My Advice for Halloween Party Movies via /r/movies

While responding to a comment about the great/bizarre horror film House it occurred to me how often people get horror movie watching wrong at their halloween parties. This may seem trivial, and it is, but as someone who’s thrown a decent party or two, I thought I’d offer my advice.

What happens too often is that you choose a couple of really good horror movies (or some so-bad-they’re-good) for everyone to sit around and watch. This instinct is wrong. You’re throwing a party, and the last thing you want is to be a host who keeps saying “hold on, this is the good part” every time someone gets up for a drink or starts having a side conversation.

Instead, choose more movies than anyone can actually watch in one night or at one time. You want these movies to be morally reprehensible. The 70s and 80s put out some wonderfully terrible horror films. I’ve found that, for whatever reason, as long as it’s halloween you’ll be forgiven. Put a TV, projector, or computer screen in every room of your party and have a different movie playing. These are the movies you wouldn’t think of asking a room of people to sit down and watch from beginning to end. Murder, torture, nudity, necrophilia, etc.

Make there be no obligation to “watch” and use these films more as background than narrative. Inevitably people will gather around, watch for a while, gasp in hilarious disgust, then go outside for a cigarette or move to another room, only to be horrified again. Start off medium horrifying, then up the next round of films’ nudity and grotesqueries as the night continues. (and if you can pair each new set of films with a new round of drinks, all the better)

I’ll see if I can’t try to think of some films that served me well in this way over the years and make a list in the morning. Until then, I welcome any suggestions.