Top Ten Horror Films Playing on TCM in October

Since this is October and October is for HORROR, we wanted to do our TCM post a little bit differently this time, and focus in on some of the best horror TCM has in store for us – and they have quite a bit, most of it loaded toward the end of the month, but some spread out throughout the month as well. Here are some Flickchart-approved picks.

Top Ten Horror Films (as globally ranked on Flickchart)

1. Psycho

I don’t really need to tell you to watch Psycho, you’ve probably already seen Psycho and if you haven’t, you already probably know the basics of what it’s about. This was the film Alfred Hitchcock made immediately after the tremendously successful North by Northwest, a light-hearted espionage thriller, which was the film he made immediately after Vertigo, a dark and disturbing film about obsession – which was a tremendous flop at the time despite its current reputation. Hitchcock was bitter that audiences hated Vertigo and loved North by Northwest, so Psycho was basically his middle-finger to the world, especially the studios who hoped he’d make another North by Northwest. Instead he chose to adapt a harsh novel about a psychotic killer and make a very low-budget, almost B-movie level thriller that would explore what was, at the time, the lowest depths of human depravity ever shown on screen. In so doing, he changed filmmaking forever in many, many ways, from thwarting audience expectations by switching protagonists half-way through, to giving horror a human face for the first time, and even to exhibition practices by insisting no one be allowed into the theatre after the start of the film. And besides its historical legacy, the film still plays like gangbusters, even if you know the twists. 1960; ranked #42 by 60846 users. Playing on 10/27 at 8:00pm

2. Repulsion

Roman Polanski had already made a name for himself with a few provocative thrillers made in his native Poland (especially Knife in the Water about a deadly love triangle playing out on a small boat in the middle of nowhere) before making his first English-language film, ironically with French actress Catherine Deneuve. An alternate title for this could be Misogyny: The Movie, or Toxic Masculinity: A Psychodrama, because while Deneuve’s character’s fear of men is treated something like a mental illness, it actually seems quite justified when you look at every single man she comes into contact with during the film (and we only see glimpses of the past where something obviously happened to kick this off). The film is terrifying as a psychodrama, but it’s also terrifying because it all seems very possible and very contemporary. 1965; ranked #248 by 1192 users. Playing on 10/29 at 3:45am

3. Eyes Without a Face

A film that scores high on both horror lists and arthouse lists, like many foreign horror films this one plays more on atmosphere and existential horror than physical terror and jump scares. A plastic surgeon is trying to repair his daughter’s face, marred from a bad accident, by kidnapping other girls and, well, taking their faces. Meanwhile, his daughter wears a porcelain mask that gives the movie its title, a hauntingly expressionless mask that stands in for not only what he’s taken from other girls, but what he’s actually stolen from her as well – the right to be herself and do the things she wants to do. The film is more haunting than scary, but the images will stay with you. 1960; ranked #337 by 747 users. Playing on 10/23 at 2:00am

4. The Innocents

If moody gothic psychological dramas are your thing, you can’t get better than this one, which claims a pedigree straight back to Henry James’ classic novella The Turn of the Screw. Deborah Kerr is a governess who comes to care for two young children in a lonely British manor. Before long, however, she becomes convinced that the estate is haunted, and that the children are possessed by the spirits of former household servants. But in such a lonely, remote, and isolated environment – is she just going mad? This is a rare intimate thriller that was made in 2.35:1 widescreen, and cinematographer Freddie Francis uses the unusual aspect ratio to great effect, alternative close-ups of Kerr’s terror with shots the allow the murky corners of the house to fade into the realm of imagination. 1961; ranked #445 by 640 users. Playing on 10/13 at 1:00pm and 10/24 at 8:00pm

5. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane

The long-lasting feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford is legendary, both women specializing in playing strong, independent, and often conniving and sometimes outright villainous characters. Their feud was played out off-screen, though, as Davis was a Warner star and Crawford was at MGM. Until this film. Director Robert Aldrich had the brilliance to bring the two divas together when both were well past their prime, playing sisters who hate each others guts. Crawford gets the admittedly somewhat thankless role of the former actress crippled in an accident, while Davis gets the title role, the sister who was a former child star eclipsed by her sister’s fame but who now must be her caretaker. It plays out every bit as gothic and over the top as you might guess, but Davis is also freaking terrifying. It’s a marvelous commentary on the duo’s past, a hideous mirror of their present, and a near virtuoso role for Davis toward the end of her career. 1962; ranked #449 by 1679 users. Playing on 10/28 at 9:00am

6. The Phantom Carriage

A silent that also gets by more on atmosphere than actual scares, this Victor Sjöström film plays something like a morality play. A trio of drunks on New Year’s Eve talk about a legend – the last sinner to die in a year must spend the next year driving the Phantom Carriage and pick up the souls of the dead. One of them, predictably, dies that night. But will the experience give him another chance? The film is long on the “second chance” and short on actual scares, but the scenes of the Phantom Carriage driving inexorably along drawn by its skeletal horse are justly famous and unforgettable. Not to mention very well-done for the time period, utilizing a ghostly superimposition that’s quite effective. 1921; ranked #558 by 358 users. Playing on 10/15 at 12:00M

7. The Haunting

You may remember the 1999 version of this story, but I implore you to forget that pale imitation and watch this Robert Wise-directed original instead. THIS one is one of the best haunted house/psychological thrillers of all time. A scientist is trying to prove the existence of ghosts and takes a look at the promising Hill House, which has a history of violent deaths and insanity. He’s accompanied by the future owner of the house (a paranormal skeptic), and a pair of women (Julie Harris and Claire Bloom) who are said to have psychic tendencies. Not to spoil very much, but they MAY be in over their heads. The pairing of paranormal activity and a terrifying descent into psychosis is quite potent. 1963; ranked #623 by 1227 users. Playing on 10/31 at 9:30pm

8. Poltergeist

I can easily imagine that I am actually the only person reading this who hasn’t seen this film, an ‘80s classic of the haunted house genre. The image of the young girl in front of the haunted TV is iconic, and the idea of the friendly prankster ghosts who turn into something a little more frightening is a pretty great one. The film is credited to Tobe Hooper (of Texas Chainsaw Massacre) but widely known to be ghost-directed by Steven Spielberg, perhaps performing his own little poltergeist trick. In either case, it’s one of the early ‘80s films that adds to most people’s love of that particular period of Amblin Entertainment films and remains influential on filmmakers today who grew up in that era. 1982; ranked #641 by 15915 users. Playing on 10/31 at 6:00pm

9. Cat People

Cat People is the top-ranked film produced by RKO horror unit producer Val Lewton, and that may be for good reason – the iconography of an Eastern European woman who may or may not turn into a literal wildcat when threatened is pretty strong, and there are certain scenes in here, especially of the woman being stalked through the dark streets by who knows what, that are chilling to the bone. That said, it would be highly unfortunate to miss out on all the other Val Lewton films playing this evening. Lewton didn’t really have a huge thing for horror himself; he was thrown into it because they made money and RKO wanted him to keep doing it, but his real love was gothic literature, and you can tell a very literary strain playing out through his films, especially I Walked With a Zombie, which is basically Jane Eyre. He worked with many different directors, but the best results came from his pairings with Jacques Tourneur and Robert Wise. 1942; ranked #729 by 814 users. Playing on 10/10 at 8:00pm (Cat People, the others are throughout the night)

10. Onibaba

Japanese horror has a long tradition, and Onibaba is one of the seminal works in the genre. On the surface, it sounds like a standard if sordid period drama, with a woman and her daughter-in-law surviving by killing soldiers to loot their bodies and pay for food, but things take a turn when the younger woman (a widow) takes up with a deserter and the mother takes a demon mask from a samurai and tries to use it to scare her daughter-in-law into returning home. I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen this yet either, so I don’t know how this plays out! But now I’m very curious. 1964; ranked #750 by 398 users. Playing on 10/30 at 2:15am

Five Hidden Gems

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

Purportedly a documentary on the history of witchcraft from ancient to modern times (in modern times it’s tied to mental illness as a type of demon possession), this is really director Benjamin Christiansen’s chance to gleefully show all kinds of diabolical things. It’s at its weakest when it’s playing the documentary card, especially in the modern day sections, but the segments that just go wild in depicting the visitations of the devil and the witches performing Satanic rites are amazing. 1922; ranked #1020 by 440 users. Playing on 10/29 at 12:00M

Carnival of Souls

A very low-budget horror film that has deservedly become a cult classic, with a group of kids all drowned during an drag racing accident – except one woman who improbably walks out of the river much later and ends up wandering into a phantom carnival. It doesn’t make 100% sense, but it doesn’t have to – it’s a cult classic for a reason, and part of that reason is just being so damned weird. 1962; ranked #1221 by 803 users. Playing on 10/25 at 2:00am

Village of the Damned

If you thought the kid in The Innocencts was creepy, wait until you see him play the leader of a group of mind-melding alien kids in Village of the Damned. The glowing eyes on these kids have become ripe for pop-culture parody, and in fact, this film was remade by John Carpenter, though that version doesn’t have a very good reputation. This one, though, benefits from the earnestness of its time and an excellent grounding performance by George Sanders as the village leader trying to figure out what’s going on. 1960; ranked #1791 by 618 users. Playing on 10/13 at 9:30am and 10/28 at 1:00pm

Mad Love

The trope of the evil hand (or other body part) is a well-worn one in horror, but this one is an early one to use it (the story was previously filmed in the silent era as The Hands of Orlac), and one of the craziest and most effective. A pianist loses his hand, which is devastating, but when he hears he may be able to get a transplant from an only somewhat mad scientist (the wonderful Peter Lorre), he goes for it – but the hand is the hand of a criminal, and he soon believes it’s making him do evil things. The truth is a little more complex, but suffice it to say that if Peter Lorre were the only reason to watch this, it would be reason enough – but there’s also the most magnificent protonoir cinematography I’ve ever seen. The film is directed by Karl Freund, better known as a cinematographer on such things as, I dunno, Metropolis, The Last Laugh, and Dracula. He pull out all the stops for this one, making it probably the most German Expressionist film ever not made in Germany. 1935; ranked #2705 by 197 users. Playing on 10/31 at 10:00am

White Zombie

I have a huge soft spot for pre-George Romero zombies, the ones actually created and sustained by voodoo magic. In this case, a young man loves a girl but she’s engaged to someone else. Good thing for him they’re in the Caribbean and he can go to the local witch doctor (Bela Lugosi) for some help. Lugosi has an army of workers who are actually zombies, and he’s all too happy to pass his zombification secret on to the young man. The most horrifying part of this is the scene where the zombification actually takes place – and it’s agonizingly slow, allowing the victim to fully understand what’s happening to them without being able to do anything about it. THAT is terrifying. 1932; ranked #3364 by 443 users. Playing on 10/31 at 8:30am

The Rest

Horror of Dracula (1958; ranked #814 by 778 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 8:00pm
Kwaidan (1965; ranked #918 by 415 users) – Playing on 10/23 at 3:45am
The Brood (1979; ranked #930 by 1192 users) – Playing on 10/29 at 2:00am
I Walked With a Zombie (1943; ranked #977 by 670 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 12:30am
The House on Haunted Hill (1959; ranked #1233 by 1311 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 11:30pm
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1966; ranked #1351 by 1019 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 2:30pm
House of Wax (1953; ranked #1367 by 836 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 4:30pm
Curse of the Demon (1957; ranked #1591 by 302 users) – Playing on 10/24 at 12:00M
The Bad Seed (1956; ranked #1669 by 419 users) – Playing on 10/13 at 4:30pm
The Old Dark House (1932; ranked #1706 by 285 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 8:00pm
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957; ranked #1816 by 392 users) – Playing on 10/17 at 9:45pm
The Body Snatcher (1945; ranked #1944 by 401 users) – Playing on 10/10 at 9:30pm
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966; ranked #2538 by 300 users) – Playing on 10/22 at 8:00pm
The Mummy (1959; ranked #2877 by 468 users) – Playing on 10/17 at 11:15pm
Isle of the Dead (1945; ranked #2909 by 251 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 7:30am
House of Dracula (1945; ranked #2992 by 390 users) – Playing on 10/8 at 9:30pm
The Seventh Victim (1943; ranked #3166 by 140 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 2:00am
The Brides of Dracula (1960; ranked #3457 by 253 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 9:45pm
Blacula (1972; ranked #3761 by 534 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 2:15am
The Curse of the Cat People (1944; ranked #3932 by 246 users) – Playing on 10/13 at 6:45pm
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961; ranked #4209 by 212 users) – Playing on 10/18 at 1:00am
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968; ranked #4234 by 240 users) – Playing on 10/22 at 10:00pm
Little Shop of Horrors (1960; ranked #4256 by 1092 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 11:30am
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970; ranked #4300 by 214 users) – Playing on 10/29 at 8:00pm
The Leopard Man (1943; ranked #4368 by 148 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 5:00am
The Devil-Doll (1936; ranked #4650 by 194 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 7:30am
The Ghost Ship (1943; ranked #5077 by 123 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 6:15am
Bedlam (1946; ranked #5864 by 96 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 3:30am
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972; ranked #5871 by 215 users) – Playing on 10/29 at 10:00pm
Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973; ranked #6136 by 179 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 4:00am
Mark of the Vampire (1935; ranked #6815 by 147 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 6:15pm
The Cat and the Canary (1939; ranked #7103 by 42 users) – Playing on 11/1 at 1:15am
Dementia 13 (1963; ranked #7236 by 263 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 11:30am
The Nanny (1966; ranked #7416 by 58 users) – Playing on 10/13 at 11:00am
From Beyond the Grave (1974; ranked #7751 by 85 users) – Playing on 10/25 at 3:30am
13 Ghosts (1960; ranked #7948 by 210 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 1:00pm
The Bat (1959; ranked #9001 by 87 users) – Playing on 11/1 at 4:30am
The Monster (1925; ranked #9552 by 39 users) – Playing on 10/22 at 12:00M
The Return of Dracula (1958; ranked #10951 by 55 users) – Playing on 10/8 at 8:00pm
The Old Dark House (1963; ranked #13394 by 42 users) – Playing on 11/1 at 2:45am
Billy the Kid vs Dracula (1966; ranked #23297 by 57 users) – Playing on 10/8 at 10:45pm

Other Movies to See Before You Die

TCM isn’t ONLY about horror in October; just to round it out, here are the films playing that hit the Flickchart Top 1000, or as we like to call them, Movies to See Before You Die.

Back to the Future (1985; ranked #9 by 90494 users) – Playing on 10/30 at 10:30pm
The Night of the Hunter (1955; ranked #37 by 3692 users) – Playing on 10/19 at 12:00M
Taxi Driver (1976; ranked #38 by 50625 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 2:30am
Psycho (1960; ranked #42 by 60846 users) – Playing on 10/27 at 8:00pm
A Clockwork Orange (1971; ranked #52 by 62798 users) – Playing on 10/27 at 2:00am
Diabolique (1955; ranked #170 by 1075 users) – Playing on 10/16 at 2:00am
Brief Encounter (1945; ranked #202 by 995 users) – Playing on 10/21 at 8:00pm
Bonnie and Clyde (1967; ranked #212 by 9666 users) – Playing on 10/16 at 10:15pm
Repulsion (1965; ranked #248 by 1192 users) – Playing on 10/29 at 3:45am
Ugetsu (1953; ranked #277 by 561 users) – Playing on 10/30 at 4:15am
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986; ranked #281 by 3218 users) – Playing on 10/23 at 10:15pm
White Heat (1949; ranked #289 by 976 users) – Playing on 10/18 at 9:45am
The Manchurian Candidate (1962; ranked #316 by 7012 users) – Playing on 10/30 at 5:45pm
Casino (1995; ranked #329 by 42187 users) – Playing on 10/24 at 12:15am
Key Largo (1948; ranked #331 by 1892 users) – Playing on 10/12 at 2:15pm
Eyes Without a Face (1960; ranked #337 by 747 users) – Playing on 10/23 at 2:00am
The Lost Weekend (1945; ranked #372 by 1432 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 8:00pm
The Innocents (1961; ranked #445 by 640 users) – Playing on 10/13 at 1:00pm and 10/24 at 8:00pm
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962; ranked #449 by 1679 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 9:00am
The Battleship Potemkin (1926; ranked #453 by 1914 users) – Playing on 10/26 at 9:00am
Gilda (1946; ranked #554 by 1012 users) – Playing on 10/14 at 8:00pm and 10/31 at 12:30am
The Phantom Carriage (1921; ranked #558 by 358 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 12:00M
Suspicion (1941; ranked #561 by 1180 users) – Playing on 10/25 at 6:00pm
Gaslight (1944; ranked #568 by 760 users) – Playing on 10/16 at 4:15am
Walkabout (1971; ranked #576 by 799 users) – Playing on 10/20 at 2:00am
The Haunting (1963; ranked #623 by 1227 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 9:30pm
Poltergeist (1982; ranked #641 by 15915 users) – Playing on 10/31 at 6:00pm
The Elephant Man (1980; ranked #662 by 11966 users) – Playing on 10/23 at 8:00pm
Doctor Zhivago (1965; ranked #685 by 3859 users) – Playing on 10/25 at 8:00pm
Point Blank (1967; ranked #723 by 770 users) – Playing on 10/14 at 12:00N
Cat People (1942; ranked #729 by 814 users) – Playing on 10/10 at 8:00pm
Onibaba (1964; ranked #750 by 398 users) – Playing on 10/30 at 2:15am
Horror of Dracula (1958; ranked #814 by 778 users) – Playing on 10/15 at 8:00pm
The Trial (1962; ranked #833 by 422 users) – Playing on 10/28 at 4:00am
Kwaidan (1965; ranked #918 by 415 users) – Playing on 10/23 at 3:45am
The Brood (1979; ranked #930 by 1192 users) – Playing on 10/29 at 2:00am
What’s Up, Doc? (1972; ranked #957 by 623 users) – Playing on 10/17 at 2:45am
I Walked With a Zombie (1943; ranked #977 by 670 users) – Playing on 10/11 at 12:30am
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974; ranked #986 by 1139 users) – Playing on 10/17 at 4:30am