How to watch the ‘Halloween’ films in 2023

Like Michael Myers himself, the Halloween franchise seems to be unkillable. To date, there have been 13 films in the franchise, including sequels, remakes, films of the same name, and alternate timelines. It’s the longest running slasher series and perhaps the most influential in the genre. It’s also one of the most convoluted — but more on that later.

In order to throw a Michael Myers marathon — ’tis the season, after all — you’re going to need some streaming subscriptions. We went ahead and did the grunt work of hunting down where each film lives online these days.

Since Blockbuster is no longer an option (even Netflix has abandoned DVDs), here’s how to watch all the Halloween films.

What streaming service has the Halloween films?

Things can’t ever be easy in the streaming age. The Halloween films — from the 1978 original to the newest reimagining of Halloween lore in Blumhouse’s 2018 trilogy — are scattered across multiple streaming services. If you’re setting up a Halloween movie marathon to gear up for horror season, you’re going to need a few different subscriptions. We’ve rounded up the greatest options for you below to make things a little easier.

Where to watch every Halloween franchise movie online

While I’d love to tell you there’s one streaming subscription that will unlock access to all of the Halloween films in the franchise, that’s simply not the case. In fact, the films are scattered across half a dozen streamers as of the time of writing. A Michael Myers marathon may be more complicated than you intended, but if you utilize some free trials along the way, you might be able to make it pretty affordable.

Here’s a breakdown of each streamer that carries the Halloween films, as well as which ones are included in their current lineups.

AMC+ — free 7-day trial, then $4.99/month or $8.99/month

AMC+ will give you the most bang for your buck if you’re looking to stream Halloween films. Its current lineup includes the original Halloween (1978), along with the Rob Zombie remake, and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989). You won’t be able to complete a full marathon, but the streamer will definitely get you started. Kick off your subscription with a free seven-day trial, then pay just $4.99/month (with ads) or $8.99/month (ad-free), depending on your ad preference.

Films included: Halloween (1978), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween (2007)

Shudder — free 7-day trial, then starting at $5.99/month

Shudder is an AMC-owned streaming service dedicated strictly to horror. It has the same Halloween films in the franchise as AMC+, minus Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake, but a ton of other horror flicks for those really in the Halloween mood. Like AMC+, Shudder also offers new subscribers a free seven-day trial, but after it ends, you’ll have to pay $6.99/month (or $5.99/month if you pay upfront for the whole year) to keep it going.

Films included: Halloween (1978), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

Peacock — $5.99/month or $11.99/month

If you want to fill in the gaps of the original franchise that AMC+ left, Peacock offers Halloween II (1981) and Halloween III (1982) in its lineup — as well as the Blumhouse addition from 2018. Unfortunately, the streamer no longer offers a free trial to let you test things out first, so you’ll have to dish out at least $5.99 for a month to watch these films. To save 17%, you can also commit to an entire year upfront for $59.99 (with ads) or $119.99 (ad-free).

Films included: Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Halloween (2018)

Amazon Prime Video — free 30-day trial, then $8.99/month

Are you only interested in how to watch Halloween Ends (2022)? While it’s certainly not worth a paid subscription to access a single film, you can utilize your Amazon Prime Video free trial (or just a general Amazon Prime free trial) to watch Halloween Ends.

This is the final film (allegedly) in the franchise — until they inevitably revamp it again in the future, of course — and it’s definitely worth a watch to put a period on your movie marathon. Amazon Prime Video on its own costs $8.99/month if you decide to keep your subscription following your free trial, while Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month.

Films included: Halloween Ends

Amazon Freevee — free with ads

If you’re specifically looking for Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009), there’s no need to subscribe to a streaming service. It’s available for free with ads on Amazon’s Freevee. You don’t need an Amazon Prime account or anything to watch — just about two hours to spare and some popcorn.

Films included: Halloween II

Plex — free

Plex is a free streaming service, like Freevee, that offers ad-supported films and TV shows for free. Among the current lineup, you’ll find the original Halloween from 1978. If you want to forego the movie marathon and just stick with the OG film, this is your greatest bet.

Films included: Halloween (1978)

Where to Rent/Buy the rest of the Halloween franchise

Your greatest bet for the rest of the films that cannot currently be found on streaming services is to rent or purchase them from a digital retailer like Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+. The good news is Amazon is running a discount on digital purchases at the time of writing, which knocks most of the rental prices down to only $2 or less.

To complete your movie marathon, here are the most affordable digital versions of Halloween 6 (1995), Halloween H20 (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and Halloween Kills (2021).

How to watch the Halloween films in order

Now that you know where to find each film online, it’s time to choose your own adventure. Regardless of which route you choose, you’ll start with John Carpenter’s iconic original film from 1978, of course. But from there, it can get a bit convoluted. The original series diverges a number of times with different imagining of events. In other words, you can watch the films in release order, but you’ll be left with a lot of questions. It definitely doesn’t follow a perfect path.

If you want to throw a movie marathon that makes more sense, here are the different ways you can watch — or the different adventures you can take.

Release order

Obviously the most straightforward way to watch the Halloween films, the release order is also the greatest way to watch if you want to be left scratching your head. You’ll find a lot of continuity errors with characters who have been killed off and then magically come back to life. Plus, there’s some remakes in the mix that will completely flip the script on how the original film went down. If you’re a diehard Halloween fan, however, here’s the official order of the films, organized by date.

• Halloween (1978)

• Halloween II (1981)

• Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

• Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

• Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

• Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

• Halloween (2007)

• Halloween II (2009)

• Halloween (2018)

• Halloween Kills (2021)

• Halloween Ends (2022)

The Dr. Loomis order

The originals, minus Halloween III (which completely cuts Michael Myers out of the film), is the first adventure you can take for your movie marathon. Laurie Strode leaves the series and it then follows her daughter Jamie as Michael’s new target. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is a staple throughout the five films, hence why it’s dubbed the “Dr. Loomis order.”

• Halloween (1978)

• Halloween II (1981)

• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

• Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

The classic Curtis order

If you’re a Jamie Lee Curtis fan and want to stick with the Laurie Strode series of events, you’ll want to skip from Halloween II to Halloween H20. This order essentially renders everything that happens in Halloween 4 through 6 as void and picks up 20 years later.

The Blumhouse order

In the newest reimagining of events, Blumhouse erases the plot of Halloween II and skips ahead 40 years. Yes, you’ll watch two films in a row called Halloween (the original from 1978 and the 2018 sequel), but don’t question it. The timeline mostly makes sense. Michael Myers has been institutionalized over the last four decades and, of course, makes an escape to return home, where Laurie Strode is waiting for him.

• Halloween (1978)

• Halloween (2018)

• Halloween Kills (2021)

• Halloween Ends (2022)

The Rob Zombie order

Rob Zombie’s reimagining of Halloween dives deeper into the childhood of Michael Myers, but mostly stays close to the original in his retelling. While you don’t have to watch any of the prior Halloween films for it to make sense on its own, we still recommend watching the original film for comparison purposes.

• Halloween (2007)

• Halloween II (2009)

Halloween III

A complete lone wolf, Halloween III: Season of the Witch can be watched at any point during your movie marathon and it won’t mess up your timeline. It’s completely unrelated to the Michael Myers saga and has no connection to the other films. It was more of a test (that failed) to make the Halloween franchise an anthology with annual standalone films that contain different storylines. People weren’t pleased; they had wanted Michael, obviously. The only connection to the original two films is a character watching a trailer for Halloween. It’s still worth a watch, but it doesn’t need to follow along in any type of order.