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15 Movies to Celebrate Summerween

  • Kylie Phillips
  • 2 hours ago
  • 5 min read
Movie props and snacks with fake spiders, skeletons, and eyeballs. Red background with white text that reads "15 Movies to Celebrate Summerween".

By: Kylie Phillips, Communications and Marketing Specialist


Light up those jack-o-melons! It’s officially Summerween season!


If you’re someone who starts feeling the itch for Halloween decorations and trick-or-treating in the hot summer months, gather your spooky friends, grill up some hot dogs, and start your Summerween celebrations with a movie (or two or three). These films offer both horror and summer elements, perfect for celebrating the holiday. And they’re all available in our collection 🥳 

 

Cover art for Gravity Falls: The Complete Series DVD

Gravity Falls (2012)(TV-Y7)

Okay, not a movie, but a great way to dip your toes into the paranormal-summer vibes (particularly with children, those who aren’t big on horror, or anyone who appreciates comedy). For those unfamiliar with the "official" origins of the term "Summerween", it comes from an episode of this show (aptly titled "Summerween"), which happens to be episode 12 in season 1!


 


Cover art for Friday the 13th: 8 movie collection DVD.

Friday the 13th  (1980)(R)

An obvious must, Friday the 13th feels like the epitome of “Summerween”. Summer camp. Killer in a mask. Classic ‘80s horror.


 


Cover art for Disturbia DVD, featuring Shia Labeouf looking through binoculars.

Disturbia (2007)(PG-13)

After an altercation with a teacher, troubled teen Kale (Shia LaBeouf) is sentenced to summer on house arrest. Eventually growing bored, Kale starts surveilling his neighbors and suspects one of them to be a serial killer. Strong performances from the cast, suspense at every turn, Disturbia is sure to be a fun favorite.


Check out Disturbia


 

Cover art for Creature from the Black Lagoon: The legacy collection DVD set, featuring the swamp creature.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)(G)

The oldest film on this list (and it’s in black & white!), Creature from the Black Lagoon takes a group of scientists on a trip to the Amazon to try and capture a strange aquatic creature for study. Not so much scary nowadays, but a fun visit to past horror.


 


Cover art for the I Know What You Did Last Summer 3-movie collection DVD set.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)(R)

Packed with an all-star cast (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Jennifer Love Hewitt) and a little bit of ‘90s teen melodrama, I Know What You Did Last Summer (not to be confused with the 2025 reboot of the same name) gives us four teens accidentally killing a fisherman and (not-so-accidentally) dumping his body in the water. A year later, the now estranged friends start receiving threats from a hook-handed killer.


 


Cover art for the 2017 It DVD featuring a small boy in a yellow raincoat facing a mysterious figure handing him a red balloon.

It  [Chapter One] (2017)(R)

Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, we enter the town of Derry, Maine in 1989, where children begin missing. A group of misfit kids start to unravel the mystery of the disappearances and face their own fears in Pennywise, an evil killer clown luring them to death. Chapter one focuses more on the summer the children band together, while Chapter two brings our focus to 27 years after the events of this fateful summer. A talented cast of kids (including Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard) and hard dive into horror make this well worth the post-watch paranoia.


Check out It [Chapter One]

 

Cover art for the 1990 TV miniseries It, featuring the face of the evil clown, Pennywise, and the adult cast below the title.

It  [TV Mini Series] (1990)(TV-14)

Again, technically not a movie, but about 3 hours of total nightmare. This version walked so that Andres Muschietti’s film(s) (listed above) could run. Tim Curry delivers an exceptionally charismatic and creepy Pennywise, and we get another cast of ‘90s stars. Not quite as terrifying to a 31-year-old, but just catching a glimpse of this as a child scarred me for roughly a month.


Check out It [TV Mini Series]

 


Cover art for the Jaws DVD, featuring a woman swimming in water with a shark head coming up at her from underneath.

Jaws (1975)(PG)

A Great White shark attacks a small beach town during the 4th of July weekend. Directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg, this is a classic summer hit.


Check out Jaws

 


DVD cover art for Killer Klowns from Outer Space, featuring a drooling clown face in the sky and a carnival setup below.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)(PG-13)

A bit of a sillier addition to this list, Killer Klowns from Outer Space is about, well, killer clowns from outer space…who have ray guns that turn people into cotton candy cocoons, a ship that looks like a carnival, and are generally just a little more whimsical than your typical killer clown (don’t get me started on the balloon dog!).


 


DVD cover art for The Lost Boys, featuring the cast in costume in front of a red background.

The Lost Boys (1987)(R)

One of my personal favorites, The Lost Boys screams ‘80s from the style to the soundtrack. We follow Michael, Sam, and their mother Lucy to California to live with her dad after going through a rough divorce. The boys soon meet the locals, and Michael’s initiation into a rowdy group leads Sam to believe they may be vampires. With phenomenal FX makeup and a star-studded cast, if you’re looking for a fun, nostalgic vampire movie (that isn’t Twilight), this is it!


Check out The Lost Boys

 


DVD cover art for Sinners, featuring the cast in costume in front of a sunset.

Sinners (2025)(R)

Another vampire movie (and the newest film on this list), Ryan Coogler’s award-winning Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, as twins and business partners, Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown to start over, but have evil working against them. This isn’t your average take on a horror movie – it takes place in 1932 Mississippi and deals with racism, cultural identity, and oppression. It invites viewers to explore deeper, historical evils alongside the powerful vampire imagery.


Check out Sinners

 


DVD cover art for The Uninvited, featuring the view from outside a window, of a person with their spine sticking out, reaching out for a girl in a white dress.

The Uninvited (2009)(PG-13)

In this American remake of the Korean A Tale of Two Sisters (for which ratings are better – do with that what you will 😉 ), Anna returns home from a stay in a psychiatric hospital after the tragic death of her mother. She finds her father now engaged to her mother’s former nurse, Rachel, and is haunted by visions of her mother. Anna and her sister, Alex, begin to suspect Rachel had something to do with their mother’s death, and push their limits to reach the truth. Even if you end up not a huge fan of the film, their lake house is beautiful and fun to fantasize about spending a summer in 😊


Check out The Uninvited 



DVD cover art for Us, featuring a wide-eyed character in a red jumpsuit pulling a mask that looks like her away from her face.

Us (2019)(R)

The follow-up to Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Us brings the chills to Santa Cruz, California. Adelaide returns to her childhood home for the summer with her husband and children. She feels something isn’t quite right, and after a childhood trauma comes back to the forefront of her mind, a group of home invaders that look suspiciously similar to her family begin to terrorize her household. Lupita Nyong’o’s performance will have your spine tingling, and the story will leave you thinking.


Check out Us

 


DVD cover art for Scoob-Doo, featuring the Mystery Inc. cast in front of a creature's shadow.

Scooby-Doo (2002)(PG)

The live-action Scooby-Doo! After a Mystery Inc. group breakup, we follow the individually-invited Scooby and the gang to Spooky Island, where they are to solve the mystery of what is happening to party-loving college kids to make them docile. It has everything: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Linda Cardellini; life-sized CGI Scooby-Doo; evil Mark McGrath/Sugar Ray; a really cool theme park; quotable line after quotable line. I simply will not hear any criticisms.


Check out Scooby-Doo

 


DVD cover art for Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, featuring Scooby and Mystery Inc. walking through a bayou, with zombie ghosts appearing in the sky above.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)(G)

The gang takes a trip to the hot Louisiana bayou, and Daphne wants to find a real monster. An acquaintance takes them to Moonscar Island where they find themselves running from zombies, were-people, and ghost pirates! Debatably one of the scarier Scooby-Doo animated movies.


 


For more summertime horror, check out Summerween for Adults and Summerween for Kids on hoopla!

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