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There is just something about horror movies that keep bringing us back for more. The horror movie genre continues to bring thrills to some and make the rest of us hide our faces behind pillows at movie night.
There are so many different kinds of horror movies to choose from, but some end up being better than others.
Personally, I think the horror films made in the 1970s (and 1980s) still are some of the best made. Sure, some unique and excellent ones have been made since, though some newer horror films suffer from too much bad CGI blood.
But, hey, maybe that’s just me being an old fart?
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to create a list of the best horror movies of all time. So if you are a horror fan, you will want to add these to your watch list if you haven’t already seen them.
1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
“If I have any more fun today I don’t think I can take it!”
– Franklin
Genre: slasher horror
Director: Tobe Hooper
Screenwriters: Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal
Description: Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain), and her friends decide to spend the night at the old family homestead after their grandfather’s death. Along the way, they encounter a strange hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) that scares them with his knife-wielding behavior. When an empty tank strands them at the homestead, Sally and her friends are at the mercy of the killer, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen).
2. The Shining (1980)
“Here’s Johnny!”
– Jack Torrance
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriters: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd
Description: Aspiring writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker for the Overlook Motel, a hotel in the Rocky Mountains that closes every winter, despite the premonitions of his son Danny (Danny Lloyd). As winter sets in and isolation grows, the ominous warnings of the hotel staff come true and mysterious forces put the already-temperamental Jack in an unstable state, to the horror of Danny and wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall). What is happening in the Overlook Motel, and what is wrong with Room 237?
3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
“I am having an old friend for dinner.”
– Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter: Ted Tally
Starring: Jodie Foster, Ted Levine, Anthony Hopkins
Description: Young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is trying to catch the brutal serial killer “Buffalo Bill” (Ted Levine). For help, her instructor at Quantico tells her to consult the former psychiatrist, now incarcerated cannibal, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). However, Lecter’s help does not come cheaply, and he begins to psychologically infiltrate Clarice’s mind, extricating her secrets while outside Buffalo Bill continues to terrorize women.
4. Carrie (1976)
“Everyone isn’t bad, Mama! Everything isn’t a sin!”
— Carrie White
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Brian De Palma
Screenwriter: Lawrence D. Cohen
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, William Katt, Piper Laurie
Description: Painfully shy Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is tormented at school by bullies. She doesn’t have any peace at home either with her fanatically religious mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie). When a kind, popular boy (William Katt), invites her to prom, leading to a clash with the school bullies, everyone will find out that there’s more to Carrie than they bargained for.
5. The Exorcist (1973)
“The power of Christ compels you!”
– Father Damien Karras
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: William Friedkin
Screenwriter: William Peter Blatty
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller
Description: In Washington DC, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) experiences strange things around the house that culminate when daughter Regan (Linda Blair) begins acting strangely. After a mysterious death surrounding Regan, Chris calls in a battery of psychiatrists who cannot help her until someone refers her to the troubled Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), who battles a supernatural entity for Regan’s soul.
6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
“I’m scared to close my eyes, I’m scared to open them! We’re gonna die out here!”
– Heather Donahue
Genre: Supernatural horror
Directors: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez
Screenwriters: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez
Starring: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
Description: Three film students Heather, Michael, and Joshua (all playing themselves), decide to make a documentary about a local legend, The Blair Witch. The film students get more when they bargain for when they start recording strange occurrences in this pioneer of the found-footage horror genre.
7. Paranormal Activity (2007)
“You cannot run from this—it will follow you.”
– Dr. Friedrichs
Genre: Supernatural Horror
Director: Oren Peli
Screenwriter: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherson, Micah Sloat
Description: Since childhood, Katie (Katie Featherson) has been haunted by a demon, and a psychic can’t help her. Her husband Micah (Micah Sloat) wants to help her and sets up a camera to record demonic activity in their home. However, some of Micah’s actions only awaken the thing that is haunting them further. Before the endless sequels, this found-footage thriller chilled audiences to the bone.
8. Train to Busan (2016)
“I’ll take you to your mom no matter what.”
– Seok-woo
Genre: zombie horror
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Screenwriter: Park Joo-suk
Starring: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi
Description: Workaholic businessman Seo Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is on a mission to take his unhappy daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an), to her mother in Busan for vacation. Unbeknownst to him, while they’re getting ready to leave, a chemical leak kicks off a zombie infection that soon reaches their train. Seok-woo must get his daughter to safety while zombies attack the train, and the stations are not much safer.
9. Alien (1979)
“This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.”
– Ellen Ripley
Genre: science fiction horror
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: Dan O’Bannon
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright
Description: Commercial space tug ship Nostromo, captained by Dallas (Tom Skerritt), is returning to Earth when it receives a strange signal from a nearby moon. They land on the moon to investigate the distress signal, damaging their ship in the process. Against the wishes of warrant officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), they bring a crew member infected with an alien parasite on board, but the alien isn’t happy with just one victim.
10. The Thing (1982)
“I dunno what the hell’s in there, but it’s weird and pissed off, whatever it is.”
– Clark
Genre: science fiction horror
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: Bill Lancaster
Starring: Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter
Description: American helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) is stationed on a base in Antarctica when his team witnesses a Norwegian helicopter team blowing themselves up. When they go to investigate the Norwegian base, they find it destroyed and occupied by the strange remains of a humanoid. Perhaps unwisely, they bring the body back to their base to investigate.
11. A Quiet Place (2018)
“There’s nothing to be scared of.”
– Lee Abbott
Genre: horror
Director: John Krasinski
Screenwriters: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski
Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt
Description: In fewer than 100 days, alien creatures with hypersensitive hearing almost annihilate the world. The Abbott family, led by parents Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski), are among the few survivors communicating by ASL, which they know thanks to deaf teenager Regan (Millicent Simmonds). The family struggles to survive in an inhospitable world that leaves little room for the mistakes of children.
12. Halloween (1978)
“What’s the boogieman?”
– Laurie
Genre: slasher horror
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriters: John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, Nick Castle
Description: Incarcerated child-killer Michael Myers (Nick Castle) escapes from the asylum where he’s been imprisoned since he killed his sister as a child and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) tries to catch him. Meanwhile, teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) starts noticing stalking behavior, but nobody believes her. Is the boogieman stalking her, or is it something far more real?
13. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
“What have you done to his eyes?”
– Rosemary
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Roman Polanski
Screenwriter: Roman Polanski
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Description: Young couple Guy (John Cassavetes) and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) move into a haunted apartment building in New York City, although they don’t believe the ominous rumors. When Rosemary gets a “good luck charm” from bothersome neighbor Minnie (Ruth Gordon), she becomes pregnant. However, as Rosemary is slowly isolated from her friends, she realizes that the baby and her neighbors are not what they seem.
14. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1980)
“Why are you screaming?”
– Freddy Krueger
Genre: supernatural slasher horror
Director: Wes Craven
Screenwriter: Wes Craven
Starring: John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp
Description: Teenaged Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is disturbed when her friend Tina (Amanda Wyss) talks about strange nightmares where she wakes up with injuries. Nancy and boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) sleepover with Tina to help, only to be helpless when they find her dead. The other teenagers soon start experiencing the same dreams, to the bewilderment of the town that cannot understand how nightmares can kill.
15. Audition (1999)
“Words create lies. Pain can be trusted.”
– Asami Yamazaki
Genre: horror
Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Daisuke Tengan
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina
Description: Lonely widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) agrees to his friend’s plan to audition young women to be his new wife. Aoyama falls in love with the young, emotional Asami (Eihi Shiina), who captivates him with his plea to love only her. However, as he goes on dates with the young woman and begins to think about proposing marriage, he and his loved ones soon discover a trail of destruction in Asami’s past.
16. Hereditary (2018)
“She isn’t gone.”
– Joan
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Ari Aster
Screenwriter: Ari Aster
Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro
Description: Annie Graham (Toni Collette) experiences a series of tragedies that threaten to break her — first the death of her estranged, mentally ill mother, Ellen, then the freak accident that kills daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro). As if the grief is not enough to break her, her son Peter (Alex Wolff), and her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne), strange things start to happen around the house that can’t be explained by normal means.
17. The Innocents (1961)
“It was only the wind, my dear.”
– Miles
Genre: horror
Director: Jack Clayton
Screenwriters: William Archibald, Truman Capote, and John Mortimer
Starring: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins
Description: Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) is happy to be hired as a governess by a wealthy bachelor for his wards, despite her inexperience. However, when she travels to Bly estate to meet the children, she discovers two troubled children and a harried housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Megs Jenkins), who is still afraid of the deceased, evil Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde). Nobody knows for sure what is causing the strange behavior of the children in this adaptation of Henry James’s work.
18. The Ring (2002)
“She never sleeps…”
– Aidan
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Gore Verbinski
Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman
Description: Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is suspicious after her seemingly healthy teenage niece drops dead out of nowhere. Her investigations trace the death back to a haunted videotape. According to legend, anyone who watches the tape will die within seven days. When Rachel finds the tape, she inadvertently brings the curse upon herself, son Aidan (David Dorfman), and estranged ex Noah (Martin Henderson), and they all have to race against time to save themselves.
19. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
“They’re coming to get you, Barbra.”
– Johnny
Genre: horror
Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriters: George A. Romero and John Russo
Starring: Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones
Description: Barbra (Judith O’Dea) is on her way to visit her father’s grave with brother Johnny (Russell Streiner, uncredited) when they are attacked by shambling ghouls awakened for a mysterious reason. Johnny is killed, but Barbra manages to flee to a nearby farmhouse, where she holes up with fellow survivors led by Ben (Duane Jones). Can they hold out against the seemingly endless armies of the dead?
20. Under the Shadow (2016)
“Sir, I just want to come back…”
– Shideh
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Babak Anvari
Screenwriter: Babak Anvari
Starring: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi
Description: Former medical student Shideh (Narges Rashidi) dedicates herself to her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) after political concerns prevent her from going back to school. The two remain in Tehran as the Iran-Iraq war rages on, believing that they will be safe. But as air raids intensify, neighbors begin leaving, and the family has to spend more and more of their time in the air-raid shelter, a djinn adds to the family’s woes.
21. Poltergeist (1982)
“You can’t choose between life and death when we’re dealing with what is in between.”
– Tangina Barrons
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Tobe Hooper
Screenwriters: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grals, Mark Victor
Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight
Description: Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) and her husband Steven (Craig T. Nelson) have a picture-perfect life with their three children in the California suburbs. However, their lives are upended when five-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) begins talking to the TV static. Strange phenomenons continue to haunt the family as sinister secrets about the past of their neighborhood are revealed.
22. The Omen (1976)
“Did I scare you, Mommy? I didn’t mean to.”
– Damien
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Richard Donner
Screenwriter: David Seltzer
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner
Description: Rome-based U.S. diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) agrees to secretly adopt an infant when his wife Katherine’s (Lee Remick) baby dies in childbirth. As Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens) turns five, strange things begin happening around him. Robert calls on the aid of photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner), and together they discover that the boy Damien is not what he seems.
23. Tigers Are Not Afraid (2019)
“Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to be a tiger.”
– Estrella
Genre: crime-fantasy horror
Director: Issa Lopez
Screenwriter: Issa Lopez
Starring: Paola Lara, Juan Ramon Lopez, Ianis Guerrero
Description: Estrella (Paola Lara) is on her own in the world after her family is among the victims of Mexico’s Drug War. Armed with three pieces of chalk that her teacher claims will grant her wishes, she joins up with fellow street children El Shine (Juan Ramon Lopez) and his gang. However, not even children are spared from the brutal pursuit of crime bosses, including henchman Caco (Ianis Guerrero) and more supernatural pursuers.
24. Suspiria (1977)
“Suzy, do you know anything about…witches?”
– Sarah
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Dario Argento
Screenwriters: Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi
Starring: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Description: Suzy (Jessica Harper), a young American ballerina, arrives in Germany hoping to improve herself by studying at the prestigious Tanz Dance Akademie in Germany. However, she discovers right on arrival that something sinister is happening in the school when a fellow student is killed in front of her. Suzy and roommate Sarah (Stefania Casini) struggle to survive as mysterious occurrences interrupt one dance class after another.
25. Psycho (1960)
“A boy’s best friend is his mother.”
– Norman Bates
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Joseph Stefano
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Janet Leigh
Description: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), in a moment of weakness, decides to steal a large sum of money from her real estate employer so she can get married to her debt-ridden boyfriend. On her way out of the state, she stops at the Bates Motel, run by socially awkward yet welcoming Norman (Anthony Perkins). Yet, when Marion disappears without a trace and sister Lila (Vera Miles) decides to track her down, people wonder what the picturesque exterior of the Bates Motel is hiding.
26. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
“What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again?”
– Casares
Genre: gothic horror
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenwriters: Guillermo del Toro, David Munoz, Antonio Trashorras
Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi
Description: During the Spanish Civil War, Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi) and his fiancee Carmen (Marisa Paredes), secret supporters of the Republican cause, run an orphanage in the woods where they secretly hide gold for fighters. Things change when a new boy, Carlos (Fernando Tielve), arrives, a boy who develops an unnervingly close connection with the spirit of a boy that disappeared just before his arrival.
27. Inside (2007)
“Why me?”
– Sarah
Genre: horror
Directors: Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo
Screenwriter: Alexandre Bustillo
Starring: Beatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis
Description: A pregnant recently widowed Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is struggling to rebuild her life in the wake of a car accident that disabled her, killed her husband, and cut her off from her support system. The night before she is scheduled to deliver her baby, Christmas Eve, a mysterious woman (Beatrice Dalle) arrives at her home and asks to come in, and she will not take no for an answer.
28. The Babadook (2014)
“He’s my father! You don’t own him!”
– Samuel
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Jennifer Kent
Screenwriter: Jennifer Kent
Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney
Description: The widowed Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is struggling to raise her six-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), who becomes even more difficult after he becomes convinced that a monster from his storybook, The Babadook, is real and coming to get him. However, strange things begin to happen around the house that isolates the family from relatives and friends, and Amelia begins to wonder if the Babadook is real after all.
29. The Witch (2015)
“There’s evil in the wood.”
– William
Genre: period supernatural horror
Director: Robert Eggers
Screenwriter: Robert Eggers
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie
Description: After getting banished from a Puritan settlement, William (Ralph Ineson) moves his family to a remote cabin in the woods. However, the family finds out that there is great evil hidden in the woods when unbaptized baby Samuel is abducted, devastating mother Katherine (Kate Dickie). They begin to suspect teenage daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), and the suspicions tear the family apart almost as much as the evil coming out of the woods.
30. Saw (2004)
“I want to play a game.”
– Jigsaw
Genre: horror
Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Leigh Whannell
Description: The Jigsaw Killer, who kills by tormenting his victims in twisted games, has found new victims in Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), who wake up chained to a bathroom with tapes in their pockets instructing them that Gordon must kill Adam, Adam must survive. As the two try to get out of their predicament, which is only possible by sawing off their own feet, they also try to figure out the identity of the mysterious killer haunting the area for years.
31. Possession (1981)
“I can’t exist by myself because I’m afraid of myself, because I’m the maker of my own evil.”
– Anna
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Screenwriters: Andrzej Zulawski and Frederic Tuten
Starring: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill
Description: During the height of the Cold War, international spy Mark (Sam Neill) is surprised when he returns home to find out that his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) wants a divorce. After losing his wife, apartment, and custody of his child, Mark doesn’t think he can sink any lower. Still, his life takes a turn for the worse when he discovers the reason behind Anna’s brutal behavior, actions that could endanger their child.
32. Pan’s Labyrinth (2007)
“The world is a cruel place. And you’ll learn that, even if it hurts.”
– Carmen
Genre: fantasy horror
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Ivana Baquero)
Description: Young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) finds refuge in a book of fairy tales when she and her sick mother move in with the sadistic fascist Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Soon, Ofelia discovers that the fairy tale world is real, and she meets the Faun (Doug Jones), who assigns her a series of tasks that will help her regain her true form as Princess Moanna. However, the tasks he gives her take her to increasingly disturbing locales, while around her, the real-life horrors of the Spanish Civil War rage on.
33. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
“Now I also know how to cure him.”
– Dr. Caligari
Genre: silent horror
Director: Robert Wiene
Screenwriters: Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Description: Francis (Friedrich Feher) is living a hedonistic life in the small town of Holstenwall. At the same time, the vengeful Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) prepares a spectacle for the town fair featuring somnambulist Cesare (Conrad Veidt). Things take a turn for the bizarre when Cesare accurately predicts the murder of someone in the audience in this twisting silent film that scares even a century later.
34. The Lighthouse (2019)
“It’s the calm before the storm, Winslow.”
– Thomas
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Robert Eggers
Screenwriters: Robert and Max Eggers
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson
Description: Ephraim (Robert Pattinson) hopes to find a new career and escape his past by taking a position as a wickie (lighthouse keeper) at a lighthouse. However, his demanding and humiliating boss, lighthouse keeper Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe), does not allow him near the lantern. In isolation, the two men are pushed to the limit as Ephraim questions the sea man’s superstitions, including bans on killing seagulls and beliefs in mermaids.
35. Let the Right One In (2008)
“I’m like you.”
– Eli
Genre: romantic horror
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Starring: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Description: Lonely, bullied Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) dreams of getting violent revenge on the bullies that torment him in his school in a 1980s Stockholm suburb. When mysterious new girl Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves in next door with old caretaker Hakan (Per Ragnar), Oskar befriends her, and she encourages him to stand up for himself. But the bloodthirsty Eli is not what she seems, and her appetites threaten to rip apart their small town.
36. Get Out (2017)
“You know I can’t give you the keys, right, babe?”
– Rose
Genre: horror
Director: Jordan Peele
Screenwriter: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford
Description: Black photographer Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is finally taking the next step in his relationship — meeting his white girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) family. At first, the encounter with the family, including bleeding heart liberal pater familias Dean (Bradley Whitford), is no stranger than any encounter with an all-white suburb. But beneath the wholesome exterior, populated by the white Armitages, their friends, and black servants, is a far more sinister secret.
37. It (2017)
“Don’t you want it?”
– Pennywise
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Andy Muschietti
Screenwriters: Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman
Starring: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgard
Description: Young Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), living in a small Maine town, is still haunted by his brother’s disappearance the summer before. He recruits a gang of neighborhood kids to uncover what happened. Soon, they uncover a string of disappearances in their town going back centuries, all committed by Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgard). It’s up to the kids to defend their town against this evil.
38. The Birds (1963)
“These weren’t a few birds.”
– Melanie Daniels
Genre: horror thriller
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Evan Hunter
Starring: Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Tippi Hedren
Description: Bored socialite Melanie (Tippi Hedren) is intrigued by lawyer Mitch (Rod Taylor), whom she meets in a pet store. However, when she follows him to his family’s farm to deliver a birthday present for his sister, she finds out that his overbearing mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy), is not the most frightening thing out there. The local birds have started behaving in inexplicable ways.
39. Young Frankenstein (1974)
“Wait, Master, it might be dangerous… you go first.”
– Igor
Genre: comedy horror
Director: Mel Brooks
Screenwriters: Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman
Description: Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is a successful American physician trying to distance himself from his mad scientist forefather, Victor, when he finds out that he inherits his family estate in Transylvania. Returning home, the young Frankenstein meets loyal manservant (Marty Feldman) and is inspired to take up his grandfather’s work, with comedic results.
40. Godzilla (1954)
“I saw it! A creature from the Jurassic era!”
– Dr. Kyohei Yamane
Genre: monster horror
Director: Ishiro Honda
Screenwriters: Takeo Murata and Ishiro Honda
Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura
Description: When a series of boats mysteriously disappear near Odo Island, locals blame an ancient sea creature Godzilla, which soon takes its revenge on the land as well. The government sends paleontologist Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura) to investigate, but his desire to investigate conflicts with the government’s drive to kill the monster. Chaos erupts as Japan’s most iconic monster attacks the mainland.
41. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
“I’m bad.”
– The Girl
Genre: horror Western
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Screenwriter: Ana Lily Amirpour
Starring: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh
Description: In an Iranian ghost town, Arash (Arash Marandi) does his best to take care of his addict father, Hossein (Marshall Manesh), in an inhospitable environment with criminals who harass them. A mysterious, chador-clad skateboarding woman, known only as The Girl (Sheila Vand), arrives in town and begins avenging those who prey on weak people in town. But not all is what it seems about The Girl.
42. Midsommar (2019)
“Does he feel like home to you?”
– Pelle
Genre: folk horror
Director: Ari Aster
Screenwriter: Ari Aster
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper
Description: Traumatized student Dani (Florence Pugh) reluctantly joins insensitive boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) on a trip to his friend’s house in Sweden to see a Midsummer ritual that only occurs once or twice a century. When they get to the community, strange things begin to happen, but Christian’s friend Josh (William Jackson Harper) encourages them to stay so he can finish his thesis. But will they ever be able to leave?
43. La Llorona (2019)
“All the hatred, all the talking about bad things must leave…”
– Valeriana
Genre: folk horror
Director: Jayro Bustamante
Screenwriters: Jayro Bustamante and Lisandro Sanchez
Starring: Maria Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz
Description: The family of former Guatemalan dictator Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz) is besieged by protesters when he is acquitted of genocide. All the household staff quit, and strange occurrences only intensify when new maid Alma (Maria Mercedes Coroy) joins the household. Internally, the household is divided by doubt when daughter Natalia (Sabrina De la Hoz) questions her father’s innocence.
44. The Evil Dead (1981)
“Kill her if you can, loverboy!”
– Cheryl
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss
Description: Five students, including siblings Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), go on vacation to a remote cabin in the Tennessee woods. As soon as they arrive, they notice strange happenings that they initially dismiss, but that becomes harder to ignore once they find a demonic text in the cellar.
45. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
“There isn’t a human being left in Santa Mira!”
– Dr. Miles Bennel
Genre: science-fiction horror
Director: Phillip Kaufman
Screenwriter: W.D. Richter
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum
Description: When Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) brings a mysterious flower home, she becomes confused when her boyfriend starts behaving strangely. Soon, reports pour in of people reporting loved ones behaving strangely. She works together with Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland), her colleague, to try and fight off a strange epidemic of clones.
46. The Conjuring (2013)
“Sometimes it’s better to keep the genie in the bottle.”
– Ed Warren
Genre: supernatural horror
Director: James Wan
Screenwriters: Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
Description: Demonologist couple Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) are called in to help the Perron family, who is haunted after moving into a remote farmhouse on Rhode Island. The Warrens have to fight off a spirit that reaches into the town’s malevolent history before the family’s children are victimized.
47. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
‘I’m just a mean green mother from outer space and I’m bad!”
– Audrey II
Genre: horror black comedy
Director: Frank Oz
Screenwriter: Howard Ashman
Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin
Description: Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) works in a struggling plant shop in a run-down NYC neighborhood that begins to turn around when gentle colleague Audrey (Ellen Greene) places his strange plant in the window. However, the plant, nicknamed Audrey II, develops a taste for human blood and complicates the lives of those around her in this musical horror-comedy.
48. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
“You mean, all this time we could have been friends?”
– Jane Hudson
Genre: psychological horror
Director: Robert Aldrich
Screenwriter: Lukas Heller
Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
Description: Spoiled child actress Jane (Bette Davis) grows into an alcoholic failure, a burden on her responsible, shy older sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) until Blanche’s career is crippled by a horrific accident. The paralyzed Blanche is at the mercy of the increasingly unhinged Jane.
49. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth.”
– Peter
Genre: zombie horror
Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger
Description: After only a few weeks of a mysterious virus, the United States is overrun by zombies. Stephen Andrews (David Emge) tries to save himself and his girlfriend and winds up in a shopping mall with other survivors, including Peter Washington (Ken Foree), fleeing from a violent police incident. Can they hold out against the dead?
50. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
“I want you to arrest me, you asshole!”
– David
Genre: horror comedy
Director: John Landis
Screenwriter: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Description: When two American backpackers wind up in a remote area of Yorkshire on the full moon, only David (David Naughton) survives an attack by a mysterious beast. When he wakes up in a hospital in London weeks later, he has to deal with his own terrifying transformation.
Conclusion
From Psycho to Paranormal Activity and dozens of other films in between, these are the best horror movies of all time.
If you have any other recommendations for good horror movies, please leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
About the author:
Jan Sørup is a videographer and photographer from Denmark. He owns filmdaft.com and the Danish company Apertura, which produces video content for big companies in Denmark and Scandinavia. Jan has a background in music, has drawn webcomics, and is a former lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.