Another List: The 100 Best Scary Halloween Movies

[claws]

by me 

20th Century only:

 1. The Exorcist (1973)
 2. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
 3. The Phantom Carriage (1921)
 4. Nosferatu (1922)
 5. King Kong (1933)
 6. Freaks (1932)
 7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
 8. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
 9. Frankenstein (1931)
 10. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
 11. The Innocents (1961)
 12. Halloween (1978)
 13. Evil Dead II (1987)
 14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
 15. The Fly (1986)
 16. Repulsion (1965)
 17. The Invisible Man (1933)
 18. Eyes Without a Face (1960)
 19. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
 20. The Crow (1994)
 21. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
 22. The Wicker Man (1973)
 23. The Omen (1976)
 24. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
 25. The Evil Dead (1981)
 26. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
 27. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
 28. Dracula (1931)
 29. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
 30. The Haunting (1963)
 31. Curse of the Demon (1957)
 32. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
 33. Suspiria (1977)
 34. House (1977)
 35. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
 36. Village of the Damned (1960)
 37. The Changeling (1980)
 38. Re-Animator (1985)
 39. The Wolf Man (1941)
 40. Horror of Dracula (1958)
 41. Them! (1954)
 42. Cat People (1942)
 43. The Frighteners (1996)
 44. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
 45. Don't Look Now (1973)
 46. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
 47. Cemetery Man (1994)
 48. Fright Night (1985)
 49. The Mummy (1932)
 50. Carnival of Souls (1962)
 51. House of Wax (1953)
 52. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
 53. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
 54. Hellraiser (1987)
 55. Stir of Echoes (1999)
 56. The Monster Squad (1987)
 57. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
 58. House of Usher (1960)
 59. Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
 60. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
 61. Tales from the Crypt (1972)
 62. Ginger Snaps (2000)
 63. Creepshow (1982)
 64. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
 65. Christine (1983)
 66. Candyman (1992)
 67. Prince of Darkness (1987)
 68. The Stepfather (1987)
 69. The Entity (1982)
 70. Night of the Creeps (1986)
 71. The Last Man on Earth (1964)
 72. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
 73. Event Horizon (1997)
 74. The Blob (1988)
 75. From Beyond (1986)
 76. Demons (1985)
 77. The Beyond (1981)
 78. The Company of Wolves (1984)
 79. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
 80. Pet Sematary (1989)
 81. Halloween II (1981)
 82. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
 83. Flatliners (1990)
 84. The Howling (1981)
 85. Inferno (1980)
 86. Dead & Buried (1981)
 87. Brain Damage (1988)
 88. Silver Bullet (1985)
 89. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
 90. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
 91. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
 92. Burnt Offerings (1976)
 93. Idle Hands (1999)
 94. The Amityville Horror (1979)
 95. Pumpkinhead (1988)
 96. Frankenhooker (1990)
 97. City of the Living Dead (1980)
 98. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
 99. Night of the Demons (1988)
 100. Waxwork (1988)

[RCMerchant]

Holy Moly- ok-! I'll give it a whirl-

1. HALLOWEEN (1978) of course.
2. NOSFERATU (1922)
3. DRACULA (1931)
4. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
5. HAXAN (1922)
6. VAMPYR (1932)
7. WHITE ZOMBIE (1932)
8. the RAVEN (1935)
9. BLACK SUNDAY (1960)
10. the HAUNTING (1963)
11. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
12. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
13. KILL, BABY, KILL (1966)
14. DEEP RED (1976)
15. TOURIST TRAP (1979)
16. the EXORCIST (1973)
17. the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
18. CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1963)
19. the SHINING (1980)
20. REPULSION (1965)

more later!

[Cult_Moody_Movies]

Top 20 for now. LOL

1. The Evil Dead Trilogy
2. Alien & Aliens
3. Psycho (1960)
4. Jaws (1975)
5. John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
6. Halloween (1978)
7. Night of the Living Dead & Dawn of the Dead (1968, 1978)
8. Hausu (1977)
9. The Creature from Black Lagoon (1954)
10. Phantasm (1979)
11. Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939)
12. The Exorcist (1973)
13. The Lost Boys (1987)
14. Predator (1987)
15. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
16. Scanners (1981)
17. Phenomena (1985)
18. Perfect Blue (1997)
19. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
20. The Babadook (2014)

[RCMerchant]

Some more!

21. ZOMBIE (1980)
22. the GATES OF HELL (1980)
23. DEMONS (1985)
24. ALUCARDA (1977)
25. FREAKS (1932)
26. the BODY SNATCHER (1946)
27. LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971)
28. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960)
29. HORROR HOTEL (1960)
30. DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)
31. CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957)
32. the BLACK CAT (1934)
33. MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935)
34. LIVING DEAD GIRL (1982)
35.NIGHTMARE CASTLE (1965)
36. SCANNERS (1981)
37. VIDEODROME (1983)
38. CREEPSHOW (1982)
39. the THING (1982)
40. BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATER (1990)

[Rev. Powell]

More of a philosophical question: what makes it a "Halloween" movie for you, rather than just a horror movie?

I would say either one that's set on Halloween or otherwise has a Halloween connection, or something that would inspire a kid's Halloween costume.

[M.10rda]

Additionally, Claws, are these really all movies you consider "scary"?  ELVIRA?! I like the ELVIRA movie btw. Heck, I don't even hate the sequel.

[zombie no.one]

More of a philosophical question: what makes it a "Halloween" movie for you, rather than just a horror movie?

I would say either one that's set on Halloween or otherwise has a Halloween connection, or something that would inspire a kid's Halloween costume.

yeah I only consider movies with some kind of halloween connection to be 'halloween' movies... same as I only consider movies which are at least partially about xmas to be 'xmas movies'. so a top 100 is not going to happen! but I will offer:

HALLOWEEN
HAUNTEDWEEN
HACK O LANTERN
TRICK R TREAT
PUMPKINHEAD 2  (forgot if this is set at halloween. pumpkins anyway)

[claws]

Additionally, Claws, are these really all movies you consider "scary"?   ELVIRA?! I like the ELVIRA movie btw. Heck, I don't even hate the sequel.

She's the Queen of Halloween so she had to be in my list regardless.

My defintion of scary might differ from other peoples definition of scary and vice versa. Some people say The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever made, some people say it is not. I probably should have added that in my first post.

There's a pretty good jump scare in Elvira: Mistress of the Dark though Whenever I watch people on youtube reacting to Mistress of the Dark for the first time they always jump in their seat at that one particular scene. It's a cheap one but effective so I'd say it counts

Another scene where Elvira throws a jar of leeches in the face of one of the bad guys isn't even played for laughs. It's a straight up horror scene  

That's the thing with horror comedies. Modern horror comedies are rarely "scary". Older horror comedies can be scary. Like American Werewolf, Fright Night etc.

[Cult_Moody_Movies]

List of favorite films set on Halloween (and capture the feel of the holiday):
1. Halloween (1978)
2. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
3. WNUF Halloween Special (2013)
4. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
5. Lady in White (1988)
6. Ghostwatch (1992)
7. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
8. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
9. Night of the Demons (1988)
10. Trick or Treat (1986)/Cemetery of Terror (1985) aka Cementerio del terror

While classics like Poltergeist (1982) and The Exorcist (1973) are classics the Halloween esthetic isn't prominent throughout the film.

[M.10rda]

I dig your take om ELVIRA, Claws. Cheers to stretching the definition of "scary" and "Halloween" ever wider. I prefer a very flexible definition of "horror" myself... I sometimes call MEMENTO (just to cite an example currently being discussed) an existential horror movie. No monsters or even jump-scares, yet the entire scenario is nightmarish.

Also it's been 30+ years since I watched the first ELVIRA. My primary recollection is the scene in which one yokel grabs an "Amazing Spider-Man" comic from another and tears it in half. That specific issue was worth a few bucks even in the early 90s and is worth several hundred dollars minimally today. I still flinch to think of it. Oh the horror!