It\u2019s not a perfect list and I would certainly love to see other people\u2019s lists, but it\u2019s mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, without further adieu, let\u2019s start this here list. In no particular order, these are the \u201cBest Horror and Halloween-themed Movies for the 31 Days of Halloween.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Addams Family<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/addams-family-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Netflix<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m of course referring to the original 1991 film by Barry Sonnenfeld. Based on the Charles Addams created a comic that satirized American life<\/a> in the early twentieth century and featuring brilliantly iconic performances by Angelica Houston, Christopher Lloyd, and the sadly missed Raul Julia, it is required viewing for anybody looking to get into the spooky spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are so few movies that have that beautiful mix of gothic weirdness and also are infinitely rewatchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pan-1024x550.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Netflix<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guillermo Del Toro, now an Oscar winner for \u201cThe Shape of Water,\u201d made perhaps his best film with this radical fairytale of a young girl in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is rich with fable and myth<\/a>, criticizing the rise of fascism during the first half of the twentieth century, and also a brilliant allegory for growing up under the weight of great tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The Evil Dead<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/evil-dead-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Netflix<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure, it might seem hokey now, especially considering how the whole \u201ccabin in the woods\u201d horror film has become a pastiche cliche so ubiquitous that it is nearly its own genre of horror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time of Sam Raimi\u2019s brilliant low-budget debut, its homemade feel was revolutionary. Especially when you consider that its first-person POV via a camera carried on a board has inspired both horror films and otherwise, the shot eventually showing up in films by the Coen Brothers (who happened to be friends and collaborators on later films).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Evil Dead II<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/evil-dead-2-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Hulu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of Sam Raimi, it\u2019s kind of hard to recommend The Evil Dead without recommending its arguably better sequel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second film is basically just a remake (kinda) of the original but it makes the brilliant decision of leaning into the hokeyness of the first film, making a horror film that feels a bit like a cartoon mixed with a dash of horror. Regardless, its tone was revolutionary in horror further opening up the genre to the mixing of comedic elements. In other words, we probably wouldn\u2019t have films like \u201cShaun of the Dead\u201d or \u201cWhat We Do in the Shadows\u201d without Evil Dead II and other films like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
See: \u201cDead Alive,\u201d \u201cAn American Werewolf in London,\u201d \u201cRe-Animator\u201d and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Night of the Living Dead<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/night-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of horror classics that created genres, it\u2019s hard to not recommend George Romero\u2019s eternal classic. Without it, we wouldn\u2019t have, well, basically anything zombie-related after 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Romero\u2019s film<\/a>, zombies weren\u2019t the aimless, wandering bags of flesh we know them as today. Taking inspiration from occasional Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson\u2019s book, \u201cI Am Legend,\u201d Romero took a creature of Haitian folklore<\/a> that was anything but what we think of as zombies and made them a metaphor for a society on the brink of social revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Let the Right One In<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/let-the-right-one-in.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Hulu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on the Swedish novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist<\/a> and directed by accomplished Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, \u201cLet the Right One In\u201d takes the vampire mythos and brings it into modern-day Sweden, taking apart a bevy of social norms in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its emotional tone makes you empathize<\/a> with the monster, as many of the best of the genre and takes its name from a Morrisey song<\/a>. I\u2019d also recommend the American version<\/a>, which used to be on streaming but isn\u2019t anymore, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Les Diabolique<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/diabolique-1955-1024x563.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStreaming Service(s):<\/strong> Amazon Prime<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 1955 black and white French film that is insanely watchable, even with today\u2019s standards. \u201cLes Diabolique,\u201d which translates to \u201cThe Devils\u201d or \u201cThe Fiends\u201d had a major influence on Hitchcock\u2019s classic \u201cPsycho.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the states it is often called simply \u201cDiabolique,\u201d and it features some of the best twists in early cinema, including one of the most famous shots in all of film, a revelation so shocking it still hits almost a century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Les Diabolique<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- Let the Right One In<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- Night of the Living Dead<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- Evil Dead II<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- The Evil Dead<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n