SCARIEST HORROR MOVIES OF ALL TIME
Scary movies are cathartic, and we could use some catharsis right now. ● Truly, even a bad scary movie is kind of good, if it’s bad enough. (I’m not saying you should seek out “Chopping Mall,” but I’m not saying you shouldn’t, either. It is available on Shudder, if you’re curious.) ● But a great scary movie is fantastic. And there are many. October is the perfect time to watch, of course, as the buildup to Halloween commences and continues. There is debate over which are the best, like there is with anything. But there is no debate about this: These are the 31 best horror movies ever made. OK, actually there probably is some debate about that, and I argue with myself over the order all the time. But that’s half the fun of it. ● The other half is watching them. Quibble with the order, sure. But none of these will leave you disappointed.
31. ‘The Conjuring’ (2013)
James Wan is proving to be the modern master of horror. (He also makes a mint making some “Fast and Furious” movies.) Here he directs a story about a house haunted by a witch – pulled from the files, supposedly, of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who would get famous checking out the Amityville Horror. What’s great here is that not only does Wan create a real sense of dread, he pays off with real horror. This helped kick-start a horror renaissance. About time.
How to watch:
Prime and iTunes.
Stream on Amazon
30. ‘Hereditary’ (2018)
Brilliant and scary as all get out but more than anything really disturbing, Ari Aster’s debut feature also boasts a fantastic performance by Toni Collette, who should have gotten an Oscar nomination. She plays a woman dealing with the death of her secretive mother, as well as other tragedies involving her damaged family. Things go a little bonkers at the end, but the story is so compelling at that point (as is Collette) that you’ll gladly follow along.
How to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime.
29. ‘Carrie’ (1976)
Stephen King’s first novel turned out to be perfect for director Brian De Palma. Sissy Spacek is great – really great – as the title character, a sheltered girl who has powers her tormentors can’t dream of. Oh, but don’t worry. They’ll find out soon enough. A young John Travolta shows up, and there is a terrific shocker of an ending.
How to watch: Stream on Showtime.
28. ‘Eyes Without a Face’ (1960)
No, not the Billy Idol song. Georges Franju’s movie is about a surgeon whose daughter’s face was disfigured in an accident. So he starts looking for a replacement. Of course, you have to kind of create your own market for this kind of thing. … A patient, creepy, outstanding horror movie.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max.
27. ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2012)
Drew Goddard’s movie is a meta, inverted look at horror movies and their tropes. Why do these things that happen in horror movies keep happening here? The answer, as they say, may surprise you. Goddard directed, but producer Joss Whedon’s fingerprints are all over this.
How to watch:
Prime and Hulu.
26. ‘Ringu’ (1998)
Stream on Amazon
A reporter investigates a story in which anyone who watches a mysterious videotape dies seven days later. If it sounds familiar, it’s because Hideo Nakata’s1998 film has been hugely influential, sometimes downright copied (and remade in the U.S. as “The Ring,” which is also good). But accept no substitutes – the original is a stone cold classic.
How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
25. ‘The Witch’ (2015)
Writer and director Robert Eggers worked ages to make this story, about a family in the 1630s whose father banishes them to the woods, period perfect. It pays off. It’s got missing children, claims of witchcraft, possibly possessed goats and two of the creepiest little kids you’ll ever see. Secret weapon: Ralph Ineson’s bottom-of-a-gravel-pit voice.
How to watch: Stream on Showtime.
24. ‘The Babadook’ (2014)
You know you’ve made it when your film becomes fodder for political memes. So it goes with Jennifer Kent’s 2014 film, about a widowed mother whose son is afraid of monsters. One day they read a weird book called “The Babadook” and, well, sometimes nightmares come true.
How to watch:
Prime and iTunes.
Stream on Amazon
23. ‘Psycho’ (1960)
In which Alfred Hitchcock does what no one did, and rarely does now – SPOILER ALERT – kills off the heroine halfway through. The shower scene is rightfully a classic, and Anthony Perkins is just genius as Norman Bates, the hotel clerk with what you might call a serious case of mother issues.
How to watch: Stream on Peacock.
22. ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (1974)
Most influential horror film of all time? Maybe, if you take everything into account, including the hysteria that caused it to be banned in some places.
Tobe Hooper’s film teases more than it shows, and when you’ve got a movie about a family of cannibals, that’s probably a good thing. Love the tag line: “Who will survive and what will be left of them?” Now isn’t that a movie you’d want to see?
How to watch: Stream on Shudder.
21. ‘The Return of the Living Dead’ (1985)
What a terrific spoof, if not a great movie. It’s a typical zombie movie, but man, what terrific, quotable lines. “Send more cops. Send more paramedics.” “It hurts to be dead.” And, most memorably, “I can smell your brains.” Really funny, but pretty gross, too.
How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
20. ‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)
Tomas Alfredson takes the vampire story to different places – like the snowy playground of a Swedish apartment complex, where the new girl doesn’t seem to need shoes. And she’s awfully strong. … More than a horror film, it’s also about loneliness and wanting to belong. Remade effectively in the U.S. as “Let Me In.”
How to watch: Stream on Hulu.
19. ‘Frankenstein’ (1931)
Man, 1931 was a big year for horror. This came out after “Dracula” and had a similar terrifying effect on audiences. It completely changes Mary Shelley’s novel – now the creature is a brute, instead of a pieced-together man thinking about his misery – but it’s great. Boris Karloff would have a hard time shaking the role of the creature, but if you’re going to be remembered for something, that’s not so bad.
How to watch:
Premium.
Stream on Peacock
18. ‘Near Dark’ (1987)
Before she was winning Oscars and making great movies like “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow made this, in 1987. A young man gets turned into a vampire, blah blah blah. What’s great here is a bar scene in which vampires take down every clichéd version of white American male bigotry in one fell swoop. Plus, there’s the late, great Bill Paxton.
How to watch: Not available to stream or rent.
17. ‘An American Werewolf in London’ (1981)
John Landis’ film isn’t everyone’s favorite, but that opening segment – beware the moors! – is just classic. So, to, is David Naughton’s transformation into the beast. It’s played not as some kind of violent power trip, but as a painful curse to endure. Bonus points for increasingly gross-out appearances by Griffin Dunne.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max.
16. ‘It Follows’ (2014)
Another of the terrific later films, part of the renaissance of horror. David Robert Mitchell wrote and directed. It’s about an evil that follows, and kills, peo
ple after having sex; it follows whoever the latest person is – passed on like, yes, a sexually transmitted disease. It’s a throwback to the 1970s in a lot of ways – the opening scene is practically a homage to Halloween – but Mitchell shows great command of the framing. You, like the characters, are constantly on the lookout.
How to watch:
Prime and iTunes.
Rent on Amazon
15. ‘Don’t Look Now’ (1973)
Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 film now is usually fodder for the did-they-or-didn’tthey sex scene between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Don’t let that distract you. This is a great meditation on loss, and the look is haunting. They play a couple whose daughter dies. They go to Venice to grieve. But is that their daughter in the red coat? A ghost? A dream? You’ll have to watch to find out.
How to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime.
14. ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ (1920)
Here’s where it starts, more or less. Robert Wiene’s 1920 silent film has it all – nightmares, a serial killer, creepy sets and a twist ending. Conrad Veidt is as scary as a somnambulist now as he was then, and the cinematography, steeped in German expressionism, was a huge influence not just on horror but on movies in general. As influential as it gets.
How to watch:
Prime.
Stream on Amazon
13. ‘Get Out’ (2017)
We knew Jordan Peele was funny. Who knew he was such a great director, particularly of horror, on which he does not skimp? A terrific film that takes on racial discrimination and spares no one, including rich white liberals who talk a good game and nothing else.
How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
12. ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935)
James Whale’s original is hugely important; the sequel is even better. Boris Karloff returns as the creature, but it’s Elsa Lanchester and her lightning-bolt hair that steal the film.
How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
11. ‘Nosferatu’ (1922)
Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to 1922, where F.W. Murnau wants to make a Dracula movie but can’t get the rights. So he makes this, also changing Count Dracula to Count Orlok, and the suave European vampire to a rodent-like monster. It works on all fronts. Max Schreck couldn’t be creepier as the vampire.
How to watch:
Prime.
10. ‘Jaws’ (1975)
Stream on Amazon
Infamously, nothing went right while Steven Spielberg was making his movie about a shark terrorizing a beach town. Which made everything right. The mechanical shark kept malfunctioning, which meant Spielberg had to shoot around it, creating a sense of dread that makes the scares so much more effective. Then there’s Robert Shaw’s drunken soliloquy. Extra credit: This was the first film to be released simultaneously all over the country, creating the blockbuster, and the blockbuster mentality.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max.
9. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
This may be the perfect movie. The Academy Awards thought so – it won best picture and best screenplay, along with best director for Jonathan Demme, best actor for Anthony Hopkins and best actress for Jodie Foster. All were well-deserved. An FBI trainee explores the mind of a cannibalistic serial killer to try to stop a murder spree. Or is he exploring hers?
How to watch: Stream on Showtime or Amazon Prime.
8. ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)
Robert Mitchum gives one of the alltime great performances, as the ersatz preacher who has come to down looking for something more than souls to save. The famous love/hate, right hand/left hand speech is rightfully famous; Spike Lee did a riff on it in his great “Do the Right Thing.” The surreal sets echo “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Charles Laughton never directed another film. Too bad. This is terrific.
How to watch:
Prime or iTunes.
Rent on Amazon
7. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)
Roman Polanski’s supremely disturbing film, about a pregnant woman with serious paternity issues, is hugely influential. Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” is just the latest film with this movie’s fingerprints all over it. Mia Farrow is innocent, but the baby growing inside her? Not so much. Ruth Gordon is fantastic as the neighbor who’s maybe not so well-meaning as she seems.
How to watch: Showtime.
6. ‘Dracula’ (1931)
Bela Legosi’s portrayal of the Transylvanian count who moves to London – in a box – influenced all portrayals that came after. To modern eyes it seems a little campy, but look past that, imagine it’s 1931 and just listen: “I don’t drink … wine.” Horror movies would never be the same.
How to watch:
Prime and iTunes.
Rent on Amazon
5. ‘Carnival of Souls’ (1962)
This is one of those films more people have heard about than seen. That’s too bad. Herk Harvey was making industrial films when he put this masterpiece together. Candace Hilligoss plays a woman who mysteriously survives a car accident, then takes a job as a church organist. But something’s off. The world isn’t quite right. And who is the ghoulish figure that keeps showing up. (It’s actually Harvey, saving money by appearing in his film.) When she winds up at the carnival, it’s a moment of surreal, sublime beauty. And horror.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max and Amazon Prime.
4. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968)
Almost certainly the most influential movie on this list. George Romero didn’t invent zombie movies, but man did he take them to a higher place. They’re coming for you, Barbara – that relentless quality, the helplessness. There have been plenty of good zombie films and shows since, and Romero made sequels. But the original has never been matched. I don’t see how it could be.
How to watch: Stream on Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max.
3. ‘Halloween’ (1978)
The film that launched the slasher genre. John Carpenter makes this film great not by carving up amorous teenagers but by piling dread upon dread. When the sun is going down you can feel evil coming. That’s the scariest thing of all. Carpenter also wrote the creepy music.
How to watch: Stream on Shudder.
2. ‘The Shining’ (1980)
It’s a shame to call this a genre film, because it’s so much more. Give Stanley Kubrick a horror movie and see what he does with it? Makes a masterpiece. Jack Nicholson is fantastic, especially in the bar scenes with Lloyd, the bartender. Stephen King famously hated it and remade it for TV. I like King a lot, but he’s wrong.
How to watch:
Prime or iTunes.
Rent on Amazon
1. ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)
The scariest movie ever made, period. I’ll take no argument on that. Everyone thinks of the gross-out scenes, but what makes this – and the book – so terrifying is how it makes you think it could happen to anyone. Even, of course, you.
How to watch: Stream on Netflix.