As Halloween rolls around, the question stands, what movies should we watch?
With it being the season for scares, there are a lot of movies to pick from and they can vary from horror, comedic, family-friendly, and so on. With this list, I will recommend some Halloween movies to watch this season.
1. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
“Tucker and Dale vs Evil” is a horror comedy that follows two hillbillies named Tucker and Dale, played by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, as they buy a cabin in the woods in hopes of renovating it.
At the same time, a group of college kids camp nearby. When one of them named Allison, played by Katrina Bowden, gets injured, Tucker and Dale help her back to their cabin so she can heal. But thinking they’re both psychopathic murderers who kidnapped their friend, the college kids try to kill the duo but only end up causing more trouble and further escalating the situation. The film itself is hilarious with how dark and violent it can be. Not to mention it’s a nice subversion of the situation and roles that are typically in a slasher film.
2. Doctor Sleep
“Doctor Sleep” is the subsequent sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” The film follows Danny, played by Ewan McGregor, now fully grown up and is a struggling alcoholic after the events at the Overlook Hotel.
When Danny moves to New Hampshire, he begins to turn his life around and starts to work as a hospice orderly, using his psychic abilities called the “shine” to comfort patients in their dying moments. He eventually meets a young girl who also has the shine named Abra, played by Kyliegh Curran, as she psychically reaches out to him.
He learns that she is being hunted by the True Knot, a cult led by Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Fergusson. They plan to kidnap Abra and steal her shine so they can live forever but will kill her in the process. Danny agrees to help save Abra and take down the True Knot.
The acting in this film is superb and it also serves as a nice tribute to “The Shining.” Its story and characters are great as well. Danny’s story from a sad drunk who wants nothing to do with anyone or anything to finally turning away from the bottle and facing down evil to save someone is a great character arc.
3. The Invisible Man
“The Invisible Man” from 2020 is a remake of a classic Universal Monster. The film follows Cecilia, played by Elisabeth Moss, as she escapes from her abusive boyfriend Adrian, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, in the middle of the night.
As she settles into her new life, strange things begin to happen. Things begin to disappear, she feels like she’s being stalked, and people randomly get hurt.
It all comes to a head when her sister is killed right in front of her and an invisible figure puts the knife in her hand. She is framed and Cecilia believes that her ex-boyfriend Adrian is the cause of all this.
The only problem is he supposedly committed suicide and now it’s up to her to prove she’s not crazy. This film is a great thriller and is also pretty good as a film on its own. Slow burners can be done well if written well, and this film does that. It’s also good with characters like Cecilia. You can feel the panic and stress she’s in this whole situation, trying so desperately to prove she’s not crazy.
4. The Lighthouse
“The Lighthouse” is a psychological thriller. The film follows Ephraim Winslow and Thomas Wake, played by Robert Patterson and Willem Dafoe, as they are both assigned as Lighthouse keepers on a small, isolated island for four weeks. As the days go by, turmoil starts to build between the two.
As supplies begin to dwindle, Winslow starts to have hallucinations while on and off the job. The men start to feel like they’ve been stuck on the island for months because of a storm they got caught in, and Wake always stays up in the lantern room where only he is allowed to enter.
It’s a story about both men trying to hold whatever sanity they have left but eventually, someone comes to the madness of the lighthouse. The film, like “The Invisible Man,” is great at psychological horror. With the film being a slow burner, you start to question what is real and what is not. What is really in the lantern room, and who is Ephraim Winslow?
This is also the only film on this list that dips its toes into a sub-genre of horror called cosmic horror, the fear of the unknowable and incomprehensible. You start to wonder what it is about the lantern room that makes people mad. Why are they drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and eventually at the end, why are they willing to try and kill each other just to see it?
5. Never Hike Alone
I’m technically cheating with this one since it’s a fan film and not officially licensed, but I decided to include it anyway. “Never Hike Alone” is a “Friday the 13th” fan film. The film follows Kyle Mcleod, played by Drew Leighty, a famous hiker who decides to go down and follow a trail that leads to a gated-off area.
Going passed it, he finds out that the place he unknowingly ended up at was the rundown remains of Camp Crystal Lake. After exploring the campgrounds more, he regretfully finds out that Jason Voorhees remains at the camp and relentlessly tries to kill anyone who trespasses.
He gets away but is badly injured in the process. Now he must find a way to get back into the camp to get the medical kit in his bag before Jason finds him. Though the story is simple, it’s effective. It’s nice to see Jason be treated like a relentless force of nature that kills anything that moves like in the original movies. Kyle is not a bad protagonist either, he’s a bit more unique compared to other main characters in the franchise considering he’s a survivalist and has the skills to boot.
The jump scares are also surprisingly good, they do it in a way that makes them either more subdued or more sudden, but it works. Not to mention the references are also good. I think diehard fans of the franchise will probably get these references using them in a surprising way that works. For example, throughout the camp, there are ribbons attached to rooms where there’s blood. A casual moviegoer will understand that these are murder scenes, but diehard fans will recognize that each crime scene is one of the kills from the first movie.
I would heavily recommend this film for “Friday the 13th” fans. With the film being 53 minutes long, it’s not that long of a watch. I would also recommend its prequel, “Never Hike in The Snow” and its sequel, “Never Hike Alone 2.”
And with that, these are some of the films I recommend for Halloween. You get a comedy in “Tucker and Dale vs Evil,” and two great slow-burn thrillers in “The Lighthouse” and “The Invisible Man.” A good sequel to a fantastic horror movie in “Doctor Sleep,” and a great tribute fan film to a legendary slasher franchise in “Never Hike Alone.” Enjoy these films, Happy Halloween!
