Have you ever wondered what the best horror movies are?
Well, you've come to the right place.
Of course, everyone's a critic, and we're sure you have your own thoughts on this matter.
Still, time and time again, many horror movies keep showing up on people's favorites.
The best ones have intelligent writing, break new ground for the genre, and, of course,
find clever ways to create tension andÂ scare people out of their seats.
So, pull out your tub of popcorn and get comfortable, cause I'm Mike with List25 and here are the
25 Best Horror Movies Of All Time.
25.
The Cabin in the Woods At first glance, The Cabin in the WoodsÂ
might seem like the most unoriginal horror movie of all time, but it's actually quite
the opposite.
Using a meta-narrative concept, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon cleverly critique horror cliches
while also creating likable characters and truly terrifying horror scenes in the process.
24.
Let Me In Written and directed by Matt Reeves,Â Let
Me InÂ is about a boy who becomes friends with a girl.
Oh, and she's also a vampire.
The film deftly explores their deepening friendship with all the terrifying tension and manipulation
that comes with it.
And since it's a vampire flick, you can be assured there's a fair amount of gore and
violence.
23.
IT While it's hard to say ifÂ ITÂ will stand
the test of time, it does a great job adapting a part of the beloved novel by Stephen King.
By keeping the heart and soul of The Losers intact and effectively making Pennywise the
Clown a terrifying force, the movie is certainly worth the watch.
22.
The Conjuring By taking its time and gradually building
tension without showing the monster,Â The ConjuringÂ accepts that less is more.
It's a creepy and well-crafted haunted house horror that knows exactly what it's doing
every step of the way.
21.
Paranormal Activity Yeah, the gimmick got really old over time,
but the firstÂ Paranormal Activity was a surprisingly effective and simple horror film
about a ghost haunting a married couple.
By using the found-footage method, Oren Peli depended more on the imagination of his audience
rather than over-the-top special effects.
20.
The Omen (1976) The Omen made in 1976, not the remake, is
about a boy who is marked by Satan to be the anti-Christ and his parents' downward spiral
in dealing with it.
Richard Donner creates a terrifying atmosphere and uses that to scare us rather than resorting
to cheap tricks.
However, perhaps what makes the movie scarier is the horrible things that happened to the
actors during production.
19.
The Evil Dead (1981) Written and directed by Sam Raimi,Â The Evil
Dead practically started the cabin in the woods trope.
With a group of teenagers heading out to a spooky cabin in the middle of nowhere, they
awaken a demon in the process and fight to survive it.
While some might find its over-the-top gore and frights lame, it's hard to denyÂ The
Evil Dead is an enduring horror classic.
18.
Misery One word: hobbling.
Powered by a terrifying, not to mention awarding-winning, performance by Kathy Bates, Stephen King's
MiseryÂ is every novelist's worst nightmare.
When a famous author is rescued from a car crash, he soon discovers the person who rescued
him is his number one fan, but she's not happy about his latest novel and wants him to change
it.
When he refuses, she refuses to let him leave and tortures him in the process.
17.
The Silence of the Lambs While more a detective thriller than a horror
movie, it felt like a crime to ignore the nigh-perfect craft ofÂ The Silence of the
Lambs.Â Beautifully written and well-acted, the terrors of both a disturbed serial killer
and the cannibal Hanibal Lecter make it a scary ride for both the faint of heart and
the veteran horror fan.
16.
Eraserhead There's nothing quite like a David Lynch film,
and his first featureÂ Eraserhead really set a horrific and surreal tone.
Living in an industrial nightmarish landscape with his demanding girlfriend and goblin baby
that's constantly screaming, Henry Spencer tries to survive.
15.
Poltergeist (1982) Produced by Steven Spielberg, the originalÂ
PoltergeistÂ isÂ a modern horror classic andÂ saw commercial and critical success
on its release, terrifying the masses in the 80's.
Much of its content went on to influence many of the haunted house horror movies we watch
today.
14.
Halloween When Michael Myers kills his sister at the
age of 6, he's sent to a psychiatricÂ hospital for fifteen years.
However, one Halloween, he breaks out and wants to kill again.
John Carpenter'sÂ Halloween is a horror classic that helped set up the modern horror film
and made Michael Myers a horrifying boogeyman.
13.
The Babadook The Babadook not only rejects the horror tropes
that are all too common in horror movies today, but it goes deeper, providing a compelling
and satisfying story and subtext that'll make you think well after the movie is over.
Horror fans tired of the same-old will want to see this one.
12.
The Thing John Carpenter's The ThingÂ is a remake of
the 1950's version and lives up to it and then some.
It's darker and more terrifying than the original and uses fantastic special effects to create
the thick tension.
It's engaging from start to finish.
11.
Dawn of the Dead Arguably, both the original and remake ofÂ
Dawn of the DeadÂ count as great horror films.
In this case, we'll just stick to the original.
Released in 1979, the zombie film helped usher in and remains inspiration for a wave of zombie
movies.
It's also not just a brainless monster movie but has plenty to say about materialism.
10.
Green Room Green RoomÂ is a no-holds-barredÂ and rather
uncomfortable gorefest about a punk rock band that gets in trouble with neo-nazis after
playing a show for them.
Patrick Stewart shines as the neo-nazi kingpin, and the storytelling excels at putting you
in the characters' shoes, making it an even more white-knuckled experience.
9.
Carrie From the horrifying shower scene all the way
to the grisly prom,Â Stephen King's Carrie is a shocking look at modern teen angst and
cruelty with a dark supernatural twist.
8.
A Nightmare on Elm Street What makesÂ A Nightmare on Elm Street so
engaging and terrifying is its boogeyman Freddy Krueger.
He doesn't come for you during the day like most monster movies.
Instead, he enters your dreams and tries to kill you in your sleep, wielding a glove with
sharp claws.
7.
Alien In space, no one can hear you scream, andÂ
Alien definitely incites fear and screams with its gritty sets, creepy facehuggers,
and killer Xenomorphs that bleed acid.
To this day, it still stands apart as a unique survival story, making you wonder who will
die next and who will make it out in the end.
Plus, the iconic chest-bursting scene still gives us nightmares to this day.
6.
Psycho PsychoÂ alone has made major contributions
to modern horror.
With its unsettling score, eerie setting, and creepy hotel manager Norman Bates, Hitchcock
does what he does best for the film and injects plenty of suspense and thrills.Â From Bates
Motel to the shower murder scene, so many parts ofÂ Psycho are iconic.
5.
Rosemary's Baby Directed by Roman Polanski, Rosemary's BabyÂ
is considered one of the best horror films ever made.
Mia Farrow's performance helps give a convincing portrait of a woman convinced her baby might
be the devil's.
The feelings of paranoia and anxiety only grow worse until the eventual climax.
4.
The Witch The WitchÂ doesn't give audiences cheap tricks
and jump scares.
Instead, it provides a slow burn story with tension so thick you might go crazy before
the end.
With its intelligent writing, critiquing religious and familial paranoia,Â The Witch reveals
the true horror, a family's fanaticismÂ pushing their daughter toward the very evil they wanted
her to avoid.
Still think it looks like The VVitch.
3.
The Exorcist Based on the novel of the same name,Â The
ExorcistÂ is considered by some to be the scariest horror movie of all time.
A little girl named Regan becomes demon possessed, and a Catholic priest comes to her house to
perform an exorcism.
The make-up, special effects, and graphic events combine into one bone-chilling fright
show.
2.
Get Out Even though it's relatively new,Â Get OutÂ
made waves for its intelligence, originality, and unsettlingly creepy story.
Its ability to terrify while also providing levity and social commentary make it a unique
and truly amazing horror film.
Time will tell if this movie will have a long shelf life, but we think there's a good chance
people will be talking about it for years to come.
1.
The Shining Upon its release,Â The Shining wasn't exactly
warmly received, but over time it became generally accepted as the best horror movie of all time.
With Stanley Kubrick's solid direction combined with Jack Nicholson's fantastic performance
of a man gone insane, the movie can be watched over and over and still have the same horrifying
effect.
So, what's your favorite horror movie?
Let us know in the comments below, or tweet your answer to us @List25.
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