For Michael: Horror Essentials and Contemporary Favorites
by jackburton713 | created - 15 Oct 2013 | updated - 17 Apr 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Black Sunday (1960)
Approved | 87 min | Horror
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani
Votes: 17,588
2. 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: 105,400
3. The Monster Squad (1987)
PG-13 | 82 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
A group of young monster fanatics attempts to save their hometown from Count Dracula and his monsters.
Director: Fred Dekker | Stars: Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr
Votes: 35,299 | Gross: $3.77M
4. Let the Right One In (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Votes: 226,748 | Gross: $2.12M
5. Wild Zero (1999)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Horror, Music
Only legendary Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf can stand between a race of aliens from destroying earth with an army of zombies.
Director: Tetsuro Takeuchi | Stars: Guitar Wolf, Drum Wolf, Bass Wolf, Masashi Endô
Votes: 3,796
6. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
Bunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director: Robert Hiltzik | Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields, Christopher Collet
Votes: 38,049 | Gross: $11.00M
7. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,416 | Gross: $39.75M
8. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lim Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-su, Moon Geun-young
Votes: 68,259
9. The Host (2006)
R | 120 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-Bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona
Votes: 132,696 | Gross: $2.20M
10. Zombie (1979)
R | 91 min | Horror
Strangers searching for a young woman's missing father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately seeks the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.
Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver
Votes: 30,712
11. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,858 | Gross: $26.12M
12. 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: 196,610
13. The Descent (2005)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Votes: 246,881 | Gross: $26.02M
14. Dead Heat (1988)
R | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A cop is killed investigating a strange case of resurrected corpses. His partner and a pathologist resurrect him, but he only has a limited time before he starts to decompose, and he uses it to chase down the diabolical man who killed him.
Director: Mark Goldblatt | Stars: Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, Lindsay Frost, Darren McGavin
Votes: 9,232 | Gross: $3.59M
15. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
Director: Dan O'Bannon | Stars: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews
Votes: 68,890 | Gross: $14.24M
16. Demons (1985)
Not Rated | 88 min | Horror
A group of random people are invited to a screening of a mysterious movie, only to find themselves trapped in the theater with ravenous demons.
Director: Lamberto Bava | Stars: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Fiore Argento
Votes: 26,557
17. Night of the Creeps (1986)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Alien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.
Director: Fred Dekker | Stars: Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow
Votes: 26,110 | Gross: $0.59M
18. The Sentinel (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
A young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Cristina Raines, Ava Gardner, Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam
Votes: 11,918
19. Sinister (I) (2012)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Thompson
Votes: 280,115 | Gross: $48.09M
20. Night of the Demons (1988)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Ten teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.
Director: Kevin Tenney | Stars: Cathy Podewell, Alvin Alexis, Hal Havins, Allison Barron
Votes: 19,133 | Gross: $3.11M
21. 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: 179,543 | Gross: $76.61M
22. Ginger Snaps (2000)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.
Director: John Fawcett | Stars: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 52,294 | Gross: $0.00M
23. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Horror
Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
Director: Michael Dougherty | Stars: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes
Votes: 104,619
24. Lady in White (1988)
PG-13 | 113 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
An author tells the story of how, as a young boy growing up in a 1960s small town, he was haunted after witnessing the murder of a little girl.
Director: Frank LaLoggia | Stars: Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 8,044 | Gross: $1.71M
25. 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: 115,010 | Gross: $57.47M
26. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror
Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.
Director: Eli Craig | Stars: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Votes: 193,497 | Gross: $0.22M
27. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Five college friends head out to a remote cabin for a getaway, but things don't go as planned when they start getting killed. They soon discover that there is more to the cabin than it seems.
Director: Drew Goddard | Stars: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz
Votes: 450,624 | Gross: $42.07M
28. Braindead (1992)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin
Votes: 103,287 | Gross: $0.24M
29. Bad Taste (1987)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett
Votes: 49,123
30. Sauna (2008)
Unrated | 83 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
As a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey.
Director: Antti-Jussi Annila | Stars: Ville Virtanen, Tommi Eronen, Viktor Klimenko, Rain Tolk
Votes: 7,479
31. A Bay of Blood (1971)
R | 84 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The murder of a wealthy countess triggers a chain reaction of brutal killings in the surrounding bay area, as several unscrupulous characters try to seize her large estate.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso, Anna Maria Rosati
Votes: 12,704
32. Maniac (2012)
Not Rated | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Director: Franck Khalfoun | Stars: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, America Olivo, Megan Duffy
Votes: 40,346 | Gross: $0.02M
33. Frankenstein's Army (2013)
R | 84 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
In the dying days of WWII, a battalion of Russian soldiers is lured into the secret lab of a deranged scientist and forced to face off against an army of horrific flesh-and-metal war machines.
Director: Richard Raaphorst | Stars: Robert Gwilym, Hon Ping Tang, Alexander Terentyev, Luke Newberry
Votes: 9,198
34. The Innkeepers (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.
Director: Ti West | Stars: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Alison Bartlett
Votes: 37,235 | Gross: $0.08M
35. Big Bad Wolves (2013)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
After a little girl is brutally murdered, a suspect avoids arrest due to lack of evidence. Working separately, her father and a cop decide to do something about it.
Directors: Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado | Stars: Lior Ashkenazi, Rotem Keinan, Tzahi Grad, Doval'e Glickman
Votes: 17,554 | Gross: $0.03M
36. 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: 306,753 | Gross: $47.00M
37. 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: 232,370 | Gross: $2.40M
38. 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: 140,496 | Gross: $14.56M
39. Murder Party (2007)
Not Rated | 79 min | Comedy, Horror
A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Chris Sharp, Kate Porterfield, Tess Porterfield Lovell, Puff Snooty
Votes: 12,297
40. Splinter (I) (2008)
R | 82 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still-living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror.
Director: Toby Wilkins | Stars: Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Charles Baker
Votes: 40,899
41. Botched (I) (2007)
Not Rated | 95 min | Thriller
During a heist in Russia, a professional thief finds himself dealing with serial killers, insane hostages, double-crossing psycho Russian hardmen and the real possibility of a horrible death.
Director: Kit Ryan | Stars: David Heap, Alan Smyth, Stephen Dorff, Sean Pertwee
Votes: 6,662
42. Session 9 (2001)
R | 97 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle, Josh Lucas
Votes: 62,894 | Gross: $0.38M
43. Severance (2006)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
During a team-building retreat in the mountains a group of sales representatives are hunted down one by one.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens
Votes: 40,679 | Gross: $0.14M
44. Absentia (I) (2011)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.
Director: Mike Flanagan | Stars: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine, Justin Gordon
Votes: 20,068
45. Martyrs (2008)
R | 99 min | Horror
A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
Director: Pascal Laugier | Stars: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin
Votes: 106,396
46. 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: 466,522 | Gross: $13.78M
47. Cemetery Man (1994)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Horror
A cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.
Director: Michele Soavi | Stars: Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi, Mickey Knox
Votes: 23,334 | Gross: $0.25M
48. Hard Candy (2005)
R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
Hayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.
Director: David Slade | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Elliot Page, Sandra Oh, Odessa Rae
Votes: 168,072 | Gross: $1.01M
49. Cube (1997)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller
Votes: 247,598 | Gross: $0.50M
50. Frozen (I) (2010)
R | 93 min | Adventure, Thriller
Three skiers stranded on a chairlift are forced to make life-or-death choices, which prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death.
Director: Adam Green | Stars: Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers, Ed Ackerman
Votes: 80,721 | Gross: $0.24M
51. Julia's Eyes (2010)
Not Rated | 118 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.
Director: Guillem Morales | Stars: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui, Francesc Orella
Votes: 37,424
52. Grave Encounters (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Horror, Mystery
For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that's supposedly haunted - and it might prove to be all too true.
Directors: Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz, The Vicious Brothers | Stars: Benjamin Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir
Votes: 63,966
53. Doghouse (2009)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of men, heading to a remote village to help one of their friends get over his divorce, soon discover that all the women have been infected with a virus that makes them man-hating cannibals.
Director: Jake West | Stars: Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke, Emil Marwa, Lee Ingleby
Votes: 22,857
54. The Loved Ones (2009)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror
When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
Director: Sean Byrne | Stars: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Richard Wilson
Votes: 44,054
55. Dream Home (2010)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror
Cheng Li-sheung is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive - even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead.
Director: Ho-Cheung Pang | Stars: Josie Ho, Ching Wong, Helen To, Man Jan San
Votes: 5,890
56. Sightseers (2012)
Not Rated | 88 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Alice Lowe, Kenneth Hadley, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies
Votes: 30,262 | Gross: $0.04M
57. You're Next (2011)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of the victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Nicholas Tucci
Votes: 109,428 | Gross: $18.47M
58. Sleep Tight (2011)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cesar, a miserable man who works as an apartment concierge, takes a special interest in an attractive woman who lives there. He goes to great lengths to trouble her.
Director: Jaume Balagueró | Stars: Luis Tosar, Marta Etura, Alberto San Juan, Petra Martínez
Votes: 46,683
59. Bedevilled (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A woman subject to mental, physical and sexual abuse on a remote island seeks a way out.
Director: Cheol-soo Jang | Stars: Seo Yeong-hie, Ji Seong-won, Min-ho Hwang, Min Je
Votes: 17,037
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