Heading to a Halloween outdoor cinema event this month?
Of course you are. Any movie fan knows this is a ghoulishly great time of year to enjoy horror movies on the big screen.
But debate rages on as to which film is the absolute finest for October 31. Here we lift the lid on our cream of the crop at Urban Entertainment.
The Halloween outdoor cinema original
Halloween dates back to 1978 and is now a franchise spanning no less than 13 different titles today. That’s quite the empire.
The original film was a sensation and one of the most profitable independent films of all time.
It focuses on a sanitarium patient, Michael Myers, who was committed for murdering his babysitting teenage sister. Fifteen years later he escapes and stalks another teenage babysitter while his psychiatrist attempts to stop him.
The impact of the film is considerable. Halloween inspired its many sequels, some of which are being shown back in theatres around the world this Halloween 2022. Jamie Lee Curtis was the star in her first movie role.
And it also influenced generations of horror films that followed. Halloween outdoor cinema event organisers understandably still love to show the movie where it all began.
The cult classic
Iconic slasher movie Scream (released in 1996) needs no introduction. But did you know it was loosely inspired by a real-life story?
Danny Rolling’s murdering spree where he killed five students in Florida in 1990 is credited with being the basis for Scream.
In the modern horror classic, a knife maniac stalks high school students in suburbia. What was different about Scream was its reinvention of the genre. There was horror, humour and clever twists all mixed together. That’s the reason this choice is still a favourite for Halloween outdoor cinema audiences.
Tension and terror
The Exorcist was released in 1974. So there are no horror film cliches here, or gory special effects.
What makes this thriller so terrifying is the sense of tension, unease and sheer terror which lasts for the entire two hours.
Considered one of the scariest films of all time, it follows a young girl displaying odd behaviour after playing with a Ouija board. She is possessed – and audiences have been obsessed with her emotional rollercoaster for nearly half a century.
A very British horror film
Every zombie film ever made is parodied in the hilarious ‘rom zom com’, Shaun of the Dead, from 2004.
Lazy antiheroes Shaun and Ed are forced out of their dull existence by a zombie apocalypse. The results are hilarious, with touching moments, and much of the action focuses around their local pub.
This film has a huge cult following and is a sure-fit hit at Halloween outdoor cinema events.
In at number one…
Vampires. Male bonding. And a feisty grandpa.
There are a lot of reasons to love The Lost Boys, where two boys discover the horrifying secret of a California town.
We aren’t surprised it is the number one choice for Halloween outdoor cinema events organised with Urban Entertainment.
There’s still time to showcase this – or any other – Halloween hit to your audiences.
