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Make yourself a Massachusetts Halloween movie marathon with these 15 titles, if you dare.
Thanks to horror maestro Stephen King, who has seen countless film and television adaptations of his work, Maine probably retains the title of horror movie capital of New England. But because of the Salem Witch Trials, a fascination with the Puritanical roots of our country, and a robust local film industry, there are plenty of Massachusetts Halloween movies to choose from as well.
Over the past few decades, more than 100 horror movies or spooky Halloween films have been either set in Massachusetts, filmed in Massachusetts, or both.
Even the most dedicated horror fans would find it impossible to watch all of those movies in a single month, much less a single weekend. So like the Freddy Krueger of content, we’ve sliced and diced the list down to a manageable size.
Listed chronologically, here are 15 Massachusetts Halloween movies either set in or filmed in the Bay State to watch this weekend, from the delightfully campy to the genuinely creepy.
‘The Haunting’ (1963)
Based on the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel, “The Haunting of Hill House,” this film concerns a haunted Massachusetts home that has seemingly caused the death of many of its inhabitants and is being explored by paranormal investigators. “The Haunting” is revered as one of the great horror films of its era and has spawned numerous remakes and adaptations. Watching both the 1963 film and the 2018 Netflix series is a good example of how Hollywood can tell the same story in two dramatically different ways due to more than a half-century of evolving horror norms.
How to watch: “The Haunting” is available to rent.
‘Altered States’ (1980)
The late William Hurt (“The Big Chill”) made his big-screen debut as a Harvard scientist in Ken Russell’s “Altered States,” which was based partly on the cohort of 1960s researchers experimenting with LSD, sensory deprivation, and other mind-altering work. Hurt self-experimentation soon evolves from the psychological to the physical, turning the movie into a rare early example of 1980s body horror not directed by David Cronenberg.
How to watch: “Altered States” is streaming on Tubi and The Roku Channel.
‘Re-Animator’ (1985)
Before Stephen King and his Maine tales, there was writer H.P. Lovecraft, who created a number of terrifying short stories set in Massachusetts, including the one that introduced the hugely influential and terrifying legend of the Cthulhu. “Re-Animator,” based on the Lovecraft serial novelette “Herbert West–Reanimator,” follows a medical student named Herbert West who can bring the dead back to life through the power of medicine. The film spawned a number of sequels, and was set at Lovecraft’s fictional Miskatonic University, a prestigious school in the fictional Arkham, Mass., that served as the setting for several of Lovecraft’s unsettling tales.
How to watch: “Re-Animator” is streaming on Prime Video, Tubi, and The Roku Channel.
‘The Witches of Eastwick’ (1987)
Based on a John Updike novel, this film stars Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon as women unaware that they are witches, and Jack Nicholson as the mysterious man who awakens their powers. While the book is set in Rhode Island, filming was moved from Rhode Island to Cohasset, Mass., after locals raised concerns about their church being involved in a film about witches. Producers chose Castle Hill in Ipswich to represent the story’s Lenox Mansion. Interestingly, Castle Hill served as the setting of another horror film, “Flowers in the Attic,” also released in 1987.
How to watch: “The Witches of Eastwick” is available to rent.
‘The Serpent and the Rainbow’ (1988)
Horror director Wes Craven (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”) helmed this Boston-filmed creepfest about a Harvard anthropologist (Bill Pullman, “Independence Day”) who travels to Haiti to investigate a mysterious “zombie drug.” Much like Craven’s later “Scream” series, the film takes care to sprinkle in laughs with its scares.
How to watch: “The Serpent and the Rainbow” is available to rent.
‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)
Approximately 300 years after the Salem Witch Trials, “Hocus Pocus” brought a renewed interest to the Massachusetts city where they were held. The winning Disney film is about a group of kids who must stop three ancient witches (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker) from wreaking havoc on 1990s Salem. If you head to Salem these days, you can visit a number of the spots that served as important locations in the movie.
How to watch: “Hocus Pocus” is streaming on Disney+.
‘Practical Magic’ (1998)
Perhaps the least spooky of all the films on this list, “Practical Magic” tells the tale of two Massachusetts sisters (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) whose romantic interests always suffer untimely deaths because of a long-ago spell cast by their own ancestor. Luckily, the duo has learned a bit of magic themselves over the years and begins a quest to rid themselves of their family curse.
How to watch: “Practical Magic” is streaming on HBO Max and Tubi.
‘In Dreams’ (1999)
“In Dreams” wasn’t especially well-received by critics upon its release in 1999, but it’s worth checking out if only to see Robert Downey Jr. in a role you would never see the “Avengers” star take on now. He plays a demented serial killer whose murders appear in the dreams of a Massachusetts housewife (Annette Bening), and the tension between the stars is palpable.
How to watch: “In Dreams” is streaming on Pluto TV.
‘Session 9’ (2001)
Before his career renaissance on “CSI: Miami,” David Caruso starred in director Brad Anderson’s (“Next Stop Wonderland”) low-budget horror movie, playing a an asbestos specialist hired to clean the abandoned Danvers mental asylum who begins hearing voices. “Session 9” was partially inspired by a real-life murder in Boston, and Caruso said he “never got comfortable” filming in the former hospital.
How to watch: “Session 9” is available to rent.
‘ParaNorman’ (2012)
In the small (fictional) town of Blithe Hollow, Mass., Norman Babcock is a preteen misfit who can see and speak to the dead. That may sound like the plot of a pretty morbid film, but in the vein of “A Nightmare Before Christmas” or “Coraline,” this stop-motion animated film, with excellent voice acting from stars like Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, and John Goodman, is a mixture of creepy and heartfelt.
How to watch: “ParaNorman” is available to rent.
‘The Lords of Salem’ (2013)
The Salem Witch Trials, this is not. But hard rocker and horror film director Rob Zombie (a Haverhill native) uses the setting to great effect in this horror flick, which centers around a DJ at a rock radio station who unwittingly puts the women of Salem into a trance by playing a mysterious record over the airwaves. The film is more cult curiosity than horror movie smash — it grossed a little more than $1.5 million during its 2013 theatrical release.
How to watch: “The Lords of Salem” is streaming on Prime Video, Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Plex.
‘The Witch’ (2015)
The Salem Witch Trials get all the press when it comes to matters of Puritanical hysteria and the occult. In New Hampshire native Robert Eggers’ “The Witch,” set in an unnamed New England town 60 years before the 1692 Salem scare, evil forces have beset a Puritan family exiled during a religious dispute. After a witch steals their newborn baby, members of the family begin to point fingers at each other for bringing “bad spirits” to the farm, with most of the blame being heaped on teenage Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”). “The Witch” doesn’t have as many jump-scares as your average horror movie, but Eggers nevertheless conjures a terrifying, atmospheric film that sets Taylor-Joy on a path to stardom.
How to watch: “The Witch” is streaming on HBO Max.
“Hubie Halloween” (2020)
Adam Sandler is a polarizing actor, but if you’re a fan, you’ll likely enjoy “Hubie Halloween,” in which Sandler plays Salem resident Hubie Dubois, an overgrown man-child whose obsession with the town’s Halloween celebrations and general do-gooder attitude has made him a laughingstock. When Hubie begins to notice residents disappearing on Halloween night, he’s roundly ignored, so it’s up to him to solve the mystery on his own. Residents will have fun spotting all the local locations in the movie, which was filmed in Beverly, Canton, Chelsea, Danvers, Gloucester, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Mendon, Milton, Salem, and Tewksbury.
How to watch: “Hubie Halloween” is streaming on Netflix.
“Hocus Pocus 2” (2022)
Unlike other recent Disney attempts to rehash classic ’90s IP (see: “Home Sweet Home Alone,” “Mulan”), “Hocus Pocus 2” is an entertaining, lively experience that captures the campy fun of the original. While there are plenty of fan service nods to its 1993 predecessor, “Hocus Pocus 2” stands capably on its own, offering a spooky diversion for a whole new generation of viewers. Director Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal”) clearly understands that the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker) are the main attraction, giving the trio plenty of time for fish-out-of-water hijinks in present-day Salem.
How to watch: “Hocus Pocus 2” is streaming on Disney+.
“Thanksgiving” (2023)
Newton native Eli Roth toes the line between silly and scary with his 2023 slasher flick “Thanksgiving,” a gory tale set in Plymouth that harkens back to the 1620s. After greedy Black Friday shoppers trample someone to death, a killer known as Jack Carver (dressed as a pilgrim) begins punishing the greedy consumerists, killing them with Thanksgiving accoutrements like corn holders and potato mashers.
How to watch: “Thanksgiving” is streaming on Hulu.
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