I Love. Halloween.

You know this already, but I really haven’t divulged into how I love Halloween year round! It’s truly a holiday that I find continuous enjoyment and creative inspiration.

How do I get my Halloween holiday fix all 12 months? Horror films.

And to that note, horror films of all kinds! Surely, I love all the classic pieces of spooky cinema, but one of the great things about the horror genre is that it is such a broad stroke. There are so many different instances of the horror genre that fill me with glee, and are for all audiences!

This year I wanted to expand my horizons on horror films, as well as return to some of my favorites, and here’s 6 classic horror movies to watch for Halloween 2021 that I love!

Horror Movies To Watch

Frights For The Family

Coraline (2009)

Where To Watch: Rent on Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play

I can’t believe I’ve only just seen this film this year! The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies ever, and I love stop motion animation. This family-friendly fantasy is an instant classic in which our heroine, Coraline, moves to a new home with her ever boring writer parents. And in her quest for a happier life, she learns the age-old adage “be careful what you wish for”.

The Witches (1990)

Where To Watch: Stream on HBO Max & Rent on YouTube

I saw this film when I was very young and, like many of my generation, it made a lasting impact. This is due to the brilliant partnership of Anjelica Huston’s phenomenal performance and the work of The Jim Henson Company. A fanciful tale of a boy and his grandmother caught up in the plans of a hoard of witches, disguised as women.

Haunts For The Horror History Buff

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Where To Watch: Stream on Peacock, Tubi, & Vudu

This 1968 classic is the zombie flick that kickstarted the modern-day wave of the zombie sub-genre, and a true independent film made on a shoestring budget of around $100,000. The film then made a box office turnaround of $30 million! Centering around the lives of 7 people trapped in a house during an invasion of the undead, this film truly put zombie films on the map with an unsettling creepiness that holds to this day. I recommend anyone doing their research into this film to learn more about George A. Romero’s interest in why he created this, and the ripple effect it has created in the world of filmmaking today. Not to mention there is an official sequel being created now!

Ghostwatch (1992)

Where To Watch: Internet Archive!

It’s hard to track down this made-for-TV film by the BBC from 1992, but it’s worth the watch for any horror buff! In what can be seen as a modern-day War Of The Worlds, the film is in the form of a news special where a camera crew seeks to find the source of poltergeist activity in a house in England. With its use of first-person point-of-view and subtle slow-burn creepiness, this is a precursor to the found footage subgenre, a subgenre that in the past decade has taken over the horror landscape.

Creepy Classics

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)

Where To Watch: Stream on Paramount+, Rent on YouTube

One of my favorite parts of horror films is how camp is absolutely celebrated, in any way possible. If there’s a quintessential classic of B-horror camp to me, it’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And even though this film has been remade again, and again, and again, and even given the Looney Tunes treatment, the original stands the test of time! It’s a masterclass on creating unsettling tension, and I can’t recommend it enough!

Rear Window (1954)

Where To Watch: Stream on Hulu & Amazon Prime

Now, I couldn’t make a list of horror films to watch and now include an Alfred Hitchcock film could I? Hitchcock was my first foray into the world of horror when I was young, and Rear Window was one of the first horror films I’ve ever watched. Giving us an incredible performance, Jimmy Stewart places a wheelchair-bound photographer who spies on his Manhattan neighbors. Eventually, his spying gets the best of him and he tends to take things too far...

What Will You Watch?

There you have it, 6 tried-and-true classic horror movies to watch for Halloween 2021. I recommend these films to anyone, and can’t recommend enough that you take a look into any of these this year. And hey, November 1st rolls around this Monday, but that doesn’t mean the spooky season can hang around for just a bit longer.

Have a Happy Halloween, dear reader, and in the words of my idol, Elvira.

...unpleasant dreams…