It’s October, which means it’s time to start getting ready for Halloween. In addition to picking out what costumes to wear or what candy to give out, another decision that must be made is what movies to watch to celebrate the holiday. Spooky season is the time of the year when horror reigns supreme as everyone is looking for a good fright. This is a time of year when people revisit their favorite scary movies while also looking for something new to watch in the hopes of frightening them. One time-honored tradition of horror movies is a classic double feature.
Be it for a nice weekend evening with friends or a spooky watch while one waits for trick-or-treaters, a good old-fashioned double-feature is a great way to get into the Halloween spirit. Here are 10 double features one should check out this Halloween, titles that complement one another. Werewolves, vampires, zombies, and everything in between is here. Turn off the lights, pop some popcorn, grab a giant bowl of candy, and dig into these horrifically good double features.
10 Late Night with the Devil (2024)/In a Violent Nature (2024)
The first double feature comes courtesy of IFC films with their two big horror films of 2024, Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature. Late Night with the Devil is done in the style of a lost episode of a talk show from 1977 titled Night Owls with Jack Delroy and host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) attempts to boost his ratings by hosting a special Halloween broadcast inviting an allegedly possessed girl onto the show, which leads to horrific results.
In a Violent Nature has the typical slasher movie set up of an undead killer, here named Johnny (Ry Barrett), stalking and killing a group of teenagers in the woods, but the big twist is that the movie is told from the perspective of the killer.
IFC Films Released Two of the Best Horror Films of the Year
Both Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature are horror throwbacks that also look to experiment with the form.Late Night with the Devil brings the audience back to the 1970s, and audiences watch a found footage film done in the style of a late-night talk show that captures the unsettling vibe of a live broadcast gone wrong.
Meanwhile, In a Violent Nature reimagines the classic slasher format, specifically those in the Friday the 13th franchise, but watching it through the eyes of the killer makes for a great juxtaposition of beautiful landscape shots of Johnny walking with brutal kills. While IFC Films might not generate the same headlines that A24 or Neon does, the dual releases of Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature show that they can not only compete with the best of them but also release two of the best horror movies of the year.
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9 Apartment 7A (2024)/Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby is one of the most iconic horror films of all time. The movie follows newlyweds Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy (John Cassavetes) moving into the Bamford apartments in New York. Rosemary becomes pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbors, The Castevets, are members of a Satanic cult. She then discovers that they and her husband are working together to use her baby for an evil ritual.
After years in development hell, a prequel movie, Apartment 7A, just debuted on streaming. The film expands on Terry Gionoffrio, played by Julia Garner, after previously being portrayed by Angela Dorian in Rosemary’s Baby. Terry is a young dancer the Castevet couple takes in and initially plans to use for their ritual before her death in the original Rosemary’s Baby.
Can Be Watched in Any Order
A double feature of Rosemary’s Baby and Apartment 7A can be beneficial in either release or chronological order. Watching it in order of release maintains some of the central mystery around some characters and also makes the death of Terry in the first film more captivating. Release order also strengthens the moments in Rosemary Baby when Apartment 7A is homaging hit land.
Yet watching Apartment 7A first allows the viewers to see how the ripple effects in one story will play out in Rosemary’s Baby, particularly the reveal about who previously lived in Rosemary and Guy’s apartment. The only issue with the chronological order is that it highlights where the two films don’t align in continuity, as Apartment 7A bends some of the timeline to fit with its story.
8 Dog Soldiers (2002)/28 Days Later (2003)
While J-horror films like Ringu and The Grudge got a lot of attention for changing horror movies in the early 2000s, two films from The United Kingdom released months apart also left a major impact on the genre: Dog Soldiers and 28 Days Later.
Dog Soldiers follows a squad of soldiers fighting to survive being killed by a pack of werewolves during a military training exercise taking place in the Scottish Highlands. 28 Days Later sees Jim (Cillian Murphy) waking up from a coma to discover that a lethal virus has taken over the country, turning a large portion of the city into zombies. Werewolves and zombies got a major upgrade through these two films.
The British Are Coming
Dog Soldiers opened in UK cinemas in May 2002, with 28 Days Later soon following in November 2002. 28 Days Later was released theatrically in the United States in June 2003, while Dog Soldiers was released straight to DVD in the United States in November 2002.
Both films employ a hand-held aesthetic that gives them a grimy, gritty, and unpolished look that provides each movie with a sense of rawness that contrasts with the smooth, cleanness of American horror films released at the same time. They were to monster movies that British punk rock was to music in the ’70s. This double feature is difficult because of rights issues; 28 Days Later is unavailable to stream, but if you have a physical DVD or Blu-Ray copy, this is a specific one only you and a select few can enjoy.
7 Victor Frankenstein (2015)/Sleepy Hollow (1999)
For this next double feature, check out this pairing of reimaginings of classic horror literature, Victor Frankenstein and Sleepy Hollow. Victor Frankenstein reimagines Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, telling the story through the perspective of Igor (Daniel Radcliffe) as he goes from circus performer to partner of the scientist Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy), and the line between man, monster, creation, and creator is blurred.
Sleepy Hollow is a loose retelling of Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Instead of a school teacher like in the original story, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent to investigate a series of murders in Sleppy Hollow. What Ichabod originally believed to be a simple killer soon becomes a supernatural mystery involving witches, an undead warrior, and a murder conspiracy.
Classic Stories Made New
Both Victor Frankenstein and Sleepy Hollow are the latest in a long line of adaptations of their respective original work. While neither will be the most famous, both are bold new takes on the material that show the value in deviating from the original source material and how vital it can be to keeping a concept fresh.
Victor Frankenstein foregrounds the main Frankenstein Monster until the end of the film, instead choosing to explore the creation of the monster with the backdrop of a period piece that flips what audiences assume of both Frankenstein and Igor. Sleepy Hollow ramps up the gothic horror with some of the best atmospheres of Tim Burton’s career and combines elements of a slasher movie, gothic horror, and investigative mystery into something truly special.
6 What We Do In the Shadows (2014)/Werewolves Within (2021)
Want a mix of horror with some laughs that also features cinema’s most iconic monsters – vampires, and werewolves? Then check out 2014’s What We Do in the Shadows and 2021’s Werewolves Within. What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary that follows a group of vampires living together in a flat in Wellington, New Zealand. Werewolves Within sees new sheriff Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson) transfer into a small Vermont town filled with many strange inhabitants. One night, when a snowstorm cuts off the power and murders start happening, it is clear somebody is a werewolf.
Freights and Laughs
Both What We Do in the Shadows and Werewolves Within give a comedic spin on the most beloved movie monsters. Director Takia Waititi has a lot of fun clashing the classic image of the vampire with the mundane, ordinary world in What We Do in the Shadows. Josh Ruben contrasts the genuine sense of terror that a werewolf story can bring with the absurdity of the main characters, providing comedy.
Both movies also feature an incredible array of some of the funniest people working today; What We Do in the Shadows features Takia Waitii, Jemaine Clement, and Rhys Darby, while Werewolves Within has Milana Vayntrub, Michaela Watkins, Wayne DuVall, and Sarah Burns. In a nice connection between the two, Werewolves Within features Harvey Guillén, who also stars as Guillermo in the television spin-off of What We Do in the Shadows.
5 Freddy vs. Jason (2003)/Alien vs. Predator (2024)
Get four of cinema’s greatest movie monsters in this showdown double feature with 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason and 2004’s Alien vs. Predator. Freddy vs. Jason sees the iconic killer from Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), reviving Friday the 13th‘s Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) to kill teens so they will remember Freddy Krueger, only for the two to find themselves facing off when Jason won’t stop killing Freddy’s prey.
Alien vs. Predator finds a group led by the Weyland Corporation investigating a pyramid in the Arctic, only to discover they were lured there as a trap to serve as host for the alien Xenomorphs so that a trio of young Predators could hunt them and prove their manhood.
Let Them Fight
Freddy vs. Jason and Alien vs. Predator is clearly in the mold of the Universal horror film Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, pitting two cinematic horror titans against one another, be it the slasher kings of the 1980s, Freddy and Jason, or the sci-fi horror icons, Alien and Predator. Both Freddy vs. Jason and Alien vs. Predator were in development hell since the early 1990s and finally found their way to screens in the early 2000s, both being released on the third weekend of August. Freddy vs Jason opened in theaters on August 15, 2003, with Alien vs. Predator one year later on August 13, 2004.
While neither Freddy vs. Jason nor Alien vs. Predator is the best film in any of the characters’ franchises, both films rank high amongst fans for delivering on the epic showdowns between their titular monsters and together make for the equivalent of Wrestlemania for horror.
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4 From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)/The Faculty (1998)
Robert Rodriguez exploded onto the scene in the 1990s with his debut film, El Mariachi, and its follow-up, Desperado. Rodriguez’s back-to-back releases, From Dusk Till Dawn and The Faculty, showcased the director mixing horror with different genres.
From Dusk Till Dawn begins as a crime movie featuring wanted thieves and murderers, The Gecko Brothers, Seth and Richie (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, respectively), who take a family hostage to get across the border to Mexico only to discover the bar they are set to meet a contact is run by vampires and the human patrons need to fight to survive the night. Meanwhile, The Faculty begins as a teen drama only to give way to the revelation that alien parasites have replaced the teachers and many students, and the lead characters need to destroy this threat before it consumes the planet.
Genre Mashups
Both From Dusk till Dawn and The Faculity show Rodriguez giving 1990s spins on classic horror conventions, be they vampires or aliens. Rodriguez also takes much of the beauty and allure out of both creatures, showcasing them as otherworldly monsters. From Dusk till Dawn‘s shift from crime thriller to horror/action/comedy is a callback to the genre shift in 1987’s Predator, going from action movie to slasher, while The Faculty is a teen-centric update on 1950s alien invasion films, specifically Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Both movies are also notable for their incredible casts. From Dusk Till Dawn features George Clooney in one of his first high-profile leading roles alongside Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, John Hawks, Cheech Marin, Michael Parks, and Danny Trejo. The Faculty features early performances by Elijah Wood, Josh Harnett, Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, and Laura Harris, with supporting roles from Jon Stewart, Famke Jensen, Robert Patrick, and Usher. Both movies also feature Salma Hayek, which is always a plus.
3 Night of the Living Dead (1968)/The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Night of the Living Dead and The Blair Witch Project are two of the most influential horror movies of all time, and they are both independent productions that barely cost anything to make but yielded incredible profits. Night of the Living Dead follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania during an attack from the undead. The Blair Witch Project is a found footage film that centers on three student filmmakers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard playing fictionalized versions of themselves) who go into the woods in Maryland to film a documentary about the local “Blair Witch” only to be picked off one at a time.
Low-Budget Horror Movies That Changed the World
Both Night of the Living Dead and The Blair Witch Project show why horror has been the most friendly to young filmmakers looking to make it big, as both movies were made on small investments and made a massive amount of money. Night of the Living Dead had a budget of $114,000 and went on to gross $30 million. Meanwhile, The Blair Witch Project had a budget of $22,500 and became a global smash hit with $248.6 million worldwide.
The low budgets added to these movies’ creepy factor, as it gave them both a scrappiness that feels so different from mainstream horror. Despite their minor budget, their impacts have been long-lasting; Night of the Living Dead created the modern notion of zombies on film, while The Blair Witch Project launched found footage filmmaking into the mainstream, continued in the 21st century with movies like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity and even the previously mentioned Late Night with the Devil.
2 Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)/The Witch (2016)
One of the most anticipated movies of 2024 is Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu, a remake of the classic 1922 silent film. While the original Nosferatu itself is a good place to start, a strong pairing this Halloween season would be Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Witch.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a big-budget adaptation of the classic novel that reimagined the iconic vampire for a new generation, one told in lavish spectacle with Gary Oldman as the title monster. The Witch is Nosferatu director Robert Eggers’ debut film that follows a Puritan family in 1630s New England who encounters sinister forces outside their farm. The movie is also notable for being the debut feature film of Anya Taylor-Joy.
Prep For Nosferatu This Christmas
Nosferatu itself was an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s original 1897 novel, and many filmgoers have already noted the cinematic parallels between Francis Ford Coppola’s adaption of the iconic vampire novel and the trailers for Eggers’ Nosferatu. Since Nosferatu is an adaptation of Dracula, those are bound to happen, but what is fascinating is how two different directors’ styles over 30 years will be able to tell different versions of essentially the same story.
Meanwhile, The Witch helped kick off and popularize A24 horror into the mainstream. It has been nearly ten years since the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and watching The Witch before Nosferatu this year will show how far Eggers has come in less than a decade. What better way to get in the mood for Nosferatu than with the last major big-budget adaptation of the Dracula novel and Robert Eggers’ debut feature film?
1 Halloween (1978)/Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
You can’t go wrong with a classic Halloween lineup that pairs two of the movies most associated with the holiday: 1978’s Halloween and 2007’s Trick ‘r Treat. Directed by master of horror John Carpenter, Halloween follows babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) babysitting on Halloween night only to find herself attacked by the villainous Michael Myers, who has returned to his home in Haddonfield, Illinois, on the anniversary of the night he killed his sister.
Trick ‘r Treat is a horror anthology set on Halloween night that explores the various traditions found on the night and gives them a spooky twist. This movie has it all: serial killers, zombies, werewolves, costumes, and a signature spirit for the holiday, a young childlike monster named Sam who makes sure the traditions are honored.
It’s Not Halloween Without Them
Halloween and Trick ‘r Treat are simple but effective picks for any Halloween season.Halloween, for years, has been a must-watch on the holiday since it shares the same name. It captures a sense of terror of what happens towards the end of Halloween night, once all the candy has been passed out, and everyone is home.
Trick ‘r Treat, however, feels like the more classic “Halloween” movie, as every frame of the film is filled with imagery associated with the holiday. With its anthology approach bringing in a number of monsters and Halloween traditions, Trick ‘r Treat shows just how mainstream and popular the holiday has become among people of all ages. Both Halloween and Trick ‘r Treat capture what people love about the holiday and, together, would make for one killer double feature.
