Hereditary
Ari Aster came in hot with his directorial debut: Hereditary. This story follows a grieving family that begins to fracture from the inside out. The further you dig into Hereditary, the better it gets. All you have to do is keep moving forward, and stick to the plan.
Deliverance
Not all scary movies are run by guts and gore. In this flick, a boy born from the deep depths of the forest freaks viewers out just fine. This 1972 film stars Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox. It calls itself an adventure drama, but if you know anything about the banjo-strumming, moonshine drinking, backwoods type folks in this movie, you know it's going to get terrifying.
Pulse
The internet can be a scary place, but this film takes that concept to a whole new level. In this movie, computers take the place of poltergeists. They can project their own (and the computer owner's) consciousness into the real world. This movie will make you want to hop online after you watch it just to clear your search history.
The Witches
Some horror movies are specifically designed to scare kids, and this is one of them. Witches around the globe change their faces to appear as normal-looking, professional women. However, they use these disguises to trap children in places where they can conduct rituals. Using witch magic, they turn the kids into mice and stomp on them!
The Vanishing
Taken scared everyone about the dangers of abduction, but Dutch filmmaker George Sluizer’s The Vanishing will put all other Taken movies to shame. Similar to the plot of the famous Liam Neeson series, The Vanishing follows a man who discovered that his girlfriend went missing from a bus stop. He would do anything to get her back, and we mean anything.
The Thing
Directed by John Carpenter, this science fiction flick is sure to scare you away from any artic encounters. When a team of scientists finds a “thing” that can shape-shift into the victim's bodies, anyone could be the monster at any time. Believe it or not, for a movie that was made in 1984, this one hits just as hard as the topical modern films that are coming out now.
Lake Mungo
Joel Anderson directed this 2008 hyper-realistic cinematographic feature. The cast relied heavily on improvisation for this mockumentary-style haunting. When a family begins to experience some paranormal events following the death of their daughter, they begin to learn some secrets about her life and the lives of the people around them.
The Exorcist
The Exorcist was one of the first true horror movies that had ever been made. The craziest thing about this movie is that it is actually based on a true story, although it was dramatized a little bit for the sake of the plot. The Exorcist is about the last official catholic exorcism that had been conducted on a young man who was referred to as "Roland Doe" because nobody knew who he was.
Cabin Fever
The first film Eli Roth ever directed might be his worst, the 2002 film Cabin Fever. Well, at least some people think that the movie is "good because it's bad." Cabin Fever is about a group of youngsters who are out on a vacation with one another, all while the group begins to contract a highly contagious and strange flesh-eating disease.
The Lords of Salem
The Salem Witch Trials might have been unfounded, but the revenge is very real in this 2012 film. A drug addict in recovery gets saved by a group of individuals who died in the witch trials themselves. It is unclear whether the protagonist is alive or dead throughout the course of the movie, but the heartfelt moments and genuinely beautiful cinematography help hold the whole thing together.
The Babadook
Everybody takes something different away from this movie. What is seemingly just a demonic legend told in the brooding home of a mourning mother and son, they soon find out that the Babadook isn't just a story. This movie is both horrific and a celebration of the spirit of the single parent, you'll be on the edge of your seat with this one.
Blood and Black Lace
Who said horror couldn't be fashionable? Mario Brava directed Blood and Black Lace in 1964. When a murderer starts going after the beautiful models of a high-fashion commune, the killer (and the director) relishes the time he spends tearing beautiful things to shreds. This example of Giallo filmmaking will leave you speechless.
Under the Skin
In 2010, Johnathan Glazer hired Scarlett Johansson to work with a strange idea. An alien gets trapped on our planet to lure men into a dark and black void. What happens to the men once they're in her trap? We're not going to ruin that for you.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Fire Walk With Me is the prequel to the events that led up to the first season of Twin Peaks. It follows Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee) as she spends her last week on earth. More sad than scary, this eerie thriller deals with trauma, family, loss, and all things just below the surface...
God Told Me To
Larry Cohen was the director of this 1976 mythological whirlwind. It involves an ordinary NYPD officer who begins investigating a series of murders that seem to all have one link: a calling from God to kill. The craziest thing about all of this is that there was a serial killer on the loose at the same time who had a similar story. We're talking about David Berkowitz (the Son of Sam), for your information.
When A Stranger Calls
Ring ring, fear is on the phone! When a creepy man spends his night tormenting a babysitter (played by Carol Kane) while she's at work, he ends up getting thrown into an asylum for the criminally insane. Years later, the man escaped the prison leaving that now-adult babysitter scared for her life. Don't watch this one if you're home alone. Or, maybe do that if you're really into getting scared.
Candyman
Candyman is a movie that fits a lot of themes into one concise package. A serial killer is terrorizing a low-income area of Chicago, but as it turns out, that serial killer isn't human, or even really interested in killing people. This movie digs more into the idea of systemic poverty as the ultimate crime, so much so that the socio-economic implications feel stronger than the murder itself.
Let the Right One In
Vampire movies have become a cultural scapegoat in recent years, but this one is a true horror film. When one little boy builds a crush on an undead individual, things got turned upside down quite fast. What ensues is a tale of love, loss, demons, undead terrors, and so much more. Just be sure to let the right one into your home and your heart!
M
That's right, this one is just called M. When a serial killer sets his sights exclusively on hunting children, an unnamed city begins to implode. It takes a village, or in this case, an entire secret gang of criminals, to take this villain to justice. Though you might have never seen it, this film set the precedent for all serial killer movies. That, and this movie still holds up nearly 100 years after its conception
Scream
This 1996 thriller might be a little far fetched, but it certainly is unsettling. Stars like Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Rose McGowan all show up in this film that pushes the boundaries of modern moviemaking and coming of age films all at once.
Jaws
A few brave men are here not to jump the shark, but to kill it. Together, a small-town sheriff, an oceanographer, and a local sailor must put aside their differences to stop the oceanic terror. Most scary movies are hidden in the woods or haunted houses, but what's scarier than the great open ocean?
Deep Red
In 1975, Dario Argento directed this famous film. This classic case of whodunit comes with a lot of romantic tension between a local Roman musician (David Hemmings) and an investigative journalist (Dario Nicoldi). It's not so much scary as it is a film that will make you question everything you thought you knew.
Frankenstein
You've probably heard this one before. Dr. Frankenstein uses bits and pieces of technology and flesh to bring this monster to life. Based on the novel by Mary Shelley, this classic is sure to make your Halloween party a hit with everyone but the undead!
The House of the Devil
Babysitting gigs can apparently be pretty sketchy. This movie is another example of a young student in need of a quick buck when everything goes wrong in the house she's watching over. Drenched in satanic panic, this horror movie is saturated with some of the best tropes the genre has to offer.
Don't Look Now
Grief takes over the lives of Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, who play a couple living in the wake of their young daughter's accidental death in Venice. The worst part is that they see her almost every step of their journey through the city in a red coat. This short story is a psychological thriller for the ages.
Freaks
The circus freaks are sick of their treatment, and this revenge fantasy comes to creepy creation actually ended Tod Browning's career. Nonetheless, it still holds up pretty well. It has become a cult favorite due to its comical dialogue and insane plotline. The famous line of this film is actually two words: "gobble, gobble."
The Others
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, Nicole Kidman stuns in this scary ghost story. Her two beloved kids have always claimed to see ghosts at their sunless countryside cabin. It's not until their mother starts seeing things too that the real horror begins. The Sixth Sense has nothing on this...
28 Days Later
Cillian Murphy is certainly shocked when he wakes up from a hospital visit in the middle of the apocalypse. Zombies are taking over a Megadeth concert and everything is a mess. The survivors barely survive long enough to find a safe shelter, but how long do they have until the inevitable...
Get Out
If you still haven't seen Get Out, there is no better year than this one. Daniel Kaluuya stars in what can only be described as the most unsettling psychological thriller of recent cinematic history. When visits his girlfriend's family, he notices that things are a little off. Maybe, just maybe, a little too off...
Alien
Once in a while, a movie comes along that redefines a genre. Alien is that movie for sci-fi horror. With Sigourney Weaver's wearing the spacesuit as the astronaut Ripley, a parasitic life form living inside her appears to be both mesmerizing and breathtaking. A cinematic masterpiece!
Eyes Without a Face
From the title alone, you can probably tell that this movie is pretty grotesque. A world-famous surgeon goes a little off his rocker when he steals the face of a beautiful woman and tries to trade her image with that of his daughter's. His daughter is, unsurprisingly, missing a face. Spooky!
Goodnight Mommy
'Child from hell' is a classic trope, which makes this Aussie flick even more impressive that it pulls the genre off so well. Twin boys and their bandaged mother deal with who and what is real, and what is simply a misshapen perspective. This one has gotten lots of criticism and acclaim alike.
Cannibal Holocaust
This found-footage drama has been routinely banned from a long list of nations for it's graphic and violent portrayals of cannibalism. This film crew gets lost in the Amazon and witness a tribe amidst their ritual exchanges. It was so intense to viewers that many believed the actors from the film were thought to have been killed on set.
The Strangers
Make sure you wear your mask for this film. A couple with issues brewing shows up at a cozy house in the forest, but their trip gets interrupted by a group of masked strangers. The violence would be brutal under normal circumstances, but the senselessness makes it so much harder to watch.
Dumplings
Bai Ling plays a totally ageless character, but how does she stay so young? Well, it takes a pretty ginormous secret. Dumplings seem to be the main character of the flick but once you figure out what's inside of them, that's when things really start to steam up. No spoiler would do it justice...
Black Christmas
Sorority girls have the worst luck in horror movies. In this one, a serial killer stalks, calls, and begins to destroy the girls of the house one by one. The real horror is in the finale. Can you figure out who the monstrous killer is before time runs out on this group of students?
Maniac
This is a little darker than that Maniac starring Emma Stone. No, this one is about a lone wolf who is weirdly obsessed with all things mannequin, made worse only by his habit of repeatedly talking to himself. He finally finds the girl of his dreams, but can he control himself to make his dreams come true?
Carnival of Souls
An abandoned carnival pavilion gets an unexpected guest when a car crash survivor wanders onto the lot. She hangs around long enough to get the gist, but the images of the location haunt her for a while. The scariest of all is the pale-faced man she meets in the film. Very eerie stuff...
Carrie
Does it get any scarier than Carrie? Carrie is a teenage girl with a whole mess of mommy issues, bullies, and oh yeah, super terrifying powers. Once she gets the humiliation of a lifetime at her high school dance, she acts out in a fit of rage, and everyone feels the wrath of her pain...
Audition
Aoyama wants to start dating again, but it won't be easy. When he becomes infatuated with Asami, a relationship incurs. However, he soon realizes that his beloved Asami isn't exactly the shy and submissive lady he thought she was, leading to some intense questions and brutal answers...
The Fly
In 1986, David Cronenberg directed this nasty looking monster movie, perfect for Halloween. Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist who goes too far with an experiment and somehow turns himself into a buzzing and annoying fly. It's both tragic and deeply fascinating
Salò
In one of the darker films on this list, Salò follows a group that captures and tortures teenage men and women. They are subjected to humiliations of sexual acts, extreme bouts of pain, and terrifying moments. These men want only the worst for these teens, and it's scary to watch.
The Shining
Here's Johnny! The Shining follows a writer and his family as they manage and take care of a summer resort over the harsh winters. When locked inside with only his thoughts, Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance loses his marbles and encounters some eerie hauntings along the way. If his wife and child can escape without harm, it will be at the fear of losing their lives to ax-wielding Jack.
The Blair Witch Project
No other movie popularized the found-footage genre quite like The Blair Witch Project. A group of local college kids treks into the forest to inspect the mythical witch that lives within the trees. The scariest part is that it might not be too far from the truth, and the audience never even gets to see the witch that they're running from. Spooky...
Wolf Creek
Greg McLean directed this 2005 horror thriller following three off-roading Aussies who come across a friendly local with malicious intentions. A typical hike through the Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian Outback goes awry very quickly with these three friends. Some car trouble could put them in a high-risk situation out there in the wilderness...
The Human Centipede
Directed by Tom Six, this is one of the more disturbing premises of the genre. The human centipede is exactly what it sounds like in the absolute worst way. American tourists are trapped by a lunatic German surgeon who has dreamt of a fate worse than death. If you can stomach watching this famous flick, you can handle anything.
The Night of the Hunter
A preacher with the words "HATE" and "LOVE" tattooed on his hands might seem like a cool guy, but he's got a dark secret. He's a serial killer! With his good looks and smooth-talking, he's able to charm and old woman, steal her money in a phony marriage, and escape with the cash. The only thing standing in his way is her children, and they won't take it lying down...
The Silence of the Lambs
One of the most famous examples of serial killer movies, The Silence of the Lambs follows investigative FBI agent Jodie Foster as she tries to get some information out of Hannibal Lecter. Hopefully, the information gotten from him will lead her to the real killer being tracked down, who steals the skin of women. Creepy and gross...
Rosemary's Baby
This slow descent into madness by Mia Farrow's character is an iconic one. With her pregnancy becoming closer and closer to its end every day, Rosemary can't help but freak out. It doesn't help that she's got some weird neighbors next door. The diabolical truth of this horror movie is only revealed after the baby is born, but it's something out of this world...
Repulsion
Carole isn't just a loner, she's androphobic, which means she's afraid of men. When she's left alone one weekend, Carole withdraws into herself and holes up in her apartment. What ensues are increasing hallucinations, madness, and mutations of the mind and its power...
Psycho
This is one of the most famous movies of all time, genre aside. It stars a girl running away from her problems, and running right into the arms of a much worse one. When her weird motel manager gets a little too close for comfort, it takes her family to uncover the unheard-of truth. The worst part? His mother is in on the whole thing, but she doesn't really want to be...
The Last House on the Left
Written by Wes Craven, this story follows two youthful girls on vacation at the isolated Collingwood lakehouse. There, an escaped convict gets in the mix. Mari manages to escape and get back home but returns to find those same killers living in her house. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and there's nothing like home cooking...
Night of the Living Dead
Often referred to as one of the original scary movies, this film produced some truly gory scenes for a low budget without any CGI. It also touches on racial and social issues that remind us that there are still several horrors in our everyday life. The fear that keeps on giving...
The Wicker Man
You might be familiar with the Nicholas Cage remake of this classic film, but the original is truly the best. An English police officer visits a pagan island with the intention of investigating some vicious rumors going around about a missing girl. Once he arrives, things start to make sense a little too quickly, and these pagans are unlike any he's read about in books.
Halloween
Michael Myers is a man created of nothing but evil. He killed once, and he's ready to kill again. When he escapes imprisonment, he returns to his hometown looking for revenge. It's up to Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) to stop the killer and protect herself on the scariest night of the year...
Teeth
Unfortunately, this is a real movie that was made. See, Dawn (Jess Weixler) is seemingly a very ordinary girl. She is part of the chastity club at school and all-around fine, but when Tobey (Hale Appleman) enters her life, things take a turn. The couple learns that Dawn is unlike any other girl...she's got monstrous teeth in her vagina. Terrifying!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Young hippies travel throughout the Texas countryside during the era of the Vietnam War. They discover that their backwoods mentality might have been a little flawed and that danger is around every corner in a strange land. Originally falsely marketed as a true story, this legend remains a fan-favorite for many lovers of the genre.
Saw
Do you want to play a game? When two men wake up in an empty room, chained to a wall with a dead body beside them, the duo must play by the rules to save themselves and their families. The only problem is that many of these games are difficult, and deadly, to play. Can they escape with their lives, or is Jigsaw subjecting them to a game that never ends...
The Omen
This kid isn't just weird, he's a bad omen. When Damien is adopted by a wealthy couple, the pair are excited to welcome in the child. However, shortly after his arrival, death is behind every door. With a little investigation and careful research, the family learns that Damien isn't just troubled...he's the Antichrist.
Train to Busan
Made in 2016, this action-packed horror has every scary thing you can think of: zombies, family issues, and public transit. A man boards a speeding train in South Korea accompanied by his estranged daughter and other passengers. When a zombie outbreak threatens their lives, some quick decisions must be made in order to save themselves in time.