Amazing Halloween Movies To Add To Your Fall Playlists

Halloween is the perfect time to settle down with a movie by yourself or with some friends. However, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut, watching the same handful of Halloween movies every year until they lose their appeal. Thankfully, there has never been a better time to be a horror fan. Not only are loads of fantastic new films coming out every month, but the proliferation of streaming means that more movies than ever are available at your fingertips.

With that in mind, here are some excellent movies to add to your Halloween movie night playlists based on what sort of experience you are looking for.

You Want Something Intense

The Coffee Table

Co-written by Caye Casas and Cris Borobia and directed by Caye Casas, 2022’s The Coffee Table is a mesmerizing black comedy that is as disturbing as it is memorable. Jesús and María, a young couple who have just had their first child, Cayetano, are visiting a furniture store to buy a coffee table for their new apartment. The salesman suggests they buy an expensive table, noting it has an unbreakable glass surface. María doesn’t believe this claim and storms out of the store. However, once she leaves, Jesús buys the table anyway due to being frustrated by María constantly overruling him.

Once home, Jesús starts to build the table. However, things soon start going wrong, sending Jesús into a downward spiral that sparks more issues. And this spiral only worsens when his brother and his new partner visit. The Coffee Table tackles middle-class anxieties and domestic horror in a distinctly uncomfortable yet utterly memorable way, meaning it’s one of those movies that will stick in your mind long after Halloween ends.

His House

2020’s His House follows Bol and Rial, a couple that flee South Sudan with their daughter Nyagak. Eventually, after a long and painful journey that seems their daughter perishes, the pair is granted temporary asylum in Britain and moved into a dingy house on the outskirts of London. However, tensions quickly flare up as Bol wants to assimilate into British culture, while Rial prefers to cling to her old culture and her daughter’s memory.

As the weeks pass, Bol starts seeing her daughter and a mysterious man walking around the house and passing through the walls. However, these visions soon lead to Bol and Rial’s relationship deteriorating as specters from their past return to haunt them once more. His House is a gripping horror thriller that touches on several big topics during its runtime, making it uniquely memorable.

Anything for Jackson

Anything for Jackson follows Dr. Henry Walsh and his wife, Audrey. While the pair seem like any other couple at a glance, both of them are harboring deep trauma as neither has been able to come to terms with the sudden death of Jackson, their only grandson. However, when the pair stumble on a spell that would let them put Jackson’s soul in a new vessel, they decide to kidnap one of Henry’s pregnant patients, Shannon Becker. The pair tie Shannon to the bed and prepare to perform a reverse exorcism that will allow Jackson’s soul to enter the fetus growing within Shannon. However, they soon find that this ritual has many downsides, throwing all three of them into a horrible situation.

While Anything For Jackson may sound goofy on paper, the film pulls it off beautifully, creating a tense and foreboding atmosphere that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats. A big reason for this is Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings’ stunning performances as the two leads as they give them an aura of unassuming malice that makes them feel deeply real.

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne

Produced, written, directed, and starring Adrian Țofei, Be My Cat: A Film for Anne follows Adrian, a man obsessed with actress Anne Hathaway. At first, the film is presented as a series of videos Adrian made to convince Anne to come to Romania to be in his movie. But, as the film progresses, Adrian’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic as he reveals that the movie is just a ruse to get Anne to come to the country as he believes they are destined to be together.

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne is a very uncomfortable experience, doubly so because Țofei portrays the lead character in a realistically deranged manner, making him feel like the perfect portrait of modern parasocial obsession. Due to this and its excellent aesthetic, Be My Cat is one of the cleverest and most anxiety-inducing found footage films of the modern age.

You Want A Dash Of Sci-Fi In Your Halloween Movies

Possessor

Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg (son of horror icon David Cronenberg), 2020’s Possessor follows Tasya Vos, an assassin with a unique method of killing. Tasya uses a brain implant to put her consciousness into other people’s bodies and uses these unwilling bodies to carry out her hits. Then, once the job is done, Tasya forces her host to kill themselves so she can return to her own body. However, Tasya soon finds that this method is taking a toll on her mind, as she finds it increasingly hard to remain connected to her original identity. Plus, she is constantly haunted by the violent things she’s done, something that strains her relationship with her husband and son.

Possessor is a highly unique and deeply dystopian film that looks at the destabilizing effects of violence and how easy it is for someone to lose their identity. It combines excellent visuals with a deeply disturbing and uncomfortable undercurrent, meaning that it will leave even the most experienced horror fan uneasy.

Spring

2014’s Spring follows Evan, a young man who has been stuck in a downward spiral ever since he lost his mother to cancer. Trying to break free of this rut, Evan takes a trip to Italy and soon finds his fortunes changing when he encounters a beautiful young woman named Louise and falls head over heels in love. Evan decides to remain in the country and attempts to court the young woman. However, Evan quickly learns that Louise may not be all she first seems.

Spring is made by its fantastic atmosphere and lingering sense of dream. Plus, Nadia Hilker’s performance as Louise is mesmerizing, as she imbues the character with an aura that is simultaneously alluring and threatening.

You Like Some Laughs With Your Horror

Frankenhooker

Directed by Frank Henenlotter, 1990’s Frankenhooker follows Jeffrey Franken, a young man from New Jersey. Jeffrey’s life is pretty great as he has a great job and is about to marry Elizabeth, his fiance. Alas, his storybook existence gets turned upside down when the automatic lawnmower he gifts Elizabeth’s father goes wrong and kills his bride-to-be.

Unable to cope with the loss, Jeffrey decides to gather some body parts, rebuild Elizabeth, and bring her back to life. However, this plan soon spirals out of control as the resurrected Elizabeth has several massive flaws. A delightfully gross (but utterly charming) black comedy, Frankenhooker is perfect for horror fans and Halloween fans who love off-kilter comedy movies and impressive visual effects.

Onyx The Fortuitous And The Talisman Of Souls

Released in 2023, Onyx The Fortuitous And The Talisman Of Souls was written and directed by Andrew Bowser. Amateur occultist Marcus J. Trillbury (known to his friends as Onyx the Fortuitous) isn’t having a great time as most people in his life don’t understand him.

But when Marcus wins a contest to visit the home of his idol, the famous Satanist Bartok the Great, he thinks that his life might be turning around. When the winners arrive at Bartok’s grand mansion, Bartok informs them they will participate in several rituals to help them become better people. But it soon turns out that everything is not as it seems, throwing Marcus into a battle to keep his soul. A supremely memorable movie that often feels like a modern take on classic horror comedy movies, Onyx The Fortuitous And The Talisman Of Souls is guaranteed to become a Halloween staple for many people.

The Day of the Beast

Directed by Álex de la Iglesia and released in 1995, The Day of the Beast is a black comedy movie that follows Ángel, a Basque priest and professor of theology. However, unlike most priests, Ángel is planning to commit as many evil acts as possible as part of a plan to avert the birth of the antichrist. While on his strange quest, Ángel teams up with heavy metal fan José and Professor Cavan, an occult TV host who most suspect is a fraudster.

However, this mission quickly becomes chaotic as Ángel finds that tracking down the antichrist is much trickier than he first thought, doubly so because the devil works in unusual ways. The Day of the Beast is a fun black comedy featuring plenty of unexpected twists and turns, making it a must-watch film for people who like their Halloween movies to feature a dash of dark humor.

You Want To Try Some Non-American Halloween Movies

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Promoted as “The first Iranian vampire Western,” 2014’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was directed and written by Ana Lily Amirpour. The story follows Arash, a young man who spends the majority of his time caring for Hossein, his heroin-addicted father, while protecting him from Saeed, the drug dealer he owes money to. After Saeed takes Arash’s car, Arash impulsively steals a pair of diamond earrings from the woman he works for, believing that he can trade these to get his car back. However, Arash doesn’t know that a strange, fanged woman lurks in the shadows, and this action will lead to them becoming deeply entangled in each other’s lives.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a unique vampire film, quite unlike anything else in the genre. The movie combines excellent visuals with a cast of relatable, flawed, and deeply human characters, meaning it often feels closer to a character study than a pure horror film.

The Wailing

First released in South Korea in 2016, The Wailing follows Jong-goo, a police officer living in the small mountain town of Gokseong. However, Jong-goo gets thrown into a terrifying situation when a strange infection washes across the population, causing them to become violent and start killing their families, something that only gets worse when Jong-goo’s own daughter succumbs to the infection, throwing him into a race against time to find out what’s going on.

The Wailing is made by its heavy and oppressive atmosphere. Every moment is painfully tense and will have viewers sat on the edge of their seats, desperate to find out what will happen next. Combine this with a fantastic central mystery, and you have a must-watch horror film that every fan should check out.

Uzumaki

Many have tried and failed to bring Junji Ito’s legendary horror manga Uzumaki to the screen. But of all the adaptations, Higuchinsky’s attempt, first released in 2000, gets closer than most. It follows Kirie Goshima, a high school student living in the small town of Kurouzu-cho and having a relatively regular life. However, this sweet life turns sour when strange events begin plaguing Kurouzu-cho, and the people around her become suddenly obsessed with spirals.

While the Uzumaki doesn’t perfectly adapt the manga’s story and leaves a lot unresolved, it is elevated by its atmosphere and visuals, which bring Ito’s legendary artwork to life while retaining the otherworldlyness that makes them work on the page. Because of this, it’s a good stepping stone for people who want to ease themselves into the world of Junji Ito.