DV Fanatics Blog: Classic Halloween Movies

Classic scary movies available on DVD or streaming.

Since this is Halloween week, what better time to look at some of the truly classic scary movie made over the years. The selection we'll discuss this week are films that were made at least 20 years ago and still hold up well.

All of these films are available for home viewing either via DVD or streaming. They're perfect for watching during the Halloween season while waiting for Trick-or-Treaters to ring the doorbell.

This list of classic scary films is listed according to each film's IMDB ranking (highest to lowest).

Jaws - Academy Award-winner Steven Spielberg directs one of the most influential and gripping adventures in film history about the hunt of a deadly great white shark. Filmed right here in Massachusetts, Jaws was an instant classic when it was released in the summer of 1975. This movie stars Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss as the men determined to destroy the killer shark.

The Exorcist - An innocent girl is possessed and a doubting priest becomes her last hope. Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn star in this two-time Academy Award® winner that shocked the world. This film featured the special effects make-up of Dick Smith, who died this year. The realistic effects of this film caused such a stir, that audiences of the time it was released, required EMTs on standby.

Frankenstein - Boris Karloff is the screen's most memorable creature in the story of Dr. Frankenstein, the scientist who tampers with life and death when he pieces together salvaged body parts to create a human monster. This film is a true classic from the golden age of Universal Studios monsters. To this day, the look of the monster created by Jack Pierce is a horror icon. His initial appearance builds on the suspense by having him back into the room. He slowly turns after entering the room to reveal his iconic face.

Misery - Rob Reiner directs this adaption of a Stephen King novel. James Caan stars as a successful romantic novelist, Paul Sheldon, who just had his life saved by an obsessed fan, now lives to regret it. When Ann Wilkes (Kathy Bates) discovers that her favorite character, Misery Chastain, has been killed off in his latest novel, she'll do anything to make sure he brings her back to life. Now Paul Sheldon must write as if his life depended on it and it does.

The Omen - The first film in classic, four-part legacy of terror stars Gregory Peck as an ambassador who is talked into switching his wife's (Lee Remick) stillborn baby with an orphaned infant. When young Damien is Five, the horror begins with his nanny's dramatic suicide. As the death toll escalates, Damien's father, realizing his son is the antichrist, decides that he must kill the boy and rid the world of the evil.