Some horror films will never grow old. It's October! Get into the horror film spirit.
There are so many classics worth seeing. Last year, a friend of mine who had never seen too many horror films asked me if we could get together so they could enjoy some classics.
Of course we had to watch the original Halloween. They loved it. I wish I could once again experience what it was like to watch that movie for the first time. Living vicariously through their experience was well worth it, though. And there are plenty more horror films out there for you to enjoy!
People shared their favorite classic horror films with us after Redditor baylawna6 asked the online community:
"What older horror movie still holds up?"
Alien (1979)
"Alien. Too bad everybody saw a version of that by now, but watching the chest-bursting scene for the first time might possibly be the most impressive thing I saw in a movie, ever."
Novel_Board6813
The first time I saw that as a kid I was utterly horrified. And I loved every single minute of it. It absolutely holds up!
The Changeling (1980)
"The Changeling. Everything but the wheelchair bit at the end, which is... unfortunate. Everything else is A+."
Chimera1012
Probably one of the best classic haunted house stories. Excellent!
The Omen (1976)
"The Omen."
"It’s got everything: amazing kills, investigative horror adventure, perfect actors, killer soundtrack, creepy kid, multilayered story, and more! I think it was Wes Craven who said he never figured out how they did that beheading scene so well."
markstormweather
This is absolutely one of my favorite horror films ever. Everything about it is a master class in filmmaking.
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
"Rosemary’s Baby. It’s more of a psychological thriller than horror in some ways, but it’s a really disturbing movie if you can adjust to the pace and watch Rosemary be gaslit by everyone around her over control of her body. Really well written film that was executed just about perfectly."
EloHellDoesNotExist
This is a perfect film. Rosemary's loss of control has grown only more horrifying in a post-Roe world.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
"The Night of the Hunter. Nothing supernatural or extraterrestrial in this one. Just two vulnerable children fleeing from a very bad man. The cinematography makes it feel like you're watching an actual nightmare."
Mother_Demand1833
This is a perfect film and truly one of my favorites. The cinematography is out of this world.
The Shining (1980)
"The Shining. In fact, the older it gets, the creepier it feels. Those zero CGI horror flicks definitely have a different feel from some of the modern ones. The Overlook feels eerie even if nothing scary had happened."
OrlandoMB
The Shining is indeed incredible. The 1997 miniseries that more closely followed Stephen King's book unfortunately felt very campy.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I remember being f**king terrified as a kid when Donald Sutherland did his thing at the end."
isfrying
I love the original film very much but the 1970s remake improves on it considerably. The 1993 take on the story—simply called Body Snatchers—is well worth a watch.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Terrifying because there's no jumps scares, no supernatural threats, just two horrible people being horrible to each other."
[deleted]
It's an unsettling film and the final few minutes are a master class.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
"Night of the Living Dead. I can't watch that at night. The whole film has such an unsettling mood, that I genuinely get creeped out."
UCantArtIfUWant
I watch this movie at least once or twice a year. It's pretty much perfect.
The Exorcist (1973)
"The Exorcist still holds up to this day. Maybe it's the whole religious aspect but I still know people who refuse to watch it again even after seeing it years ago."
BansheePuca
The Exorcist is a perfect movie. It works as both a horror film and as an upsetting family drama. Ellen Burstyn's acting alone is worth the price of admission.
It's spooky season everyone! Get into the spirit. These classics will never grow old.
Have some horror favorites of your own? Tell us about them in the comments below!
Films can be challenging in what they're trying to say, and if that challenge is too much to answer, don't feel bad for having to turn something off.
*The following article contains discussion of sexual assault.Reddit user, Elixir_Jx, wanted to know when a movie was just too much when they asked:
"What’s film is so brutal to watch you had to stop watching it?"
What reason would you have for stopping a movie before it finishes? The cinematography making you dizzy? The subject matter is too much for your to consider?
It'll vary, that's for sure.
"Animals Don't Behave Like Men"
"Watership Down."
"Hey, it's a cartoon, and it has bunnies!"
"Oh dear god..." eddyathome
Let's Climb High
"Not brutal, but I had to stop watching the doc Free Solo bc my blood pressure couldn’t handle the stress. This was early on when I had no knowledge of the climber and outcome."- NoCanadianCoins
Don't Listen To The Internet. It's Bad.
"Batman and Robin(1997)"- skippedad404
Perhaps it's the gore that forces you to turn it off, because watching someone being disemboweled for the umpteenth time in a film is not what you consider "entertainment."
Seems Like A Breach Of The Hippocratic Oath...
"I saw some French horror film about a nurse who went to some pregnant ladies house, tormented her, tortured her, then proceeded to cut open her belly with scissors to get the baby out."- DioramaDad
You Need To Pick Better "Family" Movies
"The Last House On The Left'."
"The rape scene in that movie was way too brutal for me to get through it."
"I can still picture scenes of it for some reason, that's how real and violent it felt."
"Didn't help that it was a movie that my family decided to watch together either."
"That said, we still tease my mom for picking that movie out as some weird shared trauma bonding experience all these years later."
"So maybe it wasn't a bad family movie after all????"- lastcallcarrot
Sound Makes Everything
"While I didn't stop watching, Bone Tomahawk was just..... jaezus"- wolf_of_thorns
Romantic Revenge With Pretty Dresses
"Midsommar - I think it's a psychological horror, I didn't stop watching but it was the most uncomfortable I have ever felt while watching a movie."
"The movie itself is very trippy and honestly disturbing."- Balderino
Whatever your reason for turning it off, trust your gut. If it's not giving you a good feeling, then maybe it's not the film for you.
There's A Message Buried Under All The Blegh
"a serbian film. awful sh-t"- tlep
A Movie About Kids. What Could Go Wrong?
"'Grave of the Fireflies'."
"One of the only movies I've ever stopped watching partway through."- Janube
A Grim View Of Our World
"Threads."
"The most terrifying movie I've ever seen about nuclear disaster."
"tl;dr it's not something you want to survive"- standrightwalkleft
The Good Guys Will Never Win
"Funny Games"- AVBforPrez
Not for the audience the title might suggest
"Kids (1995)"
"Poor Jenny."- LETS_RETRO_TIME
Wrong Avatar film...
"'Avatar: The Last Airbender', the live action movie, it was horrible."- elnacrested
Liked what I saw, before I stopped watching...
"The Mummy."
"Disgusting movie in some parts, other than that it’s a lovely movie."- Standard_Zero_3152
As If I could actually sleep after watching it...
"This German or Austrian horror film…"
"I believe it was called 'Good Night, Mommy'."- Maester_Maetthieux
Way more than '13 reasons why' I couldn't keep watching it!
"13 reasons why."
"That sh*t had me in deep mental sh*t."- Environmental_Net672
Just too real
"Sleepers (1996)."
"It's not brutal in a gore/horror type way, but more in the way that the content itself is brutal."
"There's a lot of sexual assault and rape involving young boys, both implied and dramatized graphic depictions, physical abuse, etc."
"That was the first film I ever watched that made me physically ill and had night terrors over."
"I had to turn it off midway through because I couldn't handle it."- ohstrange
A classic the whole family can enjoy... or is it?
"At end of the year in first grade, my teacher brought in 'Labyrinth' as a treat."
"As a pretty sensitive 6 year-old, I freaked out in the first ten minutes when they steal the baby."
"I remember my teacher told me she needed help with something, and just sobbing and cutting construction paper into squares, obviously for no reason."
"I still haven't seen the movie."- madreburguesa
Seriously, Who watches this stuff?
"'Martyrs'."
"It was just torture porn."- DukeMaximum
25 minutes is longer than many others made it...
"'The Human Centipede (2011)'."
"I was 25 minutes in."
"That was enough."
"'The Human Centipede'."
" 'THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE!...'"
"Yeah, not for me."- TheAlbeOne
Loved the first one, the sequel on the other hand...
"Not exactly brutal but I loved the first 'Maze Runner' movie."
"When the second one came out on DVD I was excited to watch it, however during the movie I got absolutely terrified of the zombie-like people with that disease."
"I had nightmares for days and now I refuse to watch it and the last one and even my family never watch it when I'm around."- Srosie18
Summaries are there for a reason, people. Let's start reading them before we press play, especially when our families are in the room.
Was there a movie you turned off partway through? Tell us about it in the comments!