John Carpenter’s Halloween reached theaters on October 27, 1978, according to the AFI Catalog. Nearly every slasher since has borrowed from it. That is where our list of the best Halloween movies starts. It is also where it ends, in the scariest tier.
This is a column, so the picks are the Editors’ opinion. We split 12 films into three tiers, by how much fear you want with your popcorn. All dates and credits come from the AFI Catalog, the American Film Institute’s record of American features.
How we picked the best Halloween movies
We set three rules. First, every film had to feel like October. A costume, a haunted house or a small town after dark all count. Second, each one had to hold up on a rewatch. Third, we kept each tier to four films, so you can plan a weekend around any of them.
Our best Halloween movies list also leaves out anything newer than the early 1990s. That is partly about fairness, since time is the best test of a horror film. It is also about range, because these 12 already cover cozy, creepy and terrifying.
Tier one: cozy
If you want the best Halloween movies for a crowd, start here. These are the films for a group, a blanket and a bowl of candy. Nobody will sleep with the lights on.
Hocus Pocus (1993). Kenny Ortega directed it, and Bette Midler plays Winifred Sanderson, the eldest of three witch sisters. It is silly in the best way. The film also gives the list its title, because it sits at the opposite end from Carpenter.
Beetlejuice (1988). Tim Burton’s ghost comedy opened on March 30, 1988, per the AFI Catalog. According to the catalog, the onscreen title reads “Beetle Juice.” Either way, it turns a haunted house into a sitcom about the afterlife. For us, the dinner-party scene alone earns it a place.
The Addams Family (1991). Barry Sonnenfeld directed, and Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd lead the family. It is a comedy about the happiest household in film, which happens to love the macabre. Kids get the jokes, and so do adults, for different reasons.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Henry Selick directed this stop-motion musical, with Tim Burton among the producers. Yes, it covers two holidays. Still, it opens in Halloween Town, and that is enough for us.
Tier two: creepy
The creepy tier holds some of the best Halloween movies for viewers who scare easily but still want a chill. These films unsettle more than they shock. Watch them with the lights low, but not off.
The Innocents (1961). Jack Clayton directed this adaptation of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, with Deborah Kerr as the governess. It is a ghost story built on doubt. The film never settles whether the children are haunted or the governess is imagining it, and that is the point.
Night of the Living Dead (1968). George A. Romero directed it, shot it and edited it. According to the AFI Catalog, it opened in Pittsburgh on October 2, 1968. The black-and-white images still feel raw, and the ending still lands hard.
Carrie (1976). Brian De Palma directed Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy teenager pushed too far. Most of it plays as a high school drama. Then the prom arrives.
Poltergeist (1982). Tobe Hooper directed, and Steven Spielberg produced and co-wrote it. It starts as a suburban family film and slowly turns the house against them. The television static has never felt friendly since.
Tier three: terrifying
Here are the best Halloween movies for people who want to be properly scared. Do not watch these alone, or do, if that is your idea of fun.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Tobe Hooper directed this one too, with Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface. It looks grimy and cheap, and that is exactly why it frightens. It feels less like a movie than a found piece of evidence.
The Exorcist (1973). William Friedkin directed, and William Peter Blatty wrote and produced it from his own novel. It premiered on December 26, 1973, according to the AFI Catalog. More than 50 years later, we still think no film on this list is harder to sit through.
The Shining (1980). Stanley Kubrick directed it and wrote the script with Diane Johnson. An empty hotel, a long winter and a family coming apart do the work. Every hallway shot builds dread, even when nothing happens.
Halloween (1978). Carpenter directed it, co-wrote it with Debra Hill and composed the score himself. Hill also produced it. We put it last because it belongs on top.
Why Halloween sets the rules
Watch Halloween today and you will recognize nearly every move. A masked figure stalks a quiet suburban street. The killer barely speaks. Teenagers babysit, and the adults are elsewhere. One young woman, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, notices what the others miss and survives.
Those choices became the template for the slasher film. Carpenter also set the story on the holiday itself, so the costumes and the dark streets do double duty. A man in a mask looks normal on October 31, and that is what makes him frightening.
The music matters as much as the mask. Carpenter’s simple piano theme repeats and repeats, and it tells you something is coming before the camera does. Many horror scores since have tried the same trick. Few have done it with so little.
Finally, the film is patient. Long stretches pass with only footsteps and a figure in the background. As a result, when the violence comes, it hits harder. That restraint is the lesson most imitators skip.
How to build a night around the best Halloween movies
The tiers work best as a ladder. Start with something cozy while people arrive and the candy is still full. Next, move to a creepy pick once the room settles. Save the terrifying tier for last, when the lights are already low.
For a family night, stay in tier one. Hocus Pocus and The Addams Family both work for a mixed-age crowd. Meanwhile, The Nightmare Before Christmas suits younger kids who like music. Check the ratings first, though, since tastes and tolerances differ.
For a grown-up double feature, pair two films that talk to each other. The Innocents and The Shining are both about a house, a caretaker and a mind coming loose. Night of the Living Dead and Halloween both prove how far a simple idea can go. Either pairing shows that the best Halloween movies scare you with ideas, not only with jump scares.
Finally, give the terrifying tier some space. Watch one, then take a break before the next. These films are short, but they stay with you.
Where to stream them
We are not listing services here, on purpose. Streaming rights for older films shift often, sometimes in the middle of October. A list that is right today can be wrong next week. Instead, search each title on your services the night you plan to watch. If it is missing, check the digital rental stores. Our monthly guide to what to watch in October covers what is new on streaming this month.
Our pick for October 31
If you only watch one, make it Halloween, ideally on the night itself. It runs 93 minutes, according to the AFI Catalog, so it fits before a party. For snacks, our best Halloween candy ranking has the bowl covered. For our money, though, the best Halloween movies still start with a quiet street and a slow piano.