Spooky season is here. This year, we thought we’d give you more bang for your buck, offering up a Halloween advent calendar of sorts, with 31 movies to truly embrace gothic Christmas in all its splendour.
Without further ado, here are 31 movies spanning the entire Halloween gambit as recommended by the team at Gizmodo Australia. One a day will keep the doctor away. Or your money back.
31 Halloween movies you should watch (in any order)
1. Hereditary
This one received the most votes from the team and is the perfect first place to start. In Hereditary, a grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences. Sounds perfect. God, I hate how this movie got me. Hereditary is streaming on Netflix.
2. Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It’s Halloween flawlessness in a movie for all ages. Stream it on Binge.
3. Scream
A slasher staple. The start of the now six-part Scream franchise, the 1996 movie is everything of the era. You can’t watch Halloween movies without watching Scream. It’s streaming on Netflix.
4. Child’s Play
Let’s go a little further back, back to 1988. The year Satanic Panic had well and truly set in. Get the first appearance of Chucky into you. Streaming on Prime Video.
5. The Blair Witch Project
Skipping forward a decade and back to where the found footage phenomenon really took off. The Blair Witch Project sees three film students vanish after travelling into a forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend. Iconic, scary and a perfect movie to pre-game Halloween. It’s on Stan.
6. Monster House
A computer-animated haunted house movie is next. We never promised gore all the time. Monster House is sweet. Watch it on Foxtel.
7. In The Tall Grass
This one is a Canadian supernatural horror drama film based on a novella by Stephen King and Joe Hilland. It’s had rave reviews from those around the office who have recommended it. In The Tall Grass is streaming on Netflix.
8. A Quiet Place
Directed by everyone’s* favourite, John Krasinski, A Quiet Place is smart. It’s light on gore, but heavy on tension. Just don’t make a sound. It’s streaming on Paramount+ and Netflix.
9. Psycho
Norman Bates. Shit. Psycho is one of those movies that will stand the test of time and I’m sorry to be so cliche but it’s a Halloween must-watch. Psycho is streaming on Binge.
10. Annabelle: Creation
My favourite of the Annabelle films, it’s best to start with The Nun then The Nun 2, but if you can’t, start with Annabelle: Creation. It is good gear. It’s on Foxtel
11. The Thing
Now, we head back to 1982 for some sci-fi horror. It wouldn’t be a celebration of Halloween without an extremely hostile shape-shifting extraterrestrial organism. Binge is streaming this bad boy.
12. Raven’s Hollow
Here’s the Shudder synopsis: West Point cadet Edgar Allan Poe and four other cadets on a training exercise in upstate New York are drawn by a gruesome discovery into a forgotten community. Obviously, you can stream Raven’s Hollow on Shudder.
13. Death Becomes Her
In what is dubbed as one of the best cult camp films of the 90s, Death Becomes Her really takes the cake for camp horror. A solid Halloween movies list addition, catch it on Binge.
14. The Exorcist
Although I could say this about every movie on this list, The Exorcist is undeniably perfect for Halloween. The Exorcist is streaming on Paramount+. Close the windows first.
15. Green Room
Green Room is a gooooood horror/thriller vibe. After a punk band member learns about the crimes of a club owner, the latter decides to kill him and his members to protect himself. However, the members successfully foil his plan. It’s one of my faves. Catch it on Shudder.
16. The Descent
Watch The Descent, don’t go on an expedition to a cave. The Descent is streaming on SBS.
17. Hubie Halloween
Let’s go back a little here. Adam Sandler appeared on The Howard Stern Show to promote Uncut Gems, and explained that would be a “funny big thing” if he didn’t get nominated in the Academy Awards. At the time, he threatened to make a terrible movie. “If I don’t get it, I’m going to f***ing come back and do one [movie] again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay,” he said. Anyway. The result is Hubie Halloween, you’re welcome. It’s on Netflix.
18. The VVitch
The Witch is a folk horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers (the dude who did The Northman). It’s streaming on Prime Video.
19. The Invisible Man
Filmed at Headland House in NSW’s Gerringong, The Invisible Man has jump scares aplenty. You wish nothing more than the death of this monster. It’s available on Binge.
20. Let the Right One In
A horror/romance Halloween movie pick. Can I call this one a gorey coming-of-age flick? It’s on Stan.
21. Coraline
Coraline has to be one of the best animated films ever made. It has a well-developed plot, gorgeous animation and some fascinating characters to boot. Coraline is streaming on Binge and Foxtel.
22. Hocus Pocus
Another nostalgia entry on our Halloween movies list. Hocus Pocus was an important, women-led silly and fun flick. It’s streaming on Disney+.
23. The Shining
The Shining is one of the best movies for Halloween. It will always be the best Stanley Kubrik movie. I’m taking no questions. Stream it on Netflix.
24. Jennifer’s Body
Please, please, please try revisiting this flick because Jennifer’s Body deserves much more credit than it gets. It’s streaming on Disney+.
25. Jeepers Creepers
You’re going to have Jeepers Creepers, Where’d ya get those peepers in your head. You’re welcome. We can’t find it anywhere but please get it into you somehow. Failing that, watch the 2022 Reborn flick on Binge.
26. Bone Tomahawk
Yehaw. Bone Tomahawk is a Western horror that’s heavy (read: fucking over the top heavy) on the gruesome. Catch it on SBS.
27. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Here we’ve got a 2016 chiller about a coroner and his son who conduct an autopsy on the body of an unknown young woman whose cause of death — not to mention the contradictory conditions of her various body parts, some of which indicate recent death, others of which suggest she’s been dead a long while — is confusing, to say the least. That’s just the start of the ordeal. You can stream The Autopsy of Jane Doe on Shudder.
28. Beetlejuice
30-something years changes a lot. But one thing it hasn’t changed is just how shocking, wonderful and funny Tim Burton’s cult classic film Beetlejuice is. It’ll set you back $2.99 on Youtube, Amazon, or AppleTV.
29. The Reef
A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef, what could be more terrifying? Amazon is streaming this one for $2.99, and Youtube for $3.99.
30. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Your next treat is Gremlins 2. It’s a far better flick than the first and you should definitely revisit the cute* little malicious Gremlins before tomorrow’s big day. You do have to pay for this one, too. It’s $2.99 on Amazon or Apple TV.
31. Halloween
We couldn’t not. While there are 12 (or so, who is counting) movies in the Halloween franchise, the OG is one of the most perfect movies to celebrate the actual day with. It’s streaming on Stan, Netflix, and Prime Video.
Happy Halloween, all.