Top 10 Scary Movies
Low budget, low concept, and high pitched screams—the three things combined make this tale of a house that turns on its owners super scary. The night vision “hidden camera” set up makes the movie feel all too real. Watch this one, but only when you’ve got the house locked up tight and lots of friends around to keep you safe.
This film is notable for two things: a female cast that is strong, able, and defies stereotypes of women in horror films, and the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia and terror that pervades this film. A group of women exploring an underground cave system have to deal with not only tight spaces, darkness, and the possibility of being crushed to death, but also with horrific creatures lurking in the dark. Don’t watch this before a spelunking trip, or even a trip to the basement.
While technically a remake of the zombie classic “Night of the Living Dead,” this film reinvigorated the zombie film for modern audiences and is plenty scary on its own. As zombies take over the world, the sense of doom becomes very real.
While this movie is more creepy than scary, there are a few genuine frights. The story of a boy who sees dead people, the twist ending shocked audiences. Even ten years later, it is not worth spoiling for the uninitiated!
Hannibal Lector, a notorious, brutal, and intelligent serial killer and cannibal, is needed to help solve a series of gruesome murders. FBI agent Clarice Starling has to not only get him to talk, but to build a relationship with him without being manipulated by Lector.
This film practically created the modern slasher genre and still contains some of the best music from a horror film. Michael Myers escapes from an insane asylum, where he has been since the murder of his sister at the age of 6. He goes on a killing rampage, while the police and his doctor try to find him.
If you’ve ever been nervous in the shower, this movie is why. The sheer surprise of this movie has made it one of the all time classics of the genre, and no list of Halloween movies would be complete without it.
Pro tip: don’t move into an orphanage, or an insane asylum, or an old hospital. Unfortunately, main character Laura hasn’t been told this and decides to buy and reopen the orphanage where she grew up. Soon her soon has some creepy imaginary friends and Laura turns to parapsychologists to discover what really happened in her childhood home.
An American remake of the brilliant Swedish film Let the Right One In (scariest movie with a Morrissey title?), this movie shows what happens when a lonely, sad little boy makes a new friend—with the child vampire next door. Just as unsettling as the violence of the vampires is the bullying and loneliness of Owen.
Little girls should not spew such hatred and anger, not to mention that much vomit and bile. Between the ominous music, religious themes, and literal head spinning, there are plenty of scares in The Exorcist. This classic of the horror genre still frightens, particularly when coupled with stories of the cast and crew enduring bad luck, accidents, and injuries.