But I swear it doesn't feel like this movie is trying. And that's what I need. If you've got a micro budget, I want to see some genuine effort put in. I don't see it here.
Every scene is shot so lifelessly. The lighting is pretty much always just a bland bright. I don't ever see an attempt at atmosphere or creepy vibes at any moment. There's no attempt at like anything remotely creepy. The best scene in the movie is a Halloween party scene that actually has some Halloween decorations around.
Most of the film is completely void of Halloween vibes or decorations. But at this Halloween party, Halloween Jack does show up at one point, start massacring through them. It's still really poorly done, clunky, and everything plays out way slower than it should. It's still the best part of the movie, though. Oh, man.
It might have the most embarrassing special effect I've ever seen where a guy is getting repeatedly shot, and the blood splatter is just like this fading red mist that just disappears almost immediately, and there's no residual blood or holes on his body. It looks like something they just did in Canva. It's even for the most part missing like the fun-loving young people that pretty much every slasher is going to have where they get into shenanigans and antics and it kind of keeps things entertaining until the kills happen. Most of it you just follow boring middle-aged men. I hated this movie.
It is the worst movie I have seen all year. Apparently, it has a sequel called The Curse of Halloween Jack that's got way more views on Letterboxd. So, I think a lot of people don't realize that that's a sequel, but uh I will not be watching it.
The Curse of Halloween Jack (2022)
4. Curse of Crom: The Legend of Halloween (2022)
Curse of Crom, the Legend of Halloween is a 2023 familyfriendly fantasy horror movie directed by Rob York. It stars Chelsea Jurkiewicz and Tanner Gillman. A group of high school teenagers accidentally unleash an ancient Irish entity on their hometown and must stop it before midnight on Halloween. So, I think this is a a fairly big step up from the last one I talked about. Like, there is a lot of problems with this one, and it is still a very amateur movie in a lot of ways, but there are professionals sprinkled in.
Like, you could feel some of the cinematography at times is pretty good. Some of the special effects are pretty good. At times, the writing, like the overall structure of the story is decent. Where it is held back is that there are also a mixture of actors that are very inexperienced. I won't say they're bad, but they're wooden and inexperienced at times. And a lot of the the lines they deliver feel like they're lines off of a script and not a naturally presented feeling that they're having as the character.
But there was also some acting in this that was pretty damn good. And overall, I had a pretty fun time with it. Like I think it's a decent little family-friendly popcorn kind of movie. It feels similar to like a Goosebumps thing almost, but it's one of those movies where it almost felt like if they had turned it up just a little bit and gave it a little bit of gore or a little more intensity up until like at least like a PG-13 instead of a PG-ish movie. I feel like it would have been even better.
I feel like if you had seen some of the destruction from the creature and things like that, it would have held a little more weight and impact, but there was still plenty of enjoyment here. It's definitely not a bad movie by any means. It's just, you know, got problems and it is an indie movie that has holes and issues here and there, but I do still think it's one, especially if you're watching it with some kids, not little tiny kids, but you know, 10, 12 year olds or something like that, I think you could have fun with it.
5. Jack-O (1995)
Jack-O from 1995. I guess you could kind of call this a bit of a pumpkin head ripoff, but it has very little in common outside a demon with a pumpkin head rising to take out revenge. That's pretty much it. This is very much a suburban horror movie about a family in the suburbs trying to protect their little kid who the pumpkin man wants to kill.
They put on a Halloween haunted house in their yard for everybody and that's really fun to watch. The kid gets watched by babysitters, so you get some good classic babysitter slasher stuff. And Jack-O is not good, but it is much more of a fun bad movie than the rest of them I've talked about so far. Far from being a disaster or a total slog, it's just a typical super low-budget direct-to-video '90s slasher flick. It's got a few cult actors you'll recognize like a little bit of John Carradine and Linnea Quigley as the main babysitter.
And I think she's supposed to be a high schooler, maybe college, but she was pushing 40 when she made this. But she is introduced in the movie taking a shower because it's Linnea Quigley, so of course. For the most part, the acting is really poor. It can be slow and boring at times as there are no interesting characters. There's not really anything particularly interesting going on.
It's just kind of cliche old slasher stuff. But unlike some other bad slashers, this one knows what you're here for. So, it offers the zany exploitation elements. It's got the blood and the kills. It's got some just bizarre character moments that make you go, "What on earth is going on?" But do provide some entertainment.
Like, as soon as the babysitters show up, the kid hops on the boyfriend's motorcycle and they just go zooming off and the parents are just like, "Oh man, that kind of see I don't know about that. My kid's going off on a motorcycle with no helmet with an absolute stranger. What are we doing? And I just love the look of the pumpkin man. Like, sure, it looks fake.
It looks like a Spirit Halloween animatronic. I don't care. I'm so into it. I think he's really fun. And the movie is just very festive.
Haunted house attractions, trick-or-treating, decorations, costumes. This is a film that I think you might struggle to really pay attention to, but you don't need to. you can just kind of throw it on, check in and out, have those Halloween vibes go in the background, and I think it's fine for that.
6. Candy Corn (2019)
Candy Corn is a 2019 horror movie written and directed by Josh Hasty. It stars Madison Russ, Pancho Moler, and Sky Elobar. It's Halloween weekend and a group of bullies are planning their annual hazing on a local outcast. And when they take things too far, he's resurrected and seeks revenge on those who wronged him. Pass again through the mortal door.
Come to thou and walk once more. So, I talked about this, I think, on my channel like quite a while ago, and I've heard a lot of people talk about how bad this movie is, and so I wanted to give it a rewatch and figured I would throw it on here because it's one that I don't hear talked about. Definitely not in a positive way, only in a really bad movie way. And so I thought we're doing a bad movie list. Maybe this is a bad movie that I'll throw in here.
But once again, I don't think it's bad. Yes, it's low-budget. Yes, it's got issues and all of that, but it's grizzly. It's gritty. It's got some pretty wicked kills.
Like, it's a fun little slasher Halloween horror movie. I especially like the tone of it and the location, the props. Like, it feels very much entrenched in Halloween. And for me, that's a big deal. Like a lot of these Halloween, like quote unquote Halloween movies don't feel very Halloween.
Like there's not a ton of Halloween in them. But this one, it's full of it. Like the name is Halloween. The costumes are Halloween. The monster like everything feels very much of the spirit of Halloween.
But in a lot of ways, it's kind of a lowbudget grindhouse kind of gory slasher kind of movie where it's similar to what the original Terrifier was trying to do. And so with movies like that, you're going to have some acting that's not the greatest. You're going to have some writing that's not always perfect and stuff like that, but mostly you're there for grizzly, brutal kills, and this movie's got that. Besides that, I think it has some pretty great humor to it. Just in general, it's not a great movie.
It's not like a home run of a movie. It's not anything that's a game-changer or anything like that, but I do think it's one that's still worth checking out.
7. 10/31 (2017)
Welcome to my Halloween monster marathon. 10/31 from 2017. I've seen these 10/31 movies kind of floating around Tubi , but recently I've gotten quite a few comments from you guys wanting me to watch these. Y'all don't seem to be saying they're good. You're saying they're bad, but you still want me to watch them. And you know what?
I think 10/31 is kind of okay. Like, I kind of like this movie. It's an anthology with five different stories all taking place on Halloween. I really liked the first two segments and that like set me up to think that I was in for something surprisingly solid. The first one is actually done by the director of The Barn movies and I really like The Barn movies so that's cool.
And it's about a couple of guys who were supposed to film a commercial in a bed and breakfast but it turns out to be haunted with the spirit of a witch or maybe just an old hag. So basically Z-grade hokum I guess. But I thought it was really fun. I enjoyed it. I thought all the actors were totally solid.
And the hag really has a total haunted house attraction in October kind of look. Like a lot of things I've been talking about on this list. Does not look real, but looks like a really fun Halloween decoration in a way that I enjoyed. And that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. That's mostly the kind of stuff you're going to see in this.
And there was just kind of like a sweet, wholesome sincerity to that. Like this is a Halloween movie by passionate people about the holiday who are just using like kooky decorations and masks to just have fun. The next one is about a couple on a first date who decide to go to this abandoned farm where a horrible murder supposedly took place in the past and there's a scarecrow there that's tied to it. That one also really fun. Like the dialogue in this one, it's exactly what was missing in The Legend of Halloween Jack.
Like the conversations were peppy, decently written, and again, the monster that you get has just got a really great Halloween store kind of look, and there's even a twist on what exactly he is that I thought was really cool. They were like, "What could possibly make a killer scarecrow even cooler? This." And I was like, "Yeah, you're kind of right." Things start to go down with the next one. It takes place at a roller rink, though, and appears to be the 1980s, but I love good roller rink vibes. It does take a long time to really get anywhere, but once it launches into action, it's pretty all right.
You've got some decent kills in there. The next one though is horrible. It is a Halloween Christmas segment where there happens to be a blizzard on Halloween, which happens sometimes. It happens in my state occasionally, but a killer Santa Claus shows up. I don't like that.
Nothing interesting happens in the whole thing. And the acting is unbelievably atrocious. I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears. I don't think I've ever seen acting this bad in any movie ever. I don't know what was happening here.
Then the last one is kind of a general slasher segment. It's mostly boring. Like it just doesn't do anything interesting. There are way too many random slow motion sequences where someone will get killed and we'll just watch the dead body in slow motion for a long time. Like what are we doing?
That being said, the strength of those first two segments kind of the third one carried me through and I kind of recommend this. This is the kind of really low-budget movie where I see the attempt, I see the effort, I see the passion, and that gives it a lot of grace for me.
8. The Barn (2016)
This Halloween, you are their treat. The Barn is a 2016 horror movie written and directed by Justin M. Seaman. It stars Mitchell Musolino, Will Stout, and Lexi Dripps. Two friends' Halloween celebration takes a sinister turn when their detour to an abandoned barn unintentionally unleashes a malevolent force hellbent on annihilating their group.
Three demons whose only desire is to collect the flesh of the living and take it back to hell. So, this is the first one on here that I genuinely had a good time with and I would recommend to people. Now, it's definitely not perfect. Like, this movie still got a lot of issues. You got to remember everything I'm talking about on this list is lower budget movies.
They're not, you know, these are not big budget polished kind of films by any means, but as far as an indie Halloween type of movie goes, this one's a great time. I really enjoy that it's done kind of back in an era like maybe in the late 80s, early 90s. I don't know exactly when, but it still feels like it has that era to it. And I love that because of that. There's a lot of '80s metal and rock in it.
And a lot of stuff that I grew up with, or at least the sound I grew up with. I don't think a lot of the real bands that I listen to are in this, but it still felt very much like that. Like the acid rock, the the hair metal, like that kind of thing. And then the costume designs and gore and stuff was really fun. Like it's not perfect, but it's all practically done.
And it's all done in a way that feels campy, but in the right way. The only real issue I had with this is that at times it knows it's a low-budget movie and so it felt a little try hard. I felt like it was trying to lean into some of the campy qualities and be like an '80s slasher when it's like you know we get what you're doing and it just felt a little bit too on the nose. I think it would have landed better if they had just went with it in a organic natural way and let it be what it was going to be because just the overall way the movie's done with practical effects and all those things. It feels like that already.
So, it didn't need to try to be that way, if that makes sense. But, it's another pretty simple story. Just this group of friends that's out having fun. Some of them go trick-or-treating, things like that. and they stumble across this barn and all hell breaks loose and there's these cool different monsters that they got to face and they're in costume but they look a little more realistic than what the regular people are wearing but they still kind of look like costumes. So it's like I said it's got that fun '80s feel to it where it's obvious that these are guys in suits but yet there's a charm to that.
There's something that I feel like is very earnest and genuine and I really enjoy that. And so I think if you're a fan of '80s slashers and '80s horror movies and especially '80s metal and hard rock, I think you could have a good time with this. So definitely check it out.
9. 10/31 Part 2 (2019)
10/31 Part 2 from 2019. I originally had a different movie in this list, but I swapped it out for this one because after 10/31 was kind of a pleasant surprise, I had to check out the sequel. And unfortunately, I'm putting the hood back up because I got to go to the dark side. This was a big step down for me. Unfortunately, there were no segments in here that I really liked, but some of them are better than others.
Now, first thing you're going to notice about this one is it is quite a bit longer than the first. It's about an hour and 45 minutes, but most of that is because it opens up with a few trailers that they made for fake movies as their own mini short films. And the first story is called "A Samhain Liturgy" about a babysitting gig on Halloween night going terribly wrong. It does have a pretty cool ritual and creature reveal, but it feels pretty long getting there. And the worst thing about this one for me is the lighting.
It makes it look incredibly amateur-ish. Most of the screen just looks kind of pink. I feel like I'm watching somebody's home movie. Next is "Deadlift", which follows an Uber driver on Halloween night who picks up a very ghouish stranger dressed up basically like Dracula. It's kind of interesting at the start.
The guy playing the stranger is a good actor and they have kind of interesting conversations about different things, but like the first one and most of these, it's just way too long and it keeps going and going and I was eventually just really waiting for it to end so we could hopefully get to something more exciting. Then we get "Apache Hatchet Massacre 2". That's actually kind of a mouthful to say. And my wife was on the couch next to me like just like reading while I was watching this one. And at one point she said, "I feel like you're watching a community theater production." Which isn't the biggest insult.
I mean, I used to do community theater. But yeah, this one is horrible. When it ended, I said to her, "That is one of the worst horror anthology segments I've ever seen in my life. It's very short. Almost nothing happens.
It's extremely goofy and it's about, you know, like an Indian burial ground kind of thing. And I think at the end, the spirit of a Native American comes to kill them, but he's just played by some blonde white guy. I was so confused on what I was supposed to think of this, and then it just ends before hardly anything has happened. Then we get "Overkill", which is the best segment of the bunch, but still not very good. It's a particular brand of edgelord horror, which is normally not really my kind of thing, but at least it was something like it had a vision to it at least.
And it was kind of surprising that up to this point, both 10/31 movies have been very chased. No sex or nudity to be found. But then all of a sudden, this one, boom, full frontal nudity. And I was like, "Oh, okay. We're going there." And it's got quite a bit of gore.
It's got a Jason Vorhees/Michael Myers ripoff character. It's essentially about a group of different killers kind of fighting each other over different partygoers that they want to be their victims. This one conversation is very one-sided between like the Jason character and a more realistic typical creepy guy serial killer was very funny and the highlight of the entire movie for me. Then we end with a segment about a nun who has a variety of flashbacks to her tragic past. It's very boring. Like it's just kind of her wandering around having different visions.
I was bored out of my mind. I couldn't wait for it to end. Turns out there's actually parts three and four to this series. Will I keep going? Definitely not till next year.
At least I'll tell you that.
10. R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead (2025)
R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead is a 2025 young adult gateway horror movie directed by Jem Garrard. It stars Bean Reid, Adeline Low, and Matty Finochio. When his brother disappears and everyone forgets he existed, Sam must unravel the mystery before his brother is gone forever. No one remembers. Ask any kid.
There's something seriously wrong with that farm. And if you ask too many questions, he disappears. So, when I clicked on this, I didn't realize it was a Goosebumps kind of thing. I mean, yeah, it's R.L. Stine, but for some reason, that just didn't click on in my brain when I clicked on it. I just thought, you know, it looked generic and so I was like whatever.
But it's very much a Goosebumps inspired type of movie. Like it's not called a Goosebumps movie, but it is R.L. Stine, but it really has that feel to it. It's exactly what you love about the Goosebumps series where it's creepy, it's spooky, and all that, but there's this funess to it that just feels like it takes us back to being kids. And I'm a little old for Goosebumps, but I did watch it at one point like in my late teens. I remember watching it and enjoying it for what it was.
But then even more once my son got into it later on, I would watch it with him and got to where I loved it even more. But there's this real comfort food horror type of feel to it. Like it's just got this cozy quality to all the Goosebumps and this has that. I also really like a lot of the effects that are done here. Like once again, they very much feel that like they have that Goosebumps kind of effects, but they're fun.
Like they're entertaining and they're fun to see. Just the style of it, like the way the pumpkin has the guy's face in it at times and and the sparkly magical effects and stuff like that. It's just a good time. I also like some of the twist this movie takes. Like it it doesn't all end exactly how you expect it to, and I really enjoyed that.
I think that that was great. And I saw there was a sequel to this and so I almost watched that as well, but I decided to watch another one instead. I might eventually go back and watch it though because I do think especially for a family, you know, if you're sitting down on a Saturday night and you want to enjoy something with your kids, especially for Halloween, I think this movie is a really, really good time. And so, in my opinion, this is the one on this list that I don't think it's bad at all. I think it is exactly what you want it to be. It's a fun Goosebumps style gateway kind of horror movie and one that I think is the perfect pick for this Halloween.
So, happy Halloween everyone. Thank you so much to Cobweb for having me and I'll see you guys all next time.
Thank you so much to Kainan from Ghost Pirate Entertainment for joining me for this video. Kainan is a genuine inspiration to me. I highly, highly recommend everybody check out his channel. I've definitely linked it down in the description above.
What do you think of these movies? What are some of the worst Halloween movies you've ever seen? Let us all know down in the comments below
Watch on YouTube. Video by @cobwebschannel & @ghostpirateentertainment:
Great list of films. Some can be so bad they are good to watch. Some, not so much. But hey, we all have different levels of what we can handle and enjoy. To each their own.
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