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WhatToWatch

Entertainment

Michael Balderston

TCM’s Halloween movie lineup is a treat for classic movie fans — and it includes a hidden gem

TCM Frankenstein Dracula

Count Dracula and Renfield in 1931's 'Dracula'.

Halloween is upon us. If you’re not going to be trick-or-treating with the kids, then there’s not better way to celebrate the spooky holiday than by watching a good movie that can deliver the scares. While there are plenty of options on streaming, Tuner Classic Movies (TCM) has its own lineup of classic movies to watch this Halloween that are perfect for anyone looking for the strange, twisted and, of course, scary.

Starting Wednesday, October 30, continuing all day on Halloween and into the wee hours of November, TCM is rolling out what it is calling its “Halloween Terror-Thon,” a lineup of iconic horror movies, entries from some of Hollywood’s most legendary directors and lesser known classics that you can discover for the first time. As a classic movie fan myself and a devotee of TCM, I can think of few better ways to spend Halloween night.

There are a handful of movies in the lineup that especially catch my eye. Let’s start with a trio of movies from master filmmakers that you may not instantly think of as horror movies, but will send chills down your spine. Starting at 8 pm on October 30 TCM is airing Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Psycho (one of WTW’s 100 best movies of all time) helped invent the slasher genre and features one of the most bone-chilling scores of all time; Peeping Tom chronicles a creepy individual who films murders; while Blue Velvet is a descent into the underbelly of a seemingly normal town.

Then on Halloween, one of the hidden gems of the lineup is the 1932 movie Freaks from director Tod Browning. The story revolves around a circus and its troupe of side-show performers; no movie magic here, the entire cast is made up of real individuals from carnivals and sideshows. As for the actual movie, it revolves around a beautiful trapeze artist who schemes to marry a dwarf that is part of the circus but has a rich inheritance and steal his fortune. But when her plot is found out, his fellow members of the circus seek their revenge.

Of course what classic horror movie lineup would be complete without three of the most iconic horror movies of all time featuring arguably the two most iconic movie monsters: Dracula and Frankenstein as portrayed by Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, respectively. 1931’s Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein air back-to-back-to-back from 3:45 pm to 6:30 pm on October 31.

My final pick of the night comes right at the stroke of midnight, with George Romero’s original zombie classic Night of the Living Dead.

In order to watch TCM’s Halloween Terror-Thon, you must have access to the cable channel either through a traditional pay-TV provider or live TV streaming services like DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV or YouTube TV. If you’ve cut the cord from live TV, many of these movies can be found on streaming services.

Here is a complete look at the TCM Halloween Terror-Thon schedule:

Wednesday, October 30