Right, Belfast, the clocks are about to go back, the nights are drawing in and there’s a chill in the air that’s got nothing to do with the heating bill. That can only mean one thing: Halloween film season.
We’ve rounded up 50 of the best Halloween films ever made. There are slasher classics like John Carpenter’s Halloween, cosy family favourites like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even a vampire epic filmed right here in Northern Ireland.
But we’re not deciding the order. You are.
How it works: hit the ▲ button on any film you love. You get one vote per film, but you can vote for as many films as you like. The list re-ranks live, so the more votes a film gets, the higher it climbs. Check back before Halloween to see who’s top of the pile.
So grab the popcorn, pull the blanket up over your eyes, and get voting. 🎃
Poster: Compass International Number 1: Halloween
1978 · Dir. John Carpenter
Fifteen years after murdering his sister, Michael Myers escapes an asylum and returns to Haddonfield on Halloween night to stalk babysitter Laurie Strode.
The one that made a boiler suit and a kitchen knife the scariest outfit in town.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 2: The Exorcist
1973 · Dir. William Friedkin
When 12-year-old Regan begins acting violently and strangely, her desperate mother turns to two priests to perform an exorcism.
Pea soup has never recovered.
Poster: Walt Disney Studios Number 3: Hocus Pocus
1993 · Dir. Kenny Ortega
Three 17th-century Salem witches are accidentally brought back to life on Halloween and must be stopped by a teenager, his little sister and a talking cat.
Three witches, one virgin candle, endless rewatches.
Poster: Walt Disney Studios Number 4: The Nightmare Before Christmas
1993 · Dir. Henry Selick
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, stumbles into Christmas Town and decides to take over the holiday himself, with chaotic results.
Halloween or Christmas film? Fight about it in the comments.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 5: The Shining
1980 · Dir. Stanley Kubrick
A struggling writer takes a winter caretaker job at the isolated Overlook Hotel, where something in the building slowly drives him to violence against his family.
All work and no play makes for a cracking night in.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 6: Psycho
1960 · Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
A secretary on the run with stolen cash checks into the remote Bates Motel, run by a shy young man and his domineering mother.
You'll think twice before your next shower.
Poster: New Line Cinema Number 7: A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984 · Dir. Wes Craven
Teenagers on Elm Street are hunted in their dreams by Freddy Krueger, a burned killer whose wounds become real when they wake.
Stay awake, folks. Kettle on.
Poster: Dimension Films Number 8: Scream
1996 · Dir. Wes Craven
A year after her mother's murder, Sidney Prescott is targeted by a masked killer who knows every rule of horror films.
What's your favourite scary movie? Vote and tell us.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 9: Beetlejuice
1988 · Dir. Tim Burton
A recently deceased couple haunting their own home hire a chaotic 'bio-exorcist' to scare off the new family, and soon regret it.
Say it three times and he'll turn up like your uncle at a wake.
Poster: Sony Pictures Number 10: Ghostbusters
1984 · Dir. Ivan Reitman
Three out-of-work parapsychologists start a ghost-removal business in New York, just as an ancient god prepares to come through.
Who you gonna call? Not the Housing Executive.
Poster: Paramount Pictures Number 11: The Addams Family
1991 · Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
A con man claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester joins the macabre Addams family, who have no idea they're being targeted for their fortune.
Creepy, kooky, and better dressed than the rest of us.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 12: Trick 'r Treat
2007 · Dir. Michael Dougherty
Four interwoven Halloween stories tied together by Sam, a small trick-or-treater who punishes anyone who breaks Halloween traditions.
Break the Halloween rules at your peril.
Poster: Bryanston Number 13: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
1974 · Dir. Tobe Hooper
Five friends on a road trip through rural Texas run into a family of cannibals, including the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface.
Grimy, relentless, and still terrifying 50 years on.
Poster: Walter Reade Organization (public domain) Number 14: Night of the Living Dead
1968 · Dir. George A. Romero
Strangers barricade themselves in a Pennsylvania farmhouse as the recently dead rise and attack the living.
The granddaddy of every zombie you've ever loved.
Poster: United Film Distribution Co. Number 15: Dawn of the Dead
1978 · Dir. George A. Romero
Survivors of a zombie outbreak hole up in a shopping mall, which becomes both refuge and trap.
Zombies in a shopping centre: Boxing Day in Castlecourt, basically.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 16: The Thing
1982 · Dir. John Carpenter
An Antarctic research team is infiltrated by a shape-shifting alien that can perfectly imitate any living thing.
Trust no one. Especially the dog.
Poster: 20th Century Studios Number 17: Alien
1979 · Dir. Ridley Scott
The crew of the commercial ship Nostromo answers a distress call and brings aboard a lethal alien creature.
In space, no one can hear you scream at the telly.
Poster: Paramount Pictures Number 18: Rosemary's Baby
1968 · Dir. Roman Polanski
A young wife newly moved into a New York apartment begins to suspect her husband and neighbours have sinister plans for her unborn baby.
Nosy neighbours, taken to the extreme.
Poster: 20th Century Studios Number 19: The Omen
1976 · Dir. Richard Donner
An American diplomat realises the young son he secretly adopted may be the Antichrist.
Never trust a child at a birthday party.
Poster: MGM Number 20: Carrie
1976 · Dir. Brian De Palma
A bullied, sheltered teenager discovers she has telekinetic powers, and prom night turns into catastrophe.
Worst formal ever.
Poster: MGM Number 21: Poltergeist
1982 · Dir. Tobe Hooper
A suburban family's home is invaded by spirits who kidnap their youngest daughter through the television.
They're heeere… and they've brought the static.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 22: An American Werewolf in London
1981 · Dir. John Landis
Two American backpackers are attacked on the Yorkshire moors; the survivor finds himself turning into a werewolf in London.
Stick to the road, keep off the moors.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 23: The Lost Boys
1987 · Dir. Joel Schumacher
Brothers who move to a California beach town discover the local gang of teens are vampires.
Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 24: Gremlins
1984 · Dir. Joe Dante
A young man's unusual Christmas gift spawns a horde of destructive little monsters once the rules are broken.
Three rules. Nobody follows them.
Poster: A24 Number 25: Hereditary
2018 · Dir. Ari Aster
After the family matriarch dies, a grieving household begins to unravel as terrifying secrets about their ancestry emerge.
The family dinner from hell. Literally.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 26: Get Out
2017 · Dir. Jordan Peele
A young Black man visits his white girlfriend's family for the weekend and uncovers something deeply disturbing.
A meet-the-parents you'll never forget.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 27: The Conjuring
2013 · Dir. James Wan
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren help a family terrorised by a dark presence in their Rhode Island farmhouse.
Clap if you dare.
Poster: New Line Cinema Number 28: It
2017 · Dir. Andy Muschietti
In the town of Derry, a group of misfit kids face a shape-shifting monster that often appears as Pennywise the clown.
Stay away from the drains, love.
Poster: Causeway Films Number 29: The Babadook
2014 · Dir. Jennifer Kent
A widowed mother and her troubled son are haunted by a sinister figure from a mysterious children's pop-up book.
Ba-ba-dook-dook-DOOK. Sleep well.
Poster: Lionsgate Number 30: The Cabin in the Woods
2011 · Dir. Drew Goddard
Five friends head to a remote cabin for the weekend, unaware that their every move is being engineered.
Every horror trope, gloriously blown to bits.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 31: Shaun of the Dead
2004 · Dir. Edgar Wright
A London slacker barely notices the zombie apocalypse until he must save his mum, his ex and himself.
Head to the Winchester, wait for it all to blow over.
Poster: Rosebud Releasing Number 32: Evil Dead II
1987 · Dir. Sam Raimi
Ash returns to the cabin in the woods and battles the demonic forces unleashed by the Book of the Dead.
Groovy. Bloody, but groovy.
Poster: A24 Number 33: The Witch
2015 · Dir. Robert Eggers
In 1630s New England, a banished Puritan family begins to fall apart as they suspect evil lurks in the woods nearby.
Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 34: Halloween
2018 · Dir. David Gordon Green
Forty years after her first encounter, Laurie Strode prepares for Michael Myers' return to Haddonfield.
Laurie Strode is done running.
Poster: Paramount Pictures Number 35: Sleepy Hollow
1999 · Dir. Tim Burton
Constable Ichabod Crane travels to a remote village to investigate murders blamed on a headless horseman.
Keep your head on, it's only a film.
Poster: Focus Features Number 36: Coraline
2009 · Dir. Henry Selick
A girl finds a secret door to an alternate world where her 'Other Mother' wants to keep her forever.
Button eyes. No thanks.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 37: Casper
1995 · Dir. Brad Silberling
A lonely, friendly ghost befriends the daughter of a paranormal therapist who moves into his haunted mansion.
The friendliest ghost you'll ever meet.
Poster: Dimension Films Number 38: The Others
2001 · Dir. Alejandro Amenábar
In 1945 Jersey, a devout mother waits for her husband's return from war with her two light-sensitive children in a dim mansion, until she becomes convinced the house is haunted.
Nicole Kidman, a dark house and a twist that still lands.
Poster: Walt Disney Studios Number 39: Halloweentown
1998 · Dir. Duwayne Dunham
A girl discovers she's a witch and follows her grandmother to Halloweentown, a magical world under threat.
Disney Channel nostalgia, served warm.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 40: Corpse Bride
2005 · Dir. Mike Johnson & Tim Burton
A nervous groom accidentally marries a dead bride and is whisked away to the Land of the Dead.
Wedding nerves, Burton style.
Poster: Focus Features Number 41: ParaNorman
2012 · Dir. Chris Butler & Sam Fell
A boy who can talk to the dead must save his town from a centuries-old witch's curse.
A zombie romp with a big heart.
Poster: Sony Pictures Number 42: Monster House
2006 · Dir. Gil Kenan
Three kids discover the creepy house across the street is actually a living, hungry monster.
Every street has that one house.
Poster: Walt Disney Studios Number 43: Frankenweenie
2012 · Dir. Tim Burton
Young Victor uses science to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, with monstrous consequences for the town.
A boy and his (reanimated) dog.
Poster: Warner Bros. Pictures Number 44: Practical Magic
1998 · Dir. Griffin Dunne
Two witch sisters raised by their aunts fight a family curse that dooms any man they love.
Midnight margaritas, anyone?
Poster: Sony Pictures Number 45: The Craft
1996 · Dir. Andrew Fleming
A new girl at a Catholic school joins three outcast teens dabbling in witchcraft, until the power goes too far.
We are the weirdos, mister.
Poster: 20th Century Studios Number 46: Young Frankenstein
1974 · Dir. Mel Brooks
The grandson of Victor Frankenstein travels to Transylvania and can't resist continuing the family experiment.
It's pronounced "Fronkensteen".
Poster: 20th Century Studios Number 47: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975 · Dir. Jim Sharman
A newly engaged couple's car breaks down near the castle of Dr Frank-N-Furter and his outrageous guests.
Let's do the Time Warp again.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 48: Frankenstein
1931 · Dir. James Whale
Scientist Henry Frankenstein creates life from stolen body parts, and his creation is feared and hunted.
It's alive! And nearly 100.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 49: Dracula
1931 · Dir. Tod Browning
Count Dracula moves from Transylvania to England, preying on the people around solicitor Renfield and Mina.
The count who started it all.
Poster: Universal Pictures Number 50: Dracula Untold
2014 · Dir. Gary Shore
Prince Vlad of Transylvania makes a dark bargain for vampiric power to protect his family and people from the Ottoman army. Filmed on location across Northern Ireland in 2013.
Northern Ireland's own vampire epic.
Discover more from LoveBelfast
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
