My SO and I are always looking for good movies, shows, etc. to fill the month of October. We like things that are atmospheric, cerebral, or just fun. But a lot of the standard recommendations are your typical slasher movies and the like, disgusting body horror, kids movies that we have no interest in, and things that are just plain miserable.
Here’s some things we’ve liked to one degree or another from previous years.
Action Horror / Horror That’s Actually Enjoyable
- Aliens
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- Fright Night
- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
- The Mummy (1999)
- Silence of the Lambs
- Sleepy Hollow (Great? No. Fun? Yes.)
- Termors 1 & 2
- Various Stephen King Mini series (IT, The Stand, Rose Red)
Funny and Spooky
- Army of Darkness
- BeetleJuice
- Bubba Ho-Tep
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (movie)
- The Burbs (didn’t love it, but a good fit)
- Death Becomes Her
- The Frighteners
- Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
- Ghostbusters 1 & 2
- Gremlins 1 & 2
- High Anxiety
- Little Shop of Horrors (not really into musicals, but still a good fit)
- Shaun of the Dead
- What We Do in the Shadows (movie)
- Various MST3K horror movie episodes
- Young Frankenstein
Anthology Shows (inherently hit or miss)
- The Twilight Zone (60s)
- The Outer Limits (90s)
- Tales From the Crypt
Old Timey Classics
- Dracula
- Frankenstein (actually underwhelming, but it was a good fit)
- The Haunting (1963)
- The Haunting of Hill House (with Rifftrax, but still counts)
- The Last Man on Earth
- Psycho
- The Invisible Man
Barely Qualifies as spooky but still good:
- Dark Man
- The Dead Zone (movie)
- Men in Black
- Pacific Rim
- The Shadow
- They Live
As long as you don’t mind blood and guts in a lighter context, Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale vs Evil are both incredibly fun comedy horror. Neither is really scary (though CitW has a stretch where it emulates classic slasher tropes), but both are quotably hilarious. Considering Shaun of the Dead is on your list and it includes a full evisceration, you’re probably fine.
If you’ve seen Bubba Ho-Tep but not at least Evil Dead 2 if not also Army of Darkness, then you’re woefully deprived.
Zombieland and its sequel are both delightful popcorn fun and very funny.
Happy Death Day is a slasher, but it’s also Groundhog Day and a likable, fun, PG-13 romp without too much meanness or darkness. The sequel is… fine.
Slither is a brilliant horror comedy but it’s a bit of a gross-out type, so it’s iffy if you don’t like seeing people swell to bursting with alien slugs and stuff like that. But the tone is always light and it’s just so much fun. Nathan Fillion in his peak Firefly days is the immensely likable hero.
There’s also a movie from the 80’s called Night of the Creeps that’s a cheesy, schlocky, gooey slugfest that is the spiritual predecessor to Slither.
Speaking of the 80’s, Return of the Living Dead is a super fun and funny 80’s zombie movie that actually has the honor of originating the “zombies eat brains” trope as far as I know.
If the 90’s are in play, Idle Hands is a fun, slightly gross, thoroughly silly stoner horror comedy that’s especially fun if you’re a fan of The Offspring (IYKYK).
I would also add Coraline and Nightmare Before Christmas as spooky atmospheric fun that aren’t obnoxiously kid-focused.
And segueing into Christmas horror, Krampus is a really fun movie that is both very funny and, but also works as a solid proper horror movie AND a family Christmas movie (for freaks like me).
I recommend:
- The Cabin in the Woods
- Tucker and Dale versus Evil
- Midnight Mass
Tucker and Dale is awesome.
And completely fails the “no gore” requirement.
Yeah… but it’s funny gore.
This is the second time I’ve seen this movie genuinely recommended for a spot where it doesn’t belong. I swear, y’all horror movie watchers lose track of just how horrifying your movies get.
The other time it was suggested as a kids movie.
It’s not really a gore movie, though. It’s funny gore. It’s different. Have you seen it?
Yes. It’s why I know they weren’t appropriate suggestions for the requests.
Midnight Massterpiece is more like it. Anything from Mike Flannigan is great. Also check out Midnight Club. It’s not particularly scary, but more touching and sad, in a good way.
He’s honestly the only reason I’ve still got a Netflix subscription at this point.
He did one of the segments in the new V/H/S Beyond movie as well, although I’m pretty sure that falls under gore for this question.
The Halloween Tree isn’t explicitly a kids movie. I watched it as a kid, but Ray Bradbury isn’t as excited to most kids.
Was so excited to answer this only to find the top post hit virtually every one of my suggestions.
But there is one more. This year I plan to revisit an old classic:
The Lost Boys.
For “funny and spooky” I’d suggest Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. The gore is over the top to such a degree that it becomes just ridiculous!
For shows, I’ve been digging “From” on MGM+. First season (10 episodes) is free. 3rd season just started, new episode tonight!
Trailer:
I love Army of Darkness. I’ve had Evil Dead II on the to watch list, but it has to wait for my SO to be in an adventurous enough mood since they’re more squeamish than I am.
From looks interesting. I’m curious how satisfying it is as a story. The premise seems like the kind of thing that would work best with a more stand alone story structure, so the fact that it has multiple seasons makes me worry about it either dragging on until it gets bad or getting cancelled without wrapping things up.
they left season 2 with a crazy cliffhanger, I NEED season 3
Season 3 is out, just not all of it yet.
yeah, just waiting. no time lately to get back to it.
X-Files
Hereditary (2018). Although it has some unpleasant moments, the story and actors play are so good. While the ending is okay (nothing surprising for the bar set by the movie), the tension throughout the story is well worth the watch. It is in my top list of horror/thriller movies of all time.
The TV show version of What We Do in the Shadows is also quite good, I think, and very much traffics in the same themes as the movie, if even a bit sillier.
We both liked What We Do in the Shadows, but neither of us loved it. I’ve been suggesting giving the show a try but my SO is always a bit resistant to starting a new show, and the prospect of trying to squeeze a season into a limited time frame only has only made that worse. But it’ll probably happen sooner or later.
It’s worth it. Such a great show.
Hubs and I didn’t love the movie, but we totally adore the series.
For ‘Action Horror’, I’ve liked The Hunt (2020), Ready or Not, Totally Killer and Strange Darling (technically not a horror, but it’s about a serial killer)
I watched Red Rooms recently, and that’s French (Canadian), so if anyone asks you what you watched recently, you can say ‘Les chambres rouges’ and sound all intelligent and stuff.
I don’t know if it would meet your “no kid’s movie” requirement, but Hocus Pocus has been in my spooky season rotation forever.
Also, it’s technically a musical I guess but the animated Legend of Sleepy Hollow narrated/sung by Bing Crosby is a classic.
Everything else on my list has already been mentioned, but I would be remiss not to mention one of my wife’s favorites, Corpse Bride. If you were already looking at Nightmare Before Christmas, I think you’ll enjoy it.
watching every AVGN halloween special
A few that I don’t think have been mentioned yet:
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Ring (Japanese original)
- Mulholland Drive
- Get Out
- The Exorcist
- The Omen
The Omen is great but has a couple of beheading-style scenes if I recall right.
Ah, fair point, I forgot that!
Got any interest in spoliation films?
Scream Blacula Scream Some regard this as the worst blaxploitation movie. Considering the genre consist primarily of low budget movies with very short filming schedules that’s a fairly damning indictment but I think it can be enjoyed for what it is if you have an interest in this type of cinema.
I thought Insidious was good, and not annoyingly gratuitous with the violence.
I don’t see any recommendations for The Lost Boys yet. It’s super '80s in the “both Coreys” way. It’s dated, but still a lot of fun.
Prince of Darkness is a guilty pleasure for me. I love religious horror, so it’s my favorite John Carpenter movie. There are some fairly violent bits, but it’s not overly gory like a slasher flick. If you’re okay with The Thing, this one should be fine.
The Endless is also religious horror, but it’s more psychological. There’s not much violence, but it’s very tense.
Little Monsters (the 2019 one) is a heartwarming comedy about a teacher who has to protect her class from a zombie apocalypse during a field trip. It’s got a moderate amount of zombie-movie gore, but it’s treated in a humorous way. If you’re okay with Shaun of the Dead, it should be fine.
