Best horror films for atmosphere
by d_m_s | created - 09 Feb 2013 | updated - 24 Mar 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Martin (1977)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror
A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel, Christine Forrest, Elyane Nadeau
Votes: 12,616 | Gross: $0.10M
2. The Crazies (1973)
R | 103 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar
Votes: 14,807 | Gross: $0.15M
3. Season of the Witch (1972)
R | 130 min | Drama, Horror
A neglected, unhappy suburban housewife gets mixed up in witchcraft with unexpected consequences.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jan White, Raymond Laine, Ann Muffly, Joedda McClain
Votes: 3,945
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
R | 87 min | Horror
A teenage boy is haunted in his dreams by deceased child murderer Freddy Krueger, who is out to possess him in order to continue his reign of terror in the real world.
Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Robert Englund, Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler
Votes: 77,521 | Gross: $30.00M
5. Curse of the Demon (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham
Votes: 15,519
6. Night of the Eagle (1962)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror
A woman who may be a witch defends her husband from forces attempting to harm him.
Director: Sidney Hayers | Stars: Peter Wyngarde, Janet Blair, Margaret Johnston, Anthony Nicholls
Votes: 4,035
7. Eraserhead (1977)
Not Rated | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 127,587 | Gross: $7.00M
8. Messiah of Evil (1974)
R | 90 min | Horror
A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.
Directors: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz | Stars: Michael Greer, Marianna Hill, Joy Bang, Anitra Ford
Votes: 5,848
9. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto | Stars: Tomorô Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Votes: 25,951
10. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Mystery
After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.
Director: Herk Harvey | Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison
Votes: 27,846
11. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,247 | Gross: $0.09M
12. 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: 105,549
13. Deep Red (1975)
R | 127 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril
Votes: 42,693
14. Next of Kin (1982)
Not Rated | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
In a rest home for elderly people, a daughter reads her mother's diary. Soon events that are mentioned in the mother's diary begin to happen to the daughter.
Director: Tony Williams | Stars: Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, Alex Scott, Gerda Nicolson
Votes: 4,238
15. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 69,928 | Gross: $24.95M
16. Strange Invaders (1983)
PG | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Alien beings, who settle in a small midwestern town, are disturbed by a young professor determined to rescue his daughter from their clutches.
Director: Michael Laughlin | Stars: Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen, Diana Scarwid, Michael Lerner
Votes: 3,455 | Gross: $1.36M
17. The City of the Dead (1960)
PG-13 | 76 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Christopher Lee, Tom Naylor
Votes: 8,528
18. It Follows (2014)
R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
Director: David Robert Mitchell | Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Votes: 269,301 | Gross: $14.67M
19. Sole Survivor (1984)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A lone survivor of a plane crash is haunted by a feeling unworthy of survival. Dead people start coming after her to collect her.
Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Anita Skinner, Caren L. Larkey, Peggy McClure, Roberta Kay
Votes: 2,566
20. Black Christmas (1974)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon
Votes: 48,388 | Gross: $4.05M
21. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
Director: Robert Wiene | Stars: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover
Votes: 70,110
22. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,690 | Gross: $5.10M
23. Dead of Night (1945)
Approved | 77 min | Drama, Horror
Guests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer | Stars: Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall
Votes: 14,230
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