We recently asked our members to recommend their favorite Halloween films, and we got some terrific suggestions! You'll find most of these titles here at Film Fresh, along with lots of other Halloween-appropriate films. (Many of our films are available on both DVD and download.)

Faye T. from New Rochelle, NY, recommended Clint Eastwood's THE CHANGELING (2008), a film normally not thought of as a Halloween film, as she acknowledged in a note to us. But the film "is very suspenseful and bizarre… some of the scenes are more scary and terrorizing than any Halloween movie" she has seen. Alongside, she also recommended John Carpenter's classic HALLOWEEN (1978: the first one, with Jamie Leigh Curtis) and Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film PSYCHO… quite the triple feature.

John Carpenter was often mentioned by our readers.  Chris M. was frightened as a child by Carpenter's THE THING (1982), in which "research scientists in the Arctic are being hunted by a mysterious alien force." This film "will have your heart pounding from the first reel to the last." And Jorge B. from Dayton, OH likes CHRISTINE, Carpenter's 1983 feature in which "a red 1958 Plymouth Fury is possessed by the Devil, with the ability to reconstruct itself, doing a nerd boy's vengeance, and, best of all, playing rock and roll music."

Don X. picked some classic movies from the 1950s that were "favorites when [he] was a boy growing up in Oklahoma." His list includes Charles Lamont's 1951 ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN, Joseph Newman's THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955) and Robert Wise's 1951 alien classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. (Repeat after me: "Klaatu barada nikto.")

THE DESCENT, a 2005 horror film by Neil Marshall that "follows six women who become trapped in an unmapped cave system in the Appalachian mountains, was recommended by Guy W. of Kennesaw, GA, and Aurelio C. recommended Ruben Fleischer's 2009 film ZOMBIELAND "because it is funny and scary."

Although he didn't tell us why, Robert L. recommended John Dahl's 2001 film JOY RIDE and Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL (2009), both great additions to our list.  Robin M. of Los Angeles, CA picked two lesser-known films, both equally "creepy": Adrian Lyne's 1990 film JACOB'S LADDER ("mentally challenging… mesmeric and hallucinatory," Robin says) and Larry Fesseden's THE LAST WINTER (2006), which "sticks to the mind like an oil slick."

THE SHINING (1980) brought praise from Blair S. in Atlanta, GA, who said that this Stanley Kubrick film has "the most suspenseful climax in a large hedge maze. It's full of hauntings, suspense, blood and excellent acting -- everything that makes for a classic thriller." And Ridley Scott's well-known 1979 film ALIEN topped the Tim L.'s list, which he praises for creating a new "genre of horror/sci-fi." "Despite having watched this movie over 200 times [!!], I still jump when the alien… falls from the ceiling onto Sigourney Weaver."

And finally, Rick K. of Los Angeles, CA offered a more metaphysical choice: J.A. Bayona's 2007 film THE ORPHANAGE.  While "spooky in the tradition of Hitchcock, it's either a great ghost story or a psychological thriller, and the viewer decides. No slasher mischief… [but] a solid plot and empathic characters. Tons at stake, and great acting throughout."

All great suggestions! Thanks so much to everyone who wrote in and contributed ideas.