Cloverfield

I think in terms of modern creature feature films that fall into that Halloween horror camp, Cloverfield is one that really stands up well. This JJ Abrams found-footage style film where a giant monster attacks New York City. This one works really well because when everything starts you don’t really know what is going on, even as the film goes on, you know as much as the rest of the characters. So often in films you know more than the characters but this really allows you to get into their shoes and join them as they try and find out what is going on and survive.

The Descent

This one, you can question whether or not it’s creature feature, and I’ll let you do that if you watch the European version, but the American cut is definitely a creature feature. This is a great Neil Marshall film and the psychological aspect of this horror stands out really well. One of my favorite horror films and the monsters themselves are very interesting. If you want a good scary creature feature this one is up there.

Dog Soldiers

Another Neil Marshall film, this one is less straight up scary, though it does carry over some of the elements that make a strong horror film that Marshall then uses in The Descent as well. This one is a werewolf creature feature and just has an interesting and tight premise for something that doesn’t seem to have a large budget. But it really doesn’t need it, it has a bit of camp to it, but you’re always wondering what might be happening in it. Really well done and in terms of a horror film, also very high up there.

Cabin in the Woods

Some movies have a monster in them, and other movies have all the monsters in them. Cabin in the Woods is a smartly played horror movie where it critiques the tropes of horror while playing them out as expected. It does some very interesting things to turn everything on it’s head though, and how it plays out is definitely unique. You’ll have to see it to know what I say that it has every monster, but if you’re a fan of the creature feature horror genre, this is one to definitely checkout.

Pitch Black

This is horror film really hits on a lot of tropes, a group crashed onto an alien planet and something stalking them, that’s extremely normal. That said, it works well in this film. Riddick is a great main character and this film just works well. It plays off of the fears that people have, the unknown of what could be out there in the dark and just is really enjoyable to watch.

Tremors

For some giant worms, the spice must flow. But not in Tremors. This is a classic B horror film that is just completely absurd. Enjoyable none the less as Kevin Bacon tries to save as many people as he can and escape after giant worms start attacking the area in which he lives. Of course, he has to get them to believe him first.

Sharknado

Now, if you want a good B film, this isn’t it. But it is a lot of fun, this is completely absurd and just completely out there. Sharks getting sucked up into a tornado and then falling down to earth is a grand old crazy time. The plot is dumb but fun, the acting is bad, but the whole thing is just completely absurd horror humor.

Obviously, there are so many of these films out there. There are things like The Thing, The Fly, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, or even much better shark films like Jaws that you could be watching as well. I wanted to give a good range of films though that ranged from just a goofy Halloween horror type of creature film, like Sharknado or Tremors to some more serious horror films. What are some of your favorite creature feature horror films?

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5 – Crawlers
So this actually is from the movie The Descent. It is a monster that you don’t know much about, but being the movie takes place in a cave and there are plenty of dark corners for the monster to hide in, it works so well. And, then if you watch the non-American ending, you find out even more about the monsters that possibly makes them even more terrifying. Yes, this movie has been out a while, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.

4 – Cloverfield Monster
I don’t know that it really has any name, but it is scary and the fact that it is having smaller monsters fall off of it is just creepy. It really is just a monster that is around to kill, but the fact we don’t know more about it than just that, it works well. There’s something about a large amount of unknown that makes it into a terrifying monster and something that is so hard to kill is also a good monster. And it isn’t like some horror movie villains where you think that you’ve killed them and then they aren’t dead, this monster just doesn’t go down.

3 – Dracula
Hard to go against one of the oldest monsters out there. Dracula is just terrifying because of how he can plan things out. For me, a good monster really is one that isn’t just that mindless killer that is going to chase you down, but can plot and plan and has an idea of how they want to take over. Dracula is very much that type of monster and very hard to kill as well. There have been so many different versions of vampires, but anything with Dracula in it tends to be a little bit more iconic.

2 – Freddy Krueger
Another one of my personal favorites, I really like the concept of Freddy Krueger and how he can get you in your dreams. While some of his movies are cheesy, the concept is very good. There’s just something so iconic about the sweater that Freddy wears and then the razors on his hands. Robert Englund does such as good job as Freddy as well and has consistently through so many movies.

1 – Pennywise
If people didn’t like clowns before, they definitely don’t like them after seeing the horrors of Pennywise the clown. He is the monster from my favorite Stephen King book and he’s shown up in two tellings of the story by Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard. The Skarsgard version of Pennywise is definitely the creepiest version on a screen. And Pennywise in an inter-dimensional cosmic spider/clown being that knows your darkest fears and how to play upon them.

There are so many more good monsters out there. The Denarians from The Dresden Files are up there or then Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees are both good options as well. I wanted to do some more mindless monsters as well as some crazy out there monsters.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed the little bit of Halloween coverage that I’ve done, I plan on doing more against next year, and I’ll probably continue to talk about more horror things coming up here anyways, as Halloween just makes me want to watch horror films.

So what is your favorite monster that reminds you of Halloween?

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5- Cabin the Woods
This one falls into a lots of the categories. The story is fairly surreal, but works well in my opinion, as you get your standard cast of horror heroes, but the world of horror seems like it’s a little bit different than normal. I think this film really shines if you’re a fan of horror, because the easter eggs that are dropped in this film come on thick and the story pulls in many a trope. This film also does have a fair amount of gore, so that’s one of those things to watch out for if that’s the part of horror films that you might not like.

4- Descent
Another scary movie, this one is definitely a horror film in the truest sense and my second favorite Neil Marshall film. Descent puts you in that claustrophobic mindset and then there are things in the dark that you don’t know what they truly are. There is an American ending, because the other one was deemed too scary or sad or something like that, don’t watch the American ending, there is much more depth in the other one. And it really raises the creepy factor. It’s a movie that I need to watch again as I really remember it fondly.

3- Nightmare on Elm Street
Here’s that campy movie that we were looking for. Though, it’s only campy because of the age of the film. Wes Craven’s horror series, Nightmare on Elm Street stands up pretty well, and it’s very much a classic. Freddy Krueger is a very good villain and the concept of how he can get you works really well. And there are plenty more cheesy sequels to watch to this film, if you want. Another one that I should watch again as it’s been a while, and I have the great looking box set.

2- Tucker & Dale vs Evil
Yes, even more campy movies, this is just a straight up spoof of horror films while keeping in basically every horror trope that you’d expect. It would be easy to say that this is more comedy than it is a scary movie, but it definitely fits into that Halloween vibe as you see tropes get played out repeatedly, just with a slight twist on them. This film is probably the best for the non-horror fans on the list because it leans more into comedy, there is some gore again, but that is done for comedy as well.

1- Dog Soldiers
Neil Marshall is back on the list, and for me, this is his best film. It has a great amount of suspense, you don’t have your incompetent group of teens in this film, but it still feels tense the whole time. Like Descent, this film limits where the characters can go, and that just adds to the tension by a long ways. It’s also a werewolf film, and normally I’ve found those to not be that scary and more in the area of camp, but this movie is scary, and it does it while not having a ton of special effects or big names in it. I’d highly recommend this film as one of the better Halloween scary movies out there.

There are so many more movies I could have put on this list, maybe I’ll do a larger horror movie list at some point in time. I watched the “classic” My Name is Bruce recently, there are movies like Repulsion and The Fearless Vampire Killers that are great. And there are many more that I need to check out as well, such as having the original IT on the self and IT Chapter 1 that I could and should watch this Halloween season.

What are some films that really scream Halloween to you? Do you even like scary movies?

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