This list was curated to include a little bit of everything- sheer terror, comedy, and lots of gore. There’s something for everyone in these classic films and they’re sure to make your Halloween spookier. 

1. “Nightmare on Elm Street”

It’s hard to go wrong with the classics, and there’s a reason this film is one that endured from the slasher era 40 years ago. The spine-crawling mix of surrealist horror and high school life provides a fun scare. The battle between the protagonist, Nancy, one of the most memorable final girls of the 80s (the final girl is a slasher trope that refers to the last girl standing when the killer is defeated. She’s the one to take him out), and the infamous Freddy Kreuger is especially interesting because it doesn’t take place at a summer camp or a haunted house–it happens in the mind and erases the thin line between dreams and reality. It’s a great start for new horror fans and a beloved classic that answers the question, “What if nightmares don’t end when we wake up?” 

Available for rent on Amazon Prime 

2. “Get Out”

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut skillfully combines social justice issues and horror. Chris, a Black aspiring photographer, goes with his white girlfriend to her family home. What starts as a typical meet-the-parents visit soon grows into a dangerous and suspenseful situation when Chris notices that there’s something wrong with the family’s domestic workers, all African-Americans. Like Nightmare on Elm Street, Peele brings the horror into the protagonist’s mind through invasive hypnotism as Chris fights to “get out.” 

Available to rent on Amazon Prime 

3. “Jennifer’s Body”

High school is hard enough to survive, but in this film our final girl, Anita “Needy” Lesnicki, also finds her best friend Jennifer suddenly possessed by a demon that thirsts for boy’s blood. In this horror-comedy, director Karyn Kusama explores the themes of friendship, love and loss–especially the loss of friendships as people change. Megan Fox perfectly portrays Jennifer as not only a man-eating demon but also a teenage girl struggling to find self-worth beyond physical beauty. 

Available on Hulu 

4. “Silence of the Lambs” 

“Silence of the Lambs” is one of the more subtle horror films in mainstream media. It is not a horror movie in the traditional sense; there are no jump scares or monsters to fight. It is horrifying in the way that all the “bad guys” in the film are human.The incarcerated cannibal Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, has the type of vibe that can make you uncomfortable just by looking at him. But Clarice, a young FBI agent, must trust him and use him as a resource to catch an even more dangerous criminal–a serial killer who skins his victims. Creepy and enthralling, this revered classic contains as many layers as Hannibal himself. 

Available on Netflix 

5. “The Blair Witch Project” 

Created in 1999, “The Blair Witch Project” is nauseatingly suspenseful. The nausea comes mostly from the way the movie was filmed–on a handheld video camera. As the first “found footage” movie, it paved the way for many more iconic films such as “Paranormal Activity”. The film follows the journey of three college classmates led by Heather, a film student set on creating a documentary about the legendary Blair Witch in the woods of Maryland. The supernatural forces of the witch combined with the forest being the past home of a brutal child killer make the movie scary, but the genius way it was filmed makes the audience feel as though they are a fourth member of the doomed trio. 

Available to rent on Amazon Prime 

6. “The Omen” 

“The Omen” follows the story of an American ambassador in London and his beautiful wife and son. However, it is soon revealed that the son, Damien, is the antichrist prophesied to cause the apocalypse. While Damien wreaks havoc and brings death upon those around him, his father Robert seeks to find out if his son is really his- or the devil’s. If Damien really is who he’s made out to be, can he be stopped? Capitalizing on the universality of religion, this film brings sacred horror to the audience. The antagonist, Damien, is also one of the youngest horror villains of his time- making his violence even more terrifying. 

Available on Hulu