Here are 10 movies for your Halloween season watchlist, spanning from the early 2000s back to the 1950s!
Have some fun today!
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10 Old School Horror Movies for the HALLOWEEN Season!
Today I got a list for you of 10 really fun old school horror movies that are perfect for the spooky season. The list goes from the 1950s to 2007, with plenty of different kinds of horror along the way.
1. Riding the Bullet (2004)
Riding the Bullet is a Halloween movie that I would not put on an explicit Halloween list because it is not Halloweeny at all. It takes place on Halloween, mostly October 30th going into the 31st, 1969, but you are not going to see decorations or many familiar Halloween traditions.
The movie follows a young man trying to hitchhike to the hospital to visit his dying mother. Along the way, he goes through a crazy odyssey over his feelings, fears, and obsession with death. It is based on a Stephen King story and directed by Mick Garris.
The plot is basically one strange night of encountering different kooky characters. I especially enjoyed the first act, where we learn about the main character through flashbacks, conversations with himself, and visions of what might happen. The second act slows down, but by the third act I was loving it.
David Arquette is especially great as a ghostly figure named George Staub. He is wild, over-the-top, and creepy. There is also a cool sequence at an empty, after-hours carnival. The overall atmosphere is dark and creepy, with lonely roads and graveyards everywhere. The tone is super weird sometimes it can be goofy, serious, scary, and sentimental all in the same movie, but I liked it and I thought it was a good time.
2. The Stepfather (1987)
The Stepfather is one of my favorite '80s horror movies, and it is also one of my favorite autumnal horror movies. The autumn vibes are absolutely fantastic. There are beautiful, vibrant trees taking place in late-'80s suburbia, and there is even a great scene where two characters have a leaf fight while raking leaves.
There is no Halloween in this one. There is actually a Thanksgiving sequence, but the fall atmosphere is exactly what I want during the season.
Terry O'Quinn is the main reason this movie works so well. He plays a serial killer obsessed with the idea of the traditional nuclear family. He marries women with children, becomes part of their families, but, when real life shows up and things aren't quite Leave It To Beaver perfect, he murders everyone and starts over.
Jill Schoelen plays his stepdaughter, who knows there is something off about him even though everyone else doesn't see it. O'Quinn's performance is creepy and charming in a way that makes the horror underneath his perfect facade even more disturbing. There is also some serious blood and gore, especially at the beginning when you see the aftermath of what he has done to a different family before he moves on. It's absolutely shocking.
3. Stepfather 2 (1989)
Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy is not quite as iconic as the original, but it is still a really solid sequel. This time, Terry O'Quinn is clearly the main character.
Instead of starting out with him married into a family, we watch his process of moving to a new town, building a new identity, targeting a new single mother, and worming his way into her life. It is interesting to see another part of his usual cycle.
The supporting cast is great. Meg Foster plays the single mother, Caroline Williams is her suspicious friend, you always got to have that character, and a young Jonathan Brandis plays her son. The suburban setting also has a little bit of an autumn vibe, even though it is not quite as autumnal as the first movie.
O'Quinn is still great, he's got so many creepy moments, such unsettling behavior, and brutal murders.
4. Tamara (2005)
Tamara feels like a mid-2000s movie made to look like a '90s teen horror film. It is basically The Craft meets Carrie, following an awkward, shy girl who is relentlessly picked on by her classmates.
After a prank goes wrong and kills her, Tamara returns from the dead as a sexy seductress because she was a witch. Who doesn't love some good old-fashioned witchcraft for the Halloween season?
There are some really good witchy sequences involving spellcasting, and the fall atmosphere is strong. There are changing trees and leaves on the ground, especially in the woods where Tamara is buried.
From there, it becomes a fun, trashy, sleazy, ridiculous teen slasher. Tamara uses magic to punish the horrible teens who bullied her, and some of the deaths are wild and creative. I would never argue that Tamara is a great movie, but it is so much fun. It is sexy, violent, completely over-the-top, and entertaining, even when the CGI is pretty bad.
5. House of Wax (1953)
No spooky season is complete without some Vincent Price, and House of Wax is still my favorite version of this classic story.
Vincent Price plays a brilliant wax figure artist who is betrayed by his business partner. His wax studio is burned down, leaving him horribly disfigured. He eventually returns from the grave to enact revenge.
Price is so good here. He is deliciously evil but still charming in that classic Vincent Price way. The movie also has some horrifying makeup and an incredible wax museum atmosphere. Wes Craven even credits this for being a landmark that led to the Freddy Krueger look.
It feels like an early version of the slasher, with the killer going after people one by one. The uncanny wax figures around every corner make the whole place feel spooky. Charles Bronson also appears in an early role.
6. House on Haunted Hill (1999)
The 1999 House on Haunted Hill was the first Dark Castle movie and one of the more entertaining remakes of an old horror classic.
I still love the Vincent Price original more, I have so much nostalgia for it, but this remake captures its fun and camp beautifully. Jeffrey Rush takes on the Vincent Price role and is just as charismatic and deliciously evil. Famke Janssen plays his wife, and their vicious banter is one of the best parts of the movie.
The supporting cast is so good, including Ali Larter, Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Chris Kattan, and even Jeffrey Combs in a small creepy role.
The main change they made is turning the haunted house into an old abandoned mental asylum, which honestly works really well. That gives the movie plenty of creepy atmosphere, while the camp, humor, and genuinely disturbing moments keep it moving.
7. The Haunting (1999)
The 1999 remake of The Haunting has a very different approach from the original. The classic is subtle and relies on small, creepy scares. This version has absolutely no subtle bone in its body.
It is a maximalist haunted house movie that goes wildly over the top. Yes, the CGI can be bad, but I have become nostalgic for the late '90s and early 2000s, so I am not as hard on that kind of bad CGI anymore. Except for The Rock in the end of The Mummy Returns. I still thinks that's an abomination
What I really wanted from this movie was great haunted-house atmosphere, and it delivers. If you love Gothic architecture and beautiful old houses, there is a lot to enjoy here.
Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson make up the main cast. I enjoyed watching them interact, and the character banter is fun. It never comes close to being genuinely scary for me, but I had a great time watching its completely insane approach to the haunted-house genre.
8. Hostel: Part II (2007)
Hostel: Part II is darker, scarier, and more interesting than the first movie. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The torture areas even look a little like haunted-house attractions you might visit in October. More importantly, the sequel has a stronger folk-horror feeling. A group of women travels into a town where it feels like the entire community is involved in the conspiracy of this torture chamber.
Kind of like The Wicker Man. There is even a pagan-feeling harvest festival, which gives the movie exactly the kind of September and October vibes I love.
The characters are also more likable than those in the first movie, making it easier to care about what happens to them. It is gory and intense, but there still is not as much torture shown on screen as you might expect.
9. When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
When a Stranger Calls Back is a made-for-TV sequel to the original When a Stranger Calls, and it is pretty darn good.
A When a Stranger Calls movie needs a great opening involving a babysitter, and this one delivers. Jill Schoelen plays the babysitter, giving her another connection to this list after The Stepfather.
The movie does not simply repeat the original. It finds a different way to create the same dark, intense feeling without relying on another phone call.
I was really happy that we once again follow Charles Durning and this time Carol Kane returns and takes a much larger role this time. Her character is like Laurie Strode. She has been traumatized by what happened to her years earlier, but she has become hardened and determined to find some kind of revenge.
It is an interesting mystery that leads into some very weird and creepy places, and the final sequence has some genuinely surprising visuals.
10. Casper (1995)
Casper, one of my favorite movies to watch every spooky season.
I loved this movie as a kid, and I still love the feeling of family movies from the late '90s and early 2000s. Makes sense that's the era when I was growing up, so duh. Casper has beautiful autumnal vibes, a great haunted-house atmosphere, and a setting in Maine during fall.
The movie is light, fun, and goofy, with Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci leading a great cast. The finale even takes place on Halloween at a Halloween party.
This is one of those movies that works for the whole family. There is silly humor and childish stuff, but that is part of the charm. I miss movies like this, especially cozy Halloween movies that parents and kids can enjoy together.
For me, Casper is one of the best movies to ever do that.
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