As far as we are concerned, October is the perfect time of year to cozy up on the couch, sip on a hot toddy and watch something equal parts brilliant and terrifying. Here is our official list of films to watch this October.
In our household, especially during this pandemic, the TV has been on a lot more than usual. That being said, there are certain films that you only feel are appropriate to watch as the Halloween season approaches. These are the films that we anticipate watching every year, the ones that will never get old or boring or lose their charm and still keep us up in the middle of the night.
Here are our choices for Films to Watch this Halloween Season in no particular order.
**(If you're looking for shows the whole family can watch, young children included, then check out our recent post 5 Children's Shows that will Keep the Whole Family Entertained).
1. The Transfiguration
This one is top of the list because we have quite literally never seen anything like it. It is truly one of a kind.
The Transfiguration is about a young boy's (Milo) growing obsession with vampire lore while living in a bleak housing project with a dwindling amount of emotional support. That is until he meets the equally lonely and detached Sophie.
The Transfiguration will leave you clenching your butt, hiding under the blanket, and biting your french tips off.
The acting is superb, and Eric Ruffin shines as a disturbed young Milo who is coming of age, engulfed in his dark fantasies and twisted delusions with no one to pull him out.
This film deserves way more hype than it's gotten since its release in 2016, despite going to Canne. Michael O'Shea does a miraculous job directing and writing a film that will go down in history as one of the greatest horror movies to ever live.
2. Bulbbul
This movie is beyond WOW. It honestly was one of the few horror films that left me (Nina) feeling empowered.
Set in the second half of the Nineteenth Century in Bengal Presidency, Bulbbul tells the story of a young girl who is married off as a child to an extremely wealthy prince (with a sadistic side), who has a young brother whom Bulbbul befriends and a psychotic twin brother.
As Bulbbul grows into a queen, she learns how to navigate through the weeds of the patriarchy, hold her own, and radiate power through her beauty and charming demure. That is until a series of fateful nights sets her life in a different direction, and she is morphed into the Goddess she was meant to be.
3. The Witch: A New England Folktale
Set in 1630's New England, The Witch tells the story of a family who has recently been banished by their Puritan Plymouth Colony. As the family struggles to adapt to life outside their colony and build a new one, the youngest family member, baby Samuel abruptly disappears.
As tension begins to mount and fears of Samuel being kidnapped by a local witch begin to circulate, young Thomasin becomes an easy scapegoat for her dysfunctional family.
The Witch is one of those movies that you can not pull yourself away from. You will literally be glued to the screen from start to finish and have to pick your jaw up off the floor by the time the closing credits roll. Everything from the plot line to the gorgeous scenery to the true psychological roller coaster the viewer experiences makes this movie stand out and claim its place as a classic horror film for years and years to come.
4. Atlantique
Ada loves Soueleman. Soueleman loves Ada. Ada is promised to Omar. Soueleman and his coworkers have not been paid by the construction company they have been working for in months. They decide to leave on a raft from Dakar to Spain in search of a better life. Things do not go as planned.
Atlantique showcases the real-life horrors that migrant workers and their loved ones are faced with every day as they make impossible decisions under crushing poverty and oppression. It also showcases the truth that even in the afterlife, you cannot escape what is destined for you.
In our eyes, one of the best films of all-time, Mati Diop does an amazing job marrying the world of the living with the spirit world, love with misery, and oppression with justice in this stunning film that will leave chills running down your spine.
5. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
The first Iranian Vampire Western film to ever exist, coupled with the title should be enough alone to grab your attention. This movie is a cult classic and one that we still can't stop thinking about since watching it when it was released in 2014.
Young Aarash is in a bind; he owes money to his father's drug dealer and has just had his precious car stolen as collateral. One night he makes a series of choices that leave him walking home alone when his fate collides with a girl in a chador, riding a skateboard in the dark.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a mesmerizing tale about love, destruction, darkness, and the demons we all live with. Everything from the cinematography to the soundtrack bumps and leaves you rooting for almost every single character. Go watch this movie now, preferably in the dark with a few candles lit. You'll thank us later.
6. The Invitation
The Invitation is so much more than it appears to be. One of our favorites to come out in recent years.
It tells the tale of a divorced couple, Will and Eden, with a horrific past, who after years apart are reunited at an extravagant dinner party thrown by Eden and her new husband, David. Despite how hospitable Eden and David are to Will and his girlfriend, Kira, you can't seem to shake the feeling that some stuff is about to go down.
This film had us teetering between extreme suspicion and straight-up paranoia. All your worst nightmares end up being confirmed, but they were nightmares you never knew you had.
7. The Craft
This movie has been a cult classic since its release in 1996. The Craft tells the story of young Sarah who moves from San Francisco to LA smack in the middle of high school. She has supernatural powers and a whole lot of trauma. Sarah is struggling to adjust to her new school until she is befriended by Bonnie, Nancy and Rochelle.
Together the girls quickly form a bond and begin practicing magic and messing around with ouija boards. Things start to get out of control when Nancy becomes incredibly power-hungry and the spells they cast begin to produce unexpected consequences.
The Craft is a film that many of us grew up on, it encouraged us to embrace our weird sides and start wearing more black eyeliner. I am in love with this movie, and if you haven't seen it, I guarantee you will be too. So grab some spiked cider and your coven, and get ready to be taken all the way back.
8. It Follows
Sometimes the best horror films are the ones where you can't see the villain.
It Follows is a stunner and a game-changer, one that leaves you almost ready to pass out from sheer terror, sadness, and panic. You can't take one more second, but you need to see it through to the end.
This movie is not for the faint or weak at heart and plays beautiful homage to those of us who are eaten alive by guilt and shame.
9. Vampire in Brooklyn
What can we say? This is another 90's throwback and a great mix of 90's comedy and 90's thrill for those nights you feel like watching something scary-ish, but don't want to be scared out of your mind.
Vampire in Brooklyn tells the story of Maximillian (played by Eddie Murphy) who is the last vampire of his kind and on the hunt for a queen. Rita (played by the stunning Angela Basset) is a police officer who has frequent terrifying dreams she does not understand, often about her mother who passed away in a psychiatric asylum. While she struggles to make sense of her past and her mother's story, she begins to find her life becoming more and more complicated with Maximillian in it.
Please do yourself a favor, no matter how much of a horror movie buff you are, and go watch this classic. It is perfect. We love it. That is all.
10: The Lodge
This movie took us by surprise. We were eating hot Cheetos in the back of our jeep at a drive-in (as one does) this summer in Pennsylvania when we were totally caught off guard and captivated by this psychological thriller. Even after the film ended and months later, we still find ourselves talking about it, so it was a must on our list of horror films.
The Lodge tells the tale of a future stepmom who takes a trip into the middle of nowhere with her fiance and his two young children. As to be expected, the children are not fond of their soon-to-be stepmother. The stepmom's traumatic past and fragile mental health are a little more unexpected.
The Lodge left us on the edge of a freak out in the best ways possible with hot Cheetos falling out of our mouths. We must have asked one another, "What's gonna happen?!" fifty times a piece throughout the roller coaster that is this film. Nothing could have prepared us for the final scene though.
11. Let the Right One In
Twelve-year-old Oskar dreams of revenge and desperately needs a friend. Eli, his new neighbor needs a new familiar. Together they can surely work something out. Right?
Set in suburbs of Stockholm in the early 80's, Let the Right One In is a tale of friendship, courage, forgiveness, and above all love. Very few horror movies are able to reach new heights the way this one has. It was one of the first horror films I actually remember liking when it was released in early 2008, and while it is eerie and dark, it is also hopeful, inspiring, and at times, touching.
Everything about Let the Right one In, from the soundtrack to the acting to the storyline, is superb. This is one of the most brilliant films to come out in the last few decades and one that should not go under your radar.