Halloween is fast approaching, which means it’s a spooky season right now. In addition to dressing up in costumes and eating candy, an iconic favorite Halloween tradition is to get together and watch a scary movie with a group of friends or, for those brave enough, in the evenings alone. While there are plenty of horror deals hitting theaters in time for Halloween, there’s something special about getting together at home to watch a horror movie. It feels like the ideal size, as the comfort of one home can make the experience safer but also more terrifying.
While several streaming services will offer a unique collection of viewing options this Halloween season, Paramount+ pulls out all the stops for its Halloween Horror Collection. While Paramount+ may not attract Disney+, HBO Max, or Netflix subscribers, it’s certainly not one to sleep on, and this Halloween season, they’re a must-have for a wide variety of terrifying movies. Here are the best horror movies streaming on Paramount+ to watch this Halloween season. Don’t worry, there’s no need to pay extra for the Showtime add on these movies, all of which are available through the standard Paramount+ account.
candy man
candy man is a 2021 continuation of the underrated franchise and was a surprise hit at the box office during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving strong critical acclaim. The premise is a young man with an artistic block who investigates an old fable about the Candyman killer and slowly bad things start to happen to him and his loved ones. The film works both as a continuation of the franchise and as a standalone for new viewers, so anyone who hasn’t seen the first candy man can easily enjoy this entry in the franchise. It’s terrifying, topical, and yet another entry in the great growing filmography of Nia DaCosta, whose next film will be the Captain Marvel continuation the miracles, out in the summer of 2023.
Night of the Living Dead
A classic in every sense of the word, director George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead created the modern movie language for what a zombie is. Every zombie movie is in a sense 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 movie to watch during the Halloween season. It’s a must-see movie, and no Halloween season is truly complete without Romero.
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project was in many ways the spiritual successor of Night of the Living Dead. It was a low-budget independent horror film that took the world by storm and created a cinematic language. Every found footage film since has been compared to The Blair Witch Project. Even after all these years, and some disappointing sequels, The Blair Witch Project is as scary as it was in 1999 and one of the most influential horror films of modern times. It’s a great replay for those who’ve already seen it and a perfect time for those who’ve only heard of it.
Paranormal Activity
With the reissue of Avatar and the upcoming release of Avatar: The way of the water, there is certainly a lot of nostalgia for 2009;, Paranormal Activity was the surprise hit of that year, launching one of the defining horror franchises of the 21st century. While the reputation of Paranormal Activity Perhaps 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 create a film that lacked the luster of a major horror film. It felt real, recognizable and like it could happen in any home in America.
While the later franchise is said to delve into mythology, the first film is scary as it leaves audiences both literally and figuratively in limbo. Six out of seven Paranormal Activity Movies released close to Halloween became an annual tradition, so the movie feels like a must-see for this time of year.
Jennifer’s body
Another throwback pick from 2009. Although originally marketed to cash in on the star power surrounding star Megan Fox (the film was released just three months later) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Jennifer’s body was a box office bomb, but has since become a cult classic as a modern feminist horror film. Screened by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, Jennifer’s body is both a gory graphic horror film and a dark comedy ahead of its time, discussing men using women’s bodies for their own needs and sexual harassment long before the film industry did. Jennifer Body stands as proof that a movie’s legacy isn’t sealed at the box office.
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese decided to continue his Academy Award for Best Picture and Director wins for the deceased 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 suspense thriller with a stunning production design that gives an isolated ghostly feeling to the audience member. The film’s ending is controversial to many, but the drive to it is a horror thrill ride led by one of the greatest filmmakers out there.
Zodiac
From one thriller starring Mark Ruffalo to another, Zodiac is from acclaimed filmmaker David Fincher. Often regarded as one of the best movies of 2007 and throughout the decade it was released, the film follows the famous Zodiac killer murders through the eyes of one released in 2007, Zodiac tells the story of the murders through the eyes of a journalist and a detective, and the film is a disturbing character study in the mind of a murderer. While it appears that the Zodiac killer has been identified, it was still an open mystery at the time of the film’s release, so Zodiac ends with a nerve-wracking open-ended conclusion that leaves the viewer in a state of terror: that the killer could still be out there and that the real monsters of the world are sometimes scarier than any fictional boogeyman.
10 Cloverfield Lane
It was recently announced that a new clover field 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. 10 Cloverfield Lane which is considered the best film in the series. When a young woman wakes up after a car accident, she finds herself in a bunker with two men and can’t leave because the outside world has become uninhabitable. Set in one location, the film plays with the fear of claustrophobia and paranoia.
The film features a powerful performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Goodman delivers what is arguably his best performance as the main antagonist. 10 Cloverfield Lanes director Dan Trachtenberg’s latest film Prey became a huge streaming hit, so take another look at his first breakout movie.
overlord
Originally intended to be part of the clover field anthology series, Paramount reworked overlord to his own original idea. The story is straight out of a pulp novel or grindhouse horror movie, a group of American soldiers are dropped into enemy lines the day after D-Day and discover a Nazi science experiment that led to the creation of zombies.
overlord has the spirit of a B-movie, but given the shine, brilliance and spectacle of a photo with a bid, 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’s less Kurt Russell’s son and more of a clone of him Escape from New York. The movie is gory, over the top and full of awesome zombie body horror and while it was a modest hit when it was released in theaters now is the right time to check out this underrated gem.