The Best Sci-Fi Horror Franchise of the '80s Is Officially Available to Stream in One Place

Published Oct 4, 2026, 6:45 PM EDT

Lade Omotade is a News and Features Author at Collider, covering everything from casting announcements and streaming trends to behind-the-scenes stories and the cultural impact of today's biggest film and TV franchises. Since joining the team in 2024, she has written more than 1,000 news stories, with her work also cited by outlets like AOL and IMDb.

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Halloween just got a lot more terrifyingly great for fans of Ghostbusters, the iconic supernatural franchise created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and launched in 1984. Directed by Ivan Reitman, the original film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, the trio of quirky parapsychologists and unlikely ghost catchers in New York. Thanks to its witty humor, memorable monsters, and excellent cast, the comedy's popularity extended well beyond its initial box-office success.

That popularity eventually spawned sequels, animated series, video games, and more, with the franchise remaining one of the most beloved supernatural comedy franchises. The film series continued with Ghostbusters II in 1989, reuniting the original team for another adventure across Manhattan. Almost thirty years later, director Paul Feig rebooted the franchise with Ghostbusters, a.k.a. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Chris Hemsworth. Sony later revisited the original concept with Ghostbusters: Afterlife in 2021, and followed it up with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in 2024.

Together, these Ghostbusters films have kept the franchise alive across generations, uniting familiar characters with younger ones who inherit the iconic proton packs. Now, three major installments are part of Fandango's free, ad-supported streaming lineup, making for an easy Halloween marathon at no rental cost. The 1984 film arrived on Fandango on October 1 and became exclusive to the ad-supported platform for its seasonal promotion. Additionally, Ghostbusters II and Feig's Ghostbusters stream for free via Fandango's "Free to Scream" Halloween hub.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring

Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you.

😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger)

🧸Chucky(Child's Play)

📞Scream(Ghostface)

🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files)

FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE →

01

Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you.

ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything.

AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.

ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.

AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking.

AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing.

AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do.

ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare.

AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep.

REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE →

The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind.

Elm Street

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument.

• Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
• You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage.
• These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
• You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Chucky

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

• Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
• You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too.
• The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults.
• By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Scream

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

• Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party.
• You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films.
• The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
• Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

The Conjuring

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

• The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
• Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
• This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
• Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Ghostbusters' Is the Perfect Binge for Halloween

As avid Ghostbusters fans know, the free-to-stream lineup offers three distinct versions of the franchise, starting with the original team's fight against Gozer and the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Ghostbusters II raises the stakes through Vigo the Carpathian, whose sinister portrait threatens Dana (Sigourney Weaver) and her infant son Oscar, while the 2016 reboot features a different team facing a sudden spirit invasion.

The first Ghostbusters remains the franchise's most successful film, both critically and commercially, earning around $370 million (after further theatrical releases) on a $25–30 million budget and boasting a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, on the other hand, is the least successful, with a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $202 million on a budget of $100 million.

Three Ghostbusters films are streaming for free on Fandango. Follow Collider for the latest streaming news.