Movies to watch this Halloween part 2
Time to delve into some more movies to watch during the spooktacular month of October. We already covered killer clowns, ghosts, possession, and aliens in part 1. Join us as we know move into some zany movies for those who prefer more fun Halloween fare.
First up we have Beetlejuice. Check out this classic movie about the worst tour guide the afterlife has to offer. Michael Keaton’s bio-exorcist antics trying to scare away the mortals living in a haunted house is some of Tim Burton’s best work. Beetlejuice is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it before, and is a fun movie to rewatch if you have.
Next up is Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2. Based off of R.L. Stine’s very popular children’s horror stories, both Goosebumps films follow youths trying to contain the monsters from escaping R. L. Stine’s lost manuscript. Adding to the zany fun of dozens of scary characters from Stine’s stories running amok is Jack Black as R. L. Stine himself. Both movies are fun, charming dives into the scary world of R. L. Stine, whose books many of us grew up with.
Last up for our fun-loving recommendations is 80s cult favorite The Monster Squad. A group of kids must stop an alliance of classic movie monsters as they plot to take over a small town. Watch a group of young people take on Dracula, the wolf man, Frankenstein’s monster, the mummy and more. The monster effects come courtesy of industry legend Stan Winston. The Monster Squad is a fun piece of 80s cult cinema, and worth a watch on a dark and scary October night.
And now we move on to the classics, the monster movies we all think of when we think of Halloween. I mean werewolves, vampires, Frankenstein’s monster; the foundational Halloween cinema fiends.
And how can we discuss vampire movies without referencing the granddaddies of them all, 1931’s Dracula and 1922’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Count Dracula and Count Orlok set the framework for all cinematic vampires that would follow in their footsteps. The movies are old, but they are classics for a reason. Both are required watching for anyone who’s a fan of vampires or Halloween.
And where would a discussion of vampire movies be without The Horror of Dracula, starring none other than Christopher Lee. In addition to the movie being considered one of the best horror films ever made up to its release in 1958, the movie casting Christopher Lee as the titular monster adds to the movie’s appeal. Lee was one of the finest actors and also a fascinating individual in his own right. Definitely a must-watch.
Rounding out our vampire selection is Dracula Untold. What makes Dracula Untold interesting and worth seeing is its mixing of the folkloric Count Dracula with the historical life of the man Dracula is based upon; Wallachian voivode Vlad III Dracula. Otherwise known to us as Vlad the Impaler. Using the backdrop of Dracula’s war against the invading Ottoman Empire, we find out how far Vlad is willing to go to defend his land, his family, and his people.
The best thing about this selection of vampires? None of them sparkle.
We’ve had vampires, now it’s time for the wolfy boys. Werewolf movies to make you howl this October. First off we have the original 1941 classic, The Wolf Man. A Welsh nobleman returns home only to find himself cursed to being a werewolf. This movie was the original werewolf movie. The entire genre is based off of Lon Chaney Jr’s werewolf. Featuring innovative transformation techniques, the Wolf Man’s required viewing for any fan of werewolves.
In Dog Soldiers, a crack squad of British soldiers find themselves as the hunted as they attempt to track down a monster in the Scottish Highlands that wiped out an SAS unit. This is a great modern werewolf film, with some great twists and grim humor that goes hand in hand with the horrors of being hunted by werewolves.
Horror and black comedy often go hand-in-hand with werewolf movies. A well-known example of this is An American Werewolf in London. Featured a lot of grim comedy, and one of the most graphic, painful werewolf transformations in film, An American Werewolf in London is a wild ride from start to finish.
So we’ve covered vampires. We’ve covered werewolves. What’s better than vampires or werewolves?
Vampires AND werewolves. In Underworld, we learn that there’s been a centuries-long secret war fought between vampire clans and werewolves. Kate Beckinsale plays Selene, a vampire death dealer, as she maneuvers the complicated world of vampire politics, werewolf attacks, and doing all this while trying to maintain secrecy to keep humanity from finding out. Underworld is the first in a series of movies starring Kate Beckinsale’s Selene. There’s plenty here to quench your vampire vs werewolf bloodlust.
Some quick honorable mentions to round out our lists, the original Frankenstein from 1931 and The Mummy from 1932 round out the Universal Studios monsters so many associate with Halloween. Both movies are classics in their own right, and anyone calling themselves a fan of Halloween or classic horror owes it to themselves to watch these movies.
These were just a short list of the myriad of horror movies available. What would be your must-watch recommendations for an October watch list? Let us know in the comments, and stay spooky!
First up we have Beetlejuice. Check out this classic movie about the worst tour guide the afterlife has to offer. Michael Keaton’s bio-exorcist antics trying to scare away the mortals living in a haunted house is some of Tim Burton’s best work. Beetlejuice is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it before, and is a fun movie to rewatch if you have.
Next up is Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2. Based off of R.L. Stine’s very popular children’s horror stories, both Goosebumps films follow youths trying to contain the monsters from escaping R. L. Stine’s lost manuscript. Adding to the zany fun of dozens of scary characters from Stine’s stories running amok is Jack Black as R. L. Stine himself. Both movies are fun, charming dives into the scary world of R. L. Stine, whose books many of us grew up with.
Last up for our fun-loving recommendations is 80s cult favorite The Monster Squad. A group of kids must stop an alliance of classic movie monsters as they plot to take over a small town. Watch a group of young people take on Dracula, the wolf man, Frankenstein’s monster, the mummy and more. The monster effects come courtesy of industry legend Stan Winston. The Monster Squad is a fun piece of 80s cult cinema, and worth a watch on a dark and scary October night.
And now we move on to the classics, the monster movies we all think of when we think of Halloween. I mean werewolves, vampires, Frankenstein’s monster; the foundational Halloween cinema fiends.
And how can we discuss vampire movies without referencing the granddaddies of them all, 1931’s Dracula and 1922’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Count Dracula and Count Orlok set the framework for all cinematic vampires that would follow in their footsteps. The movies are old, but they are classics for a reason. Both are required watching for anyone who’s a fan of vampires or Halloween.
And where would a discussion of vampire movies be without The Horror of Dracula, starring none other than Christopher Lee. In addition to the movie being considered one of the best horror films ever made up to its release in 1958, the movie casting Christopher Lee as the titular monster adds to the movie’s appeal. Lee was one of the finest actors and also a fascinating individual in his own right. Definitely a must-watch.
Rounding out our vampire selection is Dracula Untold. What makes Dracula Untold interesting and worth seeing is its mixing of the folkloric Count Dracula with the historical life of the man Dracula is based upon; Wallachian voivode Vlad III Dracula. Otherwise known to us as Vlad the Impaler. Using the backdrop of Dracula’s war against the invading Ottoman Empire, we find out how far Vlad is willing to go to defend his land, his family, and his people.
The best thing about this selection of vampires? None of them sparkle.
We’ve had vampires, now it’s time for the wolfy boys. Werewolf movies to make you howl this October. First off we have the original 1941 classic, The Wolf Man. A Welsh nobleman returns home only to find himself cursed to being a werewolf. This movie was the original werewolf movie. The entire genre is based off of Lon Chaney Jr’s werewolf. Featuring innovative transformation techniques, the Wolf Man’s required viewing for any fan of werewolves.
In Dog Soldiers, a crack squad of British soldiers find themselves as the hunted as they attempt to track down a monster in the Scottish Highlands that wiped out an SAS unit. This is a great modern werewolf film, with some great twists and grim humor that goes hand in hand with the horrors of being hunted by werewolves.
Horror and black comedy often go hand-in-hand with werewolf movies. A well-known example of this is An American Werewolf in London. Featured a lot of grim comedy, and one of the most graphic, painful werewolf transformations in film, An American Werewolf in London is a wild ride from start to finish.
So we’ve covered vampires. We’ve covered werewolves. What’s better than vampires or werewolves?
Vampires AND werewolves. In Underworld, we learn that there’s been a centuries-long secret war fought between vampire clans and werewolves. Kate Beckinsale plays Selene, a vampire death dealer, as she maneuvers the complicated world of vampire politics, werewolf attacks, and doing all this while trying to maintain secrecy to keep humanity from finding out. Underworld is the first in a series of movies starring Kate Beckinsale’s Selene. There’s plenty here to quench your vampire vs werewolf bloodlust.
Some quick honorable mentions to round out our lists, the original Frankenstein from 1931 and The Mummy from 1932 round out the Universal Studios monsters so many associate with Halloween. Both movies are classics in their own right, and anyone calling themselves a fan of Halloween or classic horror owes it to themselves to watch these movies.
These were just a short list of the myriad of horror movies available. What would be your must-watch recommendations for an October watch list? Let us know in the comments, and stay spooky!
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