A popular trend in the United States is watching horror films during October to prepare for Halloween.
Channels like ABC Family, AMC and Syfy host marathons of scary movies all month long. Some Halloween parties even show thrillers during festivities.
Here’s a short go-to list of 10 scary Halloween films, from past and present: perfect for this season.
1. “The Shining” (1980)
Director Stanley Kubrick displayed a chilling interpretation of Stephen King’s “The Shining,” a psychological thriller that tells the tale of Jack Torrence, a writer and former school teacher, who accepts a position as an innkeeper at a hotel during the winter season, with his wife and psychic son.
Soon after moving into the hotel, Torrence grows hypnotized by the presence of spirits in the hotel. Once fully possessed, he tries to murder his wife and child.
The novel, dubbed a masterpiece of modern horror, still captivates audiences today.
The film stars Jack Nicholson, as Torrence and Shelly Duvall as his wife. According to The Daily Beast, Martin Scorsese ranked it as one of the scariest horror films of all time.
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2. “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
This slasher film, which was directed by Wes Craven, captivated audiences by introducing a character that literally trapped victims in their sleep.
The film takes place in fictional Springwood, Ohio, and tells the tale of teenagers that are haunted and killed in their sleep by Freddy Krueger.
The teenagers begin having similar dreams of a man with a striped sweater, hat and hands with long blades for nails stalking and trapping them in horrifying life-threatening situations.
As an original low-budget horror film, it became a powerhouse for sequels, with each depicting adolescents being stalked and murdered in their sleep. Among the teens killed is young debut actor Johnny Depp.
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3. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005)
Based on a true story, this horror film is about a girl who is possessed by Satanic spirits. The film follows a court case regarding the murder of Emily Rose, a young girl who underwent an exorcism.
Spirits, believed to be developed from mental disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, made Rose unstable in society. The film comes together in clipped flashbacks and dialogue from the cross examination in the courtroom. These flashbacks focus on Rose’s experiences and her journey into madness. Other aspects also include her family’s perception of her possession (being against their religion).
During the film, themes of religion and evil fill audience with fear.
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4. “Jeepers Creepers” (2001)
This creepy tale follows two siblings on the ride of their lives. Brother and sister, played by Gina Philips and Justin Long respectively, are chased by a creature who takes spare body parts and sews them together for pleasure.
The siblings find the creature’s home and explore, finding bodies upon bodies attached to one another before tipping off the horrific killer they were in his home.
Philips and Long attempt to notify police but quickly find out the town is desensitized to the creature and his actions.
Based on the 1938 song “Jeepers Creepers,” directed by Victor Salva, this film takes the viewer on a thrill ride.
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5. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003)
This horrific remake of the original 1974 film follows five friends on an unforgettable and deadly road trip.
Within the first 10 minutes of the film, the story’s main group of teenagers pick up a blood-spattered hitchhiker who is scared for her life. Before the group could calm the hysterical hitchhiker, she shoots herself in the mouth.
The group heads into town searching for the sheriff and stops at an old plantation home, thinking he’s there. Leatherface, the crazed killer, begins attacking every single one of them.
As the story unfolds, the five friends are exposed to Leatherface’s gruesomely mutated family.
This bone-chilling, blood-filled slasher film took viewers by storm upon release and maintains that fear today.
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6. “The Possession” (2012)
Based on ideas from the Jewish religion, this horror film follows a young girl interested in a cursed ancient treasure and her family.
The film opens with an old woman cleaning her home. Scenes flash to a box with Hebrew inscriptions on it. She talks to this box almost as if defying it. Soon after, she’s thrown around her house involuntarily and is almost brutally murdered; yet, no one laid a finger on her.
Later, during a yard sale at the same residence, a young girl finds the same box and becomes attached to it. The girl’s father buys the box and they take it home. They soon find out that the box causes weird unexplainable happenings in the home.
The girl’s father, played by actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, looks to the Jewish faith to find answers. After doing research, Morgan finds out the box was used to contain evil spirits which are now attacking his daughter.
After being denied help from almost everyone, a young expert, played by singer Matisyahu, sets out to help them get rid of the spirits and destroy the box.
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7. “Evil Dead” (2013)
This gory remake of a horror classic definitely captivated viewers across the country this year.
The film begins with a group of friends who travel to the woods to help one of their own detox from a drug addiction. The main character, David, whose sister Mia is detoxing, has been estranged from his family for whatever reason. He has now come back to help his sister because of their mother’s death.
The friends set up shelter in a cabin in the woods. Little do they know, there was a massacre caused by an exorcism in the basement of the cabin. As more bizarre instances occur, one of the friends finds an old book detailing what happened in the basement.
Mia becomes possessed and tries to kill everyone, including her brother.
Labeled “the most terrifying film you will ever experience,” the film gives viewers a run for their money.
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8. “The Amityville Horror” (2005)
This frightening remake depicts the massacre of an entire family caused by supernatural inhabitants of a home.
“The Amityville Horror” is the true story of a man who murdered his family in 1974 because he heard voices in his house. The film follows the story of the family that moved into the haunted dwelling.
Ryan Reynolds stars as the new stepfather to the family. Shortly after Reynolds’ family moves into the home, he begins to hear noises and slowly becomes infatuated with the idea of killing his wife and her three children.
Unfortunately, the film received poor reviews from critics who were not too thrilled about the remake.
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9. “Halloween” (2007)
Rob Zombie took the original “Halloween” series and twisted it inside out. Zombie focuses on a younger Michael Myers and what happened to this young boy to make him mentally unstable and a crazed killer.
Just like other Zombie films, such as “The Devils Rejects” or “House of Wax,” there is an incredible amount of gore in the film.
The interesting thing about it is that it prequels the series, while also serving as a remake documenting the horrific tale of the legendary Michael Myers.
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10. “Friday the 13th” (1980)
This original slasher film probes the imagination about summer camp and remains horrifying to this day.
A group of teenagers decide to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, a summer camp presumed to be haunted. Mysteriously, the teenagers are murdered one by one. They don’t know, at the time, that former camper Jason drowned at Crystal Lake, and came back to murder any other campers who attempted to have a good summer at camp.
A legendary horror film that inspired many slasher films to come. “Friday the 13th” is definitely a film to revisit this Halloween season.
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