When Thanksgiving passes, and candy starts showing up at the store, everybody is looking for a way to get in the mood for the spookiest time of year. So, what better way to celebrate the scariest, and sweetest, holiday of the year by watching some classic horror movies? Here are five oldies but goodies to get your scare on this year.
1. The Exorcist (1973)
Movies about demonic possessions are all the rage these days, so why not watch the one that started it all? Based on a bestselling novel, The Exorcist chronicles the disturbing and mind-bending tale of a twelve-year-old possessed by an inhuman entity, and the two priests her mother calls to help save the young girl’s soul. Watching a child becoming a demon’s plaything is a horrifying thing to watch, and is what makes the movie, to this day, still so scary.
Photo Credit: IMDb: The Exorcist 1973
2. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby isn’t your typical horror movie, with no axe murderers or ghosts or monsters that usually make us think of horror. But there is something innately horrifying about seeing a young woman try – and fail – to fight against a group of people who only see her as a tool, including her own husband. Other movies like Rosemary’s Baby include The Stepford Wives (1975), The Belko Experiment, and Get Out.
Photo Credit: IMDb: Rosemary’s Baby 1968
3. The Fly (1986)
Be afraid – be very afraid – this Halloween night and mix up your horror movie marathon with a touch of sci-fi by watching Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis in The Fly. The premise of this movie, in which a brilliant scientist conducts a teleportation experiment that goes horribly, horribly wrong, may sound like the origin story of a superhero, but by the end of movie, you definitely won’t feel the same way.
Photo Credit: IMDb: The Fly 1986
4. The Omen (1976)
Welcome to the end times. In The Omen, an American diplomat and his wife unknowingly raise the son of Satan as their own son. The demonic presence in their life slowly destroys everything they hold dear, bringing misfortune and misery to the people around Damien Thorn. Kids can be terrifying even if they aren’t the Antichrist, so this movie should double your fear – especially if you hold out long enough to watch that scene at the end.
Photo Credit: IMDb: The Omen 1976
5. Halloween (1978)
Sometimes the scariest monsters are the ones whose faces you can’t see. Fifteen years after murdering his older sister on Halloween night, Michael Myers escapes a mental hospital and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield to go on a killing spree. Halloween may not be an especially gory movie, but it is a thriller, full of quiet mystery and suspense that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat.
Photo Credit: IMDb: Halloween 1978