Not everyone likes slashers or blood. Finding Halloween movies (other than ones that are meant for kids) with minimal blood/gore is a difficult feat, so I've collected 6 of my favorite non-slasher movies for your October feels. First I'll list them so you can keep the story line a surprise , and down the article I'll go into exactly why their Halloween master pieces.
1. So I married an Axe Murderer
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show
3. The Mask
4. The Burbs
Credit: Kelly Eliason on Unsplash
Why Their Spooky Perfection
1. So I married an Axe Murderer (free on Pluto TV or Tubi)
This 1993 film, based in San Fransisco is the story of a bleeding heart bachelor looking for love. At the same time, news of a "Mrs. Ex," the woman who marries then murders her husband on their honeymoon, is making all young men nervous.
Charlie The Bachelor meets a lovely butcher, Harriet, and falls deeply in love with her, and soon they get caught in a whirlwind of romance (at least on her end) while Charlie faces his fear of commitment....and his fear of getting murdered. Is his sweetie Mrs. Ex, or is he ruining his dream come true?
With no murder scenes or gore, the most you'll get is Mrs. Ex wielding a blood-free axe while you focus on the romantic question "Is my wife a serial killer?"
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show (on paid channels such as Disney Plus and Hulu)
Born in 1975, this iconic queer film features trans undertones, sensuality, aliens, and questions of social norms. The main man, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, is an alien from the planet Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania.
This man captivates a couple lost in his woods with dance, song, and romantic confusion, all while building a superhuman man just for him. Dawned with red lips and a pink triangle on his dress (a nod to the gay men killed in the Holocaust) the Dr. guides us through a queer and creepy journey of suspense and curiosity of where this movie could possibly go.
No jump scares or slashers in this one, the only kill is an off-screen comedic scene in which the Dr nonchalantly mercy kills his first failed experiment.
Credit: Mark Bishop on Unsplash
3. The Mask (Free on Tubi or Pluto TV)
Early in Jim Carry's career, The Mask features, well, a mask. But it's special. This mask alters the wearer's personality, turning them into exactly what they don't show.
In this case, Jim's character is a timid, humble man with virtually no romantic outlets. Donning the mask, he becomes a maniac casanova, robbing a bank and falling for a bombshell he thinks the real him can never have. The mask falls into the hands of an already corrupt man, making him superhuman and evil. Will Jim defeat this new masked man and get the girl? Or forever be his timid accountant self?
4. The Burbs (Free on Tubi or Pluto TV)
Featuring Tom Hanks as an exasperated neighbor, Tom's character gets captivated by the "weirdos next door" while bored on his stay-cation. He and the rest of the neighbors are convinced that the neighbors are serial killers, and go on a breaking-and-entering adventure trying to find evidence. Without murders or dead bodies shown (But there is a nightmare in which one of Tom's neighbors and his pet have an axe to the head...but no scremaing or gushing. Just unsettling imagery) this movie manages to be creepy, comedic, and suspenseful as they try to figure out who their creepy neighbors actually are, what they do all day, and what they were carrying out to the garbage can at midnight.
Contrary to popular belief, it's easy to get into the vibes without getting blood all over your brain; but it is hard to find actually good gore-free movies. I hope this little list helped!
