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Anyone working on a halloween movie list?

Here are some picks.

Shadow of the vampire. A damn good vampire movie, with a very sad, pathetic and pitiful vampire who is a far cry from most modern ones. It's based on the idea that the classic silent film "Nosferatu" was filmed with a real vampire as the star. An interesting plot, a tribute to a classic horror film and some very good acting by a great cast, not much more you can ask for.

Dean Koontz's Phantoms. An intelligent horror movie with some real thought put into it. The mystery and suspense builds at just the right pace.

The Thing is always a classic. The ending remains as ambiguous as it's been since the beginning for me.

Let the Right One In (the original swedish one), is a good take on vampires in the modern era.

Train to Busan is one of the few zombie movies that has longevity in multiple viewings IMO.

No point in recommending the obvious ones, so I'll throw in some deep cuts as and when I recall them.

To get started.

In Fear. Iain De Caestecker, Fitz from Agents Of Shield, takes his new girlfriend on a weekend away to a music festival, before they get lost in the British countryside. Bonus points for being set in my part of the world, but the interesting part is the main actors only had restricted access to the script, so their reaction to events as they unfold is often genuine.

Inbred. More of a dark comedy horror than an outright horror, but still remains the only movie to make me feel physically nauseous while watching it. A group of inner city teens get taken on a trip to the country, much to the locals' displeasure.

I'll also give some love to the Blair Witch sequel, not Book Of Shadows, but the 2016 film which takes the little brother of the girl from the first film, now a college age man, who still harbours hope his sister is still alive somehow. Not awesome, but orders of magnitude better than I expected.

I think your Halloween horror should be fun.

Underworld, for slick exciting vampire vs werewolf action.

Idle Hands is a hilarious and irreverent take on possession and shockingly realistic zombies.

Army of Darkness Bruce Campbell goes full slapstick action hero, as a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court gets the undead army treatment.

And Zombeavers. It is exactly what the title says- a group of people attacked by zombie beavers.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
I think your Halloween horror should be fun.

On those grounds, I have two hilarious British comedy horror flicks for your consideration.
Lesbian Vampire Killers, and Severance.

In addition to what is already noted:

Anna and the Apocalypse. A zombie musical - awesome. A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.

Cockneys vs. Zombies. A Sean of the Dead type movie. Absolutely great. A gang of bank robbers fight their way out of a zombie-infested London.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Hillbillies:Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.

Dog Soldiers. British squaddies fending off a werewolf attack in a remote forest cabin.

 Frazzled wrote:
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Hillbillies:Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.

Ohhhh, how did I forget this!! This is SUCH a good film. It's an absolute must-watch for horror fans who love a dig at the meta, kind of like Cabin In The Woods in that regard.

I've always liked the old House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Who doesn't love a good traveling carnival? Based on some little known author's book of the same name.

 Ahtman wrote:
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Who doesn't love a good traveling carnival? Based on some little known author's book of the same name.

A-hem.

Ray Bradbury was not a "little known author".

I'll assume you were joking.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I've always liked the old House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price.

Seconded. Whip sharp dialogue between him and his wife.... it is so good. I love it.


The Last Man on Earth is also a good one with Price. You could watch all the variations/versions on this one for a movie marathon night.

I am also a fan of the first "The Most Dangerous Game".

 Ahtman wrote:
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Who doesn't love a good traveling carnival? Based on some little known author's book of the same name.

Rory Bardberry is a VERY underrated author.

Anyway...yes. Although I greatly prefer the book. There was a stretch of my life when I read it every October. It has such a great autumnal feel to it. This passage is from another work, but it lead to SWTWC:

… that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where the noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and the midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain …

I could list a ton of fave horror movies, but to keep it simple I'll recommend a modern classic with the right feel for the season IMO: The VVitch.

Crispy78 wrote:
Dog Soldiers. British squaddies fending off a werewolf attack in a remote forest cabin.

I'll second that, it's gloriously British hijinx

Adding Feast, Rec, and Pontypool all b-movie goodness

Sadly, girlfriend, despite being a Painboy is super squeamish about horror.

She’ll happily re-connect your squirty bit to the wriggly bit, and deal with all sorts of real world injury, but can’t stand it on the screen.

So probably Hammer and Amicus fare for us.

I just saw something terrifying last night, but I don’t recommend it.

Anyway, we’re looking for kid-friendly stuff this year, and don’t want to simply force our favorites (like Monster Squad) on the next generation. Have there been any great Halloween movies lately? We’re looking at Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, and Goosebumps...Those are still recent and fresh, right?

And if you have spudlings Coraline, stop motion / cg nightmare fuel of the highest order

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I just saw something terrifying last night, but I don’t recommend it.

Anyway, we’re looking for kid-friendly stuff this year, and don’t want to simply force our favorites (like Monster Squad) on the next generation. Have there been any great Halloween movies lately? We’re looking at Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, and Goosebumps...Those are still recent and fresh, right?

Paranorman is pretty solid.

Trick 'r Treat

Crispy78 wrote:
Dog Soldiers. British squaddies fending off a werewolf attack in a remote forest cabin.

Greatest werewolf movie ever.

Also, What We Do In the Shadows, The Conjuring, and The Witch. Particularly The Witch.

 gorgon wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Who doesn't love a good traveling carnival? Based on some little known author's book of the same name.

Rory Bardberry is a VERY underrated author.

Anyway...yes. Although I greatly prefer the book. There was a stretch of my life when I read it every October.

Really I was recommending either the book or the movie, though as it is 94.3% of the time, the book is better. You can usually count on Rahm Barttleby for a good yarn.

Well, for a halloween movie you can watch with the kids, there's spaced invaders, a scifi comedy without any horror but definitely kid friendly.

For a low gore hammer horror film, I really recommend "Quatermass and the pit", an excellent SF/horror film that's fairly intelligent, has a good plot, develops fairly logically and still has some horror in it.

One movie I'm torn on recommending is "Harbinger down". It's not a great movie but the backstory on it is so good it kinda deserves to be watched.

|In 2011 someone got the right to do a prequel to carpenter's 1983 "the thing" and just called theirs "the thing".

It was a pretty disappointing film and has largely been forgotten. One of it's selling points was that in a world of cgi films it was supposd to use practical effects just like the carpenter version, and they hired a practical effects crew to do them.

Well, at the last minute the suits running production said "HAHA!" to the effects team and replaced almost all their work with CGI.

The effects team was pretty ed over this and basically made a total ripoff of the thing called harbinger down using practical effects.

It's not a really good movie but it does have horror fixture Lance Henrickson and isn't as bad as, say, an asylum film.

I kinda like the idea of the little effects company giving the finger to a big studio and getting their effects in a movie that's a total ripoff of the movie that ripped them off.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I just saw something terrifying last night, but I don’t recommend it.

Anyway, we’re looking for kid-friendly stuff this year, and don’t want to simply force our favorites (like Monster Squad) on the next generation. Have there been any great Halloween movies lately? We’re looking at Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, and Goosebumps...Those are still recent and fresh, right?

My daughter enjoyed Monster House and ParaNorman a lot. She also like the Goosebumps movie back in the day.

Thanks for the recommendations, guys!


...Goosebumps the movie was “back in the day”? Feels like that just came out.

For kids?

I’m pretty much certain I’m going to give you the wrong title....

But, in terms of Goosebumps (ALL HAIL!), there’s a semi-sequel, more “mature” take on it. I know it’s on Amazon Prime in the U.K., but can’t quite recall its title.

And let’s face it, when we’re recommending slightly advanced yet still kid safe horror? All precautions need to be taken.

I’m enough of a gore hound to realise I could invent a movie title, only for it to genuinely exist and eff up fragile young minds. And that is so far from cool, it’s less cool than whatever you consider to be the least cool thing ever.

If I remember the title, I shall return and inform folks.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
CRASHES BACK IN LIKE A DRUNKEN UNCLE AT YOUR WEDDING!

The Haunting Hour. It’s called The Haunting Hour.

Parents? Genuinely? Watch each episode in advance, as they can get quite serial in terms of horror.

If you like Alien you might like Leviathan, which the SFC literally described as 'the greatest alien ripoff ever made". It also thrown in elements of "the thing".

Deepstar 6 i am not really big on.

"Horror express" wasn't made by hammer, but it sure looks, sounds and feels like a hammer horror movie. Staring the deadly duo of Lee and Cushing. If you like classy acting and relatively low gore it's worth a look. It has an eerie theme tune that i warn you will rattle around in your head for a while.
https://youtu.be/yJpkK5Wl9YU

What has been heard cannot be unheard.

Poltergeist (1981, dir. Hooper) is only rated PG which means it should be family friendly.

I think Mad Doc already mentioned Hammer but I'm going to second that and specifically say to look for any of the Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee Dracula films Hammer did.

Of course there is always Young Frankenstein (1974, dir. Brooks) as well.

Frau Blucher

Neeiiiigghh

My son really enjoyed that one.

Poltergeist might be too intense—it is 80’s PG, after all.

Spaces Invaders is definitely going on the list.

And Ernest Scared Stupid.

I’ll have to check out the Haunting Hour. If it’s like the recent Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, it’s likely too scary.

The scene where the guy peels his face off in the mirror, as an adult I can see how ropey the FX are, as a (relatively grown up) kid it stayed with me for years, and (real) corpses bobbing out of the water?

No, no way that's suitable for anyone below 13 at the very least, perhaps older depending on the child.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, plus the creepy clown and evil tree?

Nope.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:


Poltergeist might be too intense—it is 80’s PG, after all.

Yeah that really is a thing. So many movies now that I look back on as completely benign are really quite mental when you come to watch them again.

My boys are 12 and 8, and I'm not sure I'd let them watch stuff like Ghostbusters yet.

Even ET made me do a double-take in the first few minutes when one of the kids calls another 'penis-breath'...