The Greatest Horror Movies of All Time
by FromShadows | created - 17 Jan 2011 | updated - 17 Jan 2011 | PublicIn my opinion. I commented the first five briefly, the next fifteen plus some have-to-comment films even briefer. It would be great to receive some comments!
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1. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
R | 81 min | Horror, Mystery
Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.
Directors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Stars: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard, Bob Griffin
Votes: 285,081 | Gross: $140.54M
The scariest movie ever made. It's because this film really has an atmosphere of reality. The terror rises slowly and makes the film really brooding. The style of the cinematography makes BWP what it is. Today, there are Rec, Paranormal Activity and such movies, and most of them are good. But The Blair Witch is the best and started a new style to make horror. People say you either love or hate this movie. Needless to repeat my opinion.
2. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 306,507 | Gross: $47.00M
The crown jewel of slashers. Halloween really builds an atmosphere that makes you nervous for the rest of the night. Michael Myers is extremely creepy and interesting antagonist with his simple white mask and an ability to show up when you least expect. And I have to mention the main theme, which is absolutely a classic nowadays. Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th are legendary but Halloween beats them easily.
3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,318 | Gross: $30.86M
Oh, sweet terror as it's purest! There is no gore in this movie, and that's definitely a good thing. Blood and guts can't replace the stunningly effective psychological violence. No other movie is more distressing than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The ultimate slasher film beside Halloween as well as a trip to the sickest and darkest depths of the human mind.
4. Suspiria (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé
Votes: 105,268
Visually the greatest horror movie ever made. Nobody but Argento can play with colours, lights and shadows like this. These things combined with absolutely stunning audio world create a different atmosphere that no other horror film has. And when there is the question "who the killer actually is?", you will sit tight on your bench all the from the beginning to the end credits.
5. Inside (2007)
R | 82 min | Horror
Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury | Stars: Alysson Paradis, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Claude Lulé, Dominique Frot
Votes: 44,647
Some people talk about the "new extreme wave of French horror". I don't know about that, but this movie was great. The feminine antagonist was extremely cold, creepy and sick. Like the whole movie. This film includes maybe the grossest scene I've ever seen (I don't tell more, watch it yourself). But beside all the gore, the film is also scary and I'm happy it isn't only a blood, guts and brain matter party.
6. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 454,385 | Gross: $232.91M
Everybody knows this movie and it has definitely earned its reputation. One of the scariest horror movies ever.
7. Hellraiser (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
Director: Clive Barker | Stars: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman
Votes: 140,343 | Gross: $14.56M
Surprisingly good movie based on Clive Barker's story. The Cenobites coming straight from Hell to tear your soul apart are maybe the scariest and coolest horror movie villains ever.
8. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,105,044 | Gross: $44.02M
Often ranked as the number one on horror movie lists. It's not the best but definitely one of the bests. Jack Nicholson does his greatest role and the hotel is a place I wouldn't want to stay one second.
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
Votes: 262,108 | Gross: $25.50M
A great beginning for the seven-part series... not every Nightmare is good, but the first one is the nobility of horror films. A burned, undead man who can really kill you in your dreams (and whose jokes are always funny) is one of the greatest characters in the history of movies.
10. The Orphanage (2007)
R | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera
Votes: 163,527 | Gross: $7.16M
It seems that 2000's is the millenium of European horror movies. This is one of the greatests so far. Incredibly creepy milieu and a disturbing ending.
11. The Sixth Sense (1999)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Votes: 1,050,166 | Gross: $293.51M
Well, it's a thriller but psychological enough to be counted as horror.
12. Paranormal Activity (2007)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery
After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.
Director: Oren Peli | Stars: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong
Votes: 255,952 | Gross: $107.92M
The Blair Witch Project goes urban. Paranormal Activity gloriously continues the tradition of horror mocumentaries.
13. Saw (2004)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung
Votes: 466,218 | Gross: $56.00M
An ultra gory but also intelligent horror film, one of the bests of the decade.
14. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
R | 98 min | Horror
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chainsaw-wielding loon and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
Director: Marcus Nispel | Stars: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Andrew Bryniarski, Erica Leerhsen
Votes: 152,289 | Gross: $80.57M
The greatest horror re-make ever!
15. Pet Sematary (1989)
R | 103 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
After tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
Director: Mary Lambert | Stars: Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Fred Gwynne, Brad Greenquist
Votes: 114,900 | Gross: $57.47M
A real cult classic and the best Stephen King adaptation beside The Shining.
16. REC (2007)
R | 78 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso
Votes: 196,357
The best virus-that-makes-people-turn-into-zombies-or-some-kind-of-creatures film. A great mocumentary. The atmosphere is tense all the way from the beginning.
17. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,546,478 | Gross: $130.74M
The film that introduced us Hannibal Lecter, one of the most brutal and intelligent movie villains. Anthony Hopkins as his best.
18. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Approved | 137 min | Drama, Horror
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Votes: 234,823
A good old classic. There is something in these older horror films. And the main theme, you just have to listen to it!
19. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 658,686 | Gross: $260.00M
The greatest animal horror film. The shark is one of the best movie villains. I also have to mention the incredible soundtrack.
20. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 78,267 | Gross: $16.19M
Well, maybe this is my guilty pleasure... Wolf Creek just is one of the greatest slashers!
21. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A reporter is drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.
Director: Mark Pellington | Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, David Eigenberg, Bob Tracey
Votes: 84,719 | Gross: $35.75M
The age limit is really low, but that doesn't mean the film can't be scary. The Mothman Propechies maybe the best example of that.
22. It (1990)
TV-14 | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.
Stars: Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson
Votes: 140,748
23. The Hitcher (1986)
R | 97 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.
Director: Robert Harmon | Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 52,451 | Gross: $5.84M
24.
Masters of Horror (2005–2007)
Episode:
John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns
(2005)
TV-MA | 59 min | Horror
With a torrid past that haunts him, a movie theatre owner is hired to search for the only existing print of a film so notorious that its single screening caused the viewers to become homicidally insane.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Norman Reedus, Colin Foo, Udo Kier, Christopher Redman
Votes: 9,795
Okay, this is officially a TV episode, but I wanted to put it on the list. And I don't count Masters of Horror as a TV series but a series of short horror movies.
25. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,193 | Gross: $2.40M
26. Poltergeist (1982)
PG | 114 min | Horror, Thriller
A family's home is haunted by a host of demonic ghosts.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight
Votes: 179,364 | Gross: $76.61M
27. Halloween II (1981)
R | 92 min | Horror
While Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and The Shape is not far behind her.
Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer
Votes: 101,616 | Gross: $25.53M
28. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 339,861 | Gross: $25.59M
29. End of the Line (II) (2007)
95 min | Horror, Thriller
Karen boards a late-night train and fights with several other passengers to survive a murderous night after becoming trapped in a tunnel.
Director: Maurice Devereaux | Stars: Ilona Elkin, Nicolas Wright, Neil Napier, Emily Shelton
Votes: 5,135
One of the most underrated horror movies.
30. Carrie (1976)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta
Votes: 206,421 | Gross: $33.80M
31. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 465,926 | Gross: $13.78M
32. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 949,165 | Gross: $78.90M
33. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
GP | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of an attempted murder - and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi
Votes: 24,044 | Gross: $0.42M
This is a giallo, very close to horror/thriller.
34. Hostel (2005)
R | 94 min | Horror
Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
Director: Eli Roth | Stars: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova
Votes: 190,821 | Gross: $47.33M
35. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 717,513 | Gross: $32.00M
Just a bit overrated, but great horror thriller.
36. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
The next great killer and psychopath has given a documentary film crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the quiet town of Glen Echo.
Director: Scott Glosserman | Stars: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Robert Englund
Votes: 25,421 | Gross: $0.07M
This really is something new!
37. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
R | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King
Votes: 77,641 | Gross: $21.72M
38. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
R | 107 min | Horror, Thriller
A traveling family falls victim to a group of mutated cannibals in a desert far away from civilization.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd, Emilie de Ravin
Votes: 183,090 | Gross: $41.78M
39. The Devil's Rejects (2005)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, William Forsythe
Votes: 105,706 | Gross: $17.04M
40. The Strangers (2008)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.
Director: Bryan Bertino | Stars: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward, Alex Fisher
Votes: 143,395 | Gross: $52.60M
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