With Halloween days away, we're all in the mood for a scary movie! But honestly, I think it's hard to pick what to watch. And you should definitely watch something that's Pacific Northwest-related. But there's still a bunch of options. So we enlisted two writers, film lovers and friends to help us rank the five scariest Pacific Northwest movies, with a special emphasis on Seattle or the nearby region.
Chase Hutchinson, journalist, critic, and host of Seattle Movies Daily.
Brian Keiper, contributor at Bloody Disgusting and host of the Holy Terrors podcast.
What makes the Pacific Northwest or Seattle such an attractive location for spooky or scary?
Brian: Forests are generally a good setting for horror movies. Also…the weather. A lot of these take place during fall and winter, our gray period during the year. There's this feeling of oppression from the environment itself. I find that really effective.
Chase: Horror is often scariest when it's about the unknown. The Pacific Northwest is a place that has a mystery to it, like there's something lurking out there.
Scary movies to watch on Halloween
Malignant (2021) - Purchase on VOD or rent at Scarecrow Video.
- Liam: A lot of people may not have seen Malignant, it was a bit of a COVID casualty. But this is a wild, wild movie
- Chase: It's a silly one. That's the one I put on the list that is designed to make people go, "What the hell are you doing?"
- Liam: Yeah, totally. For folks that don't know, it's an absolutely insane horror movie.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) - Watch on HBO Max, rent or buy on VOD, or rent at Scarecrow Video.
- Chase: Kind of David Lynch's most haunting film in a lot of ways. It didn't get appreciation when it first came out, but I think it has stood the test of time. I think it truly taps into something about the Pacific Northwest, about the kind of horror to be found both further out in this unknown supernatural. But, also close to home too.
- Brian: It is genuinely unsettling, though. So much about it that's just horribly uncomfortable as well. That oppressive feeling I was talking about is just shot through the film.
The Changeling (1980) - Free with ads on YouTube, or rent from Scarecrow Video.
- Liam: A ghost story set in Seattle starring George C. Scott that is truly haunting. The Changeling was a big discovery for me. It takes incredible advantage of the Pacific Northwest and features lots of good Seattle footage.
- Brian: There are several shots, several important key scenes that are shot in Seattle.
The Ring (2002) - Watch on Netflix, or rent from Scarecrow Video.
Liam called The Ring "the scariest PNW movie ever made" and you can watch his video about it here!
- Liam: The Ring is so scary and so weird, and it's PG-13...which blows my mind.
- Chase: The Ring is a major thing. Gore Verbinski makes the most of everything that he can about the region, about the sound. It's very sinister. It’s one that really just feels like a studio horror movie that we don't get enough of these days. I wish there was more like it, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
- Liam: Gore Verbinski, one of our great underrated directors.
The Stepfather (1987) - Watch on Tubi with ads, rent on VOD, or rent from Scarecrow Video.
- Brian: It stars Terry O'Quinn as a guy who's looking for the perfect family. The film begins with him getting ready, taking a shower, he's got blood on his face and he cleans it all off. He walks out the door, and you see that he has, in fact, murdered an entire family inside this house with who knows what. It hops to a year later, and he has started a new life with someone else. Kind of like Fire Walk With Me, It has sort of that unsettling feeling.
Cthulhu (2007) - Watch on YouTube with ads, or rent from Scarecrow Video.
- Chase: This is a 2007, lost to time film, that opens with a very interesting shot of the market in a way I've never seen. It becomes about someone returning home. It's really good, it's my hidden gem
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992) - Watch on Peacock or rent from Scarecrow Video.
- Chase: There's something kind of trashy and silly about it, but also I think it taps into the Pacific Northwest: everyone's very friendly, you're gonna be okay with letting people in, and then not so much a good idea. And I love that it's a Tacoma film.
Final Destination: Bloodlines (2024) - Watch on HBOMAX or rent from Scarecrow Video.
- Liam: It would not be a good list if we didn't include the movie with the Space Needle murder.
There’s your list! For more ideas, watch the segment below:
My advice is to rent all these from Scarecrow. You can even rent a blu-ray player, and then you won’t suffer the indignity of ads making the movie less scary!
