And scroll all the way to the end for a printable invitation to a spooky Halloween Movie Marathon (one for just your spouse and one for a group date!) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about ’em, click here.
Classic Halloween Movies
Classic Halloween movies earned that title for a reason. These scary movies are the best of the best!
- Ghostbusters
In this classic movie, three scientists who have been kicked out of their university decide to go into business by trapping and removing ghosts from haunted houses, apartments, and places of business. Soon the business is booming, but a skyscraper is taken over by a powerful ancient god, which might prove the Ghostbusters’ end! 2. Beetlejuice In this classic movie, three scientists who have been kicked out of their university decide to go into business for themselves by trapping and removing ghosts from haunted houses, apartments, and places of business. Soon the business is booming, but a skyscraper is taken over by a powerful ancient god, which might prove the Ghostbusters’ end! 3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Any of the Pirates of the Caribbean films would be excellent as Halloween movies. Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner are hunting to find Elizabeth Swann, who Captain Barbossa kidnaped in this movie. Along the way, they find out that Barbossa and his crew are under an ancient curse that they neither live nor die unless a blood sacrifice is made. Can Sparrow and Turner arrive in time to save Elizabeth? 4. The Goonies
This is a story about a group of friends who are trying to save their homes from being demolished and made into a golf course. When the group leader finds a treasure map, they try to find the treasure before a crime-ridden family takes it first. 5. Gremlins
Billy is excited when he is given a mysterious pet. However, the pet comes with three rules: never get him wet, keep him away from bright light, and never feed him after midnight. When an accident occurs, and the creature accidentally gets wet, Billy gets more than he bargained for. 6. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
An alien spaceship lands on earth, but the aliens are discovered by a human task force which forces them to flee. However, one alien, E.T., accidentally gets left behind. E.T. is found by a boy who forms a special connection to him. They find themselves in a race to get E.T. home before the task force can intervene. One of the most incredible family Halloween movies out there! 7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The Prisoner of Azkaban is a story where Harry Potter is again in danger when Sirius Black, a convicted mass murderer, escapes from prison and is after Harry Potter to kill him. Will Harry Potter manage to get away, or will the scary Sirius Black take his revenge? 8. The Wizard of Oz Dorothy is a small-town girl who lives on a farm until a cyclone comes and carries her away to the land of Oz. Here she finds three new friends. But the Wicket Witch put many obstacles in their path to make it, so Dorothy is stuck in Oz forever. A truly classic Halloween movie! 9. Addams Family
The Addams family are a unique bunch–with a lot of money. So when an evil doctor discovers that their Uncle Fester has been missing for 25 years, the doctor plots to steal the family fortune by sending in a fake uncle to find out where the fortune is hidden. This is one of the best Halloween movies of all time! 10. Tremors A small town starts noticing members of its population disappearing. At the same time, a seismologist shows up talking about ‘tremors’ that her instruments are picking up. The town discovers they must come together before becoming the unknown creature’s next meal. 11. Arachnophobia A giant spider from South America hitches its way to North America after it bites the researcher studying it. Once in North America, the spider mates with another spider and unleashes chaos in a Californian town. Can these spiders be stopped before it’s too late? Put this on your list of must-watch scary movies! 12. The Mummy (and sequels) A group of explorers goes to dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra to uncover a valuable treasure. Unfortunately, another group beats the first to the dig and unleashes a curse that takes over the dead High Priest Imhotep. The first group of explorers needs to stop Imhotep (The Mummy) and send him back before it’s too late. 13. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Buffy is a cheerleader that has it all. She finds out she is the one woman who is in charge of defending the world from vampires. Buffy befriends a man named Pike, who joins her in her quest to fight off the vampires, especially the most powerful vampire Lothos, who has his eyes set on Buffy. 14. Edward Scissorhands Edward was created by an inventor who dies before finishing Edward’s hands, which are scissors. Peg, a local Avon lady, discovers Edward and brings him into society. The community accepts him until he is framed for a robbery. He then finds out how cruel life really can be. This is one of the best Halloween movies out there!
Family Halloween Movies
Check out the best Halloween movies for families! Some are classic Halloween movies, while some are newer finds. You can’t go wrong with any of these though! 15. Hocus Pocus One of the best Halloween movies of all time! Three sisters are killed in a small town for being witches. However, they cast a spell before their demise that would allow them to come back to life. Three hundred years have passed, and then Max accidentally brings them back to life. The sisters now have only one night to make it permanent unless Max and a 300-year-old cat prevent it. 16. The NeverEnding Story Other kids in his school are bullying Bastian. One day, he escapes from the boys into a book shop where the owner shows him an ancient book but warns it can be dangerous. Bastian takes the book and begins reading it in the school’s attic. Soon, he finds himself drawn into Fantasia, a mythical land that desperately needs a hero to save it. As far as scary movies go, this one is great for families! 17. Casper Carrigan is willed a mansion from her late father and is ready to burn the place down until she discovers a map. However, the house is haunted by ghosts who do not like “fleshies.” So she hires an afterlife therapist who moves into the mansion with his daughter Kat. Kat discovers Casper, a friendly ghost who tries to help the pair rid the house of his not-so-friendly uncles. 18. Bedknobs and Broomsticks During WWII, three children are sent to live with a woman named Eglantine Price, an apprentice witch. She receives a letter from her witch school to come to talk to the headmaster. She puts a spell on a bedknob so she and the children can ride to the school on it. When talking to the school’s headmaster, she tells him of her plan to find a spell that will bring inanimate objects to life! This sweet story is one of the best family Halloween movies! 19. The Witches A recently orphaned boy is on holiday with his grandma at a hotel. While eavesdropping, the boy hears that the convention is a cover for a witches covenant and that the Grand High Witch has the plot to rid the world of children. The boys are discovered and turned into rodents, but that doesn’t hinder the boys from trying to stop the witches at all costs. 20. Labyrinth Sarah is left to babysit her baby brother, who cries all night long. Being so frustrated with him, she wishes him to the goblins. But, unfortunately, the goblins take her brother. Sarah has until midnight to rescue her brother from the goblin’s labyrinth, or the baby will be turned into a goblin! One of the best scary movies for families! 21. Monster House D.J. has suspicions about the house across the street because he frequently sees toys that land in the yard disappear. When the older man has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital the day before Halloween, D.J. thinks the danger is gone. Then his ball bounces into the yard. When he goes to retrieve it, the house comes to life and tries to get him! D.J. discovers that the house has a mind of its own and plans on eating all kids that come trick or treating there unless D.J. can stop it!
22. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Wallace and Gromit have a respectable business keeping pests out of vegetable gardens. However, when a creature known as the were-rabbit invades the neighborhood, all eyes turn to Wallace. So he puts together a plan, and everyone agrees except for one man who is determined to stop the large creature himself. 23. Monsters Inc Are you looking for scary movies for kids that aren’t too scary? Try this one where a city of monsters gets its primary power source from the screams of little children. The power company hires monsters to go into children’s closets and scare them. The top scare team is Sulley and Mike Wazowski. When Sulley accidentally lets a human back into the monster city, it’s up to him and his partner to get Boo back home before anything wrong happens to her. 24. The Nightmare Before Christmas This is undoubtedly one of the best Halloween movies for kids. Jack Skellington is the pumpkin king in Halloween Town. He is very tired of doing the same thing for Halloween every year. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town and becomes determined to get the citizens of his town to put on Christmas. However, it doesn’t quite go as well as he planned. 25. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Charlie Brown is so excited because he gets invited to his very first party. The peanuts gang decides to go trick or treating before the party. However, Linus is convinced that the Great Pumpkin will visit his pumpkin patch and deliver presents. Watch what happens to the whole gang in this great adventure. 26. The Worst Witch Mildred is a student at the witch academy, but a poor one. As a result, she is picked on by teachers and other students. The headmistress has an evil twin sister who plans on destroying the academy, and Mildred finds out about it. Can she foil the evil sister’s plans, or will she be too late? 27. The Haunted Mansion Married couple Jim and Sara are both real estate agents and partners. They get a mysterious phone call from a mansion owner asking them to come to view the property and put it on the market. They smell big commission and head over with their two children. When they arrive, mysterious things start happening, and they realize they were brought there with an ulterior motive. The mansion’s owner takes Sara, and Jim is kicked out. Will he be able to save his wife, or will he be too late? 28. What’s New Scooby-Doo? Halloween Boos and Clues The gang is at it again! The crew solves Halloween-related mysteries in these four short movies, with Shaggy and Scooby always getting into trouble! These are the perfect scary movies for kids! 29. Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie Roo is determined to celebrate Halloween with his new best pal Lumpy. They get all dressed up to go trick or treating and are super excited until Tigger warns them of the dreaded Gobloon, who will turn them into a jaggedy lantern. However, if they catch the Gobloon before he catches them, they get a wish. After Pooh eats all the Halloween candy, the pair decide to be brave and go after the Gobloon before he calls them. 30. Spookley the Square Pumpkin Spookley is a square pumpkin, which causes him to be teased endlessly by the other round pumpkins in the patch. However, he gets help from his friends! This is one of the best family Halloween movies out there–especially for younger kids!
Scary Movies
Although this list has all the best Halloween movies, we’ve been keeping it pretty family-friendly up until this point. So, it’s time to turn up the thrill factor and present our list of scary movies to watch on Halloween! 31. Wait Until Dark Susy, who recently became blind from fire, and Sam are newlyweds. Sam is flying home from Canada. A woman asks him to carry a doll for her. However, the woman disappears. His acceptance of the doll sets off a crazy set of events that put him and Susy in grave danger. Unbeknownst to Sam, the doll is full of heroin, and the real criminals will stop at nothing to retrieve the doll.
When a Stranger Calls Jill is a teenager who is being forced by her parents to babysit for a wealthy family. After the kids go to sleep, she is bored gets a scary phone call from a man. When the calls keep happening, she calls the police, who tell her the call is coming from inside the house! She has to fight for her life as she tries to save the kids and herself from the mysterious caller. Put this at the top of your must-see scary movies list!
White Noise Jonathon’s wife is killed in an accidental death. Soon after, a paranormal expert approaches him and says his wife is trying to contact Jonathon through Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). At first, Jonathon is skeptical about EVP, but he finally tries this method of communication. He soon gets obsessed with EVP and communicates with others as well. But, unfortunately, ‘destructive’ spirits don’t like his meddling in their behavior and try to end his life.
The Others Grace and her two children live in a huge mansion during WWII. Grace’s husband passed away in the war, so it’s now just the three of them. The children have photosensitive skin, so all the drapes have to be drawn at all times, or the children’s skin will burn. Grace’s daughter tells her that there is a boy named Viktor that visits them. Grace begins to seek out the mysterious sightings her daughter tells her about, which leads to a revelation about the house and its intruders.
Lady in White On Halloween night, Frank gets locked up in a closet and sees the ghost of a young girl get murdered. Frank then finds himself being stalked by the girl’s murderer. Frank is drawn to an old house where a mysterious Lady in White lives. He soon finds out what really happened to the girl.
Devil Detective Bowden has yet to get over the death of his wife and child but is still working cases in Philadelphia. He has been called to a skyscraper that has five trapped victims in one of its elevators. The communication device on the elevator is broken, but the camera is still working. Detective Bowden is horrified to find that the lights on the elevator flick on and off, and one of the five is found dead. He is now in a race against time as he tries to identify all passengers and figure out who is killing them one by one.
Insidious A family moves into a new home. Shortly after that, one of the boys explores the attic when he falls and hits his head. The following day he doesn’t wake up from his sleep. He is in a deep coma for three months when the mother begins to see apparitions. At first, her husband doesn’t believe her, but then his mother also says something. They soon hire a medium who tells them their son is trapped in a world between reality and death, and unless the husband can get him, his body will be lost to a mighty demon.
Red Eye Lisa is a hotel manager of a very illustrious chain. She is flying home from her grandma’s funeral when she is cornered by a man who gives her proof that he has her father kidnapped. He tells her that he will kill him unless she changes the room of a politician. She now has to use the flight and the next day to save not only her father but the life of the politician and herself!
Poltergeist A young family living in a nice neighborhood discovers their youngest daughter communicating with ghosts through their T.V. At first, the family is amused with the whole thing, but when the ghosts turn nasty and even abduct the daughter, the family finds themselves in a matter of life or death.
The Sixth Sense Malcolm is a child psychologist who is visited by a past client who is not happy with their work. When a mother later approaches him with a child who claims the same vice of his former client, Malcolm is determined to get it right this time. Unfortunately, the child sees dead people. Malcolm spends hours and hours with the child, trying to find a cure for his problem. Certainly one of the all-time best Halloween movies.
Signs Preacher Graham Hess loses his faith in God after his wife is killed in a car accident. He moves his two children and brother into a farmhouse to start a new life. When crop circles begin appearing in his corn, he thinks it’s the work of meddling teenagers. But as he watches the news and they see these crop circles appearing throughout the world, he realizes the phenomenon is more severe than he thought – the work of extra-terrestrial beings.
Jaws There is a shark attack on the beaches of New England, and the new sheriff wants to close down the beaches. The mayor balks at that suggestion, and a boy gets attacked the next day. The mother is enraged and puts a bounty on the shark’s head. A local fisherman and man who has experience hunting sharks offer to join in for a hefty price. Soon he and his workers head out and realize that this is no ordinary shark they are hunting!
1408 Mike Enslin is a writer who focuses on supernatural phenomena surrounding places – hotels, graveyards, etc. In his writing, he solves the mystery behind the ‘haunting.’ Mike is currently writing another book centered around one room in a hotel – #1408. It is permanently closed, but Mike insists on staying in the room and even threatens to sue the hotel unless he can stay one night. The manager tells Mike of the 50 people who have died in that room and begs him to switch rooms, but Mike stays.
What Lies Beneath Norman and Claire are a normal married couple who live in a lakeside home in Vermont. Claire is recently retired and begins seeing and hearing strange things. When she consults Norman about it he encourages her to seek out help. Claire’s therapist listens to the report of her seeing a reflection and hearing strange noises, and he encourages her to make contact. What Claire and her best friend uncover is a secret so serious the owner of the secret will do anything to keep it from being known.
The Village In a quiet old Pennsylvania village, there is a pact between the people of the village and the creatures surrounding the village. The humans don’t enter the woods, and the creatures don’t enter the village. However, the pact is challenged when a young man seeks medicine in the villages beyond the forest. Strange things begin to happen. When animal carcasses devoid of any fur appear, the elders of the village are worried that the village is now in grave danger.
The Invasion When a space shuttle disintegrates on re-entry, it releases an extra-terrestrial virus that it acquired in space. A psychiatrist hears stories from many people stating their loved ones are no longer themselves. She soon finds that the virus is attacking the human DNA and changes it. After her former husband contracts the virus, she fears for her son’s life.
They Julia is a graduate student in psychology. A childhood friend contacts her and asks her to meet him in a bar. He reminds her of the nightmares they both had growing up, and he tells her that they have been tagged by demons who are chasing him–and he commits suicide right before her eyes. She begins having nightmares again and realizes that all the things she was scared of as a little girl might actually be real.
I Am Legend Robert Neville is a scientist that was unable to stop the spreading of a disease, which he is immune. So every day for three years, he sends out a radio message in hopes of finding another human who survived. He also works to find a cure using his blood. The ‘changed’ humans watch his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake so they can get him too.
The Stepfather Michael returns home from military school to find his mom in love with her new boyfriend. Unfortunately, the new boyfriend seems just a little too nice, and Michael begins to suspect him to be the serial killer who preys on broken families. He rushes to find evidence of that fact before it is too late for his family.
Dream House A young family moves into a beautiful home where, unbeknownst to them, a murder occurred. The father survived and was the only suspect. As the new family gets settled, they find themselves the new target of the killer. Now the father and a neighbor from across the street team up to put the puzzle pieces together and catch the killer before he catches them.
Halloween Movie Marathon Invitation
Now you have all of the best Halloween movies all in one place! We covered everything from super scary movies to family Halloween movies. Now it’s time to make your pick and snuggle up for a spooky movie night. Print the free invite linked below and give it to your someone special OR arrange a group date with friends. You will definitely need a cuddle buddy during your next Halloween movie marathon–it’s going to be a spooky one!
If you would like another extra fun way to watch one of these Halloween movies, check out Michelle’s Hocus Pocus dinner date night or go on our Halloween scavenger hunt before your movie marathon date starts!
