Not every movie centered around Halloween gets the proper recognition it deserves, with many incredible holiday classics falling by the wayside in favor of bigger films. When it comes to Halloween and movies, it’s easy for all discussion to be overtaken by the ubiquitous Halloween movie series that began with the John Carpenter movie of the same name. That being said, Michael Myers doesn’t have a monopoly on cinematic Halloween iconography, with plenty of great undersung films themed around the holiday to reach for going undersung.
Being a horror movie isn’t necessarily the same as being a Halloween movie, with the best films that represent the season being themed around or at least taking place during Halloween. Halloween movies don’t necessarily need to be scary to be classics either, with some of the best of them being cozy family-friendly films with a heartening Autumnal vibe. Some of the strongest film representatives of Halloween as a holiday have sadly flown under the radar.
10 The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad
Released In 1949
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The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Director Ben Sharpsteen , Jack Kinney , Clyde Geronimi , James Algar Release Date October 5, 1949 Cast Bing Crosby , Basil Rathbone , Eric Blore , J. Pat O’Malley , John Ployardt , Colin Campbell , Campbell Grant Runtime 68 Minutes
It’s rare for an older film to be associated with Halloween, considering the holiday’s more modern sensibilities compared to classics like Christmas. That being said, as far back as the 1940s, a heartening, heartwarming crossover between two classic literary characters teamed up for a Halloween movie hit theaters with The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad.
Related 10 Great Kids Halloween Movies (& The Scenes That Might Still Scare Them)
There are plenty of Halloween movies that are great for kids, with eerie moments and spine-tingling scenes that captivate audiences of all ages.
Combining one half of Frog and Toad from The Wind in the Willows fame with Washington Irving’s iconic short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rather than join forces somehow, Ichabod and Mr. Toad are kept separate during the film, which presents adaptations of both stories as a two-part anthology.
The animation is quite wonderful for the time, and the dulcet tones of Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby’s narration help tie the two disconnected tales together. An underrated feather in the cap of early Disney, The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad is a great calming apéritif for the more chaotic aspects of the Halloween season.
9 Sleepy Hollow
Released In 1999
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7/10 Sleepy Hollow TV-14
Director Tim Burton Release Date November 19, 1999 Cast Johnny Depp , Christina Ricci , Miranda Richardson , Michael Gambon , Casper Van Dien , Jeffrey Jones Runtime 106 Minutes
Speaking of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad isn’t alone in being a criminally underseen adaptation of the original ghoulish tale. Only under the radar thanks to its proximity to even more iconic Halloween movies in Tim Burton’s filmography, 1999’s Sleepy Hollow is a genius re-telling of the tale of the Headless Horseman that pays homage to the iconic British Hammer horror films of the distant past.
Johnny Depp stars as Ichabod Crane, a squeamish constable who becomes entangled in the legend of the Headless Horseman. The best part of Sleepy Hollow is easily its brilliant art design, which earned the film an Academy Award for Best Art Direction the year following its release.
Sleepy Hollow
is a feast for the eyes just as much as a loaded satchel of Halloween candy is a feast for the spirit.
Indeed, the cinematography, costumes, and bright pink blood indicative of its Hammer inspiration, not to mention one of Tim Burton’s best movie sets in The Tree of the Dead, all contribute to a ghoulishly fun slasher movie. Sleepy Hollow is a feast for the eyes just as much as a loaded satchel of Halloween candy is a feast for the spirit.
8 Monster House
Released In 2006
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Monster House
Director Gil Kenan Release Date July 21, 2006 Cast Spencer Locke , Sam Lerner , Catherine O’Hara , Fred Willard , Maggie Gyllenhaal Runtime 91 minutes
The type of photorealistic animation that briefly attempted to become mainstream in the 2000s employed by films like Monster House hasn’t aged well, often cited as looking too inhuman or unnatural. But strangely enough, this uncanny valley effect works wonders in an unsettling horror story set during Halloween time. Monster House tells the story of a trio of misfit friends who become embroiled in the mystery of the neighborhood grumpy old man’s eerie haunted house. It’s soon revealed that the house isn’t just haunted, but alive, terrorizing the neighborhood as a living, breathing entity.
Monster House may be suitable for young viewers, but it stands among a short list of films that manages to walk the fine line between child-friendly and genuinely frightening, thanks in no small part to its creepy-looking human characters. The film is also genuinely funny as well, with timeless jokes that have persisted well into the modern day thanks to circulation as memes. It might be overlooked by many, but Monster House is a worthy Halloween film enjoyable by all ages.
7 Trick ‘R Treat
Released In 2007
The mid-to-late 2000s really understood Halloween well, as dedicated holiday films like Trick ‘R Treat have established. Directed by Michael Dougherty, who would go on to make a name for himself in Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse, the horror anthology film introduces several unique stories that all take place on the same Halloween night, tying them together in creative ways to establish a single narrative. At the center of the action is little Sam, the pint-sized supernatural slasher named after the pagan holiday Halloween is rooted in, Samhain.
While Trick ‘R Treat has slowly gained more and more recognition over the years, in truth, it deserves to be even more ubiuitous to Halloween than it already is. Not only set during Halloween, but deeply rooted in the holiday’s most iconic qualities and themes, Trick ‘R Treat is scary, funny, and increasingly creative as each of its seemingly separate vignettes masterfully weave into one another. Hopefully, Sam can continue to become an iconic horror villain as synonymous with the holidays as Michael Myers himself.
6 ParaNorman
Released In 2012
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9/10 ParaNorman pg
Director Sam Fell Release Date September 13, 2012 Writers Chris Butler Cast Anna Kendrick , Kodi Smit-McPhee Runtime 93minutes
Pivoting back to less intense Halloween classics, ParaNorman is a masterfully-crafted stop-motion animation film that has been tragically overlooked in its time. The story revolves around the titular Norman, an outcast young boy with the unique ability to communicate with the dead, a power no one in his life believes is real. When his Massachusetts town is plagued by the ghost of a 300-year-old witch, Norman becomes his community’s only hope of surviving Halloween.
ParaNorman balances a classic outcast coming-of-age tale with an apocalyptic zombie movie between its two halves, combining the two to make something greater. The film is great at subverting classic tropes of the horror genre and the casts of teen characters typical of it, supplementing its story with the beautiful visuals of its incredibly painstaking frame-by-frame animation. A comedy-chiller with a huge heart, ParaNorman has been rudely missed by even great enthusiasts of Halloween time.
5 Mad Monster Party?
Released In 1967
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Mad Monster Party Not Rated
Director Jules Bass Writers Arthur Rankin , jr. , Harvey Kurtzman , Len Korobkin , Forrest J. Ackerman Cast Boris Karloff , Allen Swift , Gale Garnett , Phyllis Diller , Ethel Ennis Runtime 95 Minutes
ParaNorman is far from the only stop-motion film to make great use of Halloween themes, with some examples being surprisingly old yet woefully underseen. Enter Mad Monster Party?, a rare Rankins/Bass holiday special to take place during Halloween rather than Christmas. Rather than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, this time around the revered studio used its animation talents to render the likes of Dracula, The Werewolf, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Invisible Man, and more. Though lesser-known than other Rankins/Bass productions, Mad Monster Party? has a dedicated cult following.
The story centers on a mad scientist, Baron Boris von Frankenstein himself, who summons the iconic horror movie monsters, who are apparently all in league with one another as the “Worldwide Organization of Monsters,” to his island lair to unveil his newly-created “secret of total destruction.” A clear love letter to the classic monster movies of Universal Studios, the film is most famous for being horr icon Boris Karloff’s last appearance in a related project, playing Baron Frankenstein. Easygoing movie fare with a friendly, endearing vibe, Mad Monster Party? deserves more recognition.
4 Ghostwatch
Released In 1992
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Ghostwatch HorrorMystery
Director Lesley Manning Writers Stephen Volk Cast Michael Parkinson , Sarah Greene , Craig Charles , mike smith , Gillian Bevan , Brid Brennan , Michelle Wesson , Cherise Wesson , Colin Stinton , Mike Aiton , Chris Miller , Ruth Sheen , Linda Broughton , Katherine Stark , Derek Smee , Keith Ferrari , Roger Tebb , Diana Blackburn , Brendan O’Hea , Mark Drewary , Mark Lewis Runtime 91 Minutes Expand
Despite not technically taking place on Halloween, Ghostwatch still earns a spot as a dedicated holiday film thanks to its association with the holiday in Britain, where the film first aired on live TV Halloween night. A mockumentary presented as live footage during its first airing, Ghostwatch drums up scares by presenting a broadcast that attempts to capture paranormal phenomena on-camera, delving into a haunted house supposedly plagued by a poltergeist referred to as “Mr. Pipes”. It isn’t long before the “camera crew” and host of the program are assailed by seemingly-real spirits.
Much like Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds radio play, Ghostwatch caused widespread panic during its first airing as many viewers believed the footage to be real. This serves as a testament to the brilliantly creepy direction of the project, which does admittedly appear convincing even today. Since its first airing on a fateful Halloween night in 1992, Ghostwatch has been spread internationally and on streaming services like Shudder as a secretly venerated holiday classic.
3 WNUF Halloween Special
Released In 2013
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WNUF Halloween Special
Director Chris La Martina , James Branscome , Shawn Jones , Scott Maccubbin , Lonnie Martin , Matthew Menter , Andy Schoeb Release Date October 18, 2013 Writers Chris LaMartina , Jimmy George , Pat Storck , Michael Joseph Moran , Jamie Nash Cast Paul Fahrenkopf , Aaron Henkin , Nicolette le Faye , Leanna Chamish , Richard Cutting , Brian St. August , Helenmary Ball , Robert Long II Runtime 83 Minutes
With its title conveying an experience similar to something like Ghostwatch, WNUF Halloween Special is in fact an American horror-comedy with an emphasis on its titular holiday. The analog horror story presents itself as a recording of an 80s Halloween special, commercials included, clearly inspired by Ghostwatch‘s initial broadcast. The footage follows television reporter Frank Stewart as he live-broadcasts himself exploring a haunted house alongside four other people, soon learning that his reported demonic incursion was no laughing matter.
Gaining a small cult following in the years since its release,
WNUF Halloween Special
should be better known as a perfectly atmospheric representation of Halloween thrills and chills.
It’s remarkable just how dedicated WNUF Halloween Special is to nailing 80s authenticity, being shot on actual vintage tape stock to maintain the illusion. Oozing with nostalgia, the film is representative of a very particular type of Halloween night many viewers might have enjoyed in adolescence. Gaining a small cult following in the years since its release, WNUF Halloween Special should be better known as a perfectly atmospheric representation of Halloween thrills and chills.
2 Murder Party
Released In 2007
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Murder Party Not Rated
Director Jeremy Saulnier Release Date October 12, 2007 Cast Chris Sharp , Macon Blair , Stacy Rock , Skei Saulnier , Paul Goldblatt , William Lacey , Alex Barnett , Bill Tangradi , Beau Sia , Michael Clomegah , Sampson Saulnier , Puff Snooty , Christian Antonias Mueller , Kate Porterfield , Tess Porterfield Lovell , Damon Lindsay , Beryl Guceri , David Zellerford , Malin Bergman , Amanda Bryan , Heidi Edwards , Kerry MacDonald , Andre da Costa , Alton Du Laney , Melanie L. Sullivan , Erin Dougherty , David Bratton , Sara Matarazzo , Shondu Runtime 80 Minutes Expand
A shockingly unique Halloween film, Murder Party is a wonderfully hilarious midnight horror-comedy for those in the know. Taking place on Halloween night, the film follows a lonely man who goes to a publicly advertised party on a whim, dressing up in a homemade knight costume. The poor partygoer is in the for the night of his life as he finds himself kidnapped and at the mercy of a coterie of psychotic, pretentious artists, who debate how to kill him in the most creative and artful way possible.
Despite the fact that he spends the majority of the film bound and gagged, the protagonist of Murder Party anchors the highbrow ramblings of its villains as they bicker back and forth on the most meaningful way to torture their victim. The final bloody climax is a welcome payoff to the tense atmosphere, as one of the quieter members of the party goes fully berserk in his dislike for his friends’ taste. A brilliant dissection of the meaning of art disguised as schlocky horror film, Murder Party is a rare Halloween-themed story with some true substance to chew on.
1 Tales Of Halloween
Released In 2015
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Tales of Halloween R Director darren lynn bousman , Axelle Carolyn , Adam Gierasch , Andrew Kasch , Neil Marshall , Lucky McKee Writers Axelle Carolyn , Andrew Kasch , Neil Marshall , Lucky McKee , Mike Mendez , Dave Parker Cast Booboo Stewart , Grace Phipps , Barry Bostwick , Greg Grunberg , Cerina Vincent , Keir Gilchrist Runtime 120 minutes
Trick ‘R Treat is far from the only horror anthology film to take advantage of Halloween’s campfire tale spookiness. While the film fails to interlock its collection of stories with any connective tissue, what it lacks in cohesiveness it more than makes up for in quantity, presenting a staggering ten short stories for expectant horror fans to choose from. Each story takes place during or revolves around Halloween in some way or another, keeping the promise of the title’s premise with every individual tale.
Like any anthology film, especially one with so many separate narratives, some of the stories in Tales of Halloween are better than others. But as a wide sampling of the different horror possibilities opened up by Halloween, it’s hard to beat, casting a wide net of creative concepts from serial killers to demonic witches. Making the most out of a modest budget and shockingly consistent in quality, Tales of Halloween should be better known as a fantastic grab-bag of Halloween movie treats.