Five surprisingly good movies to watch for Halloween

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Halloween is finally here. Boxes of candy rule the shelves and costumes dominate the racks at your local Shoppers Drug Mart, and kids are on their way to your door for tricks or treats. All you need are some good movies for your horror flick marathons. 

There are small gems in the streaming ether that can be surprisingly good, but they’re overlooked due to sequel franchises, artsy horror films, or classic slashers. These movies seem like dark horses for your Halloween watch parties, but they can still deliver a spooky good time. 

Little Monsters (2019)

Little Monsters might get overlooked by horror fans eager for more popular zombie comedies, but it still deserves a place here. The film follows a down-on-his-luck rock star, a schoolteacher, and a children’s entertainer as they try to outwit the undead while keeping their class of kids calm and happy during a field trip.

The story has rambunctious horror-comedy antics, but it also explores themes about family and learning responsibility. Many movie reviews saw Lupita Nyong’o as a key takeaway through her performance as the teacher Miss Caroline, and they couldn’t be more right. She’s naturally funny as she pacifies the kids with sing-alongs and games while preventing mass panic from Josh Gad as the entertainer. Little Monsters is available on Hoopla.

Stake Land (2010)

If you’re looking for a new bloody vampire flick this Halloween, I highly suggest giving Stake Land a chance. The movie follows a vampire hunter named Mister and an orphaned boy named Martin as they fight their way through vampire-torn America to reach Canada for refuge. 

This horror drama is a moving character study as we see Mister and Martin develop a father-son bond. Their struggles to stay alive despite all the death convey the central theme of how scary it can be to cope with grief and growing up. The movie unexpectedly excels as a road trip and coming-of-age story put together with brutal action. Stake Land is available on Amazon Prime, Hoopla, and Tubi.

Coherence (2013)

This sci-fi thriller starts off being unassuming until it rewards viewers with chilling reveals and a twist ending. Coherence follows a group of friends having dinner one night as they’re forced to endure changes to their reality during the passing of a comet.

The film will spook your evening with a strong cast, whose performances balance tension with effective suspense-building. The story elevates its stakes with eerie silence and anxious dialogue as the characters grapple with the nature of their experiences. Coherence is available on Amazon Prime and Hoopla.

9 (2009)

If you’re in the mood for an animation that explores the horrors of industrialized technology this Halloween, I suggest you try the steampunk horror movie, 9. The film follows nine sentient rag dolls as they try to survive a post-apocalyptic world ruled by malevolent machines. 

An unbelievable voice cast from Jennifer Connelly to even the late Christopher Plummer portray the dolls as a rag-tag family with humanizing identities. The film also provides scares through frightening action scenes and how every evil mechanoid is always more deadly than the last. 9 is available on YouTube.

Time Lapse (2014)

As my favourite movie on this list, Time Lapse revolves around three friends who discover a time machine that takes photos of them one day ahead. The trio exploits their knowledge of the future to satisfy their desires until the pictures start to become increasingly unsettling.

The film has a grounded story that pulls you in so easily with everyday characters whose lives slowly worsen by the machine’s inescapable consequences. The movie deserves a spot on your Halloween watch list for building up its mystery with well-executed twists and dark themes about how greed and power can corrupt relationships. Time Lapse is available on Amazon Prime and Hoopla.