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salem’s lot

Top Ten Halloween Movies!

Oh, it’s still the 30th, so still my birthday. I’m so fucking old. But enough of that, it’s HALLOWEEN…

The top tens are back, for Halloween 2026! So I compiled a list. A list I am going to vehemently disagree with at some point—maybe tomorrow, maybe in ten years.

Now, mind you, I said Halloween movies, not horror movies. I’m just thinking of films that fit especially well around the end of October. Although it works as a horror top ten, too.

Counting down, number ten to number one!

 

Halloween 1978

10. Halloween (1978)

The TV premiere over here was in 1982, and we’d heard little about it. It had a freshness and impact none of the subsequent slashers could equal. I couldn’t not include it on this list. Peak Donald Pleasance!

 

Masque of the Red Death 1964

09. Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The least campy of the Corman-Price Poe movies for AIP—and also the most visually stylish. It’s a nightmare on film, and it’s done beautifully. I love all those AIP movies of the period, so this one stands for them all.
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David Soul

I was very sorry to hear of David Soul’s passing just recently. It reminded me of back in 2020, when, halfway through watching the original (best!) James Bond movies, Sean Connery passed on. This time we were in the middle of watching the complete Starsky & Hutch series.

About that series… of course, it’s a mixed bag. It started out very, very gritty, but it seems they quickly realised with a strong younger audience they should probably dial that aspect back a bit. But never fully, which means by the third season we still get very edgy, adult episodes side-by-side with absurdly camp, jokey nonsense. At its best, Starksy & Hutch is superb—at its worst, the cheesiness is off the scale.

Starsky & Hutch
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