How to have a Happy Halloween – A watchlist guide

As most of you will know, I’m a spooky kind of gal! I watch lots of horror films and probably keep my local cinema going with regular weekly visits!

I can be very guilty of watching the same films / TV shows ad infinitum so every October I create myself a ‘Spooktober’ watchlist to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone!

This year I thought it would be nice to share that with our students in case anyone would like to watch along with me or create their own! I tend to give myself two films for each day, one I’ve already seen and one I haven’t – in case I’m not feeling very adventurous! I’ll share with you my prompts, my suggestions and where you can possibly find these films! Along with a handy list of acronyms at the bottom of the list in case anything isn’t clear.

Remember, you can absolutely create your own version of this prompt list and maybe one of our wonderful students or volunteers would like to create their own version for us next year or even in December as a Christmas watch list! Feel free to get in touch with any other Watch List ideas you’d like to create for us, and we’d love to hear from you!

October/Spooktober Watchlist prompts:

• 1st – Animated
• 2nd – B Movie
• 3rd – Clowns
• 4th – Demons
• 5th – Eighties
• 6th – A Female/AFAB directed
• 7th – Ghost movie
• 8th – Hammer Horror
• 9th – Independent
• 10th – Japanese
• 11th – Korean
• 12th – Horror Love Story
• 13th – Musical
• 14th – Non-English speaking
• 15th – Outer Space
• 16th – POC directed
• 17th – Queer/LGBTQ+
• 18th – Remake
• 19th – Silent Film
• 20th – Teen-movie
• 21st – Under 90mins
• 22nd – Vincent Price
• 23rd – Witches
• 24th – X-Rated (banned upon release)
• 25th – Year you were born
• 26th – Zombies
• 27th – Set in 19th Century
• 28th – Filmed in 20th Century
• 29th – A Trilogy
• 30th – Letterboxd Top 250
• 31st – Letterboxd Bottom 250

Glossary:

B-Movie – A film made with a lower budget. In the Golden Age of Hollywood these were usually the lesser known second film shown as part of a ‘double feature’. Examples include: ‘Evil Dead’, ‘The Room’, ‘The Blob’, ‘The Toxic Avenger’.
AFAB – AFAB stands for ‘assigned female at birth’, a term commonly used to describe women, by non-binary people or sometimes for Trans Men. Women and AFAB people make up a small percentage of film Directors, so this is a nice opportunity to watch a film directed by a director who isn’t male.
Hammer Horror – Hammer Horror refers to films produced by the British company ‘Hammer Film Productions LTD.’. They were founded in 1934 but produced films primarily through the 1950s and 1970s. Many of these films starred the same actors and most films were either Gothic Horror or Science Fiction. Examples include: ‘Dracula’, ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’, ‘The Mummy’.
Independent – Independent films are feature films or short films which are produced outside of the major film studios and are often made with significantly smaller budgets. Examples include: ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Green Room’, ‘Halloween’, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.
POC – POC stands for ‘people of colour’ and refers to people that aren’t white, the vast majority of Films are directed by white men, so this prompt gives you a great opportunity to widen the variety of directors who’s work you consume and see horror from an entirely different perspective/life experience!
Vincent Price – Vincent Price (1911- 1993) was an American actor known for his work in the Horror genre. For any of our younger students, you may recognise him from his second-last appearance in Tim Burton’s ‘Edward Scissorhands’ in which he had a guest appearance as The Inventor who created Edward!
Queer / LGBTQ+ – Queer/LGBTQ+ are ways that people may define their sexuality. LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer or Questioning. Sometimes people have the additional letters (LBTQIA) and the additional ‘IA’ stand for Intersex (previously referred to as ‘hermaphrodite, but this is an out-dated term) and Asexual or Agender. Again, LGBTQ+ directors are a minority in the film world but historically LGBTQ+ people have an affinity with horror films and characters as they can relate to the feeling of being ‘other’. There are many amazing LGBTQ+ directors and LGBTQ+ horror films, so lots to choose from!
X-Rated – X-Rated films are films considered to only be suitable for Adults. In this list of prompts, I have used this terms to refer to a film that was banned upon it’s release. Films can be banned for many reasons and there are many films that are considered tame by today’s standards that were banned and considered scandalous on release. Examples include: ‘Freaks’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Last house on the left’.
Letterboxd – https://letterboxd.com is a website where members can record which films they’ve watched, rate and review them as well as create lists of films. Very popular with Cinephiles!

 

Doz’ Spooktober Watchlist!
Watched / Never Seen

• 1st – Animated
  – The Wolf House (2018) / Coraline (2009)
• 2nd – B Movie
  – The Hills Have Eyes (1977) / Dawn of The Dead (1978)
• 3rd – Clowns
  – ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) / IT (2017)
• 4th – Demons
  ‘The Orphanage’ (2007) / ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)
• 5th – Eighties
  – ‘Prom Night (1980) / ‘The Thing’ (1982)
• 6th – A Female/AFAB directed
  – ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ (2014) / ‘Goodnight Mommy’ (2022)
• 7th – Ghost movie
  – ‘House’ (1977) / ‘What Lies Beneath’ (2000)
• 8th – Hammer Horror
  – ‘The Damned’ (19620 / ‘The Lodge’ (2009)
• 9th – Independent
  – ‘Creep’ (2014) / ‘Excision’ (2012)
• 10th – Japanese
  – ‘Cure’ (1977) / ‘Ring’ (1998)
• 11th – Korean
  – ‘Exhuma’ (2024) / ‘Train to Busan’ (2016)
• 12th – Horror Love Story
  – ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ (2024) / ‘Possession’ (1981)
• 13th – Musical
  – ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ (2008) / ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (1975)
• 14th – Non-English speaking
  – ‘Eyes Without a Face’ (1960) / ‘The Wailing’ (2016)
• 15th – Outer Space
  – ‘Event Horizon’ (1997) / ‘Alien’ (1979)
• 16th – POC directed
  – ‘His House’ (2020) / ‘Candyman’ (2021)
• 17th – Queer/LGBTQ+
  – ‘Frankenhooker’ (1981) / ‘The Perfection’ (2018)
• 18th – Remake
  – ‘Let the Right One In’ (2008) / ‘Let Me In’ (2010)
• 19th – Silent Film
  – ‘The Haunted House’ (1921) / ‘Eraserhead’ (1977)
• 20th – Teen-movie
  – ‘Fright Night’ (1985) / ‘Halloween H20: 20 Years Later’ (1998)
• 21st – Under 90mins
  – ‘Frankenstein’ (1931) / ‘Devil’ (2010)
• 22nd – Vincent Price
  – ‘The Raven’ (1963) / ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990)
• 23rd – Witches
  – ‘The Devils’ (1971) / ‘The Witch’ (2015)
• 24th – X-Rated (banned upon release)
  – ‘The Boogey Man ‘ (1980) / ‘The Evil Dead’ (1981)
• 25th – Year you were born
  ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ (1992) / ‘Candyman’ (1992)
• 26th – Zombies
  – ‘Dead Alive’ (1992) / ‘Rec’ (2007)
• 27th – Set in 19th Century
  ‘Crimson Peak’ (2015) / ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999)
• 28th – Filmed in 20th Century
  – ‘Cat People’ (1944) / ‘Misery’ (1990)
• 29th – A Trilogy
  ‘Blade’ (1998) + ‘Blade 2’ (2002) + ‘Blade: Trinity’ (2004) / ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ (1997) + ‘I Still Know What You Did Last Summer’ (1998) + ‘I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer’ (2006)
• 30th – Letterboxd Top 250 Horror Films
  – ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990) / ‘Carrie’ (1976)
• 31st – Letterboxd Bottom 250 Horror Films
  – ‘Hellraiser: Deader’ (2005) / ‘They/Them’ (2022)

You can find lots of films to watch for free using the following Apps/Websites:

• Channel 4
• ITVX
• BBC iPlayer
• Pluto TV
• Tubi
• U
• Youtube

You can also visit your local library, sign up and you’ll be able to browse their collection of DVDs and borrow one using your library card – free of charge!

I hope you find something you love, maybe even something you hate! Have a Happy Halloween and do feel free to get in touch if you’d like to share a Watchlist of your own for the next holiday!