#10: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
***
Director: Tobe Hooper
Screenwriter: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Principal Actors: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal
Cinematographer: Daniel Pearl
Music by: Wayne Bell, Tobe Hooper
This movies is the original slasher film. And, as such, is a superb film to revisit on Halloween. The imagery is pretty horrifying, and it has a lot of elements reminiscent of the urban legends that are so fun to recite on Halloween.
#9: The Evil Dead (1981)
***+
Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Sam Raimi
Principle Actors: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
Cinematographer: Tim Philo
Music by: Joseph LoDuca
Thrilling, gory, and occasionally a tad goofy, The Evil Dead is, essentially, a ghost story. And that's the kind of thing we want to see on Halloween. It might be too bloody for some, but I think any viewer who can stomach some gore will find this immensely entertaining.
#8: Ghostbusters (1984)
***
Director: Ivan Reitman
Screenwriter: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
Principle Actors: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
Cinematographer: Laszlo Kovacs
Music by: Elmer Bernstein
Ghosts are what we all think of on Halloween, and sometimes it's nice to get a good laugh out of the ghosts and spooky things that would otherwise plague out nightmares. That movie is both eerie and a lot of fun.
#7: Psycho (1960)
***+
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Joseph Stefano
Principle Actors: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Cinematographer: John L. Russell
Music by: Bernard Herrmann
How can we not watch the quintessential horror film on a holiday of horror? This film is always remembered for its dark twists, eerie camerawork, terrifying performances, and horrifying music. The idea that this also has the aura of a haunted house film as well only adds to the film's effect.
#6: The Exorcist (1973)
****
Director: William Friedkin
Screenwriter: William Peter Blatty
Principle Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Music by: Mike Oldfield
This movie feels like a ghost story--and looks like one, too. Plus it's one of the most terrifying films many people have claimed to have ever seen.
#5: House On Haunted Hill (1959)
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***+
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Joseph Stefano
Principle Actors: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Cinematographer: John L. Russell
Music by: Bernard Herrmann
How can we not watch the quintessential horror film on a holiday of horror? This film is always remembered for its dark twists, eerie camerawork, terrifying performances, and horrifying music. The idea that this also has the aura of a haunted house film as well only adds to the film's effect.
#6: The Exorcist (1973)
****
Director: William Friedkin
Screenwriter: William Peter Blatty
Principle Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Music by: Mike Oldfield
This movie feels like a ghost story--and looks like one, too. Plus it's one of the most terrifying films many people have claimed to have ever seen.
#5: House On Haunted Hill (1959)
***+
Director: William Castle
Screen Writer: Robb White
Principle Actors: Vincent Price, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook
Cinematographer: Carl E. Guthrie
Music by: Richard Kayne, Richard Loring, Von Dexter
House On Haunted Hill was a surprisingly effective haunted house/ghost story film that really knows how to send up the chills while still being the good ol' fashioned kind of Halloween tale we need once a year.
#4: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
***
Director: Charles Barton
Screenwriter: Robert Lees, John Grant, Frederic I. Rinaldo
Principle Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi
Cinematographer: Charles Van Enger
Music by: Frank Skinner
It may be a comedy, but it includes a lot of the classic horror icons that any audience can recognize--The Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein's monster. And it has a very defined sense of nostalgia for these characters, rather than just spoofing them.
#3: Halloween (1978)
**+
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Principle Actors: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles
Cinematographer: Dean Cundry
Music by: John Carpenter
Yeah, it's hard not to include this one. Halloween really sums up our feelings for the holiday well--scary stories, urban legends, lurking dangers, and murderous strangers. It may not be the best horror movie ever made (or even the best slasher film ever made), but it is still a movie to watch every Halloween.
#2: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
****
Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Screenwriter: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Principle Actors: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams
Cinematographer: Neal Fredericks
Music by: Antonio Cora
This simple movie about three teenagers getting lost in the woods is a frightening ghost story, which is based off a creepy urban legend, and becomes and ungodly horrifying tale of survival. The realism makes it frightening, but the story makes it memorable--and the ghost story element is perfect for Halloween campfires in the woods where the story takes place.
#1: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
***+
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Caroline Thompson
Principle Actors: Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey
Cinematographer: Pete Kozachik
Music by: Danny Elfman
It might seem like an odd choice to make the number one Halloween film an animated film with "Christmas" in the title, but, as it turns out, this movie is exactly what Halloween is--and what we want it to be. It looks like Halloween, it feels like Halloween, and--thanks to some kick-ass music--it sounds like Halloween. This is Halloween.
