The HALLOWEEN List: Movies that Embody the Spirit of Halloween
by JAngell4444 | created - 08 Jan 2013 | updated - 08 Jan 2013 | PublicDuring the Halloween Season, we often find ourselves home and longing to watch something spooky yet, seasonally appropriate and satisfying.
Look no further.
I present to you, An authentic compilation of movies that embody and illuminate the spirit of Halloween.
I've excluded the Halloween series for obvious reasons.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Horror
Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
Director: Michael Dougherty | Stars: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes
Votes: 104,663
2. Night of the Demons (1988)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Ten teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.
Director: Kevin Tenney | Stars: Cathy Podewell, Alvin Alexis, Hal Havins, Allison Barron
Votes: 19,165 | Gross: $3.11M
3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace | Stars: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy, Michael Currie
Votes: 61,035 | Gross: $14.40M
4. Hocus Pocus (1993)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz
Votes: 156,011 | Gross: $44.34M
5. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 307,005 | Gross: $47.00M
6. Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Ernest accidentally unleashes an ugly troll that plots to transform children into wooden dolls in the town of Briarville, Missouri.
Director: John R. Cherry III | Stars: Jim Varney, Eartha Kitt, Austin Nagler, Shay Astar
Votes: 12,809 | Gross: $14.14M
7. Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
High school students throw a Halloween party in a mansion haunted by a young demon.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Stars: Cristi Harris, Darin Heames, Bobby Jacoby, Merle Kennedy
Votes: 6,498
8. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
R | 105 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon
Votes: 384,118 | Gross: $101.07M
9. Hell Night (1981)
R | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
Four college pledges are forced to spend the night in a deserted old mansion, where they are stalked by the monstrous survivor of a family massacre years earlier.
Director: Tom DeSimone | Stars: Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy
Votes: 8,779
10. Lady in White (1988)
PG-13 | 113 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
An author tells the story of how, as a young boy growing up in a 1960s small town, he was haunted after witnessing the murder of a little girl.
Director: Frank LaLoggia | Stars: Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 8,060 | Gross: $1.71M
11. Happy Hell Night (1991)
Not Rated | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A fraternity-hazing prank goes terribly wrong and a psychotic killer is set loose. Now a relentless evil has been unleashed, and the coeds of Winfield College will face the bloody horror of HAPPY HELL NIGHT.
Director: Brian Owens | Stars: Larry Robinson, Lisa Nichols, Sam Rockwell, Irfan Mensur
Votes: 1,246
12. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror
In a small Southern town, four vigilantes wrongfully execute a mentally-challenged man, but after the court sets them free mysterious "accidents" begin to kill them off one by one.
Director: Frank De Felitta | Stars: Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith
Votes: 8,220
13. The Midnight Hour (1985 TV Movie)
Unrated | 94 min | Comedy, Horror, Romance
Phil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinnie are high school friends, who unwittingly raise the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead have returned, Pitchford Cove will never be the same again....or will it?
Director: Jack Bender | Stars: Jonelle Allen, Shari Belafonte, LeVar Burton, Peter DeLuise
Votes: 2,235
14. Pumpkinhead (1988)
R | 86 min | Fantasy, Horror
After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
Director: Stan Winston | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross
Votes: 27,856 | Gross: $4.39M
15. Idle Hands (1999)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A teenage slacker's right hand becomes possessed with murderous intent.
Director: Rodman Flender | Stars: Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba
Votes: 46,788 | Gross: $4.00M
16. Halloweentown (1998 TV Movie)
TV-G | 84 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When a young girl living with her secret witch mother learns she too is a witch, she must help her witch grandmother save Halloweentown from evil forces.
Director: Duwayne Dunham | Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly J. Brown, Judith Hoag, Joey Zimmerman
Votes: 21,286
17. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
PG | 95 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
In a small American town, a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor prey on the townsfolk.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Mary Grace Canfield, Richard Davalos, Jake Dengel, Jack Dodson
Votes: 10,625 | Gross: $8.40M
18. House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
R | 89 min | Horror
Two young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie
Votes: 93,482 | Gross: $12.63M
19. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Approved | 68 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
An animated adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows" followed by an adaptation of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".
Directors: James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney | Stars: Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Eric Blore, John McLeish
Votes: 17,899
20. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980 TV Movie)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Angered that Katrina has grown fond of schoolmaster Crane, Brom Bones determines to scare off the interloper by filling his head with spooky tales of a Headless Horseman. Crane disparages ... See full summary »
Director: Henning Schellerup | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Paul Sand, Meg Foster, Laura Campbell
Votes: 834
21. Murder Party (2007)
Not Rated | 79 min | Comedy, Horror
A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Chris Sharp, Kate Porterfield, Tess Porterfield Lovell, Puff Snooty
Votes: 12,301
22. Trick or Treat (1986)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Horror, Music
A bullied teenage boy is devastated after the death of his heavy metal idol, Sammi Curr. But as Halloween night approaches, he discovers that he may be the only one who can stop Sammi from making a Satanic comeback from beyond the grave.
Director: Charles Martin Smith | Stars: Marc Price, Tony Fields, Lisa Orgolini, Doug Savant
Votes: 7,879 | Gross: $6.80M
23. Hack-O-Lantern (1988 Video)
R | 87 min | Horror
A kindly old grandfather is actually the leader of a murderous satanic cult which sacrifices its victims on Halloween.
Director: Jag Mundhra | Stars: Hy Pyke, Gregory Scott Cummins, Katina Garner, Carla B.
Votes: 1,846
24. Witch's Night Out (1978 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 28 min | Animation, Family
A witch, disgruntled by the fact that no one takes Halloween seriously anymore, decides to stir things up and disrupt the social gathering in her old house as well as turn a couple of kids who love monsters into actual monsters.
Director: John Leach | Stars: Gilda Radner, Bob Church, John Leach, Naomi Leach
Votes: 470
25. Boo (2005)
R | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
There are rumors that a long shut down and neglected hospital is haunted by the inhabitants that died there in a fire. Four college students are about to discover that the myths might just be true.
Director: Anthony C. Ferrante | Stars: Trish Coren, Rachel Harland, Jilon VanOver, Happy Mahaney
Votes: 5,377
26. Night of the Demons III (1997 Video)
Unrated | 85 min | Fantasy, Horror
A group of delinquents accidentally shoot a police officer. To avoid arrest, they hide out in an abandoned house, unaware it is haunted.
Director: Jim Kaufman | Stars: Larry Day, Amelia Kinkade, Kris Holden-Ried, Gregory Calpakis
Votes: 3,007 | Gross: $0.06M
27. Satan's Little Helper (2004)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
A naive young boy unknowingly becomes the pawn of a serial killer.
Director: Jeff Lieberman | Stars: Alexander Brickel, Katheryn Winnick, Stephen Graham, Amanda Plummer
Votes: 6,525
28. The Clown Murders (1976)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Four men kidnap an old girlfriend on Halloween night as a joke to ruin a real estate deal, only to have a very real clown-masked killer stalk them seeking revenge.
Director: Martyn Burke | Stars: Stephen Young, Susan Keller, Lawrence Dane, John Candy
Votes: 480
29. Halloween Night (2006 Video)
TV-14 | 85 min | Horror
The film follows Chris Vale (Scot Nery), a young man who was wrongly convicted of murdering his family in 1982, and admitted into an insane asylum based largely on the fact that Chris had ... See full summary »
Director: Mark Atkins | Stars: Derek Osedach, Rebekah Kochan, Scot Nery, Sean Durrie
Votes: 1,165
30. Jack-O (1995)
R | 88 min | Horror
A long long time ago a wizard was put to death, but he swore vengeance on the townsfolk that did him in, particularly Arthur Kelly's family. Arthur had done the final graces on him when he ... See full summary »
Director: Steve Latshaw | Stars: Linnea Quigley, Maddisen K. Krown, Gary Doles, Ryan Latshaw
Votes: 1,608
31. Jack O'Lantern (2004)
R | 94 min | Horror
A violent spirit that manifests itself in the form of a Jack O'Lantern avenges people who have been wronged.
Director: Ron McLellen | Stars: Dave R. Watkins, Kevin L. Powers, Tracy Yarkoni, Justice Leak
Votes: 261
32. The Pumpkin Karver (2006)
R | 90 min | Horror
After mistaking him for a masked killer, Jonathan fatally stabbed his sister's boyfriend on Halloween. One year later to the day, the siblings find themselves fighting for their lives against a very familiar masked murderer.
Director: Robert Mann | Stars: Michael Zara, Amy Weber, Brian Kary, Bryan Jamerson
Votes: 1,640
33. Dark Walker (2003 Video)
R | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Darkwalker centers around a haunted house amusement park near Fresno, Californa called Hobb's Grove (yes, it's a real place), where a group of teenagers get Halloween jobs working there. ... See full summary »
Director: Danny Draven | Stars: Kathleen Taylor, Michael Sage, David DeWitt, Brenda Matthews
Votes: 468
34. The Fear: Resurrection (1999)
R | 87 min | Horror
It's death-by-fear (aka scared-to-death) in this deceptively psychological thriller. The hero, Mike brings his friends to his grandparents' house for a Halloween party wherein they will all... See full summary »
Director: Chris Angel | Stars: Gordon Currie, Stacy Grant, Phillip Rhys Chaudhary, MYC Agnew
Votes: 1,011
Tell Your Friends