My friends and I are always planning themed movies to watch on Saturday nights. While we often pick among franchises, especially in the horror genre, we sometimes like to mix it up. Here is a list of themed films for your next movie night!
A recent movie day, my friend and I had centered around the 25th anniversary of The Crow (May 25th, 2019). So with that, we watched ’90s films that all had gothic themes or aesthetics. The Craft followed The Crow in our lineup, and we ended with Edward Scissorhands and The Addams Family: Family Values. Although we specifically wanted the stories to be set in the 1990s, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow is set in 1790 and sets the perfect, gloomy, doomy vibe for this rainy day binge.
There are so many vampire movies it can be hard to choose which ones to go with. Often this marathon spans into two, or three…or more. Among the selection, you could pick are the 1931 film adaptation Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, and any subsequent Dracula films such as Dracula Untold, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), or any of the dozens with all-father of vampires.
Other vampire classics to add to the list is The Lost Boys, it’s entertaining sequel, Dark Shadows, Nosferatu, What We Do In The Shadows, Queen of the Damned, and Interview with the Vampire. These would all be fun to make into a marathon, especially for Halloween.
Coming up on the heels of vampire flicks, a classic movie marathon (particularly that of the monster breed), is never the wrong way to go! If you didn’t exhaust your Dracula option earlier, that one should be at the top of the list followed by Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman and The Mummy, and Creature From The Black Lagoon. These timeless classics set the bar for horror and always great fun for movie nights.
We can’t talk about horror movies or movie night marathons without mentioning Stephen King. The list for Stephen King’s films could go on and on. Some beloved classics of his thought are Stand By Me, The Shining, Misery, and Secret Window, Pet Semetary (original and remake), Cujo and Christine.
With Netflix picking up his stories now, its easier to stream your next marathon with Gerald’s Game and 1922, both of which are truly horrific! Or you could go the route of watching some of the original films of his work and their newer remakes, comparing the two, as my friends and I have done with Carrie or the IT miniseries compared to the 2017 version.
Slashers were made for friends to gather in someone’s basement, crowd around the TV in the dark, and feast their eyes on all the gory, yet often cheesy entertainment. While you can easily pick a certain franchise like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or Ash vs. The Evil Dead, try watching one from each slasher franchise of a specific decade to change it up. The former three being from the ’80s, while Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend being the classic slashers of the ’90s. Or if you wanna go the ’70s route, try Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
What would this list be without 80s’ teen movies? Arguably, the best decade for them! Most of which starred Molly Ringwald, and we love it! It’s no surprise that on this list are The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty In Pink, and who could forget the incomparable Heathers? ‘80s teen movies serve as entertaining, go-to films for the weekend.
Silent films are often overlooked, especially in our times of streaming, but if you and your friends have a tendency to gab a lot during the movies silent films allow you to do that while not missing any dialogue–and they are entertaining for sure! If you didn’t already watch Nosferatu for your vampire marathon, this is a perfect example of a successful silent film that still is plenty creepy without dialogue. Another horror movie in the silent film era was the 1920 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore. Its special effects for a movie of its decade are astounding!
But if by chance you’re burned out from all the spooky movies, consider The General, City Lights, starring Charlie Chapman, or A Fool There Was, starring Theda Bara.
Musicals are surely a fun way for friends to hang out and watch movies, as you can sing along and dance to many of these movies. Director John Waters has created some of the most well-known musical films such as Cry Baby and Hairspray. Other gems that have iconic music are Grease, Sweeny Todd, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mama Mia, the first one and its sequel Here We Go Again that features the catchy, dance music of Abba.
For other movies that feature music by real-life artists, musicals with the Beatles music have been made such as Across the Universe, or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978).
You can never go wrong with a Disney marathon. And there are so many ways to go about it too. You and your friends can pick the Walt Disney classic, the Disney/Pixar films, the films where animals sing, or the princess movies! There are so many endless possibilities, but in any capacity, Disney films make the perfect marathon for movie night!
Maybe you and your best friend have a favorite director, like Spielberg, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Allen, or Anderson, or maybe you both fancy the same actor. When that’s the case, having a movie night centered around one of them is a great theme! You can never go wrong with having a Keanu Reeves marathon, where the specific movies are chosen are based on how many times he says “Woah!” If there is a way to turn that into a drinking game, let us know!
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