13 spooky movies with Cincinnati connections π±π¬
Dying to find a new movie to watch to get you into the Halloween spirit?
We have been buried in DVDs and YouTube clips of horror movies, mysteries and supernatural flicks to conjure up a list of 13 spooky films with local ties to Cincinnati.
No matter your taste for blood or chills or happy haunts, there is something here for every body.
1. βHocus Pocusβ (1993)
A Halloween staple, this Disney classic introduces the Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches from the 17th century portrayed by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Cincinnatiβs own Sarah Jessica Parker (who spent much of her childhood in Clifton). Watch it for the first or 101st time to prepare for βHocus Pocus 2β coming to Disney+ next fall.
2. βFrom Dusk Till Dawnβ (1996)
Our local movie star George Clooney appears with Quentin Tarantino as fugitive bank robbers who hole up in a Mexican strip club filled with vampires in this violent action film from Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. This one is as gory as it gets.
3. βDetentionβ (2011)
Josh Hutcherson of Union, Kentucky, stars in this extremely offbeat comedy horror film from music video director Joseph Kahn. It seems like a high school slasher flick but veers into time travel and aliens at an absurd pace.
4. βNightmaresβ (1983)
This horror anthology features four stories, including one with Over-the-Rhine resident and voice of the streetcar Emilio Estevez about a video game hustler trying to reach the mythical level 13 in βThe Bishop of Battleβ game. Another tale features Albert Hague, an alumnus of CincinnatiβsΒ College of Music who composedΒ the music for βHow the Grinch Stole Christmas!β
5. βThe Mark of Zorroβ (1940)
Matinee idol Tyrone Power, a Purcell High School graduate, was famous for his swashbuckling adventures. His turn as the noble bandit Zorro set the standard for costumed heroes, and in Batman lore, itβs the movie that a young Bruce Wayne saw in the theater the night his parents were murdered and inspired him to become the Dark Knight.
6. βJawsβ (1975)
Steven Spielberg has directed a number of scary movies, from βDuelβ (1971) to βJurassic Parkβ (1993), but his tale of a terrifying great white shark is the biggest and best. The Cincinnati native made people afraid to go into the water and ushered in the era of the blockbuster. Ba dum β¦
7. βPoltergeistβ (1982)
Perhaps less well known is that Spielberg wrote this classic ghost story but it was directed by Tobe Hooper with heavy creative input from Spielberg. The early death of child star Heather OβRourke β the little girl who touches the TV and says, βTheyβre here ...β β fueled rumors that the movie is cursed.
8. βA Fool There Wasβ (1915)
Silent film star Theda Bara (born Theodosia Goodman in Avondale) was the original vamp, short for vampire, meaning a femme fatale seductress. Bara made a career portraying vamps, but her first film is one of only a few of hers that survives.
9. βThe Man Who Knew Too Muchβ (1956)
Jimmy Stewart and Cincinnati native Doris Day play American tourists in Morocco whose son is kidnapped in this Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller. The film also gave us Day singing βQue Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).β
10. βDracula: Dead and Loving Itβ (1995)
Everyone chews the scenery in Mel Brooksβ spoof of the legendary vampire, played by the equally legendary Leslie Nielsen. Blue Ash native Amy Yasbeck (TVβs βWingsβ) co-stars as Mina, whom DraculaΒ wants to turn into his undead bride.
11. βThe Killing of a Sacred Deerβ (2017)
This psychological thriller from Yorgos Lanthimos turns a modern revenge plot into a βSophieβs Choiceβ decision. Starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, it was filmed at Christ Hospital, Hyde Park, Blue Jay Restaurant and Roger Bacon High School.
12. βWrong Turnβ (2021)
A group of friends hiking the Appalachian Trail β filmed in Hocking Hills and around Cincinnati β meet a group of cultists in the woods in a reboot of the βWrong Turnβ horror franchise, proving that no one learned a thing from the seriesβ previous six movies.
13. βTwilight Zone: The Movieβ (1983)
Another anthology movie, this time with stories adapted from the classic 1959-1964 television series βThe Twilight Zoneβ created and hosted by Rod Serling, who started on WLW radio and WKRC-TV in the 1950s. One segment is directed by Spielberg, but the best was helmed by βMad Maxβ director George Miller, in which John LithgowΒ sees a gremlin on the wing of an airplane at 20,000 feet.
Bonus movie:Horror romance starring TimotheΜe Chalamet filmed in Cincinnati