Halloween is fast approaching. It’s a great time to sit down and watch those cult classic films you always hear about but never have the time to see. There’s a wide variety to choose from, so it’s easy to find a title that matches your tastes or preferred scare level.
1. Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cult classic that never dies. This campy favorite has a great balance of frightful themes, humor, and outrageous costumes. The original was released in 1975 and starred Tim Curry as the infamous scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter with Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss and Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors. This one gets pretty wild, with catchy songs to sing along to and a weirdly addicting cast of characters.
2. Re-Animator
Re-Animator is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s tale “Herbert West–Reanimator”. It’s a story of students at a medical college, bizarre scientific experiments, and the reanimation of dead tissue. This 1985 release contains horror, gore, and comedy, and is a great flick for grown-ups who want to get into the Halloween spirit.
3. The Evil Dead
The Evil Dead is probably one of the first titles most people think of when they hear the words “cult classic.” It was released in 1981 and was the catalyst for actor Bruce Campbell to become a cult icon (as Ash Williams). The plot begins with five friends staying in a cabin deep in the woods of Tennessee, where they unknowingly unleash demons that can possess flesh through the dreaded Book of the Dead.
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
If you want a little gore and mayhem with your Halloween festivities, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an excellent choice. It contains elements of a slasher flick and is considered by many horror fans to be the best movie in the genre. Originally released in 1974, the plot focuses on two siblings and their friends being attacked by a family of psychopathic cannibals.
5. Night of the Living Dead
George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is a Halloween staple for zombie fans. This black and white work of bloody art follows a group of strangers holed up in an abandoned farmhouse during a zombie incident. There is also a color remake that was released in 1990: also worth watching.
6. The Exorcist
The 1973 film The Exorcist is easily one of the most parodied and referenced cult classics in the world. A young girl is possessed by an entity and her mother seeks help from two priests to exorcise the powerful demon. Scenes of projectile vomiting and back-bending spiderwalks are part of the cultural lexicon—make sure you’ve seen the original source material.
7. Halloween
Halloween is a horror franchise that started with the release of the first film in 1978. The movie focuses on character Michael Myers, a bloodthirsty murderer who escaped from a sanitarium. There have been seven sequels since the original. Writer, director, and musician Rob Zombie also introduced a remake in 2007.
8. Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus was released in 1993 and starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, a trio of executed witches. They are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween. This Disney film has a PG rating, making it a great Halloween movie for kids, and any movie that has Bette Midler singing “I Put A Spell On You” is a guaranteed winner.
9. Hitchcock’s Psycho
Psycho is another oft-parodied and referenced horror film. Originally released in 1960, this title takes a psychological approach to terror as envisioned by Alfred Hitchcock. In the movie, real estate secretary Marion Crane stops at the Bates Motel where she encounters odd character Norman. One shower-scene later and a murder has occurred. Marion’s sister comes looking for her missing sibling, and the truth about Norman and his mother is soon revealed.
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!