Halloween season is now in full swing! That means it’s time to load up your already stacked watchlists with even more horror. This week we’re doing the Monster Mash.
A Monster Mash horror movie, like the song made famous by Bobby Pickett, must evoke a sense of fun, and it must include a wide variety of monsters. A monster mashup, if you will. Halloween parties may be out this year, so this week’s streaming selection aims to capture that Halloween party spirit in horror movie form.
Here’s to hoping this week’s streaming picks are a graveyard smash and bring some Halloween entertainment. As always, they’re all available to stream now.
The Monster Club – Tubi, Prime Video
There’s something about Vincent Price movies that are so perfect for October viewing. Shudder recently added a handful of Price’s Poe cycle films, which also work well for Halloween, but in terms of sheer cheeky fun, it’s hard to beat The Monster Club. In this 1981 anthology, Price plays Eramus, a vampire that offers an author a unique trade; if the author donates some of his blood, the vampire will take him into an exclusive monster club. It’s the wraparound tale intercut with three monster segments. Of course, the highlight is Price bopping along to the club’s music and explaining his monster pals away to the curious author.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein – Peacock TV
This is the first of many movies in which the comedic pair encounter Universal Classic monsters, and it’s a delightful mashup all ages can enjoy. Here, Lon Chaney Jr.’s Larry Talbot tries to warn Chick (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur (Lou Costello) that Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) has arrived in their town with nefarious plans to use Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) as a pawn. With help, the bumbling pair must find a way to stop Dracula. Wacky hijinks and spooky fun ensue, and expect monster mayhem as the Wolf Man engages in a battle with the other monsters. Look for (har har) Vincent Price as the Invisible Man, in an uncredited cameo.
House II: The Second Story – Tubi, Prime Video
If you haven’t seen the first film, that’s okay! There’s no connection between them, and House is also available on Tubi anyway. Jesse McLaughlin (Arye Gross) moves into the old house where his parents were murdered and finds himself drawn into an epic battle of good versus evil over a crystal skull. As far as wacky horror-comedies go, this sequel has it all. Aztec warriors looking to make sacrifices, a cater-puppy, a mummy grandpa, an undead outlaw, escaped dinosaurs, and more. There’s even a hidden Kane Hodder cameo- look for the Gorilla suit in the Halloween party scene.
The Cabin in the Woods – Hulu, Prime Video
Five friends opt for a weekend getaway at a cabin in the woods. Their party gets interrupted by a zombie redneck torture family, and they start dying one by one according to their archetypical horror role. Of course, there’s much more than meets the eye in this horror-comedy, and they realize there’s a much bigger plot afoot. In terms of entertainment and monster mashups, it doesn’t get much better than this. Just about every single conceivable monster is represented on screen in the Grand Guignol finale, from killer mermaids to werewolves to angry titans. The third act alone makes Drew Goddard’s feature debut worth revisiting time and time again.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – Showtime
On Halloween 1968, Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her two friends meet drifter Ramon (Michael Garza) while fleeing from bullies. They invite Ramon to explore a local haunted house, where Stella discovers a mysterious book containing horror stories that seem to write themselves in real-time. Director André Øvredal brings the nightmarish illustrations by Stephen Gammell and stories by Alvin Schwartz to life. Harold the scarecrow, the Pale Lady, the Big Toe corpse (Javier Botet), and the Jangly Man (Troy James) all terrorize the teens of Mill Valley in this recent Halloween treat. It’s the perfect October movie full of chills for the older kid or kid at heart.