Halloween is fast approaching, meaning it is now spooky season. Along with dressing up in costumes and eating candy, an iconic favorite Halloween tradition is gathering around and watching a scary movie with a group of friends or, for those who are brave enough, by themselves at night. While there are plenty of horror offerings hitting theaters in time for Halloween, there is something special about gathering at home to watch a horror film. It feels like the ideal format, as the comfort of one home can make the experience feel safer but also all the more terrifying.
While various streaming services will be offering a unique collection of viewing options this Halloween season, Paramount+ is pulling out all the stops for its Halloween Horror Collection. While Paramount+ may not draw the subscribers of Disney+, HBO Max, or Netflix it is certainly not one to sleep on, and this Halloween season they are a must-have for a wide variety of frightening films. These are the best horror movies streaming on Paramount+ to watch this Halloween season. Don’t worry, no need to pay extra for the Showtime add on these movies are all available through the standard Paramount+ account.
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Candyman
Universal Pictures
Candyman is a 2021 continuation of the underrated franchise and was a surprise hit at the box office during the COVID-19 pandemic and earned strong critical reviews. The basic premise finds a young man with an artistic block looking into an old neighborhood fable about the Candyman killer and slowly bad things begin to happen to him and his loved ones. The movie works as both a continuation of the franchise and as a standalone for new viewers, so anyone who did not see the first Candyman can easily enjoy this entry in the franchise. It is scary, topical, and another entry in the great growing filmography of Nia DaCosta, whose next film is the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels, due out in summer 2023.
Night of the Living Dead
Continental Distributing
A classic in every sense of the word, director George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead created the modern cinematic language for what a zombie is. Every zombie film in a way is a response to it, either taking the archetype in a different direction or playing by the rules laid out in it. Made on a low budget and as a scrappy independent production, Night of the Living Dead is the ideal classic horror film to watch during the Halloween season. It is a must-see film for everyone, and no Halloween season is truly complete without Romero.
The Blair Witch Project
Artisan Entertainment
The Blair Witch Project in many ways was the spiritual successor to Night of the Living Dead. It was a low-budget independent horror film that took the world by storm and created a film language. Every found footage film since has been compared to The Blair Witch Project. Even after all these years, and a number of disappointing sequels, The Blair Witch Project is just as scary as it was in 1999 and one of the most influential horror films of the modern era. It’s a great revisit for those who have already seen it and a perfect time for those who have only heard of it.
Paranormal Activity
Paramount Pictures
With the re-release of Avatar and the upcoming release of Avatar: The Way of Water, there certainly is a lot of nostalgia for 2009;, Paranormal Activity was the surprise hit of that year and launched one of the defining horror franchises of the 21st century. While the reputation of Paranormal Activity might have been damaged by the franchise’s ever-growing sequels, the first film remains a terrifying classic. It used its $15,000 budget to its advantage to make a movie that lacked the polish of a big horror film. It felt real, relatable, and like it could happen at any home in America.
While the later franchise would delve into the mythology, the first film is scary because the audience remains both literally and figuratively in the dark. Six of the seven Paranormal Activity movies have been released near Halloween and became an annual tradition, so the film feels like a must-watch for this time of year.
Jennifer’s Body
20th Century Studios
Another 2009 throwback pick. While originally marketed to cash in on the star power around star Megan Fox (the movie was released just three months after Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Jennifer’s Body was a bomb at the box office but has since become a cult classic as a modern feminist horror film. With a script by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody, and directed by Karyn Kusama, Jennifer’s Body is both a bloody graphic horror film and a dark comedy that was ahead of its time and having discussions about men using women’s bodies for their own needs and sexual harassment long before the film industry was. Jennifer Body stands as a testament that a film’s legacy is not sealed in its box office returns.
Shutter Island
Paramount
Martin Scorsese decided to follow up his Academy Award for Best Picture and Director wins for The Departed with the psychological thriller Shutter Island. Adapted from the book of the same name by Denis Lehane, Shutter Island stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, and Max Von Sydow. Not the typical cast you expect from a horror movie cast, but the legendary director creates a gripping suspenseful thriller with an amazing production design that gives an isolated haunting feeling to the audience member. The movie’s ending is controversial among many, but the ride getting there is a horror thrill ride guided by one of the greatest filmmakers alive.
Zodiac
Phoenix Pictures
From one thriller starring Mark Ruffalo to another, Zodiac is from acclaimed filmmaker David Fincher. Often regarded as one of the best films of 2007 and the entire decade it was released, the film follows the famous killings by the Zodiac killer through the eyes of a Released in 2007, Zodiac tells the story of the killings through the eyes of a journalist and a detective, and the film is an unsettling character study into the mind of a killer. While it appears the Zodiac killer has been identified, at the time of the movie’s release it was still an open mystery, so Zodiac ends with an unnerving open-end conclusion that leaves the viewer in a state of dread: that the killer could still be out there and that sometimes the real monsters of the world are scarier than any fictional boogeyman.
10 Cloverfield Lane
It was recently announced that a new Cloverfield film is in development at Paramount Pictures, and while the 2008 film is still the most iconic entry it is the second entry in the anthology franchise, 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane which is regarded as the best film in the series. When a young woman wakes up after a car crash, she finds herself in a bunker with two men and cannot leave as the outside world has become uninhabitable. Taking place in one location, the film plays on the fear of claustrophobia and paranoia.
The film features a powerhouse performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Goodman delivers what might be his best performance as the main antagonist. 10 Cloverfield Lane’s director Dan Trachtenberg’s latest film Prey became a major streaming hit, so take a look back at his first breakout film.
Overlord
Originally intended to be part of the Cloverfield anthology series, Paramount reworked Overlord into its own original idea. The story is straight out of a pulp novel or grindhouse horror film, a group of American soldiers is dropped into enemy lines the day after D-Day and discover a Nazi science experiment that has resulted in the creation of zombies.
Overlord has a B-movie spirit but given the shine, gloss, and spectacle of a bid budget picture, and it delivers on every front. It has a great cast of characters, with a standout performance by Wyatt Russell who is so good it almost feels like he is less Kurt Russell’s son and more a clone of him from Escape from New York. The movie is bloody, over the top and full of great zombie body horror and while it was a modest hit when it was released in theaters, now is the great time to go and check out this underrated gem.
