With Halloween rolling around soon and everyone stuck inside I’ve compiled a list of the best movies for Halloween on Amazon prime. Movies are a safe (but scary) way to enjoy Halloween amidst the pandemic. Keep in my mind these are my personal favorites and if you have any recommendations of your own comment down below. 

5. Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90

Rating: NR

You may be wondering why I’m recommending a Western on a Halloween list. Do not worry, this dark Western has plenty of scares. Not only that but strong performances by the actors. Bone Tomahawk revolves around a group of gunslingers who must rescue townsfolk from a cannibalistic tribe. The movie is a slow burn in suspense and drags out its dark subject matter. While it is my least favorite on the list it is still worth checking out for horror and Western fans. Fair warning though: It is quite violent. 

4. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91

Rating: NR

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is a Korean found-footage horror film. For people that do not know what a found-footage film is it is a film shot as if it was actually camera records of an event. The film centers around a group filming in the Asylum a webcast and creating fake scares to gain publicity. Spoiler though, things go wrong. I was surprised how tense this film made me in its scary scenes. The film is an exercise in slow-burn terror and is truly worth watching if you can handle reading subtitles. 

3. Hereditary (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89

Rating: R

Hereditary takes dark to a new level. Containing one of the most upsetting scenes in a movie Hereditary is a horror masterpiece. Many may not like its overtly sinister and misery filled atmosphere. But there is no denying that it is a beautiful shot film with strong performances all around. The plot centers on a grieving family after the wife’s mother has passed away. But dark secrets around the family line start to emerge with the word “hereditary” starting to take a whole new dimension of terror. 

2. House of the Devil (2009)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85 

Rating: R

Probably the scariest movie I have ever seen, House of the Devil is a wild ride. What makes it so scary? The suspense. The plot focuses on a young college student who takes a mysterious babysitting job for some quick cash. The plot may sound cliche but the movie manages to take an 80’s feeling horror and make it fresh and terrifying. I’m not going to spoil anything more and highly suggest watching it spoiler-free as possible.

1. Dark Water (2002)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80

Rating: PG-13

The least critically acclaimed by rotten tomatoes of the bunch, it seems like an odd choice to recommend the Japanese horror movie Dark Water as my first choice for Halloween viewings. Dark Water is an underrated masterpiece and possibly my favorite ghost story of all time. It was directed and written by the creator of the original Ring movie. The film is not as chilling as Ring but I actually prefer Dark Water.

What Dark Water lacks in terror it makes up for it with beautiful music and characters. The plot centers on a mother and daughter who move into an apartment complex that drips water from the ceiling. The mother is fighting a custody battle with her ex-husband over her daughter but it becomes clear that something else is fighting for her daughter.  With a heartbreaking ending, I fully recommend Dark Water. 

Honorable Mentions: 

• The Lighthouse
• Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
• Midsommar
• Cabin in the Woods
• Starry Eyes
• The Wailing
• Train to Busan
• Night of the Living Dead
• Overlord
• Absentia