Looking for the best Halloween movies to watch tonight? This guide brings together fresh 2025 highlights, family-friendly favorites, and psyche-burrowing classics so you can find a scary movie (or a comforting one) that fits the mood. You’ll see brand names, dates, casts, and specific titles throughout, plus where these horror movies for Halloween sit in genre history.
New this season: buzzy titles and timely streams
Weapons — the 2025 horror-thriller from Zach Cregger of Barbarian — is the year’s most talked-about pick for a Halloween watch, with multiple outlets calling it one of 2025’s best horror movies and noting its timely streaming debut just before Halloween. The movie’s conversation also points fans toward companion watches like What Lies Beneath (2000) and cult radio-transmission chiller Pontypool (2008), which scratch similar itches in supernatural dread and eerie, morally tangled mysteries.
Where to watch Halloween staples right now
Pontypool (2008)
A current roundup of 15 spooky-season go-tos spans slasher icons, paranormal haunts, and comfort viewing. The selection includes Halloween (1978), The Exorcist (1973), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Paranormal Activity (2007), The Conjuring (2013), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021), Totally Killer (2023), Halloweentown (1998), Hocus Pocus (1993), and the perennial TV special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966). Streaming homes in the mix include HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu, and Shudder.
Specific highlights from that list:
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) — a rare PG‑13 horror entry, set on Halloween night, that turns Alvin Schwartz’s book legends into living threats.
- The Exorcist (1973) — still “considered by many to be the scariest movie ever made,” with Linda Blair’s possession and practical effects that feel disturbingly real.
- Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021) — Gonzo and Pepe accept a challenge from the Ghost Host (Will Arnett) while Miss Piggy channels Madame Leota; a funny, all-ages Halloween romp.
- Sleepy Hollow (1999) — Tim Burton’s lush retelling, starring Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp, earned the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
- Totally Killer (2023) — Kiernan Shipka time-hops to save her mom (Julie Bowen) from a returning masked killer; a meta, slasher‑comedy fit for the holiday.
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) — a cozy, nostalgia-forward watch that never goes out of style.
- The Conjuring (2013) — launched a franchise that has grossed over $2.3 billion, powered by Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, and Lili Taylor.
Psyche-burrowing classics that still hit like a nightmare
Nosferatu (1922)
PopMatters’ staff frames Halloween as a time to probe “the darker facets of our being” and calls horror “an important expression in cinema.” Their critics walk through a baker’s dozen of films that get under the skin, from silent vampirism to domestic terror.
- Nosferatu (1922) — F.W. Murnau’s unauthorized Dracula tale with Max Schreck as a “grotesque, deformed” parasite; its influence runs from Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot to E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe.
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) — framed as a formative horror text for generations; Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch and those winged monkeys capture the genre’s “irrational fear” and inevitability.
- The Innocents (1961) — Jack Clayton adapts Henry James with Truman Capote; Deborah Kerr’s governess faces possession, gaslighting, and “seeds of doubt” that never resolve.
- The Shining (1980) — Stanley Kubrick’s psychodrama of “heinous domestic abuse” where Jack’s “rabid id” makes the Overlook feel terrifyingly real.
- Lisa and the Devil (1974) — Mario Bava’s surreal masterpiece later mangled into The House of Exorcism (retitled in 1975); dream logic and “morbid elegance” reign.
- Halloween (1978) — the slasher touchstone that drags in a golden age of masked menace.
- The Thing (1982) — paranoia that infects the audience as thoroughly as the crew of Outpost 31.
- The Witches (1990) — a child‑endangering fairy‑tale nightmare with candy‑coated menace.
- Cape Fear (1962/1991) — stalking terror that makes the viewer complicit.
- Scream (1996) — meta slasher that “punishes teenagers’ impulse for thrills.”
- Gone Girl (2014) — a horrific portrait of performative identity and media spectacle.
Cast & creators roll call (names you’ll actually see on screen)
- Will Arnett (Ghost Host in Muppets Haunted Mansion); Miss Piggy as Madame Leota; Fozzie Bear as the Hatbox Ghost; Rowlf the Dog as the organist.
- Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp (Sleepy Hollow); Kiernan Shipka and Julie Bowen (Totally Killer).
- Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, and Lili Taylor (The Conjuring); Linda Blair (The Exorcist).
- Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz).
- Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee (iconic Draculas referenced around Nosferatu); Max Schreck (Nosferatu).
- Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire), Stephen King (Salem’s Lot reference).
- Deborah Kerr and Jack Clayton (The Innocents); Truman Capote (co-writer).
How to choose the best Halloween movies for your group
For horror‑curious viewers, start with lighter fare like Muppets Haunted Mansion, Halloweentown, or It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. If you want classic chills, try Sleepy Hollow or The Conjuring. Craving a scarier night? Queue The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a psyche‑burrower like Nosferatu or The Shining.
Methodology & notes
This guide synthesizes same‑week roundups with critics’ essays that call out why certain films endure at Halloween. When dates, grosses, or platform details appear, they come straight from those pieces. Where a title lacked a confirmed detail, we marked it as general guidance rather than a new claim.
Bottom line
If you only pick one scary movie, the 2025 conversation points squarely at Weapons as a timely Halloween watch. If you’re programming a full spooky-season queue, mix in a comfort classic, a paranormal haunt, and one psyche‑burrowing stone‑cold classic. That blend delivers the best Halloween movie experience — equal parts chills, craft, and fun.
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