With autumn setting in and Halloween creeping closer, there’s nothing like an evening at home with snacks, drinks, good movies, and good company! Themed movie nights are the perfect way to celebrate Halloween’s swift and spooky approach.
They have become the faces of the horror genre – Freddy, Jason, and Michael. It all started in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and some of these series still continue today. Here’s what to watch if you’re going to throw a classic slasher film themed Halloween movie night.
Halloween (1978)
The quintessential Halloween horror movie – Halloween is where it all began. Introducing a young Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween was written by Debra Hill and John Carpenter, who also directed the film as well as composing its unforgettable theme music.
The Halloween series is based on psychotic killer Michael Myers, who has been institutionalized since childhood. He inevitably escapes and goes on Halloween killing sprees, and they always lead him to Laurie Strode (Curtis). Donald Pleasance also stars as Dr. Sam Loomis.
If you like the original Halloween, you should also watch Halloween II (1981), IV (1988), and V (1989). In fact, most of the Halloween sequels have quality storylines and stay true to the terrifying quality of the original, unlike many film series.
Friday the 13th (1980)
The horror movie that made everyone afraid of hockey masks, Friday the 13th is another classic slasher must-see. This one’s horrific villain is Jason Voorhees, who stalks and kills camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. When he wields his signature machete, absolutely no one is safe.
There have been numerous sequels in the Friday the 13th series. Although they do not really develop in terms of story the way the Halloween series does, they are still guaranteed to provide you with a night of bloody movie fun.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven put a much more psychological spin on the slasher film when he wrote and directed A Nightmare on Elm Street. This film is centred on Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who lives on Elm Street. She and her friends (including Johnny Depp in his feature film debut) start to be tormented in their sleep, where they encounter Fred Krueger, the blade-fingered villain played brilliantly for decades by Robert Englund.
Although the Elm Street films delve a bit deeper into psychological horror with the play between sleep and waking and their Pied Piper feel, each sequel grew sillier and sillier. Fred became Freddy, and his lines became more and more sarcastic, but they certainly still have their charm, especially for fans of the original.
Scream (1996)
No slasher movie night would be complete without a film that functions both as a slasher film and as a spoof of the genre. Written by Kevin Williamson and directed by horror veteran Wes Craven, Scream has a star-studded cast including Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Drew Barrymore, among many other familiar faces.
A year after her mother dies, Sidney Prescott’s (Campbell) social circle starts to be picked off one by one by a psycho killer. Scream manages to be scary while it makes fun of the slasher genre. Its sequels also grew more and more humorous, but that’s the fun of it – Scream has its tongue firmly planted in cheek, and it’s successful in making audiences shriek with fear and laughter at the same time.
With these films on your movie night schedule, you’d best get out a notepad and start making death tallies!
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Andrea Beca - Andrea has a BA (distinction) in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alberta, and an MLitt (distinction) in Dramaturgy and ...
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