For the Halloween 2020 season, there are more streaming services providing horror content than ever before; as major studios continue to wage their streaming wars, the choices can seem staggering. HBO Max has a formidable lineup, though, with an impressive collection of old classics and new hits in the horror movie space that are perfect for Halloween viewing. The WarnerMedia-owned service has currently licensed streaming rights to some of horror's biggest, baddest properties, although time will only tell how the landscape will change in the coming future.
For now, viewers can get access to a sizeable portion of Warner Bros. horror movies alongside treats from other studios. Considering that NBCUniversal has just recently launched Peacock and Disney has acquired Fox, these other films may not stay in the same place forever, so be sure to catch them while they're available. The crowning jewel of HBO Max for the cinephile is the service's Criterion Collection library, which houses beautifully restored versions of classic horror movies.
Not all the horror movies available on HBO Max are included below, but these are great starting points for anyone looking to use the service to delve into the world of horror for Halloween 2020. There are still noticeable exceptions that the adamant horror fan will still want to check out, however, such as a considerably decent selection of David Cronenberg movies, cult classic schlock fests like Puppet Master and Leprechaun, and fascinating foreign-language oddities like the Japanese House and the German Vampyre.
Night of the Living Dead
An absolute must during the Halloween season, George A. Romero's zombie classic practically invented the genre. Night of the Living Dead changed the horror landscape forever upon its release. Complete with possibly the most iconic graveyard scene in history as well as one of the most famous lines in horror ("They're coming to get you, Barbara!"), few movies emanate as strong a traditional horror atmosphere as this one does. At the time of its release, it was considered radically different from previous releases due to its (for the time) graphic on-screen violence. Since 1968, Night of the Living Dead has risen from cult status to become a genuine cinematic treasure, a shining example of horror's power to challenge and transcend cultural boundaries and taboos.
Alien
There were plenty of alien movies back in the previous decades, but none were as viscerally terrifying and suffocatingly intense as Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece. Taking cues from Lovecraftian fiction, haunted house fright fests, and early slashers, The chestburster scene has become so iconic that it's easy to forget how incredibly shocked audiences were when they first witnessed the nightmare. Sci-fi horror has changed forever since.
Hammer Horror
NBCUniversal's Peacock may have the classic Universal monster movies, but HBO Max has their bloodier, sultrier, and more colorful cousins from across the pond, the British Hammer Horror Film Productions. In 1957, Hammer took advantage of the public domain legal status of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and funded the studio's first horror movie in color, The Curse of Frankenstein. A massive hit, they applied the same style to another monster icon in 1958, and produced Horror of Dracula (technically just Dracula in its native U.K.). Both movies introduced audiences to the legendary screen duo of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, as well as the luridly gothic vision of director Terence Fisher. The two make for a great double feature, and the service even has Hammer's The Mummy from 1959 if there's desire to add a third.
An American Werewolf in London
1981 was huge year for werewolves, in large part due to John Landis' horror-comedy classic and its groundbreaking, jaw-dropping special effects by Rick Baker. An American Werewolf in London is often ed for having what is arguably the most famous, horrifying, and technically astounding werewolf transformation sequence ever filmed, famously landing Landis and Baker their gigs for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video. Lucky for those who want to see more, the rest of the movie is a sharply written blend of gasps and giggles. It's funny, but the laughs never undermine the horror and tragedy of a goofy, fun-loving man's descent into lycanthropy.
The Blob
There are few films that encapsulate the horror of the 1950s as intimately as The Blob does. The image of a giant, pulsating glob of goo absorbing everything unlucky enough to get in its way has become a veritable symbol of the decade and its sense of Cold War paranoia. Like other classic horror movies, The Blob was a smashing success with audiences, but received negative reviews from critics, who wrote it off as drive-in trash aimed at teenagers looking for cheap thrills. The most shocking complaint they had? The acting, especially pertaining to the film's debut star, a young actor named Steve McQueen who would go on to become a legend of Hollywood.
Carnival of Souls
Carnival of Souls isn't necessarily as well-known as the other movies discussed here, but it's one of those surreally haunting cult classics that has garnered the acclaim of cinephiles. The film is a popular choice at indie arthouse theaters for their Halloween programming, and it's often praised for its moody, eerie cinematography. Dreamy framing and editing have drawn comparisons to the works of David Lynch, while shots of lumbering ghouls resemble the zombies in Night of the Living Dead. The way the film explores the psychological effects of a traumatic event makes it comparable to today's crop of horror movies centering on mental illness, as well.
Godzilla Showa Films
Not Showa era entries (lasting from 1954 to 1975) due to its deal with Criterion, meaning that viewers can witness the King of the Monster's first encounters with his most iconic kaiju cohorts, including Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Mechagodzilla.
Us
Not everyone may want to watch "old" movies, so luckily there's this modern feat of filmmaking by horror maestro Jordan Peele available to check out. The director's follow-up to his massively impactful landmark horror-thriller Get Out leans more into traditional horror territory, jam-packed with subtle references to everything from The Lost Boys to C.H.U.D. One of the coolest parts of the movie is its refusal to settle for one type of horror, leading to one of the most unique cinematic visions in the present day. Is Us a tale of the supernatural? Is it a slasher flick focusing on a family? Is it a monster movie in which the creatures are reflections of ourselves? The answer is unclear, but that's what makes Peele's film so enjoyably mystifying.
Lights Out
Another notable horror movie from the modern era, The Conjuring Universe and Shazam! for the DCEU.
The Invisible Man
The most recent horror movie included here is 2020's The Invisible Man, a remake of the Universal monster classic from 1933. Whereas that film focused on Claude Rains' mischievous-turned-murderous antihero, this version shifts the narrative to the point of view of the Invisible Man's girlfriend, played by Elisabeth Moss. Like any great horror movie, The Invisible Man is a gateway to a discussion on social issues, specifically the pressures women face about opening up about toxic, abusive relationships. Leigh Whannell's story manages to avoid falling into typical remake traps, and emerges as a refreshing take on a highly relevant topic that can now be experienced by a new audience on HBO Max.
