With Halloween coming up on us faster than Michael Myers, the time is now for some spooky movies. That’s why the arts & entertainment section at The State Hornet has compiled a list of the weirdest, goofiest and downright disturbing horror movies they have ever seen. 

From hard-hitting modern thrillers to dark comedy and full-on parody, the range of films is sure to provide something for everybody, regardless of experience with the genre.

If you decide to check out any of the movies on this list, feel free to reach out and give us your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.

Michael Eskridge – “Us”

Jordan Peele’s second film “Us” is definitely one of the creepiest and weirdest movies I have watched in my lifetime. Released in 2019, this movie is about a woman and her family returning to Santa Cruz where she grew up and holds a traumatic experience from her past. 

Lupita Nyong’o does an amazing job interpreting the emotions of her character, Adelaide Wilson, while simultaneously caring for the well-being of her loved ones. 

Imagine you are in a town with an evil version of yourself trying to kill and replace you, but you are not the only one. Every individual in the town is dealing with the exact same thing. 

This premise is unique because it is not your typical slasher or psychological horror movie like “Friday the 13th” or ”The Conjuring” respectively. The film gives creepy vibes due to its aesthetics and soundtrack. 

Everybody has a past, but some are darker than others. Wilson’s past is the latter, the film showcases subliminal messages and deeper meanings all throughout. This sparked theories from the fanbase as to what this film is actually trying to tell us. For those who love deep meaning scary movies, this one will do the job. 

Zach Cimaglio – “Basket Case”

“Basket Case” is an incredibly low-budget, B-movie from 1982, written and directed by Frank Henenlotter. 

The film depicts a pair of siamese twins who were separated against their will and are now out for revenge against the doctors who performed the operation so many years ago. 

Duane, the protagonist, is a pretty demented character but appears as an average, 20-something guy who moves to New York City. 

He carries his brother, who is essentially just a disfigured tumor with eyes, a mouth and a grotesque pair of hands around in a picnic basket, hence the title, and feeds him fast food and small animals. 

The film is incredibly gory with a ton of long, drawn-out kills where the siamese brother, Belial, chomps on people’s necks and faces for minutes at a time. 

It has the usual early ’80s camp that can be expected of movies like this, however, while the gore might be hard to stomach if you are squeamish, it is not particularly realistic. If you’re a fan of horror B-movies with little narrative merit but plenty of dark humor and ridiculously dumb dialogue, this will be an enjoyable watch. 

The film is also the first part of a trilogy and can be found on Shudder if you have a subscription or on Tubi for free, if you do not mind ads. 

Alec Ramey – “Scary Movie”

The “Scary Movie” series is something you could argue and say are not really horror movies but rather comedies. They are indeed comedies, but that is what makes them stand out among the other horror movies. 

They are parodies of the cliches you see in horror movies. “Scary Movie”  follows a group of teenagers who are being killed one by one after accidentally hitting a man with a car and putting his body in the lake. Does that sound familiar? 

Mainly the plot is a direct parody of Jim Gillespie’s 1997 film  “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” but on top of that the guy killing the kids is dressed just like the “Scream” character, Ghostface. Other scenes in the movie are even direct parodies of scenes from other movies too. 

References include “The Matrix,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Halloween” and quite a few other famous films. If you understand references to any of those movies, I would say there might be something in there you’ll laugh at. 

If you’re a fan of ’80s and ’90s horror movies and have never seen “Scary Movie,” then you absolutely have to. 

Marin Perego – “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”

When I hear “weird Halloween movies,” I can’t help but think of the campy 1988 sci-fi “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.” 

What’s not weird about this movie? It’s bizarre in its own special way. 

We’re talking about these killer clowns who are really aliens wreaking havoc on a small town. The local authorities think it is all a big prank at first, and I can’t blame them because even in a fictional world it is still bewildering. 

There is not as much gore in this movie but more of a slapstick approach to horror. The clowns trap the humans, their prey, in cocoons of cotton candy. 

The guns that the clowns shoot at the humans are filled with popcorn. That popcorn is actually larvae that then hatches more aliens. You have to see the whole thing to really get the full effect because it does not get much weirder than this one. 

It is certainly entertaining, I will give it that. If you’re down to see some killer clowns, you can watch this movie with premium subscriptions to Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

Michael Pacheco – “The Thing (1982)”

“The Thing,” is directed by John Carpenter, the same director as the original “Halloween.” Starring Kurt Russel as helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, the movie hit theaters in 1982 to relatively poor reviews. While not being a total box office failure, it was not very successful during its initial theatrical run. 

Later on when it came out on home video, the movie developed a cult following and is now widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time.

The movie starts in Antarctica, when after an incident with a foreign helicopter crew, an American research team is looking through the wreckage of a facility that contains a strange looking corpse. 

A sled dog that was being chased by the slain helicopter crew is herded into a kennel where it proceeds to absorb other dogs in a grotesque display. 

After the initial beast is killed by the crew on the station, order starts to break down and distrust is built between everyone due to the discovery that the creature can mimic others. 

This is what made the movie really weird to me at the time since it took the normally straightforward premise of a monster movie and combined it with the suspense of a mystery movie. 

Even beyond the body horror that makes me sick to my stomach, that was the element that stood out to me the most. It surprised me that the movie was not received as well when it first came out. You can watch the movie on Hulu.