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It's October, which means that Halloween is right around the corner. I love this time of the year and horror movies are some of my favorite movies to watch so I thought I would come up with a list of essential movies to watch this month. These movies have all been around for a quite a while and you might have already seen them all or at least most of them. However, if there is even one movie on here that you have not yet seen, then I hope I can encourage you to go out and give it a try. Please note, this list is not in any specific order.
1. Halloween (1978)
I think I would be remiss if I didn't kick this list off with John Carpenter's original Halloween movie. This is a movie that was shot in only 20 days with an extremely low budget of $300,000, but it was so incredibly effective in terms of causing fear in its viewers. This is one of the great horror movies and has undoubtedly stood the test of time. This movie, actually the entire franchise (excluding the horrendous Rob Zombie remakes), holds a special place in my heart because every year in October, my mom and I used to sit around and watch all of the Halloween films. This movie holds a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and there is no surprise as to why.
2. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Horror-movie monsters such as Dracula and Frankenstein have always fascinated me. To me those are the types of things that inflict fear, more so than your typical psychotic killer, i.e. Ghostface. I long for the day in which those monsters come back to haunting people because I'm tired of these romanticized versions of them (I'm looking at you Dracula Untold). The first time I ever saw An American Werewolf in London, I must have been around 6 or 7 and watching David Naughton transform into the monster known as the werewolf was truly horrifying. For those who don't know the premise of this movie, it is essentially about 2 college guys who go backpacking to in Europe and during their journey, they get attacked by a werewolf. David survives the attack but is in turn cursed to carry the curse of the werewolf. This really is a fantastic movie that is both scary and funny. On a bit of a side note, Universal announced a few months back that it would be starting a shared universe with many of its monsters living in it. The list of monsters include Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and the Mummy. The Mummy is set to kick this new universe off next June. Here's hoping that these new movies bring back these beloved monsters to their true form.
3. 30 Days of Night (2007)
Speaking of monsters, 30 Days of Night is one of the best vampire movies I have ever seen. The story is a pretty simple one: an Alaskan town is invaded by a group of vampires during a period where the town must go through literally 30 days without the sun. After killing most of the townspeople, the remaining few must figure out how to survive until the sun rises again. It may sound silly to some, but it is terrifying and brutal and makes you appreciate the fact that non-Alaskan people have regular nights and days. A little fun fact about the movie: they never mention the word "vampire" during the film. But they don't have to because there is no doubt as to what the monsters are. I also really love the ending of this film because it's different from your typical movie. It's hard to explain without spoiling it, but trust me, this movie is worth your time.
4. Psycho (1960)
I didn't see Psycho for the first time until about a year ago. Sure, I had heard about how great this movie was and I had heard all about how it revolutionized the horror genre, but you don't really understand all of that until you have seen it for yourself. The way that Alfred Hitchcock used the camera in order to create tension and show a characters fear is remarkable. This isn't like today's horror movies, which rely on heavily on jump-scares. Instead, it's all about the tension created between characters. I know that black-and-white movies turn some people off but this movie was that way by choice and serves the purpose of creating a more somber setting. Besides, this movie has great twist near the end. It's a great film and it's a classic for a reason.
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs is one of those movies that will stay with you forever. It is as frightening as it is disturbing. Anthony Hopkins plays one of the greatest villains of all time in Hannibal Lecter, the manipulative and crazy psychiatrist who feasts on other humans. Jodie Foster plays a young FBI agent who must get help from Lecter in order to catch a serial killer that skins his victims and goes by the name of Buffalo Bill. This is a horror movie that might change the way in which you view humans. Not an easy watch, but it is such an outstanding work of art that you won't regret watching it.
6. Scream (1996)
Scream seems to be one of the movies in which the main character is bigger than the film itself. After all, you can't go outside on Halloween night without seeing a few hundred kids dressed up as the infamous Ghostface killler. Yet many of the people who dress up as him or who even recognize who he is, have not seen the movie itself. That is an absolute shame because this underrated horror film is actually quite fun to watch. Scream 2 is also very, very good (actually has a higher score on Rotten Tomatoes than the original), but you can do without watching the third and fourth installments.
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Freddy Krueger remains one of the scariest characters in cinema that I have ever come across. It isn't just his physical appearance, it is simply the concept of someone being able to kill you from within your dreams. Seeing that as a young child is as traumatizing as it gets but it makes for such a great cinematic story. I'm sure that by now, most people have seen this masterpiece of horror but it is one that is fun to watch with someone who has not yet seen it. If you can find a person that fits the description, watch it with them and see how they react to it. It'll make things much more fun for you.
8. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Sleepy Hollow, to me, is the quintessential movie to watch on Halloween day. Much like the Halloween movies (even more so actually), this is one that I make a point to watch every year. No matter how many times I watch this movie, it always maintains a certain level of creepiness to it and that is the sign of an effective movie. I love the dark and eerie tone that is felt throughout the whole movie and I am always impressed at how well the special effects hold up. It might be that I have seen it one too many times, but this movie is not nearly as scary as most of the films on this list so if you are not a horror person but still want a fun movie to watch on Halloween, this is the one for you.
So, there you have it. I hope that you find this list helpful and, again, if there is a movie on here that you have not seen, I strongly urge that you do and I hope that you have fun doing so. And also, please do feel free to share this list with anyone who you think might like it. Thanks for reading!
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