60 Halloween Movie Picks for 2026 | Hidden Gems & Horror Classics

Woo! Don't woo. This is a solemn and serious occasion, David DeNoyer. Hey, my spookies! Enrique Couto here, bringing you another little extra here at Weekly Spooky as we are celebrating the 2026 Halloween season. Although, really, Weekly Spooky is one of the only places that truly celebrates the 2026 Halloween season. From January 1st to December 31st. This is true.

The real Halloween season. But I'm here with my good buddy and former Welcome to Primetime and Do You Even Movie co-host David DeNoyer.

Hello.

And David has put together a list, I think it was three years ago. 2023, yeah. Three years ago, David put together a quintessential Halloween time watch list. And it was very exhaustive, very solid, but I mean, it was, but it also didn't miss that much. But recently you came to me and said, Hey, what if we did another one?

Another one. Indeed. I, it was one of those things where, uh, you had, you'd said, I'm, I'm into it, but can you do it? Because like you said, we covered a lot on that first.

Yeah. I basically was like, I don't want you to like force it just because you're trying to like a.

Shot on video horror film from 1986.

Well that'd be impressive 86 is was a hard time to shoot on video that is that is uh well here's a shot of video horror from 1986 so you just mean video violence yeah that's right i'm pulling out the nerd i will say this is not.

On my list but one that i watched recently that i really really liked uh because i've been participating in uh there's a woman named sarah who does a 100 horror.

I don't want to hear about the women you're participating.

100 horror films in 92 days challenge and i've been This is my second year participating in it, so I've been watching a lot of deep cut stuff that I haven't seen because that's the challenge is it's 100 horror films you haven't seen in 92 days starting on August 1st going all the way to the 31st of October.

Okay.

And The Night Brings Charlie, that's a really fun movie.

You'd never seen The Night Brings Charlie?

I had never seen The Night Brings Charlie.

So The Night Brings Charlie was one of those, before we fully begin, I just want you guys to understand this is just movie nerd talk, but we will have some gems. of strange films to watch, but yeah, just be ready because this is about as a, as nerdy as it gets. This is the kind of stuff that usually we just talk about in the car. Yeah, basically. But, uh, okay.

So the night brings Charlie. Oh man. I mean, that was one. There were a few of these kind of direct to video rarities from the nineties that they were just kind of, they weren't like legendary is not the right word, but they were almost like, like folklore.

Yeah.

Cause you couldn't find them.

No.

Or you would, you know, you would know one guy who knew a guy. It was like an urban legend, except then you could like in the late nineties, you could go online and see like the worst screen grab ever from the night brings Charlie.

Oh yeah.

Which would say, okay, so it exists.

Yeah.

But for the longest time, that was one of those films you couldn't find anywhere. And I remember the first time I got my hands on a copy of it, I mean, it's been probably 15 years.

Yeah.

But I remembered thinking, like, this is kind of the slasher movie comfort food. Like, not even comfort food. Just, like, this is like a slasher movie bag of pork rinds. Yeah. No, 100%. But, like, that you like. You know, they're good. And, you know, but when you put them down, you know, you're kind of like, I'm glad that's over, but I'll do it again. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I mean, that's been the fun thing about the challenge is there's, For one, there's so many movies on YouTube. I mean, shit you would not expect to just be readily available that's been on there for X amount of years.

Like readily available legitimately? I would doubt it.

Legitimately is the point. Yeah, it's there. It's there, but it's been there for enough time that I'm kind of like, ah, it's fine.

I mean, yeah, nobody's, there's no cop on the beat.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, archive.org's the same way. Same. You can go on there and you'll find stuff that's simply out of print. Oh, yeah. Not public domain. No. But simply out of print. Yeah. So, The Night Brings Charlie's readily available as of the time that we're speaking. As we're recording, yes. Illegally on YouTube.

And there's a couple titles on here that are only available on YouTube from what I can find, but the fact that they're out there, I mean, I had to add them to.

The list, so I mean. I have always had an attitude that If a film is impossible to get your hands on or damn near impossible, like the only way to get it is a, you know, $ 300 out of print DVD. You know, it's different if the people who made it are like, no, we're only selling this as a $ 90 steelbook or some crap.

Yeah.

But if it's just that it's scarce, I start to feel a little less bad about a basic bootleg. Yeah. Assuming nobody is like heavily profiting from the bootleg because they didn't. they didn't have the right, but it's also like, Hey, give us another option. If you don't want us to watch it for free, help us pay for it.

We can't.

Yeah.

I mean, and there's stuff you can obviously rent, which I mean, some of those I'll cover on this as well, but it's like, I was pretty shocked with what I could find on YouTube. So not necessarily advocating for that, but I mean, you might be surprised if you, if you haven't, if there's something on your list that you have like been wanting to see or whatnot, um, check YouTube first. Cause it's surprising the amount of stuff that's on there.

And sometimes it's there legitimately. Yeah.

There's actually a couple of my lists that are like that.

I've had some really good luck with watching kind of random movie picks on YouTube that are legit. Yeah. But the options are, you know, to be Roku channel and then like maybe Fandango at home free with ads and then YouTube. And since I have YouTube pro or red or whatever, they renamed it this week.

Yeah.

I don't have to watch ads. So it's the only way I can watch it. free without ads, you know, cause well, no, cause like if it was on Amazon prime, I would pick that first because I have it with no ads.

Absolutely.

But, uh, so I, that saved my butt a few times. Um, and with movies you wouldn't expect, like, I think that's where I rewatched, uh, it's not even a horror movie. Why am I talking about it? But, uh, I rewatched like, uh, Oh gosh, what was that movie about? The, uh, the, FBI operative who's actually helping the Russians?

Oh, um, not. Oh, I almost gave a spoiler for a movie. It's not No Way Out. That's a Kevin Costner movie.

No, no, no.

Shit. Um.

He takes in, like, a younger agent. Yeah. I can't think of the name right now. I can't think of the name either. But it was super good.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it was on YouTube. Yeah. That's where I was able. And it was, like, you know, from MGM's channel or whatever company's channel. So there are some legitimate watches on YouTube and some illegitimate watches on YouTube.

And I will point some of those out. But any of the movies that I'm going to name here, I'm going to give you the sources as to where they are available as of this recording. And some of them have multiple and some of them you have one option and one option only.

That is the way it goes sometimes.

Yeah.

How many is on this list again?

So we are back to 60 again.

Holy shit.

We are back to 60 again, broken into four columns. So we've got.

Man, I should have went with a double espresso.

We've got Gateway Horror. We've got Seasonal Rewatches, Underrated Halloween, and This Is Halloween. So you ready to get into this?

I better be.

All right.

That is... Wow. For some reason, I know you sent me... I know you sent me something, but one thing, anybody who's worked with me any amount will know, the moment I, and this is a horrible statement, the moment I trust you, I don't really check. I'm just like, no, as long as you show up prepared, and then you show up with 60 films.

And this is exactly what we did last time. So let's roll into it. So we're starting with Gateway Horror. Last time I was here, I called this Family Scares. More so approach, I went with it this time, was... when we did it last time, it was more so kind of a Halloween based for kids horror film. This is just kind of gateway horror. Some of them might have Halloween. Some of it just might be good starters.

Okay. Yeah. And, and, you know, for those who may not be familiar, I mean, gateway horror suggests that it's relatively accessible, both in content and availability. Yes. And therefore you might watch it and then be like, huh? You know, I really liked the witches of Eastwick. What's cannibal Holocaust about?

Or like when I did the Christmas one where I, for some, I can reason put rare exports on the family list, not even thinking about the fact that there's a lot of Santa dong in that movie. Well, and reindeer like wipe out.

You see, the actual phrase would be Santa dongs.

Dongs, yeah, yeah.

Because there are multiple Santas with multiple, well, each has a dong. Yes, yes. But they all look like Santa.

But yeah, I remember when I put that on the list, I was like, oh yeah, I guess that's not a kid's movie.

No. It is about a kid, though.

It's about a kid.

And it's not, I'll give you that, though. It's about a kid, and it is a kid's perception. It's just that the whole sticking point of the film is that it has a harder edge.

Yes, very much so.

But it does, like, especially if you're desensitized to, you know, serious violence and nudity, like you are.

That's not wrong.

Then you would go, oh, it's a kid's movie because it's about a kid, like, learning about, like, the evil creature at Christmas. It's like, no, I guess Elves is a kid's movie.

Mikey's a kid movie. It has a kid in it.

I mean, I did watch it when I was the age of Mikey in the movie. All right.

So kicking us off, Gateway Horror. Let's go with 1986's The Worst Witch, directed by Robert Young. This is a 1980s TV special that was over in the UK. The plot synopsis says Mildred is one of the young girls at a prestigious witch academy. She can't seem to do anything right and is picked on by classmates and teachers.

The headmistress of the school, Miss Cackle, has an evil twin sister who plans to destroy the school. Can Mildred foil the plans before the Grand Wizard comes to the academy for Halloween celebrations? You'll never forget.

The Grand Wizard.

Played by Tim Curry, because this is the Something Something Halloween.

I mean, I've always found, I found that charming. So, because the first time I was exposed to that piece of media as its own piece of media where, where Tim Curry appears to be doing a music video at a cable access station. Basically. Yeah. I mean, just bad green screen and he's walking toward the camera and being like oddly serious, but you can tell he knows it's ridiculous. Um, that was the joke. Cause it went on so long.

Yeah. The real songs, anything can happen on Halloween, but hen and I, uh, just an inside joke between us. Uh, cause they showed it at horror Rama once. Like that was the intermission.

Out of context. Yeah. I just played.

Yeah. And it's just, you know, the song is anything can happen on Halloween. It's really cheesy. Um, the reason I chose the worst, which, uh, you've got Diana rig in it. You've got a very young for use of bulk. And as I mentioned, Tim Curry, um, this is a movie that you had mentioned or that you had mentioned the thing about regards to, uh, you know, a $ 300 DVD. Um, This thing is out of print. It's been out of print for years. Desperately out of print, I would say.

Readily available right now on YouTube. That's literally how I watched it for the first time a couple weeks ago, actually. I recently just watched this, actually, for the Horror Challenge. I wouldn't say it's not very good. Uh, it's more so it's just, this is definitely a kid's movie. There are songs in it. Um, the plot is kind of ham fisted together. There's not really much. No, but it's a really fun little, uh, kids horror film. That's perfect for Halloween time. And again, Tim Curry, uh, who we just recently lost, unfortunately is really fun in this movie, but it's cheesy. Uh, it's one that is not really on many lists because again, it's just not been available for a while. Um, So the fact that it is

readily available to find on YouTube at this time, we're going to go ahead and put that on the gateway horror list. So that's The Worst Witch from 1986, directed by Robert Young.

I think that's absolutely a kind of a gateway horror. I mean, it's literally any horror movie that's meant for kids or kids movie that's just a little too scary.

Yeah.

Which there are a lot of those from especially the 70s and 80s where it's like, hey, here's a nightmare sequence. And then people remember it forever. Did I ever tell you this? I still have. A vivid memory of the first time I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Do tell.

Because of.

The boat ride? The boat ride.

Everybody remembers the boat ride. Everybody remembers the flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz. Now, I was either in preschool or kindergarten. That's the part I don't remember is which one it was. But it was early. It was probably preschool. And... We watched it. They brought in the projector, the 16 millimeter projector. I mean, this would have been, you gotta remember, this would have been like 89 or 90 or 91, somewhere in that. So I just remember us watching that and being all excited. And then me being like, holy crap, when the boat ride starts. So, and in a lot of ways, I would call that a gateway to horror, not a gateway horror film, but a gateway to horror.

Yeah, absolutely. And moving on into another gateway, let's step it up a little bit. I was going to say more current, but I just realized this movie is 21 years old. But that's 2005's Corpse Bride, directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson. In a 19th century European village, a young man about to be married is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride while his real bride waits bereft in the land of the living. This has the voice talents of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracy Allman, Christopher Lee, Albert Finney, Michael Goff, all the regular Tim Burton alum are here, including Danny Elfman, who does the music on it. This is one that kind of took me, I wouldn't say

it took me a while to see. It was just one that when it came out in 05, I wasn't super, I was kind of moving into like actual horror at that point. So I wasn't really into the kiddie horror. But then that wasn't kiddie horror. That was 16 year old girl horror when it came out.

No, no. Cause I, cause I was 15, 16 when it came out.

Yeah.

Do you ever tell you what we all used to call it?

No.

It like me and my movie buddies, we used to call corpse bride. And we'd always say, you mean Tim Burton's the nightmare before cash miss.

That's that's great.

Oh, wow. I thought I told you that before. That's what we used to call it because it was so clearly like a Hot Topic movie. I mean, it was made for like that generation of spike bracelets and things like that. But it's not a bad film.

It's not. No, I mean, it's got some really good humor in it. The music's great. I mean, Danny Elfman, you know, as he did the score for Nightmare Before Christmas and, of course, all his other scores for like Batman and, of course, his work for Oingo Boingo. I mean, the dude's got... Worked for Oingo Boingo. I mean, he was Oingo Boingo. He is Oingo Boingo.

I am Oingo Boingo.

But it's a really fun movie. It's got that same feel as Nightmare Before Christmas. It's got a seriously decent plot as well, too. I was really impressed by the first time I watched it. Haven't been back to it in a while, so I need to go back to that one. But I had a lot of fun. I think it was about four or five years ago when I revisited it.

I mean, it's definitely... They had that gothic vibe. I mean, at that point, down pat, because Nightmare Before Christmas was... A while before that. What, 10 years? Not quite 10 years?

I want to say 94, so right about 10 years.

I saw that as a kid when it came out. I was 8 when it came out in theaters, so I probably saw it when I was 10 on home video. And I always liked it.

It's got one of my favorite lines in it. There's a scene where Johnny Depp accidentally almost sets the bride's mother on fire. And he goes into this forest and he's rehearsing. And he's like, with this candle, I will... I will set your mother on fire. He's just standing in the forest talking to himself.

I think that's definitely a solid gateway horror.

Yeah, absolutely is. So 2005 Corpse Bride currently available to rent on Fandango, Plex, Apple TV, not really streaming for quote unquote free anywhere, but it's readily accessible if you want to find it.

Yeah. And all of those will not be the case within a week of us airing this.

It'll all be lost. We'll see what happens. I did this list, like I said, out of season, so it could change. Moving on to another gateway, let's go back to the 80s with one that is, again, a little tough to find. But, man, if you can find it, you are in for a really good time. And this is at the era when there was one company that still made really good horror films, even though you don't expect them to. And that is Disney with 1980s The Watcher in the Woods, directed by John Hogue. This is the story of after an American family moves to an old country manor in rural England... One of the daughters is tormented by the spirit of the owner's long-lost daughter who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago during a solar eclipse.

This has Betty Davis in it. Kyle Richards is in it. Carol Baker. It's got a pretty decent cast. This is genuinely a scary early Disney film that has become available again through YouTube recently, but otherwise you would have to find either a out-of-print DVD or even a more expensive Blu-ray through the Disney Club. But this is genuinely a scary movie.

I would have to agree, but also, I mean, it's not an early Disney movie. It's 1980.

Yeah, 1980, yeah.

But it's older by today's standards. I mean, you know, like when you sit down and like, enjoy, you know, some frigging Evanescence song or something. That's like the same thing as your parents enjoying like the Doobie Brothers.

You're not wrong.

When you were a kid, like it's the same distance.

I literally was thinking about Evanescence the other day because when the album Fallen came out, that was one of the two items that I was able to take on our trip to Florida. That was something that mom bought while we were at Walmart, while we were doing our last minute shopping. And I was like, when did that album come out? And I think it was like right around 2003, if I'm not mistaken.

Oh yeah, that had to be. But I want to mention, so I've always liked Watcher in the Woods. It's been a while since I watched it. Disney had a string of surprisingly scary movies.

Yeah.

One thing I don't think people realize so easily is, you know that it was a flop.

Oh, it was a huge flop.

Yeah, the budget was $ 6 to $ 9 million, and it did $ 5 million at the box office, which was the beginning of what would be... simultaneously, which would, what would become Disney's greatest decline and then greatest rise.

Yeah.

Because the eighties were really bad for Walt Disney until they established touchstone pictures. And then eventually Hollywood pictures as well, which were studios geared toward making films for adults. And they really just opened their own little Roger Corman studio because it became a joke because of like good morning, Vietnam and stuff like that. People used to joke that, touchstone cast at the back door of the Betty Ford clinic.

That was a real joke. People used to say, because, because it was like, because, uh, I think that was right after, uh, Robin Williams got out of rehab. He went right into doing good morning Vietnam. So it's, it's kind of funny, but touchstone really did kind of not only reestablish Disney by having these lower budget movies that were very big earners, but also by kind of establishing this, this middle level Hollywood that, That wasn't quite indie, but it felt a little indie, but it had big names in it and it was in theaters everywhere. They had a lot of hits. They had a lot of okay hits and a lot of big ones. And then, you know, and then it was what I think it was like right after it was Aladdin or beauty in the beast.

One of those.

Was when all of a sudden Disney was just like, we're back, bitches.

Beauty and the Beast, because there's a great documentary I'll recommend if nobody has seen it called Waking Sleeping Beauty that is basically all about the lull of the 80s into the early 90s with Disney. So that's talking about like Rescuers Down Under and stuff like that. And for those who don't know, Beauty and the Beast was shown, if I remember... correctly at con um not finished it did not have any color in regards to like animation like it was basically just the sketching and they showed it just to see how the reaction was and it did fucking.

Gangbusters they showed the animatic they showed the animatic that's bizarre yeah If you have not.

Seen Waking Sleeping Beauty, phenomenal documentary, especially if you're a Disney fan. But yeah, Watcher in the Woods, 1980. It is one that, like I said, it's a little scarce right now, but you can find it if you look hard enough. It's still a pretty creepy movie. It's got a great cast in it. Betty Davis is really upsetting at times in it as well.

Well, Betty Davis was a phenomenal actress, you know, and when she kind of, and I mean this with sincere appreciation, when she started getting like hag roles.

Yeah.

She did a really good job.

She did.

She did. She always gave her all.

Even that one that Larry Cohen did. I'm blanking on the title. Is it Evil Stepmother or Stepmother?

Not Stepmother.

It's an alien.

It might have a stepmother from hell.

Stepmother from hell or something like that. Yeah, that's even a great one for her.

Oh, she was great in that.

But yeah, The Watcher in the Woods, 1980. Definitely, if you have not seen that one, that is one to seek out. So let's go a little bit more current and spring into 2022 with one that Hen and I really, really enjoyed. And it seems like we might be in the minority on that. That is Spirit Halloween, the movie directed by David Pogue.

I liked the Spirit Halloween movie. I remember renting it so all of our buddies could watch it on like in October at some point. And, you know, it is, it is literally a movie about kids getting trapped in a spirit Halloween store and there's spirits and ghosts and all that stuff. But what do you want? You know, like it's literally meant for kids. It's meant to be fun.

They had the perfect cast. I mean, I mean, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Lloyd, Rachel Lee Cook was great in it. I don't know. I like sometimes. I just don't know what people want, more they want.

I don't know what you expect from a movie called Spirit Halloween the movie.

Yeah, it's like, what do you think? It's going to be like a gritty horror film? It's literally for children. A third of the store is not for you, me. Yeah. Because I'm middle-aged and not with kids.

And it's got creepy moments in it. It's got some pretty fun humor to it. And also, the runtime was pretty consistent on it for it to fly by.

It was brisk, 82 minutes. I enjoyed it. It had a Halloween-y vibe. which that alone is very important to me.

Yeah, and that is currently available to stream on Shudder and Tubi as well as Fandango.

It's free.

You can also rent and buy it if you choose to as well. But readily available on Shudder and Tubi, Spirit Halloween the movie. It's exactly what the title suggests. So if you're into something like that, then maybe check that out.

I love that it's on Shudder. I didn't even realize it went to Shudder. That's a perfect place for it.

100%. So moving on into Gateway Horror, we still have... Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island from 1998.

That, you might not be able to top that for Gateway Horror.

I think so.

So I had not seen that since I was a kid.

Yeah.

And Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. So one of the problems with those Scooby-Doo movies, seeing them when you're a kid, is telling them apart. And every Scooby-Doo episode has at least a degree of Halloween feeling anyway, because they're all a little spooky, because they're all mysteries. But I put that on maybe two or three years ago. I think it was on HBO. They had all of them on there, I believe. So I put that on, and it has some scary stuff. It does.

No, it really does. The plot involves, after going their separate ways, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred reunite to investigate the ghost of Moonscar, the pirate on a haunted bayou island. But it turns out the swashbuckler spirit isn't the only creepy character on the island. The Sleuths also meet up with cat creatures, zombies, and it looks like for the first time in their lives, these ghouls might actually be real.

That's the thing that actually got to me the most was this idea that they were finally seeing real ghosts, real monsters, as opposed to yet another elderly white guy who would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids.

It was funny. About a year ago, my girlfriend and I had just finished John Carpenter's The Fog, and we wanted something... Just to kind of lull into, and we put on Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. That and John Carpenter's The Fog, phenomenal double feature. That actually kind of works really well together.

See, last time I watched John Carpenter's The Fog, we had a really bad thunderstorm. And then an hour after that was over, the wind was blowing so bad, I had a window cracked to get the breeze. And all of a sudden, it was knocking things off of shelves. And I was like, oh, I guess it's pretty bad. And then the power was all messed up for half a week. So, I don't know. I'm worried that the film's cursed now.

I mean, I get that.

For me.

But, I mean, you know what's not cursed is Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Currently available to rent or buy on Fandango as well as Apple TV. There also was a really good Blu-ray just put out recently. That includes not only Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, but Return to Zombie Island, which I haven't seen, haven't heard great things about, but I'm still curious.

I don't think I ever got around to watching that because it's relatively new.

Yeah, but 1998 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, readily available on Fandango and Apple. That is a awesome gateway horror flick. Moving back in to an older one and another Disney horror that has recently found its place on Disney +, and that is 1983's Something Wicked This Way Comes from Jack Clayton. In a small American town, a diabolical circus arrives, granting wishes for the townsfolk, but twisted as only the esteemed Mr. Dark can make them. Can two young boys overcome the worst the devil himself can deal out? This is basically diet needful things for kids.

Oh, yeah. No, no, no. Without a doubt.

I mean, and you have Jonathan Price, who plays Mr. Dark in this, up against Jason Robarbs. The two acting bodies in this movie going head to head is one of the best things about this movie. But on top of that, again, this is just another scary movie. It's got really creepy moments to it. It's got children in peril.

It's got a whole theme basically going with getting older and the fear of that as well, too.

No, this is one that is, in some ways, it's better than Scooby-Doo and Zombie Island. Except that Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island gives you Scooby-Doo. Yeah. Which makes it even more of a gateway because you know Scooby-Doo. Yeah. Everybody knows Scooby-Doo.

But.

yeah, no, that something wicked this way comes is yeah.

They just added it to Disney plus like in the last six months, it had not been on there for, for, I think since honestly it's start and, uh, I'm happy that we're getting more of the older ones on there, but yeah, something wicked this way comes, you can find on Disney plus it's also available some other places. If you want to look, um, this is just one that really took me by surprise. I used to have the old anchor bay DVD and then I luckily upgraded to the Disney movie club Blu-ray before they went out of business. Um, It still holds up immaculately. Jason Robarbs and Jonathan Price together on this is just a lot of fun.

I'm going to have to get that on my Halloween watch list, which is starting off, by the way, on my Halloween season with a rewatch of Dead Like Me.

Oh, that's a great series.

I know.

Phenomenal series.

I just finished the pilot showing it to Rachel, and I was crying.

Is it her first time?

Yeah, she's never seen it. She's never heard of it.

Dead Like Me is so good.

It's phenomenal.

So good. Now, I do know this one is one that you like as we move into the 90s with 1991 Halloween Essential, Ernest Scared Stupid by John Cherry. Yeah.

Now, this is one that really got its due with my generation. Yeah. And more so once my generation were in their 20s and 30s. Mm-hmm. Because as time went on, people will be like, Oh crap. Have you seen Ernest scared stupid? Cause it like, it like scarred me for life as a child because Ernest is so goofy. The Ernest movies are so goofy. They're so fun. I've always loved them. And, Scares Stupid, of course, was always my favorite because my favorite thing was spooky stuff at Halloween.

But the monster is really scary. The Kyoto Brothers did the effects, right?

They basically reused Killer Clown from Outer Space.

Yeah.

I mean, once you see that, you can't unsee it.

And that's their design style as well, anyway. Yeah, so the effects were done by the guys who made Killer Clowns from Outer Space, legendary effects artists. There are real stakes... Real evil enters the town and Ernest has to stop them and pardon the pun, in earnest.

Yes.

He does. Because the stakes feel so real, even though Ernest P. Worrell is the lead.

Yeah.

It really works. Oh, it does. And it really makes you appreciate a scary movie where you have a satisfying ending. Yeah.

And I mean, also like the one thing that surprised me, because I only saw it for the first time like five years ago. I did not grow up with this movie.

How?

I don't know.

I feel like I would have forced you to watch it sooner than that.

At some point, yeah. But I was more so surprised by the children in peril aspect of it, because they do not mess around.

No, no, no. Well, and that was one of the first... First three? I think Ernest Goes to Camp was the first to be on, which was the first Ernest movie, was the first to be on Blue. Yeah. But Ernest Scared Stupid came to Blue really early on, and it was because, I think, it was because of all the millennials who... Yeah. Would collect it immediately.

Because Camp, Scared Stupid, and Christmas are like the top three in most people's echelon.

I would say so.

Yeah. But yeah, Ernest Scared Stupid, currently available on Fandango to rent or buy, but also streaming right now on Amazon Prime in the U.S. But yeah, that is 1991's Ernest Scared Stupid. You can find it where I just said you can. This is just one that is really, really fun and pretty twisted as well.

I can't believe you Yeah, I can't believe you didn't see that.

It was Ernest was always was was always there. One of the first Ernest movies I ever saw was Ernest in the Army because I always remember him eating the fruit snacks and then puking on the sergeant.

I mean, that sounds right.

Yeah. into another cut from Disney that is absolutely terrifying and also readily available on Disney +. And we also mentioned Farooza Balk earlier, so let's mention her again in 1985's Return to Oz. Because if you want to talk about gateway horror, this is just horror.

No, Return to Oz. I mean, if you thought Wizard of Oz is a gateway to horror, Return to Oz is just a horror film.

Horror film entirely. Dorothy, saved from the psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams and makes delightful new friends and dangerous new enemies. This is her returning to Oz as Farooza Balk, and she finds out that Oz is really in shambles. A evil witch has moved in and really screwed things up.

When I say an evil witch, I also should mention that she has multiple heads in this movie because that is one of the scariest things about her is she has a cabinet, a glass cabinet full of heads.

Why would that be scary?

Yeah, that she wears and also that her henchmen have wheels for hands and feet. This movie's terrifying.

And another great example of a massive Disney flop.

Oh, how much?

$ 28 million budget. 11 million at the box office. Ouch.

I know it played HBO like incessantly. That was one thing that had its claim to fame. This was one that I saw early on because for some reason in my family, we had a picture book of Return to Oz that was like an old ex-library copy. And I'm three or four years old flipping through this thing and seeing a glass case full of heads and wheelie people.

And I'm just like, what the hell is this? It's Return to Oz, baby. Yeah, Return to Oz is definitely one. If you are a Wizard of Oz fan and you've never seen Return to Oz, this is the year to do it. And this is the time to do it because, like I said, this movie is unsettling, but also a genuinely good film on top of that as well. And I always love the tagline, all new adventure down the yellow brick road, because that just says that it just seems screaming kid friendly. And this movie is and isn't at the same time.

Well, I mean, the books, it's based on our kids' books. They're just very scary kids' books, if I remember correctly.

No, absolutely. So, yeah, Return to Oz, 1985, currently available on Disney +. You can also rent it from Fandango and Apple. Moving into the 2000s once again, let's go with another classic that has really, really found its audience over the years, and that is 2009's Coraline, directed by Henry Selnick.

Oh, okay. I was.

not the biggest fan of Coraline for the longest time. I didn't really have necessarily anything against it. It was just one that I really hadn't latched onto. I'd seen it once. I think I rented it when I was in junior high or something like that. And the more that I've gone back to Coraline, A, it's a really good movie, but B, there are legitimately terrifying images in this, even for an adult.

I mean, there's a reason. It's a pretty well-loved movie. I've not seen it.

You've never seen Coraline?

No.

So the plot of Coraline is wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town. 11-year-old Coraline discovers the hidden door to a strangely idolized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice. If you have not seen the meme, this is the movie that has the woman with buttons for eyes and mouths sewn up and whatnot. I mean, this has, like I said, some terrifying imagery in it.

But Coraline is a really, really good kids movie. It's a really good gateway horror film. And it has really taken off to a point of getting its cult fandom, I would say, too.

I mean, I've never heard anything but good things about it. And it's from the same director who did A Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, which was a very big deal when I was a kid. So, yeah, I mean, that alone should tell you. you know, all you need to know.

Voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Terry Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Don French, Keith David, Robert Bailey Jr., Ian McShane. I mean, the list goes on and on with this. Currently available right now to rent or buy on Fandango. You can also stream it on Hulu as well as the Roku channel. So Coraline from 2009, you know, if you have not seen Coraline, definitely check that one out. And if you have kids, maybe put them in front of the TV too on that one. They might enjoy that.

Yeah, and it rhymed.

So moving back into a little bit more current one, let's go with Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween from 2018.

Also rhymed. Yes, it did. I mean, anything with Goosebumps is going to be a perfect gateway for kids. I mean, I grew up on Fear Street and Goosebumps, and I think they made a massive influence on everything about my life.

Yeah. Goosebumps 2 synopsis. Be careful what you wish for. With their after-school junk business, best friends Sonny and Sam hope to find treasure in other people's trash, but when cleaning out an old stein house, they open a locked book that frees a supernatural nightmare, Slappy. Now, with the help of Sonny's sister, Sarah, they're in a race against time to find the sinister dummy and all the creatures he's brought back to life into the pages before he unleashes total pandemonium. Also includes probably one of our favorite jokes of all time for a Goosebumps movie, which is there's a scene... where Jack Black, as R.L. Stine, is wandering the streets, all the chaos is broken out, and a red balloon floats past a sewer, and Jack Black goes,

I knew I wrote that!

I knew I wrote that first. No, both of those Goosebumps films are great, but yeah, the second one taking place on Halloween.

Yeah, super, super fun. It has a lot of great creatures in it, it's got a lot of great humor, and the cast, I mean, you got Jeremy Ray Taylor, you got Ken Jeong, Chris Parnell, Bryce Kast, a bunch of people in this one, and the chaos that ensues actually occurs on Halloween night, if I'm not mistaken, as well.

I'm pretty sure you're right.

And that's why it's called Haunted Halloween. So yeah, Goosebumps 2, Haunted Halloween, currently available to stream on Netflix as well as you can rent it on Plex, Fandango, and Apple TV. If you haven't seen any of the Goosebumps movies, definitely add those into your lineup this year. They are a lot of fun. Really, really like those movies. I really wish we could get a third one at this point.

Yeah, really. I kind of assumed there'd be one, but... Well, didn't we get that weird Didn't we get a really weird Goosebumps series?

Oh, we got the TV series with David Schwimmer and Justin Long, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, which I feel bad I never finished it.

It was good, though.

I remember getting more and more fascinated the longer I went into it. Yeah, yeah.

So let's go into another Netflix one that really, really took my storm. Not going to talk about this one long. That is 2025's K-Pop Demon Hunters, directed by Chris Applehans and Maggie Kang. When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey aren't selling out stadiums, they're using their secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats. 100%, this is a great gateway horror film, or in general, just a good film.

It's got a great soundtrack, a lot of fun animation, a lot of fun monsters, and some really well-handled topics that are not what you expect in a kids' movie sometimes, I would say. Have you seen it yet?

Oh, no, I haven't had a chance. It's actually a lot of fun. I don't doubt that it's not good.

Yeah.

People are really, really into it.

I mean, Criterion's putting it out on 4K.

Good for them.

But yeah, K-Pop Demon Hunters, that is another one that I would recommend. Like I said, a lot of fun, a lot of great music in that one, and readily available, of course, to stream on Netflix, because that's the only place that has it until that 4K comes out.

That's how they do business.

Let's move back a little bit into 1997 with another Disney one that, again, was really, really hard to find for a while. There was a very out of print DVD from Echo Bridge. Otherwise than that, this one was not even on Disney Plus, still not on Disney Plus to this day. And that is 1997's Under Wraps, directed by Greg Beeman. A comedy adventure in which three 12 year olds have a close encounter with a 3000 year old mummy. Marshall, Gilbert, and Amy accidentally set the mummy free, but if they don't get him back to his resting place by midnight on Halloween, he'll turn into dust and lose his only chance of being reunited with his long-lost love.

This was a Disney Channel staple when I was a kid.

You know what? I've seen it.

Have you seen it?

Yeah. I was going to say you had to have, yeah. It took me a second, but I watched it. They did a remake. Yeah, in 2021?

Yeah, that is available on Disney +, but this is the original from 1997. currently available on YouTube and has been there for a bit, so I would recommend checking it out there. Otherwise, you want to spend, I think, $ 80 to $ 100 on the DVD now. But super fun movie. It's got a lot of play on horror. Marshall is a huge horror fan, so his room's decked out with a bunch of stuff. Even opens with a fake horror movie as well, too. The whole last half of the movie takes place on Halloween. One of my favorite scenes in this movie, as of recent, because I watched it about a year ago, is the mummy ends up stumbling into a drive-thru and orders a bunch of food. To get a total of like 24 bucks for like six cheeseburgers,

a bunch of fries and soda. And I miss those days.

I remember those days better than you.

You probably do.

I was driving a car when it was that cheap. But yeah. No, this one's super charming and I really loved it.

No, it's very cute.

Yeah, this one's a really great addition to your lineup.

I cannot speak on the remake, mainly because I just haven't been able to make To get myself to push play on it because I love the original so much. This was one that I grew up with as a kid. I mean, I would have been five when this came out. So I may have even caught the premiere on Disney Channel. Who knows? Because my grandparents had Disney Channel at this point.

That's how I saw this. My grandma had recorded it on a VHS. So that's how this movie stuck with me through years. But yeah, Under Wraps 1997, currently available on YouTube. Or if you want to pay extensively for a DVD, it is out there.

I like how it's like my grandma taped me Under Wraps. I'm like, my great aunt taped me Freddy's Dead. We're not the same.

We're not the same. And speaking of we're not the same, let's go with a sequel that is, in my opinion, opinion, I don't want to say it's better than the original, but damn, I love this movie. And that is 1990s Gremlins 2, the new batch directed by Joe Dante.

I could see that one being more Halloween-y, but also it is... It is more kid-friendly.

100%.

In some way.

In some ways, yeah. There's still some humor in there.

Well, yeah. And because Gremlins 1 has a lot more big scare moments. Yeah.

And I mean, there's still scary stuff in this one, obviously, too. Here they grow again. Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in high-tech office park, and soon reunite with a friendly and lovable gizmo. But a series of accidents create a whole new generation of gremlins.

The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers. making them even harder to destroy. Once again, returning is Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates. We've got a great performance by John Glover in this as a, as a tycoon. Uh, my God, I love, I love this movie.

I love that. You also get, um, Robert Prosky.

Yeah.

And you get kind of like a, like a, Horror host kind of character.

Yeah.

Robert Picardo's in there.

Christopher Lee, Dick Miller. I mean, this is just a really, really fun one that really is aimed more towards kids with its humor. But there is some still scary stuff in it. It's got a lot of great jokes in it, though, and a lot of great cameos. I mean, even the ones we haven't named yet, there's still there's still plenty of popping up in this movie. Yeah.

Gremlins 2 was the one I rewatched the most as a kid. And it definitely has that kind of frenetic kids Halloween energy. Even though it doesn't take place on Halloween, it definitely has that vibe. So I think that's a really solid recommendation.

Currently available to stream on HBO Max. You can also rent it from Fandango or Apple. If you are a fan, I would recommend there is a Blu-ray double feature of both. So if you don't have either of the Gremlins movies, that's a great way to get it. I don't think it's hit 4K yet, which actually kind of surprised me.

Yeah, I don't think so.

But once it does, I'm going to definitely get that because I love Gremlins 2 New Batch 1990 directed by Joe Dante. Available, like I said, on Max and Fandango. So make sure you check that one out as we are beginning to wrap up Gateway. We'll go to the second to last one, which is another personal favorite of mine.

And again, another great one. Let's go with 2002's live action Scooby Doo movie, because why the hell not?

The one written by James Gunn?

The one originally written by James Gunn, yes. Directed by Raja Gosnell. Be afraid, be kind of afraid, when the Mystery Inc. gang is invited to Spooky Island, a popular amusement park. They soon discover that the attractions aren't the only things that are spooky. Strange things are happening, and it's up to Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma to uncover the truth behind the mysterious happenings. This is, of course, the live action with Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini. Rowan Atkinson in this one as well as Ilsa Fisher and you've got a really fun performance by Sugar Ray in this as well if you want to date this movie any further.

I mean as if it were possible yeah but Scooby Doo.

Live action if you have not seen that or if your kids haven't seen it this is such a fun movie that honestly even though it's got it's dated CGI moments it's still a lot of fun got a lot of great performances in it a really good soundtrack as well too and Spooky Island is still a place that I really want to fucking visit I.

Mean, it's literally a living cartoon. I mean, it's a cartoon movie, but it's live action. So, I mean, I think you can forgive the cheesy digital animation.

I would say so. But yeah, Scooby-Doo and even Scooby-Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed, both are phenomenal films. Of course, you know, Matthew Lillard really got his claim to fame in this one as Shaggy, and he's definitely earned it as the rest of the cast. So that is currently available to rent on Fandango, Plex, and Apple. But as we mentioned earlier, officially up on YouTube.

Oh yeah, I mean, that doesn't shock me.

Yeah, so that is Scooby-Doo from 2002. And rounding out the gateway horror, this is kind of a cheat because of A, the runtime on it, and B, it's not technically a movie. That is from 1929, The Skeleton Dance by Walt Disney, the five-minute short.

Oh, okay, yeah, I remember.

This is one that I've basically started kicking off my Halloween season with, because again, A, five minutes, but it's just a lot of fun. It's just the clock strikes midnight, the bats fly from the belfry, A dog howls at the full moon and two black cats fight in the cemetery. A perfect time for four skeletons to come out and dance a little bit. A really, really cute short available on Disney +. It is kind of the perfect thing if you're wanting to get in that spooky mood. I would say while you decorate the house, but again, you got five minutes and then it's done.

Well, you know, the skeleton dance is public domain as of January of last year, too. So you could probably find it anywhere. Elsewhere.

Yes, I would imagine so. But yeah, that is going to round out the gateway horror. So skeleton dance, a perfect one. to check out if you are wanting to get the kids and yourself into the halloween season let us move into seasonal rewatches so these are movies that i've moved into my halloween rotation and i think you should too both for their feel they may take place on halloween or just have halloween vibes And so we're going to kick that off with one that I like, but man, a lot of people love this movie way more.

And that is 1998's Practical Magic, directed by Griffin Dunn. Oh, wow.

Does it have to do with the sequel coming out?

The sequel that is out and apparently has people split as well. I.

You know, I had that chance to keep up with it because as spooky season was starting, I was very like, you know, busy.

Yeah.

But, uh, it looks like it's doing okay. $ 75 million budget, 93 million box office. It's not a massive hit.

No, but it's doing, yeah, it's definitely doing well. But yeah, we're talking about the original from 1998, uh, with, uh, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stocker Channing, Diane Weiss says, uh, Sally and Jillian Owens born into a magical family have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Jillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angeloff dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallett growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line. So the one thing that I'm going to say about Practical Magic is every time I go back to this movie, I absolutely do have a blast with it.

But my God, you can see the studio interference in this movie. The plot is an absolute mess.

Yeah? Yeah. It's been a while since I watched it. This was what I would have called my sister's kind of movie because I had an older sister growing up. Practical Magic, Death Becomes Her, those were all very popular with teenage girls in the 90s. which my sister was one, although actually she might've been in her twenties by then, but still, uh, but I've always, I've always had a soft spot for those films, but I haven't seen the original practical magic in a very long time.

Still holds up really cute movie. Um, it's got Halloween feel out the ass with just the witchy vibes. Uh, I want to live in that house that her aunts have for one. I mean, it's just a really fun movie. That's pretty, that pretty, uh, enjoyable for the family. There's, there's some content to it, but overall, I mean, it's a PG 13, uh, I wouldn't say horror film. It's a scary-ish movie, but Practical Magic is a lot of fun, regardless of the plot that's messed up in that movie.

My God, you cannot not tell anymore.

Fair enough.

But yeah, yeah, that is 1998's Griffin Dunn's Practical Magic currently streaming on HBO Max. You can also rent it on Fandango and Plex as well. And again, you can get yourself ready for the sequel that my mom actually really did enjoy, by the way, because I was afraid it was going to have that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feel to it. And luckily, she said it wasn't like that.

Okay, fair enough. I mean, I thought it wouldn't come off as too chintzy. No.

So moving on into seasonal rewatches, another one that has kind of fallen into my rotation over the years. Unexpected one that I just didn't know if I was going to like, A, because I didn't know how this director would handle a children's film, and that is 2018's The House with the Clock in Its Walls by Eli Roth.

I had a feeling when you said, when you built up the director. Yeah.

So this is when 10-year-old Lewis is suddenly orphaned. He is sent to live with his uncle Jonathan in a creaky and creepy old mansion with a mysterious ticking noise that emanates from the walls. Upon discovering that his uncle was a warlock, Lewis begins learning magic, but when he rebelliously resurrects an evil warlock, he must find the secret of the house and save the world from destruction. This has an amazing cast in it, such as Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle McLaughlin, Colin Camp. This is one that is, you know, like I said, it's a children's film, but Again, it has really, really good scares to it, has a really good story to it, and is genuinely a lot of fun. It was a Black

Friday pickup of all things years ago. That's how I found it in my life. But it was one that really surprised me on how much I enjoyed it.

I mean, it's from the same writer as 2005's film Boogeyman.

Oh.

Kripke wrote a lot of interesting stuff. I've never seen this one, unfortunately. I missed out on it, but I have not heard a bad word about it. about the film so I think it's a it's a solid pick.

Yeah 2018's House of the Clock on the Walls not only does it have a really really fun Jack Black performance because you know what movie does it for that matter but he's not in yeah I mean that's fair okay Kyle MacLachlan is really really scary in this movie I will say too and that is one thing that I really have always stuck in my brain he's got one scene where his face morphs and it is kind of the stuff of nightmares fair enough currently available to stream on netflix also rentable on apple tv and fandango house of the clock on its walls from 2018 directed by eli roth another great one if you are looking for a seasonal feel which moves us into a 90s film that i just saw for the first time this

year uh despite this film being a hundred percent uh we'll just say my shit and that is 1992's demonic toys directed by that.

You never saw demonic toys um it.

Was one that i was always aware of. Full moon is one of those companies that it's just like, I know of certain titles that I've enjoyed and I know certain titles exist. I've just never really gotten to them until this year and last year.

Honestly, I grew up in the heyday of full moon being a home video company and just owning the shelves of Hollywood video. Yeah. with full moon films. And that went until like the early two thousands.

Yeah.

Um, and this was one that actually was hard to get ahold of for a minute because of the paramount era full moon movies. And I think the first time I saw demonic toys from start to finish because it had been on HBO and stuff for dozens of times was when it was on William Shatner's full moon fright night on sci-fi channel, which I, ah, That was a special time. My heart was so broken when it got canceled.

Cause I, you know, just settled everything at a Saturday night to watch William Shatner's full moon fright night. It was so fun. It was so cheap. Um, and Bill Shatner was clearly into it, but not that into it. Like there were some of them where I swear they would cut back. They would cut to him and he would do like one gag. Like, I mean, like it'd be like 18 seconds and then it would go to the, like, I think that they just the production wasn't very well done.

The one thing that I was surprised that it had never gone on my radar is the movie takes place entirely on Halloween.

What?

Yeah.

I didn't remember that.

Halloween night. So Halloween night is when the movie takes place. The plot synopsis says while on a stakeout, Judith Gray, a beautiful tough cop, is trapped inside a warehouse full of toys that have been awakened to murderous life by a strange child of darkness. It is extremely ridiculous. Demonic toys.

I mean, I think that's putting it pretty lightly. Yeah.

I mean, you've got a bunch of toys that are going after these people that have invaded this factory. There's a mob plot at the very beginning that gets them into the factory. There's a possession story going on as well with this. There is a lot of things to happen in the... What runtime is it? It's like super freaking quick.

It's got to be 80-some. 83.

Yeah, 83 minutes. Yeah, 83-minute runtime. A lot happens in Demonic Toys. It is a wild movie. But also just has those good scares to it. And like I said, it takes place on Halloween. So if you are looking for something and necessarily doesn't have a Halloween feel to it, because I don't really think there's much like trick-or-treating or anything.

But no, it is in the plot of it. So Demonic Toys from 1992, a lot of fun and a very wild flick that is exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from Full Moon. Currently streaming right now on Tubi Prime as well as the Roku channel. So it is readily available out there. So if you haven't seen Demonic Toys yet, Cannot recommend that one enough, just even for its runtime.

And just so you can be fully prepared to watch Dollman versus Demonic Toys.

That movie's a mess.

Yeah, it is.

But Dollman's great.

Oh, yeah.

So let's move into one that everybody knows, but when's the last time you watched it? And that is 1999's The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. You know, what is there to say about this movie, except that it's kind of fucking perfect?

Yeah, I would have to say so. I mean, it's got, it's got great, I mean, like industry establishing performances.

Yeah.

It's got the twist that everybody knows now, but at the time it was a heck of a, of a reveal. It's, it's a solid film. It leaves you feeling creeped out. It works.

It works so well. It's a phenomenal ghost story. Uh, following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist, Malcolm Crow meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret, uh, spoilers.

He sees dead people. It's true.

It is true. But the reason I put this on the list is not only is it a phenomenal ghost story, but on top of that, even if you know the twist, still going back to this movie, it has not lost its effect at all. I would agree. There's so many things you can pick up on that second, third watch, whatever you want to call it. Bruce Willis, Haley Jo Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg. Huge cast in this one, and this was the one that put M.

Night on the map.

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, without a doubt. Yeah. It was one of the most influential horror films of a generation.

I don't know. I mean, you know, you and I have seen multiple M. Night movies and theaters. I don't know if he's ever hit this point again, but he's definitely come close. I mean, Split is probably one that I would say almost matches the veracity of this one.

Yeah. I mean, yeah. No, I would actually have to agree.

Yeah.

Because I keep forgetting. I mean, I love Split. I keep forgetting what a solid horror film it is because it all... heads toward the epic of glass.

Yeah.

Which is not so much a horror film as it is like an adventure fantasy.

Yeah.

But split really scary. And, but for different reasons.

For different reasons, I will be. Yeah. Six cents, 1999 currently available on Peacock as well as Fandango. Um, if you have not seen it in a bit, or if you've never seen it, there's people out there that just know the twist and then never saw it. This is the time to check out the six cents. The movie still has its impact to it. And it is just genuinely a great ghost story. Yeah. So moving on, let's go into something a little bit more lighter, but one that I and you both had a blast with in theaters.

That is Boo! A Madea Halloween from 2016, directed by Tyler Perry.

I love Boo! A Madea Halloween. I don't care what anybody thinks. And I saw Boo! in the best possible way. I saw it in a rural Georgia movie theater. And it was awesome. I thought it was so funny. That's another good way to see it. But I got to hear people chuckling. They had to hear me laughing, which I'm sure was a lot of fun for them. But I think this one's hilarious. I know for a lot of people, Medea is not their thing. But Boo, in particular, is a very accessible Medea movie. You don't have to know everything about Medea to think it's funny. The interactions between all the characters are great. And also.

Honestly, with that film especially, I just would marvel in awe at Tyler Perry playing all of these characters in one scene. And the scenes would be long and feel improvised, but there's no way to really improvise because he's playing every character. which means at least four hours of makeup. It just blew my mind when I realized how that was going. But also just some legitimately funny things. Boo 2 is pretty good as well. I like that they took a totally different direction. But Boo is just the one for me.

Yeah, Boo Madea Halloween says, Madea winds up in the middle of mayhem when she spends a hilarious haunted Halloween fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls, and zombies while keeping a watchful eye on a group of misbehaving teens. It is super funny. It's got so many references to popular horror films, both Boo and Boo 2. So if you have not seen either of these movies, this is definitely one to put on the list. Even if you're not a Tyler Perry fan, take a chance at this one.

You may find yourself really enjoying it.

Yeah, I think you'd be surprised.

Yeah. So that is currently available to rent on Fandango. You can also rent it on Plex and play it on the Roku channel as well, where it is streaming for quote unquote free right now.

Yeah.

So that is Boom! A Dia Halloween 2016. Moving on, let's go into one. This is a question I get pretty common because people know me as the movie guy, but also the horror guy. And they always ask me, you know, what's the scariest movie that you've seen or what's one you've seen recently? The first time I watched this movie, I genuinely had to stop it halfway and then watch it the rest in the morning. And that is 2012's VHS.

Oh. Yes. Really?

I was in college, and it was late at night, and it was shortly after the siren story, which I think might even be the first story, that I just was like, aye, this is too much.

That surprises me.

I know, yeah. So 2012's VHS, directed by David Bruckner, Matt Benolpen, several other directors in this. This collection is killer, says the tagline. When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire one rare VHS tape, They discover more found footage than they had bargained for. You may be worn out on the VHS movies by this point. I think we're up to like, what, eight?

I think the eighth one is coming out in October of this year.

But if there is one thing that I can recommend to you, go back to the original source. Because that first VHS movie not only captures the feel of the VHS, it doesn't feel like we're putting a widescreen movie on a VHS tape like some of them have lately.

Yeah, I would agree with that.

But overall, the stories are great. And what people forget is even though VHS Halloween has come out, which may be on the list later, hint, hint, wink, wink, VHS ends with a Halloween story, which are the guys going into the house during the Halloween party and thinking that the cult thing that's happening is part of the initiation.

And it's not. VHS is just a really well done set of stories in this first one. Not only does it have a great cast of up-and-comers at this point, I mean, you've got Adam Weingart in it, you've got Joe Swanberg is in this, a bunch of people in this one. The siren story kicking it off is really scary. The couple on a trip through a Grand Canyon area is fine, but overall, I think the first story and the last story are the strongest in this, but it's not a bad compilation at all. And it is a good reminder of where it started versus where we are now, which again, No complaints to the VHS series. I'm happy they're still going. I've enjoyed them for what they are.

But the first one from 2012 is a phenomenal addition to your Halloween lineup.

I would have to say so. I mean, I think the great thing, the thing that works really well with the VHS movies is the anthology format. Because if one or two of them don't connect with you, for the most part, they're all very short. Yep. With some exceptions in the later series where you might be like, wow, this one's like 31 minutes long.

Yeah.

But for the most part, you know, if you're not fully in love with it, it's like, well, just wait a minute. It's like going to see the Ramones. It's like, oh, if you don't like the song, don't worry. The next one's coming right up.

Yeah. VHS also, uh, the first one has a really good strong wraparound, I would say, which is one thing that they really had a little lackluster on as the series has gone. But the first one with them going into the house, finding these mountains of VHS tapes, it's a very eerie feel to it. It's got a lot of good scares in it. It's got some humor to it.

So VHS 2012 currently available to you can currently stream it on Amazon Prime, Fandango, Roku channel. It is out there where you are looking. So make sure you add that into your Halloween lineup.

Yeah, I think that's a very good addition.

Let's go into more seasonal rewatches with a absolute classic. Um, and that is going to be 1989 pet cemetery directed by Mary Lambert. I mean, what can you say? It's pet cemetery.

I would say hopefully a lot. Cause it's a podcast, but no pet cemetery was in a lot of ways. One of the first really scary movies I remember. Yeah. As in, I had seen, you know, horror movies on TV and, and things like that had been around a lot, but I, I, I can't say exactly when, but I remember my memory of Pet Sematary was always like, that's a really scary movie. It doesn't have Jason or Freddy or Pinhead. It's just a really scary movie.

And it felt almost wrong as a kid because it was literally a killer kid. At the end. At the end, yeah.

Spoilers.

Shut up. But I would honestly even say, if you haven't seen... The first three. So that would be Pet Sematary, Pet Sematary 2, and even the remake. I think those three are worth watching. I didn't see Bloodlines.

I didn't hear much about it. It was okay. It wasn't great. But no, 2 I think is horribly underrated. Oh, yeah. Great, great 90s vibe going on with it. But yeah, Pet Sematary is a great one that just kind of. nails to me it's kind of yeah like i said the quintessential creepy horror film.

No absolutely i mean if you're not familiar with it uh after the creeds family cat is accidentally killed a friendly neighbor advises his burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery they may also bury some other things in that cemetery as well so you got a family that's moved into an area uh there's a cemetery that is around that is an Indian burial ground and they are suggested not to put anything in it, but something might go in it.

There's a lot of horrifying scenes in this one. There's a lot of good tension and a lot of good suspense and overall just unsettling vibes all throughout. I mean, even if you're not talking about Gage with the scalpel at the end, you know, you've got Rachel's sister and whatnot. I mean, there's a bunch of creepy things in Pet Sematary.

And honestly, it is one that surprisingly, it's out there, but I would have thought it would have been streaming at this point. You can rent it on Fandango, Plex, or Apple TV, but there's a great 4K out there. There's a great Blu-ray. So if you are looking for some scary vibes, some classic scary vibes, some great Stephen King, Pet Sematary from 1989 is one that you definitely want to check out.

And a closing theme by the Ramones, which I was just talking about.

Yes, you were. So Pet Sematary 1989, add that into your lineup for a good scary time. Even more of a scary time, let's move into one that really, really took people by storm. Has been voted, if I'm not mistaken, by a... Oh my god, I can't think of what the word is, but... I think it was a poll that this is one of the most, if not the most scariest. That is 2012's Sinister, directed by Scott Derrickson.

This is, if you're not familiar, true crime writer Ellison Oswalt is in a slump. He hasn't had a bestseller in more than 10 years, and it is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves into the family home, into the victim's home, and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues reveal Hint at the presence of a supernatural force, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal. This is, of course, the Ethan Hawke horror film from 2012. Sinister not only has a great sequel, I think Sinister 2 is really good too, but the first Sinister, genuinely really fucking scary.

Yeah, this is the tricky thing. I mean, number one, any film that has a series that follows it, you kind of will forget how strong that first movie was. Yeah. Especially when they're more on the modern era, when they're, you know, from the early 2000s. Yeah. Or even mid to, you know, late 2000s. Because Sinister, the first Sinister, super scary. Yeah.

First Insidious.

Super scary.

First Saw. Yeah. Phenomenal. You know, but it's easy to forget whether you love the, Direction the series took or don't, it doesn't really matter. You'll just kind of, it just kind of becomes a conglomeration. And then you sit down and just watch sinister or just watch insidious, especially sinister.

And you'll get creeped. I actually saw that one. The first time I saw that was at the drive-in and it, it got me several times with its. With its big jump scares.

And if you're not familiar, this is also written by C. Robert Cargill. He is the guy behind The Black Phone. He has also done recently The Gorge, Doctor Strange. I mean, he's a great writer. And Sinister is genuinely one of those movies where it's the less you see is the more scary it is. There's definitely scary moments and violent moments in this. But overall, it's surprisingly tame for what you think you may be getting into with a movie about a snuff film.

Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah, sure.

It has still one of the best scares of all time from a trailer, which, you know, if you if you've seen the trailer, remember it in theaters, you know exactly what I'm talking about. There are so many great moments that this is one that you really need to put your phone down. You really need to focus on this one to get the full experience of it. Turn the lights off, maybe light a candle. Sinister will give you some chills.

Yeah. No, it will. It'll get to you.

Currently streaming on Hulu as well as Peacock. You can also rent it on Fandango and Apple. Definitely check out Sinister if you have not. You are missing out on one of the best movies in probably the last decade, I would say.

Wow. Some big praise.

I would say so. And moving on to more bigger praise, let's go with an absolute classic as well, and that is 1982's, directed by Tobey Hooper, maybe Poltergeist.

Oh, why are you trying to tick me off? Poltergeist is another film that growing up was kind of just known as the scary movie.

Yeah.

Like it's a scary one. Everybody always remembers the, you know, they moved the graves, but they left the bodies and the, the, you know, rotten corpses in the pool and clown, but, and just, you gotta remember, you know, when I grew up, it was the heyday of the tube television. The tube TVs were on their way out in 2000, uh, as weird as it is. to realize like actually watching dead, like me rewatching it. I'm realizing like, Oh, this was an HD. It was an Oh three. So I'm like, Oh yeah, that was when it started. It was more further back than I realized.

Yeah.

So a TV that's on static was a normal thing. Sometimes. Uh, I remember when I was a kid, I think it was our VCR or maybe it was the Nintendo or something. Um, There was something up with it where when you wanted to switch it over, sometimes you would just get, and it would be loud. Yeah. And it scared me like so bad. I hated the sound of a static TV.

So that really freaked me out in Poltergeist. I always liked Poltergeist, but also Toby Hooper directed Poltergeist. He did. But I know you're saying that to needle me. Yeah. Because I hate when people try to make the argument that he didn't direct Poltergeist. He did. He did. spielberg's influence was all over it but sure he produced it.

But i mean spielberg's influence is on a lot of things but i mean it's.

All over gremlins too and nobody claims dante didn't direct gremlins well.

Maybe joe would probably kick steven's ass at that point.

Yeah i want to i'd pay to watch that fight especially now oh my god when they're both like taking ibuprofen and ben gay and up before they fight.

But uh if you're not familiar with poltergeist The Freeling suburban home becomes the center of paranormal activity or opens a portal to the other side. With the help, they must cross over to get their daughter back. Poltergeist is one of those movies, again, that the pop culture of it means that you may think you know everything about it.

But one of the experiences that I have with Poltergeist that really made me love this movie was one that you were there for. When we went to you, we went separately, but you and I went to Dixie Drive-In for their triple feature that was Poltergeist, Evil Dead 2, and Texas Chainsaw.

That was awesome.

That was an awesome one, yeah.

Yeah, they did a couple of those awesome three-fers. Yeah. The only thing that stank about it was that eventually the three-fers became kind of the same stuff all the time.

Yeah.

Which I get. I get it. Because... Back when film prints were king, getting to go to the drive-in or to the movie theater to see Nightmare on Elm Street was like, whoa.

Oh, yeah.

Getting to see Friday the 13th, whoa, Halloween, any of the Halloween movies, whoa, whoa. I remember for years, I had only ever seen in the theater Halloween 5 because that was the print that people could get.

Could get, yeah.

But now- You know, you just order it from the place, the distributor.

I mean, literally last year on Halloween, I got to see Halloween, Halloween 2 and Halloween 3 at Dixie Halloween night. I mean, there was nothing better than that.

And that is epic. And I'm not saying that it's not good. It's just like, but what you're talking about when they were doing the three furs at the drive-in.

Yeah.

That was like the beginning era of that where they were like, whoa, you know, tonight is Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween. And you're like, whoa. Yeah. And then it's like, you know, next week it's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and something else will be like, whoa. So that was like one of my favorite eras. Yeah.

Poltergeist is genuinely a scary movie. It's got such a fun throwback vibe to it, of course, because like you mentioned, like with the tube television. and the snow and everything i mean it's just this is a movie that again pop culture may make you think that you think know everything about this movie if you haven't seen in a while poltergeist still holds up.

Immaculately yeah i would i would be inclined to agree yes.

So moving us back through seasonal rewatches, let's go with one a little bit more recent.

Oh, okay.

This is kind of a cheat because this is three.

How many of these are a cheat, by the way?

Several.

Is it like 14% cheats by volume?

I think you'll appreciate this one, though, because you can't pick one of these three. You have to just say the entire trilogy. That is 2021's Fear Street trilogy through Netflix.

Okay. Yeah. I don't think you're saying it's cheap because the three of them are the one are one pick. I mean, that's not really a cheat. A cheat would be being like, it's three, and that counts as three from the list. You did the opposite. You're giving a threefer.

Threefer, yeah. So we were talking about Fear Street 1994, 1984, and 1666. These are just really, really fun games. Young adult slashers that are actually kind of pretty hardcore.

They're not young adult slashers. They're based on young adult slashers. But no, they are gruesome, violent, gory, mean-spirited, but a lot of fun.

Directed by Lee Janik is the first one. I think they're, they might, are they all directed by Lee? I can't remember.

I think they are.

Yeah, but 1994, for example, says after a series of, oh, security check. Okay, cool.

Thanks.

What are you doing?

I don't know.

There we go. After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that's plagued their notorious town for centuries, has one of the most brutal kills with a bread slicer, I would say. Do you remember that? It's in my top five of bread slice killers. Oh, yeah, yeah.

No, I remember it, yeah.

So that's 1994. You also have, like I said, 1978, which is in 1978, two rival groups at Camp Nightwing must band together to solve a terrifying mystery when horrors from their town's history come alive. And then we wrap up with 1666, which is 1666, a colonial town is gripped by a hysterical witch hunt that has deadly consequences for centuries to come. And it's up to teenagers in 1994 to finally put an end to their town's curse before it's too late. All three of the movies are tied together, even if they have different stories.

Yeah, they all bring one big piece together.

Yeah.

And they work super well. I remember being so excited because I believe they released one every month. One every month, yeah. In the summer.

Yeah, and this is 2021, so we're talking a year into COVID, basically. We were all excited for these.

Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah.

So, Fear Street series currently available on Netflix, only available on Netflix, if I'm not mistaken. We really need a physical release of those, just so.

Yeah, that's Netflix, you know?

Yeah.

Like, if Criterion said they wanted to do it, they'd let them, but otherwise.

So, sticking with the 90s theme, let's go with another great rewatch, and again, another original that kind of, I wouldn't say has been forgotten, because the series is still going to this day, but that is 1996's Scream, directed by Wes Craven. I mean, this movie still... Holds up 100%.

Scream?

Yeah.

Just a little bit. Just a little bit. There's a reason it's a classic.

Yeah.

The guy reinvented the genre twice. He did it with Nightmare on Elm Street. He did it with Scream. There's a reason Scream connects with people. It really tapped into what young people were into in 1996. Yeah. That's the thing. But it's hard to know that if you weren't there.

Yeah.

But, like, I was there. My sister was the age of the characters in Scream. And I don't know how Wes Craven tapped into that so well, being a guy in his, like, 40s or 50s at that point. Yeah. But he sure did. And Scream deserves to be a classic. I think that's inarguable.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, so even more of a perfect time to revisit it. If you're not mistaken, a year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a mass killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game. I mean, it's Scream. You've either seen it or you haven't.

And if you haven't, you really have a treat to unpack for this Halloween. I mean, the kills are still great. The references are hilarious. The cast is phenomenal. I mean, this movie just had its seventh entry this year. And like I said, we're talking 30 years later. It's still going. So, I mean, there's got to be something worth watching for this one. Yeah.

No, yeah. I couldn't agree more.

Scream available on Plex currently to rent. You can also stream it on Paramount. So it is out there. If you have not seen any of the 4K releases or if you even can track down one of the original box sets that was the, I think it was a three-pack that was Scream 1 through 3 and plus two documentaries that are on Blu-ray, that's a great pack too.

But if you haven't seen Scream in a while, make sure you add that into the lineup. You will have a great time with that. It still holds up. And you may also find yourself watching the rest of the series because, in my opinion, there's really not too many bad ones in them.

Yeah. I'll give you that. Yeah. I'll give you that.

Not too many. Moving on through seasonal rewatches, let's go into the one that Hen loves to make fun of me for because I was a kid born under a hot topic moon, so naturally I must love 2001's Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly.

Of course you do. Yeah, yeah.

Of course you do. I, to this day, still have never seen a theatrical cut. I've only seen the director's cut. So this year I'm actually going to fix that and watch the theatrical. But Donnie Darko, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes. This is Jake Gyllenhaal, Jenna Malone, James Duvall, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Weil, even a young Seth Rogen appearing in this as well. It's a weird movie.

I'm not going to deny that. I don't think anybody will. Joe Bob had a great breakdown for this movie, and he showed it a while back. But Donnie Darko is really perfect for Halloween because not only does the ending take place on Halloween, it just has a very eerie feel to it. It is very universal in the sense of you don't know what is happening, but there's a lot going on.

Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, and overall, it just really... Holds up, in my opinion. I've probably seen this movie close to ten times at this point in my life, if not more. Probably more, honestly. I'm probably just not being honest at this point. But Donnie Darko is a great Halloween pick. It is, again, a time capsule piece, early 2000s, and this was actually put out right before the towers went down, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, which is kind of interesting if you think about the subject content of it, too.

So Donnie Darko, 2001, currently streaming on Hulu as well as Amazon Prime, Tubi, and you can also find it any other places. There's a great 4K that's available from Arrow of it now that has both cuts of it on there. But if you haven't seen Donnie Darko, it's a weird one, but you may find yourself really liking it.

There is a lot of feel to it for the spooky season, so I cannot recommend it enough. I mean, hell, you got a giant, really creepy-ass bunny rabbit in this movie.

And how.

And how indeed.

I think it's a good pick.

Go back into a classic for another seasonal rewatch. One that I had the pleasure of revisiting this year that I just was reminded again that Stephen King really does have some great movies out there that kind of get buried by some of the bad ones. That is 1985's Silver Bullet, directed by Dan Atayas. Silver Bullet is just one of the most underrated werewolf movies, if I'm being honest.

Yeah, no, I think that's a fair assessment. Silver Bullet is... It's got a great atmosphere. It's 80s as all get out. It kind of feels like a good companion almost to The Lost Boys, even though it's much less in your face.

And homoerotic.

Debatable.

Debatable. Especially that church scene with all the people.

And you got Gary Busey.

And Gary Busey. I mean, Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn. Where is the one guy that is the priest? I can never remember his name, but he is so good in this movie. Small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of mysterious hairy creatures soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's only one boy who's still outside. This is such a wild movie, but is really, really scary still. The opening attack, especially like the werewolf through the window, the werewolf on the train tracks. There's a lot of memorable scenes in this, and like Hen mentioned earlier, Gary Busey is top Busey in this.

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I think it's a great werewolf movie. It's got great lore behind it, great characters.

Yeah.

I've always thought that it worked really well.

Based on Stephen King's story, The Cycle of the Werewolf, so if you're a Stephen King fan and haven't seen this, Silver Bullet, currently readily available to stream on Paramount. You can also rent it, once again, from Fandango and Apple TV. It is one that I really have come back on. I saw it a lot as a kid on TV and getting to watch it uncut several times now, both for my Blu-ray as well as my digital library. Just a lot of fun in this movie.

Yeah, no, that's a very good pick.

So moving us into the last two of the seasonal rewatches, let's go with another 80s classic. Not much needs to be said about this one because everybody knows 1982's Creepshow directed by George A. Romero.

That is probably the most Halloween movie that has no Halloween reference.

Pumpkin in the Window at the very beginning.

Oh, no, you're right.

So it takes place around Halloween, but we don't get anything else besides that.

Well, or at least the, you know, the wraparound takes place around Halloween. Yeah, the wraparound. That's a fair point.

Yeah.

But it's just got that EC Comics vibe, that shock horror vibe. Creepshow is a crowd pleaser.

Yeah, it is.

It's definitely, that's a great one to put on with your buddies when you're, you know, having your Halloween pizza movie fest. Like you're going to enjoy the hell out of revisiting Creepshow. And if you have any friends who haven't seen it before, go check it out. It makes it 30 times as exciting.

And just to make Hen happy, I'm also going to give a shout out to Creepshow 2 because Creepshow 2 is a lot of fun as well and also has a pretty Halloween feel to it too.

It does. I mean, they carry a similar vibe. It's just that Creepshow... Honestly, Creepshow feels a little bit stodgier.

Yeah.

It's still better. Yeah. But Creepshow, you know, Creepshow has that kind of that vibe. Creepshow 2 feels a little bit more youthful, a little bit more B-movie. 100%. And a little more sleazier. And a little more, yeah, and more pulpy. Yeah. And that, I think, makes it a little bit more of a fun time, especially if that's the kind of thing you're into, if you're into kind of a... More outsider horror space.

And if you're familiar with the Creepshow series that's on Shudder and you've never seen the movie, make sure you check it out. Luckily, they only made two Creepshow movies, so once you see those two, you're done. Not another one exists.

No, not a single Creepshow 3.

Not a single Creepshow 3, but Creepshow 1982, currently available to rent or buy on Fandango or Apple. Once again, also a great 4K recently put out by Shout that I cannot recommend enough. It is out there and waiting for you to find if you have not seen Creepshow. That is probably one of the best Halloween picks on this list that, again, has very little Halloween in it.

And I finally got my cake. And I got my cake, Bedelia.

So rounding out seasonal rewatches, I could think of no better than one that really had an impact on me, and I have not revisited it in a while, and I'm definitely going to do it this year, but that is The one, the only, 1999's The Blair Witch Project.

Yeah. You know what? I'm going to be visiting. No, not revisiting. Visiting for the first time are the two Showtime documentaries.

Oh, nice.

That were made later on. One's about, I think, about Rustin Parr.

Yeah.

Which is all Blair Witch Project era. It's all Blair Witch lore. Yeah. But I have them now, and I've never seen them, and I've heard they're actually really creepy.

You've got the festival cut, too, now, I think, too, with that box set.

I thought we watched it.

We did not.

Oh no, I watched it with Rachel.

Okay.

Yeah. It's, it's, I mean, it's, it's not better, but it's definitely fascinating because you could see like the little things they cut out and the music's different a little bit and the sound mix is a little bit different. Um, no, I was, I'm glad I imported that because it was worth it.

But yeah, Blair Witch Project, for those who are not aware, I don't know how you couldn't be, but anyway, in October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later, their footage was found. One of the most notorious found footage films, this one, was breaking down, I mean, everybody's door around the release of Halloween in 99. My mom literally watched this while passing out candy. She had rented it from Hollywood Video, watched it while passing out candy.

This movie was being so talked about, and the Curse of the Blair Witch documentary was playing on SyFy Channel so much, I convinced my mother to take us to the theater, because I had to see it right away, and I was so unsettled.

Yeah, no, I mean, it is one that still has the impact to it. You know, I will give you some some precursor to it that there is a lot of shaky cam in this movie that I did not remember the last time I watched it.

So I never had a problem with it. Some people said they got like motion sick in the theater. I did not have that issue.

No, I didn't either. Blair Witch Project. I mean, what more can be said about it? It is iconic for all the right reasons. It is still scary to this day and has had two sequels or three. Two.

Two.

Because Book of Shadows and then Blair Witch.

Yep.

Which, not bad movies. I'm a defender of Blair Witch, Book of Shadows.

Of course you are.

You know what?

I liked it when it came out. I didn't even dislike it when it came out. But no, it's definitely getting its due now. Yeah.

But Blair Witch Project 1999, currently available on HBO Max. You can also rent or buy it where you normally get your movies at. So make sure you check that out. If you haven't seen it in a while or haven't seen it at all, it is one that is absolutely perfect for this time of year. That wraps us up on seasonal rewatches. We are halfway through, Hen.

Oh, good. Only an hour and 20 minutes in.

So let's move into underrated Halloween movies, kicking us off with one that I hear like no one talk about. It kind of had a big, big stink when it when it first released. But nobody's talked about this movie. I personally enjoy it. And that is 2016's 31 directed by Rob Zombie.

I have not seen it.

You've not seen it.

I have not.

So, yeah. 31 is the story of five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned hell-like compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive 12 hours against a gang of sadistic clowns. Featuring Sherry Moon Zombie, Richard Brake, Meg Foster, Malcolm McDowell, Daniel Roebuck, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ginger Lynn Allen. The list goes on and on with this one.

This is the most Rob Zombie has ever zombied his zombie little heart out.

Okay, I think I follow what you mean. And it works because of that.

I mean, this is a Rob Zombie film to a T from the overuse of the F word, as we all come to know from those movies. The violence is over the top. It is just a seriously wild and deranged make of The Hunger Games, basically, on Halloween night.

Okay.

So, I mean, you're talking about carnage galore. It has a really, really great Richard Brake performance as Doomhead in this. He basically steals the show. Actually murders Deanna Roebuck in the opening scene, by the way.

Yeah, Roebuck's good at getting killed at the start of things.

He is good in this one especially. So yeah, 31 from 2016. That is going to kick us off for the underrated Halloween movies, which moves us into one that you actually turned me on to, good sir.

Oh.

And that is one of 2025 releases that Shudder had entitled Night of the Reaper.

Oh, yeah. I like Night of the Reaper a lot.

Directed by Brandon Christensen. This movie is wild because it's not what you expect at all from the synopsis.

No. And Night of the Reaper, the reason that was extra special for me was I watched it, I think it was last Halloween season. Yeah. I watched it. I just picked something random on Shudder because it was in October. And I love doing our big shows for October for Weekly Spooky, but I get burnt. out I mean I'm recording every single day like six hours a day yeah forever it feels like and I put that on just praying I could get a little escapism and it grabbed me and I was a few times I was like I don't know I don't know and the ending was just immaculate it was so well thought out so satisfying just damn good feature film there's.

One thing that the ending does that I'm not going to spoil but with a title of Night of the Reaper you just kind of expect a certain song possibly to be In the movie.

Not on that budget.

And oh, no, it's in there. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. No, you're right. Oh, yeah.

No. And it's used perfectly. But the story is college student Deanna visits home and is roped into babysitting. The local sheriff is mailed a piece of evidence and is led on a scavenger hunt to reveal the killer of another babysitter. So you've got a mass killer that's knocking off babysitters in this town. That's just the first 20-ish minutes.

Yeah, it's just getting warmed up.

Just getting warmed up. It is a great B-horror slasher that really snuck out of there from Shudder last year. It is Halloweeny AF, and if you're looking for one that you have probably not seen or heard of, Night of the Reaper from 2025, currently available on Shudder, is one that I cannot recommend enough, and I'm so happy that you texted me about that one.

Yeah, did you ever watch that rental one? Which one was that? The one with the video rental store.

Oh, the last video store? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I thought you did. Yeah, that's a great one, too.

And another one that we had a blast with is our next pick in 1985, director Ruben Galindo Jr. 's Cemetery of Terror.

Hell yeah. Yes.

On Halloween night, a group of bored teens decide to steal a corpse from a local morgue and take it to a nearby cemetery where they perform a satanic ritual, unwittingly reviving a bloodthirsty serial killer. I mean, if you listen to that synopsis and you're like, holy shit, how I've not heard about this movie. Exactly. You you need Cemetery of Terror in your life. You need two to three Ruben Gallardo Jr. movies in your life. Cemetery of Terror, Grave Robbers and Don't Panic.

Yeah. And I they all have a lot to like. I mean, Don't Panic is kind of the most popular one and it's kind of the lamest one, in my opinion. Yes. But man, Cemetery of Terror.

It has carnage. It's got a beautifully done set for the cemetery. There's at one point that basically the kids have snuck into the cemetery, and as they're leaving, the fence shoots out of the ground, locking them in.

Oh, that's one of those memorable things that made me go, holy crap, this movie's awesome.

It is so good. Currently available on YouTube. You can also get a beautiful, beautiful Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome as well. They have put out the three movies that I mentioned as well, and another one that I'm not going to mention that Hannah and I watched recently. Yeah. Yeah, that's a movie.

That's all I got to say about that.

That's all I got to say about that one, yeah. Cemetery of Terror, Grave Robbers, Don't Panic. Any of his 80s horror films, Reuben Gelland Jr., you're going to have a good time with. You've probably never heard of them, or if you have, it may have been in passing. Definitely check out Cemetery of Terror for your Halloween lineup.

It is so much fun, super cheesy, super violent, and just a really, really good time.

Yeah, I could not agree more.

And another good time, let's talk about the one The only 1995's Jacko, directed by Steve Latchaw. Oh, yeah.

No, this is one that deserves a lot of love, and it's gotten a lot of love as it's aged, and Riff Trax did it. It's so fun. It's not meant to be silly. It's not meant to be particularly campy. Nope.

Uh, but it is, I mean, it's, uh, this is a Halloween movie to a T you have a giant jack-o'-lantern figure with a scythe that is knocking out people that, uh, basically aren't respecting the night, honestly.

No.

And, the synopsis says 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 came back to life as Mr. Jack, the pumpkin man. The Kellys proliferated through the years, and when some devil-may-care teens accidentally unleashed Jacko, young Sean Kelly must stop him somehow as his suburban world is accosted and the attrition rate climbs. What a hell of a synopsis you got there.

Yeah, well, Jacko deserves nothing less.

It does deserve nothing less, especially if you're a fan of physical media and you want to have a piece of physical media that is just one that you'll go back to time and time again, Jacko has one of the most infamous commentary tracks on it.

Yeah, even though it's a work. It is a work. It's still very fun. People think that they're actually fighting, but Fred Olin Ray, the producer, and Steve Latchaw, the director- Or, like, going at it a bunch. And it's very funny. Like, Steve gets mad and, like, storms out. And then he gets locked out of the studio. Fred goes over and lets him back in. But that may have really happened. That part might have actually happened. It might have. Knowing Fred pretty well and how close he and Steve Latchaw are as buddies, I think they were just having a good time with it.

But yeah, Jacko is a 100% Halloween movie. Takes place on Halloween night.

Killer has a giant pumpkin head.

Giant pumpkin head. There's a who's who B-horror in it as well in appearances.

Including people who've been dead for almost seven or eight years.

Even when the movie was made.

Yeah.

But Jacko currently streaming on Shudder. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Bob never showed that, did he? Yeah, he did. I think that's when it first got on there. Last Halloween.

That and, god damn, what was the other one he did after Jacko? I'm trying to remember. Was it Beyond the Door 3, maybe?

I think so. That sounds right.

Yeah, but Jacko, 1995 Steve Latchaw, currently streaming on Shudder as well as on Prime and on Plex, on Roku. It is basically anywhere you're looking for it. And if you haven't seen Jacko, absolutely add that into your lineup for an underrated Halloween pick of this year.

And keep your eyes peeled for the bizarrely serious sequel.

It was bizarrely serious.

I really liked it. It was strange and fun. Yeah. And a great way to see Sybil Danning come out of retirement and act one more time.

Yeah, Jacko 2 is going to be coming out very soon, and we do recommend that. So get ready for it with Jacko. Once again, like I said, streaming on Shudder. Moving into another underrated Halloween, another one that I think you and I discovered last year or maybe two years ago. 1991, directed by Doug Robertson's Haunted Ween.

Oh, yeah. Haunted Ween, baby.

One Halloween night, a little girl visiting the Berber Family House of Horrors attraction is brutally hacked to pieces by their young son, Eddie. Having fled the scene, Eddie is taken away by his mother to live in solitude at a remote cabin. 20 years later, the Top Hill State College Sigma Pi fraternity are desperately trying to raise some cash, so they decide to throw a raucous fundraiser party for their peers. In the midst of festivities, a mysterious figure arrives at the door. This is the story of what happens if you and your friends are running a haunt on Halloween night and a serial killer infiltrates it.

Damn right.

And it is a lot of fun.

Total blast.

Total blast. This one was put out by Vinegar Syndrome in their Homegrown Horrors box, but it is actually available right now on Tubi as well as on Fandango. Haunted Ween is 100% a Halloween movie. It takes place on Halloween with you being inside of a haunt, which may be another theme that's coming up here in a little bit.

But this is one that is a lot of fun. It's a decent little slasher. The only thing is the ending really doesn't make much sense, but you still have fun with it anyway.

Yeah, who cares about that?

But yeah, Haunted Ween, 1991, one that Hannah and I just had an absolute blast with, and I'm sure you will too. Moving us in to another one that was a surprise. I don't know if you've seen this one, but I need to show it to you if you haven't.

Is it Evil Dead?

No, it's not Evil Dead. No, it's not Baby Geniuses. This is one that kind of caught me by surprise because sometimes you see certain horror actors, we'll say, on the covers of things, and you're like, oh, that could be either really good or really bad.

Yes.

This has Bill Moseley and Kane Hodder on the cover of it.

What year? 2023. Oh, it could go either way.

Directed by Dan Lance, this is Hayride to Hell.

Oh, I never got around to watching that one, I don't think.

It is so much fun.

There was another haunt movie around that same time.

The one we all watched last year, Haunt Season. That's all we'll say about Haunt Season. Hayride to Hell. A small town farmer exacts his bloody revenge on unscrupulous town folk who try to steal his land. This is the story of Bill Mosley being a poor farmer who has a hayride that's been in his family for years, a whole haunted attraction. Kane Hodder plays the local sheriff along with some people in real estate that are trying to buy the land out from under him. And in a sense, trying to steal it. So he decides to put on one final hayride night and invites them all for just desserts.

It does sound pretty awesome.

Dude, it is so much fun. It is dark. It is like black comedy Halloween horror right here that has one of the most satisfying endings is all I can say. It was one that I put on last year just on a whim. I think I got it cheap off of Fandango, actually, for like two bucks. But Hayride to Hell, currently available on Tubi, Fandango, Plex, and all as well as Apple. This is one that you may look at the cover and be like, that can't be good. I'm telling you here and now, this one is an absolute blast.

If you're looking for one of those fun slasher Halloween horror films, literally takes place on a hayride during Halloween.

I mean, yeah, you can't beat that.

No.

I can't wait to go on a hayride or two.

I want to go with you.

Apparently, Dayton Screen Park has a hayride.

Yeah, I have heard that. It's supposed to be pretty good.

Yeah, I'm definitely going back to Brimstone.

Oh, Brimstone's a lot of fun.

Their hayride was so good.

So good. One of the best hayrides of all time, for sure. So moving us into more underrated Halloween. I had mentioned it earlier, and so let's get into it. 2025's VHS Halloween. This is the VHS entry with all the stories taking place around Halloween. This is one that I was ready to be lukewarm on, but then I ended up having a real big blast with it. even if there is one story that is extremely disturbing out of the entire VHS series.

Yeah, I did enjoy this one a lot, though.

VHS Halloween, a collection of Halloween-themed videotapes, unleashes a series of twisted, blood-soaked tales turning trick-or-treat into the struggle for survival. You've got what happens if a haunted house came alive, what happens if you steal candy from the wrong person and end up in a factory where you may be turned into the candy, what happens if you mess with this woman who collects... people as their babies, basically.

Yeah, no, it really runs the gamut and it does a great job of, of just throwing that Halloween nostalgia at you as hard as it can.

Yeah.

Uh, the only thing it throws harder than that is, uh, children's bodies.

Children's bodies indeed there is one segment that I will give you a fair warning on if you are a parent there is a segment involving a workplace where they have kids videos basically that one takes a pretty brutal dark turn so you may want to be weary of that one but otherwise VHS Halloween a lot of great fun currently streaming right now on Shudder with all the other VHS movies, if I'm not mistaken, the ones that they've exclusively made. But that is one that I definitely cannot recommend enough. So VHS Halloween 2025, add that into your underrated Halloween watching. Next up is another one from the 2020s, and 2020 exactly is Bad Candy, directed by Scott Hansen and Desiree Connell. On Halloween night in New Salem,

radio DJs Chili Billy and Paul tell twisted anthology of terrifying local myths residents of the small town experience horrifying paranormal encounters that lead them to a grim end. If there is one thing that I can say about this movie, when Hannah and I watched it on my porch several years ago, stick with it. It may feel a little sluggish in the middle, but the ending has a really, really strong finish to it. Your radio DJs, by the way, played by Zach Galligan and Corey Taylor of Slipknot.

Yes. Not to be confused with Zach Galligan of Slipknot. No, that one's a really fun, You know, it's not perfect, but what is?

Yeah.

Oh, Trick or Treat or whatever. There are a few, but no, but it definitely scratches the itch. It does. And I enjoyed it a lot.

No, I mean, it takes place entirely on Halloween. It's an anthology on Halloween. It's got really good effects to it. And like I said, the ending reveal makes it worth watching alone. So Bad Candy from 2020, currently available on Tubi, Fandango, and Plex to stream for free. So make sure you check that one out. It is one that really stuck by because it came out In 2020, so we were at the height of COVID at that point. And it's one that I've never really heard anybody else talk about.

Yeah, it kind of came and went.

Kind of came and went. So Bad Candy from 2020 rounding us up into more underrated. I'm curious how you're going to react to this one because I bet you're going to be surprised. And that is 1988's Flesh Eater, Revenge of the Living Dead.

I'm not surprised.

You're not surprised?

No, that movie's so much fun.

That's still Halloween, too.

Yeah, that's a blast. That movie is so cheesy, it has to remind you of Halloween. And it is on Halloween.

It is on Halloween, yeah. Directed by William Hinsman. He lived, he died, he's back, and he's hungry. A group of college students take a Halloween hayride into the countryside and convince the driver to take them to a secluded area for the night of debauchery. However, the fun turns to terror when a local farmhand unearths a mysterious wooden box that contains inscriptions. ancient zombie. This is the story of a zombie making his rounds on Halloween night, making more zombies and going into a Halloween party, going on a hayride.

A lot, a lot of carnage in this one, and it is a lot of fun.

Hell of a lot of fun. It's just silly, dumb zombie fun.

That recently had a Blu-ray released by, is it 4K?

Yeah. 4K or... I think it is 4K. I think there is a 4K.

Yeah, by Vincent. But it is readily available right now on Tubi and Plex to stream. If you haven't seen Flesh Eater, if you're a zombie fan, or if you're looking for a B-horror movie that is so Halloween-y it will make you spew candy, Flesh Eater Revenge of the Living Dead.

Make you spew candy.

I don't disagree with that statement.

So moving into more of the underrated Halloweens, this is one that I saw recently, and I think you had seen it before me. 2023's Dark Harvest, directed by David Slade. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Dark Harvest is good.

It's really good. In a small Midwestern town... A deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare Sawtooth Jack rises from the cornfields and challenges the town's teenage boys into a bloody battle of survival. Literally, the families in regards of this town submit their boys into fighting Sawtooth to basically keep the town in flourish. I mean, it is 100% a crazy-ass movie.

Yeah, no, that one was a real surprise how much I really loved it.

Yeah, and it's got some great effects to it. It's got some magnificent lighting, especially in the chase sequences through the cornfields and stuff. You are literally in a Midwest town surrounded by cornfields. What is more Halloween?

Yeah, the vibe's perfect.

Yeah, so Dark Harvest in 2023, currently available to rent or buy on Fandango and Apple TV. One that's not streaming yet, but hopefully when this drops, it is out there a little bit more because it's criminally underseen in my opinion.

Yeah, I would have to agree with that.

And another one that, again, we didn't hear many people talk about, but we sure as shit loved, is 2025's R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead, directed by Jim Garrard.

Hey, it must have been good enough because the sequel's going to be dropping on the 16th, I think?

I think so, yeah.

Yeah, I can't wait.

So do not confuse yourself with Pumpkinhead with Lance Henriksen. This is R.L. Stine's original creation. When his brother disappears and everyone forgets he existed, Sam must unravel the mystery before Finn is gone forever. This is the story of a family that moves into a town that is very Midwest. It's very odd. And above all else, there are really weird pumpkin patches or a really weird pumpkin patch in it.

Well, and for the record, the greatest mystery of the film was as we were watching it because it's a Tubi original.

Yeah.

So you can only watch it or at least mostly you can only watch it on Tubi.

Yes.

During the commercials, I was like, what did R.L. Stine have to do with this? It looks like he just lended his name. I think he did. I couldn't find him in the story credit. I couldn't find him in the producing credit. But it definitely was a blast. That ending was so much darker than I was ready for.

For a YA horror film, yeah.

But that really amped me up for a sequel because they set up a really good, like, all I could think was like, I want to know what they do.

Yeah.

So I'm so pumped to get to watch the new Pumpkinhead 2.

It's scary. It's got a great creature design in it. You are going to be wondering what the hell is going on the entire time you're watching. And then once again, once you get to that ending, you're going to be like, shit. All right, then.

Well, okay.

But yeah, Pumpkinhead from R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead, 2025, like Hen said, currently and only available on Tubi. And again, look for the sequel coming October 16th. So that is one that we cannot recommend enough. That was so much fun last year.

Yeah, that was a total blast.

One that I'm going to throw into the mix is one that I've beat the drum for a little bit before. I think I've mentioned it on past episodes of Do You Even Movie. That is 2009's Scare Zone, directed by John Pagowski. Um, the haunted attraction where terror is real scare zone is Oliver pride and joy.

Sure.

It's just another strip mall Halloween horror house, but as always, he puts his heart and soul into it. The attraction is open for three nights only. And Oliver has brought back his old staff, including ex-con spider, eager, uh, bride to be summer and the, uh, ignite. Oh my God. I can't.

Wow.

And the enigmatic goth princess Claire. A bunch of newbies are also on board, including Ernest Young Daryl, who immediately finds himself bewitched by the creepy Claire. The dysfunctional scream team learns to work together while someone or something is out to make the horror real. Once again, this is the story of what happens when something sinister sneaks into a haunt and starts making the carnage real. It is a really, really good flick. Low budget. It was one that I found on DVD when I was back in my days of working as manager at FYE. It was one that really took me by storm, and do not sleep on this one. It is readily available right now on Tubi and Fandango. You can also get a cheap DVD as well if you want to, but that is

2009's Scare Zone. Cannot recommend it enough.

I've not seen that one.

I'll have to show that one to you.

I'd like to see that one. Yeah, please.

We'll definitely check that one out. Routing us out into the near end of the underrated Halloweens, this is one that I had the pleasure of revisiting recently and forgot how Halloween-y it feels, and that is 2021's directed by Edgar Wright, Last Night in Soho.

Oh, that is a very, you know, that's one that was great and everything, but I kind of forgot about it. But it's really good, and it's got a great, gothic, creepy, ghost-who-killed-me vibe that really works.

So the previous, the 2023, the previous list I had put Suspiria on there for the colors of a Halloween feel and just the movie in general. This is one of those again. The color palette in this movie is so eerie. There's one scene that literally takes place at a Halloween dance where people are in costume as well.

It's a great little slasher film that is also just a nice little thriller as well. A young girl passionate about fashion design is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems and the time seems to be falling apart with shady consequences. Thomas McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith. You've also got a great performance by Terrence Stamp in this. This is one that Made a splash when it came out, but also once again during the COVID times. Have not heard many people talk about it. Last Night in Soho is such an underrated flick in regards to the terror that this movie can bring.

Yeah, I would agree. That one's one that you really ought to put on your watch list if you've never seen it.

Got incredible visual aesthetic to it. It's got a great twist reveal at the end as well. So if you are looking for something that is newer, that may have slipped by you, definitely check out Last Night in Soho by Edgar Wright. Currently available right now on Prime. You can also rent it at Fandango as well as Apple TV.

There's also a really good 4K out. That's how I watched it recently. Moving us further into underrated Halloween. This is one that I really am going to beat the drum for for a second. There have been so many great horror releases this year. We've had Backrooms. We've had Obsession. We've had Resident Evil, which you and I just recently saw. Yeah.

Literally before recording this. In regards to one that I really wish more people would get on board with because it feels like it came out at a time where there was too much out there is 2026's Hocum, directed by Damian McCarthy.

Yeah, it got overlooked.

It really got overlooked.

Because so many great titles came out, it just got totally overlooked, and it's really good.

Really good, really Halloween-y, really folky. Actually, there's a scene that takes place on Halloween, like a major scene. When novelist Owen Baum retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents' ashes, he is consumed by tales of witch hunting, the honeymoon suite, disturbing visions, and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of the past. This is an isolated inn in a forest. There is a folksy feel to it. And there is so many terrifying moments of this from the visual styles that they have to the reveals they have. And generally one of the most terrifying bunny characters next to Donnie Darko, I would say.

Yeah, I think that's a very fair assessment. Jeez.

Yeah, it is Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wimmelt. This is one that I cannot recommend enough. If you're looking for a newer horror film that may have slipped past you, you may have seen the previews for it. You may have seen the creepy imagery. Hocum is genuinely a scary, good movie. october movie for your lineup.

Yeah i'm gonna put that on mine actually yeah we saw it in the theater i really want to watch it again and i want to show it to rachel who was already amped about it but it left the theater too.

Quick yeah and as of this recording it's not streaming anywhere in regards to quote-unquote free but you can rent it of course really nowhere i would have.

Thought for sure it would have been on like one of those you know one of the.

Peacock or something, yeah. But no, to my knowledge, the only place you can get it is basically renting it from your usual places. But hopefully with October coming, that will change.

It would be nice.

It would be nice. And wrapping us up for the underrated Halloween column, one that I just discovered this year that I cannot believe it took me this long to get to it. I was aware of this movie, but once again, we're talking about one that is scarce in regards to had a DVD release from Anchor Bay back in the day. I'm guessing the licensing for music is a fucking nightmare now. And that is 1985's The Midnight Hour, directed by Jack Bender.

Oh, man. So I think I watched that for the first time last year. Yeah. That's good.

It's great.

Really good one.

It is readily available on YouTube and multiple sources of it. They've got a nice cleaned up print. They've got the TV premiere print of it. This is a TV movie from 1985. Phil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinny are high school friends who unwittingly raised the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead returned, Pittsburgh Cove will never be the same, or will it? This is just a really fun 80s TV movie. Has an incredible soundtrack, like I said, which is probably the reason we haven't seen a release of it with Depeche Mode, The Smiths. I mean, there's a bunch of people.

With being a TV movie, they likely didn't get releases, the music released for yeah that kind of thing uh side note really quick i got curious i want to check what hokum did at the bar it actually did really well at the box office and 25 million against five shit so it actually was a small hit like not even a minor hit a small hit glad to hear that um but yeah it just kind of came away but anyway So, but the midnight hour. Yeah. When it comes to TV movies, TV series, things like that, music, music rights become a nightmare, uh, from that era.

Yeah.

Cause it wasn't until I think the early two thousands that people were really thinking like, Oh, this TV thing is going to end up on, you know, home video or worse. There were examples where they had signed the contracts and it said videotape. So then when videotape what it was, DVD.

They didn't have a screwed. Yeah. But yeah, Midnight Hour is a lot of fun. You've got pretty much every single monster that you can think of. You've got a great music number by the monsters at one point. And overall, just a really fun little ghost story that also has that family feel to it. This is one that the kids can watch as well. It's a family-friendly one with a great soundtrack, great monsters, and 100% Halloween vibes all the way through.

Oh, yeah.

The Midnight Hour, 1985, currently available on YouTube. If you have not seen it, Again, this is one of the top ones that I'm going to put on this list that you need to check out this year because I was blown away by how much fun it is. And I'm surprised that no one's grabbed it up yet.

Yeah, I mean, it must be it must be really a mess. Yeah, it's got a situation must be a mess.

So that wraps us up for underrated Halloween picks, which moves us into the last and final column, which is this is Halloween. All these movies have Halloween in them in one way or another, whether it takes place, whether the vibes are there. Starting us off with one that I'm a bit lukewarm on. You and I saw this in theaters in my hometown. That is 2019's Candy Corn by Josh Hastie.

It was fine. It was fine. I think I was a little too amped up for it.

But it's got great Halloween vibes all the way through.

I mean, it's literally called Candy Corn, which is a great title.

Yes.

And I think if you put that on expecting to have some fun, you're not expecting something super scary, but you're not expecting something... Super dumb. You know, you're expecting just like a solid little flick that's going to make you feel like it's Halloween time. Yeah. It totally works. Yeah.

This on Halloween Eve in 1980, local outcast Julian Cummings is carelessly murdered. A vagabond with witch doctor, Dr. Death takes matters into his own hands and brings Julian back from the dead. to creatively seek brutal revenge on his killers. This is a Halloween to a tea movie. You've got your killer that looks exactly almost like a pumpkin at times as well. You've got a really creepy, uh, outlook of the town and just the style and just the visuals that they have with it. Um, candy corn again, not one that you're going to be blown away by, but if you're looking for Halloweeny vibes, uh, And something you haven't seen probably because I've never heard anybody talk about Candy Corn, unfortunately.

Yeah, there was a big push promoting it. Yeah. And, you know, hence we saw it at the screening up in Troy, Ohio.

Yeah.

But yeah, it just kind of evaporated.

It did.

To some extent, which happens, unfortunately happens a lot. It does.

And this one is readily available on Prime, Tubi, Fandango, all of those for free watches. So if you're looking for something you haven't seen that's got the Halloween feel to it, Josh Hasey's Candy Corn 2019. Currently available multiple places. Next up, another cheat, as I have a one spot for two movies, but the movies share the same title.

And that is, and they were both released the same year, too, which is kind of hilarious. 2014's Mischief Nights.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Both of those are great for totally different reasons, too. Did I bring you the Blind Girl Mischief Night? Yeah, you brought me Blind Girl one.

So I will talk about the first one that I saw beforehand and brought me the one that we are discussing. That is Travis Barker's Mischief Night, which is the nights before Halloween. A teenage babysitter is stalked by a mass killer. But in an unusual turn of events, victim and victimizer become to develop romantic feelings for each other. Basically, a babysitter is taking care of the kid. She is home and she has Halloween vibes going on. She's watching Dementia 13 on TV. And then she starts hearing some funny noises around. And it turns out there might be a killer out there, but then it's not exactly what you expect.

This is a really twisted little movie that came from the After Dark Horror series towards the tail end of that series. It has Malcolm McDowell in it as a great cameo, as the neighborhood watch guy.

Yes, yes.

Who really makes up for everything in the movie. This is just a really twisted Halloween tale that takes place on Halloween. Currently available on Amazon Prime and Tubi, so you can find that Mischief Night 2. Moving us into the other Mischief Night, this is one that is directed by Richard Shankman. Young Emily Walton, who has suffered from psychosomatic blindness ever since the car accident that took her mother's life, must summon every instinct at her disposal to protect herself and her loved one from an intruder.

I have always, this one I believe is horribly underrated. Talk about one people don't talk about very much. I found this because I bought, like, a Blu-ray double feature that had this and something else on it. All Hallows' Eve. All Hallows' Eve, that's what it was. And I just remember putting it on and thinking, like, oh, okay, this looks like a pretty decent, like, thriller horror movie. And then it just got... better well it did something that i find very rare in kind of random discovery movies it got better and then crazier yeah and then better and then crazier brutal so by the time it ends you don't feel like you watched a particularly ridiculous movie but you did i mean like the ending is completely

bonkers but that has been like one of my secret weapon showstoppers and for any like halloween party where you're gonna watch a bunch of you know stuff for halloween yeah that's that's without a doubt one of my my best in that in that realm.

Currently available to stream on plex you can also rent it on fandango and apple um if that blu-ray is available i haven't looked at the price in a while but i think it probably will because rlj um that is a great double feature all hallows eve the original and mischief night together you cannot get more Halloween-y than that.

Yeah, no, and yeah, I can't recommend that Mischief Night enough, but there's two of them.

There's two of them.

So it gets confusing.

And they're both worth a watch, but yeah, Mischief Night, both of them from 2014, they are excellent picks that, again, underrated and perfect Halloween night picks. So if you're looking for something to get into on the All Hallows' Eve, then that is one to check out. Moving us through This Is Halloween list, we move into 2018 with another one that we got to see in theaters that has Halloween out the ass, and that is 2018's Hellfest. On Halloween night at a horror theme park, a costume killer begins slaying innocent patrons who believe it is all part of the festivities. This is a Halloween carnival where carnage is ensuing and no one believes the one person who's witnessing it.

Yeah, no, this one is a total blast. Really, really fun. Yeah. Obviously, massive Halloween vibes because it's at a haunt.

And the late, great Tony Todd as the ringleader of the Halloween festivities, too.

So good.

Yeah.

This one's one that, again, people don't talk about a ton, but it was popular. I mean, it came out and a lot of people went to see it. I believe it was pretty successful.

No, it was definitely one to check out. It has an extremely dark ending that I was not expecting.

Yeah, it's got a gut punch for you.

Definitely a gut punch. So Hellfest 2018, currently available to rent or buy on Fandango and Apple TV. I think the Blu-ray is still readily available as well. It is one that if you haven't seen, definitely throw that on. You will have a good time with it if you're a slasher fan. And if you're a slasher fan, this is one that I recently discovered that may not be 100% Halloween, but the finale is. And that is 1988's Primal Rage, directed by Vittorio Rambaldi.

Okay.

A scientist at a Florida university inadvertently creates a rage virus while performing experiments intended to restore dead brain tissue in baboons. When a journalist for the college paper breaks into the campus lab, he's bitten by one of the infected baboons. The virus soon spreads to a trio of rapists and a valley girl, all of whom go on a killing spree. Specifically with that part of the rapist and the valley girl, that happens at a Halloween dance.

Yes.

And they are legitimately ripping throats out, taking heads off, dismantling people. Oh my god. This movie's cuckoo bananas. Cuckoo bananas. It is absolutely out of its gourd. And like I said, that final 20 minutes takes place at a Halloween dance. So you may be turning it on and being like, well, where's the Halloween? Just wait. It will get very wild.

It is incredibly bad taste, but so, so much fun. Of course, you know, you got to have Bo Svensson in there somewhere as well.

Yeah, you have to by law.

Who plays the scientist?

It's international treaty.

International treaty. So Primal Rage currently available on Tubi to stream as well as Plex. You can also find it on Fandango and the Roku channel. So this one is out there as well. If you are a fan of physical media, once again, I will say that I believe it is Vincent that recently put out a release of this and recently in the last like two to three years. So, but yeah, Primal Rage is one that really surprised me.

It is a lot of fun and, incredibly uh packed core as well yeah so moving us into another more recent one uh let's go with 2022's dead stream directed by joseph winter and vanessa winter oh.

Man that's a that was a surprise that's a fun wild thing evil.

Dead goes uh basically prank channel evil dead 2 evil dead 2 yeah it goes to a prank channel so you got a disgrace internet personality attempts to win back its followers by live streaming one night alone in the haunted house but he accidentally unleashes a vengeful spirit. His big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life.

You fucking hate this guy, for one. I just want to be clear about that.

This dude is the worst. Oh, no, he's not likable in any way.

Yeah, you get to see some of his history with his prank channel. He almost killed a homeless man, or nearly. did if I'm not mistaken if I can't remember he is dying for followers to to come back to his channel so he does the one thing that he thinks will do in going into a creepy house that is has a curse to it and accidentally reads from a from a planchette that has the curse on it not planchette uh, book book. Thank you.

It's a, it's a tough word. Yeah.

Yeah.

Four letters, one syllable, but yeah.

Dead stream, uh, was one that really, really surprised me. I did not go in expecting to really like it. I thought the premise was kind of lame, but, um, the amount of chaos that breaks out in this movie and the Halloweeny vibes of him doing this and everything, uh, so, so much fun.

It's masterful. The level of wild special effects, the sense of humor, the fun of it. That was one that I really wasn't expecting. What got me to watch it was somebody said, oh, no, it's like a found footage movie, but it's like Evil Dead 2. And I was like, what? So I had to watch it.

Currently available on Shudder and Netflix. Deadstream, one of the more recent ones that I cannot recommend enough, also has a very short runtime of 88 minutes, so you are in and out of that one. And It really does not stop once it starts.

No, no, that is a film where you're going to test your bladder.

You will test your bladder.

Or you'll hit pause.

Moving through, this is Halloween. This is one that I have mentioned before. I may have mentioned it on 2023's lineup, and I may have mentioned it on Do You Even Movie. A near and dear one that is close to my heart, and that is 2004's The Hollow, directed by Kyle Newman. This is a ABC original family that was actually shot to be a R-rated horror film that they cut down for TV.

Really? Yes.

So The Hollow is the story of Ichabod Crane's descendant in Sleepy Hollow conjures the headless horseman to return and resume his spooky slaughtering. This has a great acting lineup of Kevin Zegers from the Air Bud movies, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. Kaley Cuco, A Big Bang Theory, and of course the Harley Quinn series. Stacey Keech, Judge Reinhold, Eileen Brennan. It is a really, really fun movie that is a headless horseman story that takes place in Sleepy Hollow.

There's a hayride. There's multiple decapitations. You've got Stacey Keech that is trying to basically keep the curse at bay with the horseman, who is a descendant of the Cranes, who is trying to impress on Kevin Zegers, that he is basically going to be the next one to stop the horseman. It is a really, really fun movie that no one talks about.

I think I've seen it. I'm almost certain I've seen it, actually.

When it premiered, of course, it was like a TV cut. Syfy picked it up sometime later, and that's where I first saw it.

That must have been where I saw it.

Saw it uncut, I guess you could say.

I saw it. I recognized the poster instantly. Yes.

It is currently available on Plex as well as the Roku channel. It is also available on YouTube. There is a DVD out there that I think is still priced pretty reasonable as well. The Hollow is a cheesy Sleepy Hollow tale that I cannot get enough of. I basically watch it every single year. One of my favorites of my mom and I. So if you have not seen The Hollow and you're a fan of Sleepy Hollow or any of the Ichabod Crane stories, definitely check that one out.

It is one that you will not be upset about.

It's a good way to put it. You won't hate Dave any more than you already do.

Moving through the This Is Halloween column, let's go into another more recent one that, again, I feel like just has not gotten its due. And that is actually a sequel, the third in this series, which is a Haunting in Venice from Kenneth Branagh.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

This is the Hercule Poirot story that is the third entry in Kenneth's series so far. This is one that really, really was a blast in theaters. I have not been back to it. I need to go back to it. Celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot, now retired and living in a self-imposed exile in Venice, reluctantly attends a Halloween seance at a decaying haunted palace. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets. The supernatural element to this movie is executed... perfectly, in my opinion.

No, they did a really good job with it. I've actually read the book that that was based on.

Halloween Party, I think.

Yeah, I think it was, but it was back when it was Halloween, W-E-apostrophe-E-N. And one of my favorite parts about that book is that an immense amount of what people are talking about is how to have a Halloween party.

Yes.

Because Halloween didn't exist in that literal form for, you know, a long time.

Yeah.

So I found that book really charming, but I thought that the way they did. It was kind of like Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, how it was like, this is Hercule Poirot experiencing real ghosts, but probably not really. But you never know.

You never know.

But no, I thought that one was freaking boss. So much fun. And the vibe, the Halloween spooky vibe is super strong.

Old-timey spooky vibe, too. So, I mean, it's very creepy. And again, when it comes to the execution of Ken, this character, portrayal of Hercule Poirot, I cannot state enough that the man was made for that role.

Yeah, no, he's perfect.

Perfect for it. And this has a great cast of Kyle Allen, Jamie Dorian, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Lard, Kelly Riley. A lot of great names in this one. And again, with it being a sequel, I think people were kind of tuned out after Death of the Nile, which is why they didn't go see this one.

Yeah.

Haunting in Venice deserves a look. It is currently available on Hulu right now. You can also rent it from Fandango and Apple. If you're a fan of those movies or if you've seen the first one, didn't see any of the others, Haunting in Venice, throw it on. You will not have a bad time with it. The ending reveal of basically everything that's been going on really sold it for me.

Yeah, no, that's a solid pick. Very solid.

So Haunting in Venice 2023 available on Hulu. Another new one that took me a couple watches to really, really latch onto of how much I enjoyed it, which is 2023's Late Night with the Devil.

Really? It took you a little bit to get into it?

The first time I watched it, I didn't dislike it. I think it went a little bit more out there than I was expecting.

I don't love the ending, but everything else I really enjoyed.

So much fun.

I remember the first time I watched it, I was like, the most unrealistic part of this entire movie is that they would do a live show at midnight. Yeah. Back then.

Yeah, so the synopsis, if you're not familiar, a live broadcast of a late night talk show in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living room. This is David Dasmalchian at his peak.

Yes, without a doubt.

Late Night with the Devil is a behind the scenes of this talk show. So not only do you have the actual... quote-unquote found footage of the VHS tape of the show, you also get to see the behind the scenes of what's going on with it, which adds an element of real eeriness to it.

Yeah, it's like a love letter to 1970s television, but with a hint of love toward Ghostwatch.

Yes.

With a hint of love towards, you know, the era of James Randi. And with a little bit of a love for an era way before this, which would have been the spiritualism era in the United States where seances and all that stuff was just happening all the time. Yeah. So it's a fun one. It establishes a great vibe.

I keep saying vibe. I'm not trying to be hip. But it's legit. I mean, Halloween is a vibe. It's a feeling you get. That's why you can watch some movies that have nothing to do with Halloween and and feel like, oh, this makes me think of Halloween. It's because it's kind of a vibe of a spookiness and your surroundings being just eerie enough or building a world that's kind of creepy or what have you. And that is, without a doubt, what Late Night with the Devil does very well.

Accomplishes, yeah, 100%. I mean, if you're looking for one that you think you may know what the movie is going to give you, you have no idea.

Yeah, I saw it in the theater, and I loved it. It was a great experience.

Yeah, so Late Night with the Devil, currently available to stream on Shudder, Hulu. You can also rent it from Fandango and Apple. Moving us into the final... titles of This is Halloween. Let's go into Hell House LLC from 2015.

Yes, a recent cutting deep into horror topic.

It was.

And one that holds up very well.

Really does. Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour goers and staff on the opening night of Halloween Haunted House Tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened. I'm going to go ahead and state that 90% of the Hell House films are actually really, really good.

I would agree with that.

The only one that I was not a fan of was the most recent one.

I haven't seen. That's the one I haven't seen. Yeah.

Lineage. Um, but the hell house series are great. This first one is so fucking unsettling. I cannot state that enough. The scenes where you have people trying to see if the figures that are in the clown costumes are actually people or not unsettling as hell.

Oh yeah. They get to you real easy and, and it works very, very well. Yeah.

So it's a great found footage horror film. Uh, once again, another short one that just around 90 minutes, uh, Currently streaming on Shudder, Amazon Prime, Tubi, Roku, so you can find this dude wherever you want to watch it. Hell House series, Hell House LLC especially. Definitely check that out if you haven't. And also listen to The Cutting Deep because that is a great episode you guys did.

It was a pretty solid one.

It was. And going into an episode that you and I did for Do You Have a Movie, one of my favorite discoveries probably in the last couple years is Cobweb.

Yeah, Cobweb was one I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did. I liked it.

Yeah, Cobweb is so much fun. This is one that you probably didn't hear much about because it was in theaters for like a week and then it was gone from 2023. This is an eight year old boy tries to investigate the mysterious knocking sounds that are coming from the inside walls of his house, unveiling a dark secret that his sinister parents have kept hidden from him. His parents, by the way, played by Lizzie Kaplan and Anthony Starr. Yes.

So very popular at this point right now. But one thing that I cannot say enough about Cobweb is the Halloween vibes in the final 20 minutes are so strong for this movie. Pretty much throughout the movie. you've got a pumpkin patch and everything going on, but literally the final attack sequence, I guess you could call it, happens on Halloween night and is so, so delicious when it comes to the carnage that ensues with that fucking movie.

A little creepy the way you said that, but I agree.

Yeah, you know, it is what it is. But Cobweb, currently available on Moviesphere. You can also find it available on, what is this one?

Who knows?

Fossum. Ah, yes. Yeah, but it's not out there so much right now. The Blu-ray is pretty cheap. I cannot recommend the Blu-ray enough. So if you are a fan of Cobweb or if you haven't seen Cobweb and you like blind buying good horror films... Cannot recommend cobweb enough. Moving us towards the ending once again of the Halloween lineup.

2013's WNUF Halloween special.

A classic. Sincerely a classic. I mean, I saw WNUF before anybody.

I bought it from you at Wasteland years ago.

But I mean, before that... Uh, the director, Chris LaMartina sent me an MP4 of the finished film. I was, I was very loosely involved in the making of that movie. I did a voice on it. I did a voice and I, uh, I loaned Chris a piece of equipment, which without it making that film would have been very, very difficult. I don't want to bore you. It's just, it involves VHS, but I don't want to go into all the tech details because it's not that interesting, but I got to watch one of the first versions of it that ever existed and the first thought i had when i was done watching it was this is special yes it.

Was one that um the first time i watched it it wasn't a dislike i i've always liked this movie but i just recently in the last couple years got terror visions release of wnuf and uh out there halloween special both by done by chris they are so halloweeny feels not only with the nostalgia of just the way that like the commercials used to be and the way the tv broadcast used to be But they're also really good horror films wrapped around all the nostalgia.

Yeah, I would have to agree.

So WNUF currently available on AMC Plus and Shudder. If you have not seen it, it is 83 minutes of super fun VHS cable nostalgia that I cannot recommend enough. Has some great performances in it as well and a really fucking twisted ending, I will say.

Yeah, it's a love letter to stuff like Ghostwatch and Unsolved Mysteries. It's a real love letter to the 1980s Halloween experience. It literally looks like it's a tape somebody dubbed for you. There are commercials, and some of them get fast-forwarded through. Some of them you actually witness. My favorite aspect of it is that the first act is the news before the actual feature.

Before the actual special.

So you get to establish everything that's going on, and then they go into the haunted house live on TV.

Yeah.

Great stuff.

And out there, Mega Halloween Tape, which is the sequel to that, also just as good. So recommending both of those. AMC Plus and Shudder. You've already mentioned it, so we might as well go ahead and put it out here. 1992's Ghostwatch, also on this list.

Ghostwatch is amazing. So the final episode of Terrifying and True in October, I did a massive deep dive into, you know, I mean, Ghostwatch went to the court.

Court, because it made people super afraid. And did it kill someone?

Well, there were people who believed that it caused their son to kill himself.

Yeah.

It's all in there. It, and the court found them not liable legally, but found them liable morally. They said that they should have considered the effect this could have on people. But of course their argument was it had credits. Like it was on, it was on, on TV during a slot that's for dramas. So it's a, that's a phenomenal watch. And I, but I did an entire hour and, 20 minute show with excerpts from, from store, like from when they were on news programs and real ones.

Yeah.

It's wild.

Yeah. A live broadcast on Halloween night, a BBC team investigates a reported poltergeist in ordinary London home. Um, it is super, super fun, super scary, and just a Halloween vibes once again.

Yeah. The fact that everybody seems to be perfectly grown up and responsible and British, and then everything goes the way it does really ups the scare factor.

Yeah.

And yeah, Unlike a lot of these, it isn't a love letter to old television. It is old television. It's just literally trying to be as accurate to the day that it was made as possible. And that made it age beautifully.

Yes. And another one that has aged beautifully and is a time capsule, 1991's Scary Movie.

Yes. Now, this is one I... I only love it more every time I watch it. The fact that it's a Halloween horror film about waiting in line... At a haunted house. That's too good. Yes. Because that's exactly what the... Especially before the fast passes and all this stuff, which, of course, I shell out the money for because I don't want to wait in line. But when I was a kid growing up, when you went to a haunt, you waited in line at least an hour, hour and a half minimum. So I love that the movie is about them waiting in line. And, yeah.

Carnage ensues. Uh, we talked about, we had a whole episode on demon movie for scary movies. So go back and listen to that. If you haven't, uh, it has a really young John Hawks in it right before he was probably going to land from dust till dawn and a couple other things.

Yeah.

Um, The paranoid teenage nerd comes to believe that an escaped lunatic may be hiding in the neighborhood Halloween house of horrors and slowly starts to descend into madness. That doesn't even cover everything in this movie because there's so much surrounding it with the haunts and everything.

It's a start.

Yeah, it's a start. I would say so. Scary movie currently available on Tubi. You can also get it on Folsom as well. There is a great Blu-ray out there from Agfa, which I still need to get.

Oh, you don't have the blue?

I have it digitally. I haven't bought the blue yet. I need to.

Wow, that actually shocks me. Yeah, I know. Because you bring it up a lot.

I love Scary Movie. It's so much good.

Yet you don't own it.

Scary Movie, 1991. Definitely check that out. Into the second to last pick, this is one that I knew I was going to like, and I'm still waiting on a goddamn sequel, which is 2019's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Yeah, where is that sequel? Where is that sequel? Because where this movie ends, you're waiting for that sequel. Pennsylvania, 1968, after playing a joke on a school bully, Stella and her friends decide to sneak into a haunted house that once belonged to a powerful Bellows family, unleashing dark forces that they will be unable to control. This is, of course, the scary stories of Tell in the Dark that you know from the books by Alvin Schwartz.

Yes, the legendary books that inspired a generation of weirdos like me to do all kinds of weird, spooky things. The movie does a really good job... in my opinion of splitting the difference.

Yeah.

It, it, it feeds a lot of the hopes and wants of the older fans of the book, but it really is at the end of the day, a scary movie for younger people.

Yes.

And that I think is important.

No, a hundred percent. This is a teen horror film that really goes hard because the kids are not just quote unquote disappearing. They're dying. Yes. Like they're getting murked.

Yeah, yeah, there's no coming back. Well, I mean, unless we ever get a sequel to find out.

Yes, exactly. But the one thing that I do want to state with this movie in particular is if you're a fan of the opening of Halloween 4, which, of course, you are if you're listening to this show.

Darn tootin'..

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark might up it just a little bit because you are getting a tour of this small town that's decked out for Halloween during Season of the Witch by Donovan.

Yeah.

I mean, that's the opening of the movie. You know what you're getting into. That is a feel that you cannot master to that point that it does in this movie.

Yeah.

That brings us to the final. This is Halloween and the final of this entire list. And I could think of nothing else than one that has just become an absolute staple for me as the years go on. She hosted it herself. And that was when I was like, man, I really like this movie. I am talking about none other than Elvira's Mistress of the Dark.

Oh, OK. Not Haunted Hills.

Not Haunted Hills.

No, no, no.

Mistress of the Dark from 1988. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. This is such a fun Halloween movie.

Yeah. Yeah. It's got all of the campy nostalgia fun that really does kind of bring that spooky vibe. I mean, Elvira is one of the originators of that silly, spooky, campy, nobody gets hurt vibe.

Yeah. Upon arriving in a small town where Elvira has inherited a rundown mansion, the famous horror host must battle an evil uncle and townspeople who want her to be burned at the stake. That is one of the things that I don't want to undersell with this movie. The humor is so top tier.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Like, it is so much fun. You've got a great cast of Cassandra Peterson, of course, as Elvira. You've got Edie McClurg. You've got her uncle that is played by, oh, man, where's his name at? I just lost it. Damn it.

Typical.

That's fine. Anyway, the cast is great. The story is a lot of fun. It is one that you can watch with the whole family. There's a little bit of risque content, but I mean, it's Elvira. You kind of expect that. But this is such a fun Halloween movie that goes absolutely off the rails in its final 15 minutes.

No, it's a blast. I mean, it's pure 80s fun. And Elvira is I mean, there's a reason reason she's like the ambassador of Halloween.

Haunted houses, monsters, appreciation for bad monster movies. Everything can be found in 1988 Elvira, Mrs. of the Dark currently available on Prime. I will also say that the 4K and Blu-rays from Arrow are absolutely worth grabbing if you're a fan. And as you mentioned, Elvira's Haunted Hills is also available currently right now and streaming online. Both of those movies are great Halloween picks.

Well, Dave used to hate Haunted Hills until I convinced him to really watch it again.

I think you and Joe Bob both did it.

Well, I mean, it was me, though. No, I think. No, no. Remember, I showed it. I made you rewatch it. Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Two later that Joe Bob showed it. So you were already back on board.

And then I had to watch it again just to confirm I was. But that is the end of the 2026 Ultimate Halloween lineup. I don't believe you.

Well, I really appreciate you sharing this with the audience. I hope you all were taking notes.

Yes.

Good luck.

I will tell you, if you want to find me on Letterboxd, I am at DavidSMWA, which stands for David's Watching Movies. Again, you can also find both of these Letterboxd lists on there as well for all these titles. So if you follow me on there, you'll be able to get access to these titles as well. And also keep up with me as I move through. I think I'm about to hit my 700th movie for the year.

Wow.

Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy year.

It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you've been watching movies, but... Well, I do appreciate it, Dave.

Yeah.

And tell people what you're working on lately, because I know you've been doing a lot of work with This Week in Geek.

Yes, I am over on This Week in Geek with our buddy Mike Askewie and my buddy Ken Reels and also Adam A. Donaldson. We have been, as of this recording, we've been doing a lot of Halloween content. I know as of this drop, we may have our From Dusk Till Dawn trilogy episode out there.

Nice.

We will also be covering the Scanners films, which includes Scanners 1 through 3 and Scanner Cop 1 and 2 as well.

Well, you have to cover the best scanners films. Yes.

And, uh, one of my favorites, uh, that, that again, uh, honorable mention, I guess we'll put in is the original dark castle, uh, entertainment releases. So we're talking about the remakes of the William castle movies, such as haunted, uh, house on hill. Uh, you've got, um, wow. Why am I blanking? All of a sudden a ghost ship is in there, which isn't one, but, uh, House of Wax.

Blanking on the other one.

I don't know what your problem is, man.

I don't know. Gothica is one that I watched recently that I also really like. Why can I not think of the other one? 13 Ghosts.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so we talked about, we're talking about House on a Hill, 13 Ghosts, House of Wax, and Ghost Ship, so that's going to be an episode dropping. We do episodes such as Loose Cannon and Random Access Memories, so if you want to find all that information, you can go to thisweekengeek.net. You can also find us wherever you get your podcasts. So we are releasing episodes weekly over there.

Awesome. Yeah, and I'll be popping on over there at some point in the month with a special episode I did with Birdman and James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd. It's our fourth, I think, or fifth? Fourth year in a row that the three of us have done a Halloween topic, and we had a lot of fun with it.

Always great episodes.

60 Halloween Movie Picks for 2026 | Hidden Gems & Horror Classics

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