It’s October, and you know what that means: Everyone’s watching horror movies. Vampires, serial killers, haunted houses, the month that precedes Halloween is the prime time to watch scary movies, but not every scary movie is a Halloween movie… and not every Halloween movie is scary.
So it is with great relish that we present the 31 best Halloween movies ever, exclusively featuring films that actually take place on Halloween, or at least during the Halloween season. The point is, if Halloween doesn’t play a major part in the movie it’s not fair to call it a “Halloween movie,” and as long as Halloween shows up in some important way, it doesn’t matter where the film is frightening, funny, or even just for little kids.
We’re narrowing the field down to theatrically-released features and shorts and feature-length TV movies. Halloween specials deserve their own list, so we apologize to all the fans of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “Witch’s Night Out” and “The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special.” Your time will come. Maybe. Someday.
Now break out your candy corn and dive right in, because it’s time to get hallowed (and/or weened)!
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
The best-remembered of Disney’s early animated anthology films (unless you count “Fantasia”) is a double feature of classic literature adaptations. The first half, based on Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows” and narrated by Basil Rathbone, is a perfectly respectable fantasy about anthropomorphic animals and the dangers of reckless driving. But the second is a spectacular interpretation of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” narrated by Bing Crosby, which features spooky Halloween music and a terrifying Headless Horseman who throws a flaming Jack O’Lantern right at the audience. It’s not the only great “Sleepy Hollow” adaptation (we’ll get to another one later), but it remains the most iconic interpretation of the decapitated Halloween specter.
“The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” is streaming on Disney+.
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Frank Capra is best known for his romanticized visions of Americana in classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” but he had a freaky streak too. His classic screwball horror-comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” stars Cary Grant as a hapless writer who visits his two kindly aunts on Halloween, only to discover they have a shocking secret: They’re both serial killers. Grant is at his befuddled best as he runs around finding hidden corpses, and the film has a brilliant meta twist in the second half where his long-lost brother arrives, having just had plastic surgery to look just like Boris Karloff.
Betty Boop’s Hallowe’en Party (1933)
Iconic cartoon flapper Betty Boop ruled the silver screen in the early 1930s, but her brand of humor was more playfully suggestive than anything Disney was doing. (It’s very tame by modern standards.) Her adventures often skewed fantastical — “Minnie the Moocher,” arguably her most memorable short, features Cab Calloway as a dancing ghost — but she didn’t hold a proper “Hallowe’en Party” until 1933. Betty invites all the local animals, a scarecrow named Scary, and even some bonafide monsters to her hilarious bash, while she decorates for the season and fends off the advances of a brute who, don’t worry, gets his spine-tingling comeuppance. Betty Boop declined in popularity after the Production Code watered down her entire appeal, and to newer audiences she may be obscure, but her cartoons are still as funny as ever.
Cobweb (2023)
Take about lousy timing: Samuel Bodin’s excellent directorial debut “Cobweb” came out the same weekend as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” so nobody noticed it. At all. And that’s a shame because it’s a frightfully devious film. Woody Norman stars as a boy whose overprotective parents, played by Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr, won’t let him go out on Halloween and lock him in the basement when he talks back. As he tries to escape his increasingly disturbing home life, he starts hearing voices inside the walls, telling him to do terrible things. Caplan and Starr are both horrifying, Bodin fills the first two-thirds of the movie with absolute dread, and the third act is a wild showstopper.
“Cobweb” is streaming on Hulu.
Dark Harvest (2023)
Another overlooked treat, David Slade’s “Dark Harvest” takes place in a small midwestern town in the early 1960s. Every Halloween the local teenage boys have to protect the community from Sawtooth Jack, a demonic scarecrow who grows out in the fields all year, and threatens to kill anyone in his path to the center of town. Slade’s film, based on a novel by Norman Partridge, combines iconic Halloween horrors with creepy YA conspiracies, as the teenaged heroes gradually realize their parents aren’t telling them the whole story, and that Sawtooth Jack might have a very good reason to want all the townsfolk dead. A fantastic modern Halloween campfire story, filmed with panache, and boasting one of the most memorable movie monsters in recent memory.
“Dark Harvest” is streaming on Prime Video.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
There’s no shortage of killer Halloween scarecrow movies. We didn’t even have room for all of them on this list. But no retrospective of Halloween classics would be complete without the 1981 made-for-tv slasher “Dark Night of the Scarecrow.” Larry Drake stars as an intellectually disabled man living in a small town, who tries to rescue a little girl from a vicious dog but gets accused of attacking her himself, and gets lynched by an angry mob. The next year, he returns from the grave to kill the people responsible, including an absolutely despicable, hateful monster of a man played by Charles Durning. Don’t be fooled by the network television origins: “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” may not be very gory but it is surprisingly sinister, and ranks among the best films in the early slasher cycle.
“Dark Night of the Scarecrow” is streaming on Prime Video and Shudder.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Richard Kelly’s career went in odd directions but his first film remains one of the most striking debuts of the century so far. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the title character, a teenager in the 1980s who keeps seeing a horrifying entity in a rabbit costume named Frank, who tells him the world will end on the night of a Halloween party. Soon, Donnie begins doing strange things he cannot explain, like flooding his high school, burning down a local celebrity’s house, and learning the secrets of time travel. “Donnie Darko” is a gloomy, smart film about teenage angst and the mysteries of the universe. And, of course, about Halloween… the time when all the masks come off.
“Donnie Darko” is streaming on Prime Video.
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
It’s easy to overlook them nowadays but the first few “Ernest P. Worrell” movies were actually quite good. Jim Varney successfully translated his TV commercial persona, that of a lovable working class goofball who accidentally breaks everything he touches, into a series of films about saving summer camps, saving Christmas, saving his girlfriend from an evil doppelganger, and saving Halloween from magical trolls. This title is accurate: “Ernest Scared Stupid” is an incredibly silly film, aimed entirely at children, but even adults can get a good chuckle out of the film’s weirdest moments. If you’ve always wondered why your friends sometimes refer to milk as “miak” like it’s the funniest thing in the world, this movie is why.
“Ernest Scared Stupid” is streaming on Hoopla.
Ghostwatch (1992)
The year was 1992, and BBC1 decided to air a TV movie designed to look like a live television event, complete with real talk show host Michael Parkinson, “live” calls from the public, and a tour through an honest-to-goodness haunted house. Lesley Manning’s film, written by Stephen Volk, gradually mutates into a terrifying horror thriller that genuinely convinced many people in the audience that the nightmare was real, forcing the filmmakers to later apologize, and keeping “Ghostwatch” off the air for many years. It remains, to this day, one of the most frightening Halloween movies ever made, and the obvious inspiration for future Halloween cult classics like “WNUF Halloween Special” and “Late Night with the Devil.”
“Ghostwatch” is streaming on AMC+ and Shudder.
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Of all the classic movie monsters, werewolves somehow get the shortest end of the stick. It’s hard to count how many classic vampire movies, ghost movies, and Frankenstein movies there are, but for some reason great werewolf movies tap out at — if we’re being extremely generous — maybe a dozen. But “Ginger Snaps” is definitely one of the best. Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle star as Brigitte and Ginger, two gloomy, death-obsessed sisters who think they’ll be close forever. But after Ginger is attacked by a dog she experiences strange new urges and physical transformations, which make Brigitte think her sister might really be cursed. The allegory for puberty is on the nose but extremely clever, Perkins and Isabelle give heartbreaking performances, and the climax on Halloween night is harrowing. (The sequel and prequel are worth checking out too.)
“Ginger Snaps” is streaming on Shudder and Fubo.
Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter’s “Halloween” really staked a claim on the holiday, not just by calling itself “Halloween” (which was rather bold), but by being one of the best and most influential horror movies ever crafted. You probably know the story: A young boy murders his sister on Halloween night, and returns decades later to wreak havoc on more teenage girls. The simplicity gives “Halloween” its enduring power: It’s always scary, always relevant. Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance as the heroic babysitter Laurie Strode shot her to stardom, and serial killer Michael Meyers — along with John Carpenter’s easy-to-replicate, low-budget slasher formula — have inspired knockoffs every year since. Heck, practically every month. “Halloween” isn’t just a historically significant movie, it’s one of the load-bearing walls for the entire motion picture medium.
“Halloween” is streaming on Shudder, Fubo and AMC+.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
The “Halloween” sequels and remakes are extremely hit-and-miss, and they’re not even all equally Halloween-y. While “Halloween 4,” “Halloween H20,” Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” and the first two David Gordon Green movies deserve honorable mentions, it’s Tommy Lee Wallace’s “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” that qualifies as another, proper ghoul-tide classic. The film stars Tom Atkins as a doctor investigating mysterious deaths in the days leading up to October 31st, who uncovers a bizarre supernatural/sci-fi conspiracy involving human sacrifice and killer Halloween masks. Audiences initially balked at “Season of the Witch” for having nothing to do with Michael Myers, but future generations have recognized the film as an entertainingly weird holiday treat in its own right. No, it’s as good as the original, and it sure as hell ain’t better, but it’s so darned fun it doesn’t matter.
“Halloween III” is streaming on Peacock and AMC+.
Halloweentown (1998)
Hey, remember, these aren’t all horror movies! Halloween is a night for children to play dress up and extort their neighbors for free candy, and they deserve fun holiday films that won’t give them nightmares. This Disney Channel Original stars Debbie Reynolds as the grandmother of three kids who don’t know they come from a long line of witches. When they follow her back to her hometown — her Halloween town — they find a lovable cavalcade of monsters and oddballs. And, naturally, they save the whole place using the magical power of family, and also literal magic. It’s very family friendly fluff, but the ingenuity and handmade quality of “Halloweentown’s” many creatures (you gotta love that skeleton cab driver) makes it a memorable slumber party staple.
“Halloweentown” is streaming on Disney+.
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation is an ominously eerie murder mystery, set in a haunted Italian palazzo on Halloween night. Famed detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) has been invited to debunk a world-famous spiritualist (Michelle Yeoh), but when she turns up dead he must solve the crime while, he is increasingly afraid, encountering what may very well be the actual spirit realm. The cast is another litany of memorable suspects — Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, Jude Hill, etc. — and Branagh smartly abandons the lavish approach he adopted for “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile” in favor of a claustrophobic, shadowy, chilling atmosphere. It’s the best of his Poirot films so far, and an instant Halloween classic.
“A Haunting in Venice” is streaming on Hulu.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” was initially quite unpopular. Decades later, it was declared a cult classic. Now it’s just a plain ol’ Disney classic. Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker star as The Sanderson Sisters, a coven of 17th century witches who are resurrected on Halloween night in 1990s and wreak havoc on the modern world. They’re practically the supernatural Three Stooges, but Kenny Ortega’s film finds the right balance, keeping them a very real threat to the film’s teen leads, even though they’re whimsically befuddled by modern culture and technology. Surprisingly mature by modern Disney standards — there’s a plot point about virginity, which would never fly with the Mouse House today — and loaded with grim and groovy Halloween imagery. (The 2022 sequel “Hocus Pocus 2” wasn’t worth the wait, but it makes for an okay double feature.)
“Hocus Pocus” is streaming on Disney+.
Hubie Halloween (2020)
Don’t laugh. Actually, do laugh. Adam Sandler’s late-era comedies are often excruciatingly terrible but “Hubie Halloween” is another story. It’s a satisfying and good-natured holiday romp that ranks among his funnier farces. Sandler stars as Hubie, a small town goofball who works tirelessly every year to make sure everyone has a safe Halloween, including the people who bully him, which is almost everybody. He’s got his job cut out for him this year because the residents of Salem, MA are going missing, and he thinks his neighbor Walter (Steve Buscemi) — who is obviously a werewolf — might be responsible. Steve Brill’s comedy has a stacked cast, including Ray Liotta, June Squibb, Michael Chiklis, Maya Rudolph, and Kenan Thompson, along with the usual parade of Sandler’s regulars. Oh yes, and the costume department deserves an extra special shout out: Everybody’s Halloween costumes are a hoot and a half.
“Hubie Halloween” is streaming on Netflix.
Lady in White (1988)
The 1980s were a great time for scary kids movies — films that were technically supposed to be for all ages, but rode a thin line between terrifying and fun — and while not all of them belong on this list, Frank LaLoggia’s “Lady in White” is required Halloween viewing. Lukas Haas stars as Frankie, a 9-year-old boy who gets trapped in his school on Halloween night, and watches the ghost of a little girl relive her horrible murder. It turns out she was the victim of a serial killer who has plagued this town for years, and it’s up to Frankie to uncover everyone’s secrets and save the girl’s soul and, eventually, his own life. It’s a hard PG-13, with at least one act of surprising, serious violence, but it’s a fantastic gateway for young horror fans who are looking to transition from sleepover monster flicks to the real, scary deal.
“Lady in White” is streaming on Screenpix.
May (2001)
Angela Bettis gives one of the horror genre’s most haunting performances in Lucky McKee’s debut feature, about a shy girl who can’t seem to connect with anybody. She loves parts of them, but the rest of them always let her down. So one day she finally gets it into her head to take all those best parts, cut them off, and sew them together to create the perfect partner. “May” culminates in one particularly disturbing Halloween night, as she carts severed limbs down the street in a cooler and drunk college kids ask her, “Got any cold ones in there?” The cult of “May” has grown for the last 20+ years, turning this obscure indie gem into one of the 21st century’s most significant horror movies. By the time you witness the film’s incredible final moments, you’ll understand why.
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Vincente Minnelli’s musical is often considered a Christmas classic because the ending takes place at Christmastime. Well, two can play at that game. “Meet Me in St. Louis” covers the life of a family over half a calendar year, and the middle of the movie takes place during Halloween, so we’re claiming for Halloween too. Tootie (Margaret O’Brien), the future murderer of snowmen, attends a Halloween bonfire and goes out pranking the neighborhood, which leads to a terrible misunderstanding that almost derails the whole love story between her older sister Esther (Judy Garland) and their neighbor John (Tom Drake). It’s mostly a lovely movie, but be warned — the song “Under the Bamboo Tree”’ is more racist than you might have remembered.
The Munsters (2022)
Rob Zombie is no stranger to Halloween movies. He made two remakes of the classic Michael Myers films, the roadside attraction horror hit “House of 1,000 Corpses,” a brutal killer clown movie called “31,” and heck, even his best film “Lords of Salem” makes for a fitting double feature with “Hocus Pocus.” But his greatest Halloween classic is the one he made for all ages, a goofy and good-natured prequel to the classic TV series “The Munsters.” Jeff Daniel Phillips and Sheri Moon Zombie are perfectly cast as Herman and Lily, a Frankenstein and a vampire who fall in love and overcome all odds to get married. Eventually they move to the suburbs, where a wild Halloween party accidentally convinces them that all their neighbors are also fun-loving monsters. Colorful and creative, and shockingly mild-mannered for a Rob Zombie joint, “The Munsters” may not be brilliant cinema but it’s infectiously Halloween-y.
“The Munsters” is streaming on Netflix.
Murder Party (2007)
Before Jeremy Saulnier earned critical acclaim for his intense thrillers “Blue Ruin,” “Green Room” and “Rebel Ridge,” he cut his teeth on a low budget horror comedy that is, you might be surprised to learn, somehow his most cynical movie so far. Chris Sharp stars as a friendly but friendless guy who accepts an invitation to a Halloween party, only to discover that he’s the party favor. All the other attendees are demented artistes who plan to kill him in a desperate attempt to win a large grant from a sinister millionaire. “Murder Party” is every horrible Halloween party you’ve ever attended, filled with the most terrible people you’ve ever met, but the movie has plenty of tricks in store for them, culminating in a violent catharsis that unleashes hell on high art.
“Murder Party” is streaming on Fubo.
Night of the Demons (1988)
Have you ever wondered what the “Evil Dead” movies would look like if they were a whole lot hornier and took place on Halloween? Let me introduce you to “Night of the Demons,” a cult horror classic about a bunch of teenagers who break into a funeral parlor on October 31st, get possessed by evil forces and then murder each other when they’re not having sex (and sometimes during. B-movie icon Linnea Quigley and future animal psychic Amelia Kinkade (yes, really!) steal the film as two of the nastier and funnier — and in Quigley’s case, nakeder — monsters. “Night of the Demons” is shamelessly prurient, and there’s no better night for that kind of thing than Halloween.
“Night of the Demons” is streaming on Prime Video, Peacock and AMC+.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Is “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? If you answered “yes,” you are correct. The two holidays are inextricably linked in Henry Selick’s classic stop-motion animated adaptation of a Tim Burton poem. The story of a skeleton with a mid-life crisis who decides to skip Halloween and hijack someone else’s holiday is a masterpiece of character and production design, with eye-popping imagery in every shot, and deliriously demented songs by Danny Elfman. Disney panicked and took the studio’s name off of the PG-rated “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in 1993, releasing it under their Touchstone banner instead. Now it’s one of their signature classics, with the Disney name proudly displayed. (What is it about Disney Halloween movies from 1993, anyway?)
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is streaming on Disney+.
Rockula (1990)
Perhaps the greatest of all the unsung horror musicals, “Rockula” stars Dean Cameron as Ralphie, a 400-year-old virgin whose true love keeps getting reincarnated every 22 years, and keeps getting murdered by a pirate on Halloween night. In the 1980s she’s a rock star named Mona (Tawny Fere), so Ralphie starts his own vampire-themed rock band to catch her attention. Wonderfully kitschy, with over-the-top performances by famed one-hit-wonders Toni Basil (“Hey Mickey”) and Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science”), and cameos by the great Bo Diddley and Susan Tyrell as members of Ralphie’s band. The songs are dorky and catchy, the humor is wacky and weird, and everyone’s having a great time — especially the audience.
“Rockula” is streaming on Prime Video, Fubo and MGM+.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
It’s no surprise that Tim Burton, cinema’s most lucrative and popular goth, loves Halloween. He’s revisited the holiday many times over the years, but while “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is the best Halloween movie he’s ever been associated with, “Sleepy Hollow” is the best one he’s ever directed. An ingenious adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic ghost story stars Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, a detective investigating a series of mysterious beheadings in the title town. The plot is more convoluted than necessary but the film’s incredible aesthetic beautifully captures the allure of a classic Hammer Horror movie, and the decision to play Ichabod as a shameless coward adds humorous contrast to the film’s otherwise grim aesthetic and tone.
“Sleepy Hollow” is streaming on Paramount+ and AMC+.
Tales of Halloween (2015)
Michael Dougherty’s “Trick ‘r Treat” is the most popular Halloween horror anthology — don’t worry, we’re getting to it later — but “Tales of Halloween” is just as good, and arguably even better. Horror filmmakers like Lucky McKee, Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn and Mike Mendez (to name a few) teamed up for a series of 10 interconnected scary stories, all taking place on the same night. There’s a slasher villain running afoul of a trick or treating alien, man-eating Jack O’Lanterns, a deadly war over who’s got the best Halloween decorations, and lots more besides. For an anthology film with 10 shorts the level of quality remains incredibly high, and because they’re so brief, even if you don’t love one of them, another is coming up in just a few minutes. Inspired holiday mischief from beginning to end, with a memorable cast of horror icons like Adrienne Barbeau, Lin Shaye, Barbara Crampton, and Barry Bostwick, and cameos from fan-favorite directors Joe Dante, Stuart Gordon, Adam Green and Mick Garris.
“Tales of Halloween” is streaming on Prime Video.
Trick or Treat (1952, short)
Donald Duck pranks his trick or treating nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie instead of giving them candy, and that just won’t do. Witch Hazel — the rare cartoon character who seems to exist in both the Disney and Warner Bros. universes — decides to teach Donald a lesson by using magic to wallop him senseless until he finally gives up his hoard of treats. Gorgeously animated and with an unforgettable theme song, “Trick or Treat” is still one of Disney’s best cartoon shorts. (Other spooky Disney shorts — like 1929’s “Skeleton Dance,” and 1937’s “The Old Mill” and “Lonesome Ghosts” — are also perfect for the holiday season, but they’re disqualified on a technicality: None of them take place on Halloween.)
Trick or Treat (1986)
Oh yes, quite a lot of Halloween movies are called “Trick or Treat.” (We even wanted to include at least one more but we ran out of room.) This Charles Martin Smith film doesn’t get nearly as much press as the others, and that’s a shame because it’s a heavy metal blast. Marc Price stars as a teenaged outcast whose favorite rock star, Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), dies and comes back as a demon when his final record is played backwards. Oh, you’d better believe mayhem ensues, peaking at a Halloween concert where Sammi murders his audience by shooting lightning out of a magic guitar. Smith’s “Trick or Treat” mercilessly lampoons the conservative “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, and even enlists Ozzy Osbourne — the “Prince of F–ing Darkness” himself — to play a finger-wagging Reverend.
Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
Writer/director Michael Dougherty transformed his scary 1996 animated short “Season’s Greetings” into an ambitious Halloween horror anthology film, with a big ensemble cast — Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb, etc. — and holiday atmosphere galore. Ghost children, old-fashioned monsters, the gruesomest of all Jack O’Lanterns, and a bravura finale in which Brian Cox finds out the hard way why you should always give out candy on October 31st. Inexplicably shelved for two years before barely eking its way into theaters, “Trick ‘r Treat” quickly blew past cult movie status and has now established itself as one of the most popular Halloween movies of them all.
“Trick ‘r Treat” is streaming on Max.
2 in the AM PM (2007)
Before J.G. Quintel created the beloved animated kids series “Regular Show,” he submitted a weird little short to Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, and a cult classic was born. “2 in the AM PM” stars Quintel and fellow animator Sam Marin as gas station clerks working the graveyard shift on Halloween. They accidentally eat candy laced with LSD and hallucinatory hijinks commence, including memorable transformations into Quintel and Marin’s future “Regular Show” characters, and a suspenseful interaction with an oblivious cop. Lo-fi animation + high energy humor = Halloween magic.
“2 in the AM PM” is streaming on YouTube.
The Worst Witch (1986)
Jill Murphy’s children’s book series “The Worst Witch” has been adapted several times, including two TV series co-starring future stars Felicity Jones and Bella Ramsey. But the original TV movie is a nostalgic favorite, and remains a perfect Halloween staple. Fairuza Balk, who would eventually return to these witchy roots in “The Craft,” stars as Mildred Hubble, a student at a school for witches. She infuriates her mean potions teacher Miss Hardbroom (Diana Rigg) and gets her broom sabotaged at a public event and, oh yeah, it does sound like it inspired a certain other fantasy series, doesn’t it? In any case this low, low, low budget TV classic is adorable at every turn, and Tim Curry steals the whole thing with a Halloween theme song you have to see to believe.
“The Worst Witch” is streaming on Prime Video and Tubi.
The Best Halloween Movies for Kids
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