As part of my own personal Blogtoberfest celebration, I try to ingest at least 31 Halloween-appropriate movies or shows in October and share the list here, for anyone looking for ideas.
I think, given that I’ve already logged 24 spooktastic viewings, reaching 31 this year will be no problem. It’s a mix of new viewings, rewatches, kids’ programming for family time, and plenty of horrors, thrillers, and chillers.
In the parlance of Tik Tok, like for part two. 🙂
*The Last House on the Left (1972) – an infamous seventies slasher. Click here for a break-out post inspired by this viewing.
*The Last House on the Left (2009) – had to watch the remake for full measure. A great retelling; Aaron Paul makes an appearance.
*The Lodge – wintery psychological thriller starring Riley Keough with some strong Hereditary parallels.
*Goodnight Mommy – click here for a break-out post on this film, directed by the same team as The Lodge.
Nightmare Before Christmas – my daughter decided she likes this one, so we’ve been happily watching it on repeat since mid-September.
*The Worst Witch – a series on Netflix that’s also a fan favorite for the younger set. Fun fact — Headmaster Cackle is played by Clare Higgins, who’s been blogged here before.
*The Prodigy – creepy kid horror with a few solid jump-scares.
Friday the 13th parts 2 – 8 – I binged the meat of the franchise in a few nights. Always a joy.
*13 Cameras – Gross abduction and voyeurism thriller with a perfectly horrible villian.
*Child’s Play (2019) – a revised retelling of the original with Mark Hamill on vox for Chucky.
*14 Cameras – More gross peeping-Tomism ramped up for the sequel.
Cabin in the Woods – Always a fun romp with Bradley Whitford.
*Pledge – Illuminati horror that borders on a comedy-horror thanks to some funny writing for frat bros.
*Sinister – Ethan Hawke plays a brooding tortured-artist type – real stretch – and Vincent D’onofrio makes an equally typecast cameo.
*Border – I didn’t have much context going in to this one, and that’s a good way to enter. Just be warned that this Swedish fantasy-thriller-crime-feature gets weird.
*Wrinkles the Clown – a documentary, but unnerving nonetheless.
*Sinister II – Picks up more-or-less where Sinister leaves off. Not as good as the first, but a valiant effort with an appearance by Shannyn Sossamon — who is considerably less bony than she was in the nineties.
*Jigsaw – Basically Saw VIII, but a strong entry into the franchise — if not a little repetitive on theme.
*The Houses October Built 2 – Hard to tell what’s real and what’s fiction in this pseudo-documentary about haunted houses, which should have probably been an actual documentary about haunted houses.
*Denotes a first-time watch
