It’s Halloween and that means horror films. Following is a list of some of the best that will help make selecting tonight’s fare easier:

“Aliens” (1986) Sigourney Weaver, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton. Rated R. Running time: 135 minutes.

Directed by James Cameron, this outstanding thriller about a space colony overrun with aliens will leave you breathless with its relentless pace and Oscar-winning special effects. More intense than the 1979 original, this film soars when Weaver launches head-to-head combat with the mother of all aliens. Unforgettable and terrifying, it is a fight sequence that will literally bring you to the edge of your seat. Grade: A

“The Exorcist” (1973) Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller. Rated R. Running time: 121 minutes.

Based on William Peter Blatty’s lurid best-selling novel, this Academy Award-winning film had people vomiting in theaters upon its release 24 years ago. Today’s desensitized audiences probably won’t suffer such messy, gruesome consequences, though they might still be rattled by the film’s excellent performances and horrific effects. “The Exorcist,” which is about the demonic possession of a young girl, asks that if we are to believe in real evil, we must also believe that real evil can be cast out. By film’s end, we do believe. Grade A

“Halloween” (1978) Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance. Rated R. Running time: 92 minutes.

When Michael Myers committed murder as a young boy, he did so on Halloween and the victim was his sister. Now he has escaped from the asylum that has held him for 15 years, fled to his old neighborhood and begun the carnage again. Unlike the popular “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Halloween” is more than just a sequential slaughtering of teen-agers. It is a film that works because it is well-written and well-crafted, and because you come to care for Curtis and the two children she protects. Wes Craven, who directed “Scream,” and Jim Gillespie, who directed “Last Summer,” may have done well at the box office, but their films are lacking in all of the important qualities that made “Halloween” a classic. They can never be held in similar esteem. Grade A-

“Misery” (1990) James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall. Rated R. Running time: 104 minutes.

In “Misery,” Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes, the psychotic nurse who loves too much. Here, Wilkes cares for her favorite author after finding him near death from a car wreck. But when she learns during his convalescence that he has killed off her favorite character in his latest novel, she begins to terrorize him. One of the better film adaptations of a novel by Stephen King. Director Rob Reiner creates an atmosphere of tense horror and gets sterling performances from Caan and Bates. Can’t find the video? Buy the book, which resonates more deeply with the terror of a man literally trapped by his fame. Grade: A-

“Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) Mia Farrow, Ruth Gordon, John Cassavetes, Charles Groden. Rated R. Running time: 136 minutes.

Ever wonder why Mia Farrow adopted so many children? Here’s your answer. This genuinely unnerving film about a woman whose husband mates her with the devil to secure a Broadway hit was adapted from Ira Levin’s best-selling novel by Roman Polanski, who directed Gordon to a win for Best Supporting Actress. Grade: A

“Seven” (1995) Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow. Rated R. Running time: 127 minutes.

In this dark, violent thriller from David Fincher of “The Game,” Detectives Mills (Pitt) and Somerset (Freeman) go in search of a serial killer who chooses only those guilty of committing one of the seven deadly sins. Absorbing and richly atmospheric, “Seven” is that rare thriller that surprises us with strong, intelligent writing and the feeling that the story was ripped from today’s headlines. Grade: A-

Can’t find those films in your local video store? Try renting these classics, all guaranteed to give you chills:

“American Werewolf in London” (1982)

“The Birds” (1963)

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992)

“Carrie” (1976)

“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)

“The Dead Zone” (1983)

“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)

“The Omen” (1976)

“Psycho” (1960)

“Psycho II” (1983)

“The Shining” (1980)

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

“Young Frankenstein” (1974)

“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962)

Christopher Smith, a writer and critic who lives in Brewer, reviews films for the NEWS.