For physical media collectors, July and November mark the Barnes & Noble Criterion Collection 50 percent off sale, the only time of the year, other than the one-day Criterion flash sales, when Criterion movies are actually affordable. The current sale lasts until December 7. In honor of the sale, I wanted to share five of my favorite horror movies within the collection.

Eyes Without a Face

This 1960 French film, directed by Georges Franju, is a masterclass in Gothic aesthetic and tone. A surgeon, played by Pierre Brasseur, kidnaps women to graft their faces onto his disfigured daughter, Christine, played by Edith Scob. This movie works so well in part because of Scob’s performance. She’s strangely mesmerizing and arresting on screen. She has some of the most expressive and haunting eyes that you’ll ever see in a film, and the thing is, she wears a blank mask through much of the film, but you’ll never forget her performance.

Additional Criterion suggestion: if you like Eyes Without a Face, also check out the black and white 1955 French mystery/horror movie Diabolique.

Night of the Living Dead

George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was released on physical media a lot over the years, and it’s available to stream virtually everywhere. That said, Criterion’s recent 4K restoration looks damn good. There’s also a LOT of special features, including a radio interview with Duane Jones, who played the lead Ben. There aren’t many interviews of Jones talking about the film, so that alone makes this a must-have pick-up.

Additional Criterion suggestion: if you like Night of the Living Dead, check out 1962’s Carnival of Souls, one of the biggest influences on Romero’s film.

The Uninvited

Other than Robert Wise’s stellar The Haunting, The Uninvited is one of my favorite haunted house movies. The 1944 film follows a pair of siblings from London (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey). They purchase an affordable cliff-top house in Cornwall, and well, soon discover the house was so affordable because it’s haunted. This film is incredibly atmospheric, eerie, and features an unforgettable score by Victor Young.

Additional Criterion suggestion: if you like The Uninvited, then check out The Innocents, which is an adaptation of Henry James’ famous ghost story “The Turn of the Screw.” Robert Eggers has frequently cited The Innocents as one of his biggest visual influences.

Cure

Few movies have crawled under my skin as much as the Japanese film Cure. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would direct the equally eerie Pulse just a few years later, the movie follows detective Takabe (Koji Yakusho) as he tracks a series of identical murders, committed under similar uncanny circumstances. However, nothing seems to connect the murders, despite their commonality. This is a deeply unsettling and philosophical movie about the nature of evil itself. This, along with some of Kurosawa’s other movies, are absolute must-sees.

Additional Criterion suggestion: It was just announced that Kurosawa’s latest movie, Cloud, will be released to the Criterion Collection in February. You can read my review of the film from this year’s Overlook Film Festival here.

Haxan

This silent film is important to the history of horror generally. It’s essentially a history of witchcraft and has some utterly striking visuals, including witches lining up to kiss Satan’s booty. The Criterion edition is loaded with special features, including a reedited 1968 version narrated by Beat author William S. Burroughs. Put this one on and get lost in the hypnotic visuals.

Additional Criterion suggestions: if you dig early horror, then make sure to also check out Cat People, Freaks, Vampyr, and I Walked with a Zombie, all released within the last few years. Like Haxan, these are all must-watches.

And yes, I know, I know that I didn’t include any of David Lynch’s films on this list. Almost his entire catalogue is now in the Criterion Collection, but here’s the thing, how do you pick just ONE Lynch movie to include on such a list? His movies also combine a lot of genres, including neo-film noir, drama, dark comedy, and yes, horror. So that’s why I didn’t include his work on the list, but Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire are now all Criterion releases, many recently remastered in 4K, and they’re all horror adjacent. If you’re looking for a good place to start with Lynch, I recommend Mulholland Drive or Blue Velvet.

I also didn’t include anything from David Cronenberg because most of his films are in the collection, and I can’t pick just one. I recommend Videodrome and Scanners as starting points. Unfortunately, The Fly is not in the collection.

The Barnes & Noble Criterion sale runs until December 7.