It’s that time of year. A time of pumpkins and skeletons. Of little kids dressed as witches and wierdos, and parties where everyone is wearing make-up, not just the girls!

Yes it’s Halloween season and we’re feeling particularly spooky this year at Creditplus. So we’ve tried to combine two things that we love – cars and scary films. You might be surprised at just how often cars play a pivotal role in a horror film. We’ve collected 8 of the most famous horror movie car scenes into one creepy compilation. Starting with the most famous scary car of them all …

1. Christine

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When it comes to horror films, then you can’t get much bigger than the two people involved in the 1983 film Christine – Stephen King and John Carpenter. King has written some of the most famous horror stories over the last fifty years, and Carpenter is the film director by a whole range of iconic horror films, from Halloween and The Fog to The Thing. Christine combines both their skills into a horrifying package.

The film tells the story of a young man who buys a red and white Plymouth Fury from a mysterious man. The car is named Christine. It soon becomes clear that the demonic vehicle has a strange affect on its new owner and soon starts terrorising all those who get in his way.  And when the owner gets a new girlfriend, the car becomes frighteningly jealous. A classic of tension and bizarre horror, Christine is the quintessential scary car film.

2. Halloween

Sometimes the car is just the setting for some of the most iconic horror movie moments. And one scene in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) would have those who watched it checking the back seat of their car for a very long time.

As young high school student Annie gets behind the wheel of her car in her garage, she notices that the windows are all steamed up. Too late! Micheal Myers is in the backseat and he’s not there for a car share. One of the scariest moments in one of the scariest films, Halloween means we all take a look in the back seat when we go out for a drive, just in case …

3. Rubber

What if it’s just a part of a car that’s scary? Well that is definitely the case in one of the strangest films you will ever watch – Rubber (2010). I will try to summarise the story, but it’s not easy. In the middle of the Californian desert, an evil tyre named Robert comes alive. Not only can it roll around by itself, but it also has frightening psychic powers. Soon Robert is on a murder spree, causing mayhem as he uses his psychic powers for evil.

Yes, it’s a crazy film. But it’s definitely worth a watch for anyone who likes their horror mind-bendingly weird!

4. Duel

The first feature film by one of cinema’s greatest directors, Duel (1971) was made by none-other than Steven Spielberg. The film tells the story of a travelling salesmen who finds himself menaced by the unseen driver of a huge, rusted truck.

What makes this film so scary is that there is no reason behind the truck’s attacks. It seemed to pick the poor salesman at random, and will stop at nothing to terrorise him as he tries to make his way back home. Many of the tricks and techniques used in this film would be later used by Spielberg in one of the scariest horror films of all time – Jaws.

5. Death Proof

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It seems great directors are drawn to horror movies and cars, as Quentin Tarantino decided a killer car would be the ideal for his sole entry into the horror movie genre – Death Proof (2007). Made in tribute of grindhouse films of the 1960s – trashy, cheaply made films that made up for lack of budget with gore and nudity – Death Proof tells the story of Stuntman Mike, a serial killer who murders his young female victims by driving them around in his car and crashing it on purpose.

Not just an advert for why you should always wear your seatbelt, Death Proof is full of fantastic horror moments as Mike stalks a group of young woman. Sometimes gory, almost always fun, Death Proof is a thrill-ride of a horror film.

6. Joy/Roadkill

Known as Joy Ride in the US, Roadkill in the UK, this 2001 film takes the template created by Duel and updates it for the 21^st century. When a pair of brothers play a practical joke on a lonely truck driver called Rusty Nail, they think it’s a spot of harmless fun. But it’s not long before the psychopathic big rig driver is hunting them down murderously, desperate to take revenge on those who mocked him.

A genuine thrill-ride of a film, it’s also one of the first films produced by JJ Abrams, who would go on to lead the reboots of Star Trek and Star Wars.

7. The Hitcher

Hitchhiking is less common than it used to be. But back in the 70s and 80s, it was a genuine way to make your way around the country. But it also had its horror stories, with tales of hitchhikers picked up by serial killers and murderers looking for an easy victim.

The film The Hitcher (1986) tells the story of a young couple who pick up a hitchhiker on the side of the road. But it soon turns out that the eponymous Hitcher is a murderous psychopath. Soon, a battle of wits unfurls between the terrorised couple and the murderer, played by the legendary actor Rutger Hauer.

8. Final Destination 2

Some of the best horror films work by showing just how badly things can go wrong in real life. The Final Destination films were great at this, and the opening car crash in Final Destination 2 is one of the most horrifying scenes in any film. Exploding tankers, flying tree trunks, hot tar bursting from a tanker, it’s a compilation of gruesome death scenes. When it’s revealed it’s all a premonition that the lead character had, it comes as some relief.  Until the car wash scene later in the film – enough to leave your car with ‘Clean Me’ written in the dirt for a long long time.