From truly terrifying to ironic and iconic, a rundown of the best Halloween flicks

In recent years horror movies, running the gamut from truly terrifying to irony-laced-scares, have become one of the few reliable film genres cranking out box office winners.

"Five Nights at Freddy’s" just upended expectations by raking in an impressive $78 million in its opening weekend, despite being available to stream at home on Peacock.

The Soundside team is pretty split between folks who love to be scared and the people who avoid scary films all together. Host Libby Denkmann said her personal Halloween tradition is to watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every year.

So, to help navigate the world of horror and Hollywood, we invited someone who’s not stranger to a jump scare — Billy Ray Brewton.

Brewton is the managing director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema in Capitol Hill, and founder and creative director of the Make Believe Film Festival. He joined Soundside to talk all things horror.

For Brewton, the recipe for what makes a great horror movie has changed in recent years.

"It has to be something that appeals to as many demographics as possible," Brewton said. "And I would say now, it has to be not afraid to 'go there.' You look at sort of a lot of the most recent successful horror films, and they all have a little bit of an edge to them."

As for what to watch this Halloween, Brewton suggests "Evil Dead: Rise" along with a new film called "Cobweb."

"If you've not seen 'Black Christmas,' dive into that," Brewton said. "There'd be no Halloween without [it], there'd be no slasher films without that film."

Listen to Soundside’s full conversation with Billy Ray Brewton by clicking the play icon at the top of this story.