From groundbreaking classics to modern masterpieces, here are 30 of the most important and truly terrifying horror films you should see and share.
What follows is my love letter to the genre, my personal list of the best and scariest horror films of all time.
I consider all of these films to be essential viewing, movies every new and old horror fan should see. These are also, in my opinion, perfect films to watch with fellow horror fans or those you want to introduce to the “best of the genre”. The list spans several generations of horror cinema, as well as many sub genre of horror — from brutal slashers to suspenseful psychological horror. It also includes many of the foundational films that have inspired and influenced other favorites in the genre.
I have also rated each film according to how scary it is and how well-constructed it is as a film. Of course, this is only based on my personal opinion as a lifelong horror fan, and you may not agree with all my choices or my ratings. But I strongly believe you’ll find plenty of great recommendations in this list, and I’d encourage you to check out any of these films you may have missed.
#30 Candyman
This 1992 horror film directed by Bernard Rose is based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker. A grad student who is researching urban legends encounters the legend of Candyman. This is a ghost story that will leave you shocked, and it's sure to make you look at your mirror differently.
Scariness: 80/100
Movie Rating: 81/100
#29 Silent Hill
This 2006 psychological horror film was directed by Christophe Gans. The story follows a mother and daughter who are drawn to Silent Hill, a foggy ghost town with a dark and disturbing past. This movie offers a very unique twist to the classic ghost town story, filled with some truly memorable and terrifying monsters. An instant and unforgettable classic.
Scariness: 80/100
Movie Rating: 86/100
#28 Carrie
This 1976 supernatural film directed by Brian De Palma is an adaptation of the Stephen King book of the same name. The story focuses on a shy and sheltered, 17 yr old girl named Carrie who discovers she has telekinetic powers — powers she uses to get brutal revenge against her bullies and tormenters.
Scariness: 81/100
Movie Rating: 83/100
#27 Hellraiser
This 1987 horror film was directed by Clive Barker, centering around a mysterious puzzle box . Once solved, it opens a door to a dangerous alternate universe. This film spawned an extremely popular franchise and gave birth to the iconic movie monster, Pinhead. It's extremely bizarre and will leave you questioning reality.
Scariness: 82/100
Movie Rating: 84/100
#26 The Toolbox Murders
This 1978 mystery/slasher directed by Dennis Donnelly follows a troubled man who uses power tools to kill tenants in a large apartment building. This is one of the earliest films involving a ski mask-wearing killer, spawning a Tobe Hooper remake and several sequels.
Scariness: 82/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#25 Cannibal Holocaust
This 1988 Italian cannibal horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato focuses on a crew of filmmakers who go missing while filming a documentary on a cannibal tribe in the Amazon jungle. The first found footage film, it's extremely graphic and considered by many to be the most controversial film of all time.
Scariness: 84/100
Movie Rating: 74/100
#24 Silence of the Lambs
This Academy-Award winning 1991 horror film directed by Jonathan Demme was adapted from the novel of the same name. The story follows an FBI trainee who seeks advice from a serial killer, in order to catch another serial killer. This movie has several memorable and disturbing scenes, and features standout performances from its lead actors.
Scariness: 84/100
Movie Rating: 88/100
#23 Crawlspace
This 2012 Australian science-fiction horror film was directed by Justin Dix and centers around scientific experiments in a secret military base. This is truly one of the strangest films ever made, with a shocking twist that will leave you speechless.
Scariness: 85/100
Movie Rating: 89/100
#22 Mortuary
This 2005 zombie horror film directed by Tobe Hooper follows a family who moves into an old mortuary, where a strange black mold begins to grow on the walls — and maybe even further. This movie brings true originality to the zombie genre, which is rare to see after the 70s.
Scariness: 85/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#21 Dawn of the Dead
This 1978 zombie horror film directed by the late, great George A. Romero follows a group of people who take refuge in a shopping mall, hiding from a vicious zombie outbreak. With ferocious zombies and a creative story, this film is considered by many to be the best in "The Dead" series.
Scariness: 86/100
Movie Rating: 89/100
#20 Hostel
This 2005 horror film was directed by Eli Roth. The story follows 2 college students who travel across Europe, and are targeted by a strange group of killers that kidnap and torture backpackers. This is a very graphic movie that became the first film to be called "torture porn" by critic Edelstein, a very popular sub-genre during the early 2000s.
Scariness: 86/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#19 Rosemary's Baby
This 1968 psychological horror film directed Roman Polanski is about a pregnant woman who suspects an evil cult wants to take her baby for ritualistic purposes. In addition to being an influential socio-political/feminist horror film, it's also a very disturbing look at Satanism.
Scariness: 87/100
Movie Rating: 80/100
#18 31
This 2016 horror film was directed by Rob Zombie. The story follows five carnies who are kidnapped and forced to play a deadly survival game called 31. They must survive 12 hrs, while being chased by killers clowns. This movie truly makes clowns scary again.
Scariness: 88/100
Movie Rating: 96/100
#17 The Ruins
This 2008 supernatural horror film was directed by Carter Smith, based on the novel of the same name. The story follows tourists on vacation in Mexico who travel to a Mayan temple, where they encounter Mayan villagers wielding weapons and a mysterious vine.
Scariness: 87/100
Movie Rating: 95/100
#16 Wrong Turn
This 2003 horror film directed by Rob Schmidt spawned a very popular franchise. This film follows a group of friends who are stranded in West Virginia after car troubles. While stranded, they find themselves hunted by a group of crazy inbred mutants. These backwoods cannibals are truly terrifying.
Scariness: 87/100
Movie Rating: 95/100
#15 A Nightmare on Elm Street
This iconic 1984 slasher film was directed by Wes Craven. The story focuses on several teens in a small Midwestern town. They fall prey to a supernatural serial killer named Freddy Krueger, who kills them while they are dreaming. Freddy became one of the great icons of horror, known for his sharp wit and one-liners. In this film, however, he is absolutely terrifying and ruthless.
Scariness: 88/100
Movie Rating: 92/100
#14 The Strangers
This 2008 home invasion horror film directed by Bryan Bertino follows a couple staying in their vacation home. They hear a knock at the door and shortly after find themselves terrorized by three masked strangers. This story was partly inspired by The Manson Family, and it is very shocking.
Scariness: 89/100
Movie Rating: 92/100
#13 Green Inferno
This 2013 cannibal horror film was directed by Eli Roth. The story pays homage to the controversial Cannibal Holocaust, and it is even more disturbing. It follows the plight of a group of activists whose plane crashes in the jungle, and they end up captured by the very cannibalistic tribe they were trying to save.
Scariness: 90/100
Movie Rating: 95/100
#12 Children of the Corn
This 1984 horror film directed by Fritz Kiersh is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. The story follows a cult like group of children who live in the cornfields and kill all of the adults in town. The kids in this film are very creepy.
Scariness: 91/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#11 Night of the Living Dead
This 1968 pioneer in zombie horror is another brilliant film directed by George A. Romero, co-written by John Russo. The story follows seven people who are trapped in a farmhouse during a vicious zombie outbreak. This groundbreaking film has inspired countless movies and an entire sub-genre.
Scariness: 92/100
Movie Rating: 92/100
#10 Halloween
One of the most popular and influential horror films of all time, this 1978 slasher film was directed by a young John Carpenter on a shoestring budget. The story focuses on a masked killer named Michael Myers who escapes from an asylum for the criminally insane. Believed by his psychiatrist to be the embodiment of pure evil, Michael returns to his hometown of Haddonfield on Halloween, where he brutally murders several people while stalking a babysitter named Laurie Strode.
Scariness: 92/100
Movie Rating: 93/100
#9 Friday the 13th
This 1980 slasher directed by Sean S. Cunningham follows a group of camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, who are murdered one at a time by an unknown mysterious killer. This creepy film launched one of the most popular horror franchises and most recognizable killers of all time — spawning an incredible 12 sequels, as well as endless comic books, video games, and copycat films.
Scariness: 93/100
Movie Rating: 93/100
#8 The Last House on the Left
This controversial 1972 horror film directed by Wes Craven was inspired by the 1960 film Virgin Spring. The terrifying story centers around two teenagers who are kidnapped and violently assaulted in the woods. This film was banned in multiple countries due to its extremely graphic content.
Scariness: 94/100
Movie Rating: 93/100
#7 The Amityville Horror
This 1979 supernatural horror film directed by Stuart Rosenberg was based on the book of the same name. Billed as a true story, the film is about a family who moves into a new home and begin experiencing malevolent supernatural forces. It's a very creepy haunted house movie, based on the accounts of the real life Lutz family.
Scariness: 95/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#6 Poltergeist
This 1982 supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper follows a family who experience strange supernatural events, including a ghost that communicates through a television set and one of the creepiest clowns in cinema. The story telling is so good in this movie that even a static television becomes quite scary.
Scariness: 95/100
Movie Rating: 92/100
#5 Psycho
This 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1959 novel of the same name, is an enduring classic that has had an enormous influence on the genre. The story follows a woman on the run, who ends up at a motel run by a deranged killer with mommy issues. The shower scene is one of the most famous, shocking and scary scenes in cinematic history.
Scariness: 96/100
Movie Rating: 100/100
#4 The Exorcist
This famously terrifying supernatural horror film from 1973 was directed by William Friedkin, based on the novel of the same name. The story follows a young girl possessed by a nasty demon and the priests who arrive to perform an exorcism on her. Loosely based on a true story, the disturbing film shocked audiences at the time and continues to be widely considered one of the scariest films of all time.
Scariness: 97/100
Movie Rating: 90/100
#3 House of 1000 Corpses
This gritty 2001 horror film directed by Rob Zombie was heavily influenced by a couple of the all-time great horror films, The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The story centers around The Firefly Family, a twisted clan of killers who torture a group of young people on a road trip. With an amazing soundtrack and a creepy score, this film delivers true horror.
Scariness: 98/100
Movie Rating: 100/100
#2 The Hills Have Eyes
This 1977 horror film directed by Wes Craven follows a family traveling from Cleveland who become stranded in the Nevada desert. After their car problems, they find themselves targeted by an insane group of inbred cannibals. This deeply disturbing film was inspired by the real life Sawney Bean family.
Scariness: 99/100
Movie Rating: 100/100
#1 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This 1974 horror masterpiece was directed by Tobe Hooper and co-written by Kim Henkel. The story follows a group of friends who are attacked by a crazed cannibal family in Texas. The main antagonist, Leatherface, is the terrifying face of horror. The character is loosely inspired by Ed Gein, and this film's influence cannot be overstated.
Scariness: 100/100
Movie Rating: 100/100
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