Like them or not, scary movies take our deepest fears and bring them to life.
Nerves tense, voices hoarse, and skirts short, the characters in horror flicks give us chills and send us running to the theater, or more accurately, the Netflix app on our phones, just to see just what might go bump in the night.
The scariest, most horrifying, most brutal, and least appropriate for children films are the only things that can satisfy our culture’s thirst…for blood.
Here is a list of the Top 20 Scariest Movies ranked in order:
20. The Audition (1999)
The first entry on this list is a gore-fest. From the first cringe-inducing scene to the last, this Japanese film displays some of the most graphic torture scenes imaginable. Like a piano-wire slicing through human flesh, this movie digs deep and has become a cult classic.
19. Wolf Creek (2005)
The first of the two Australian movies on this list is a low-budget film that follows some young and wild college kids into the Outback. Critically reviewed as exceptionally violent towards women, the film crossed over the ocean and performed fairly well in America because of its inventive and creatively brutal death scenes.
18. The Purge (2013)
Starting a little slow, the beginning of this movie features a short explanation of the mysterious “New Founding Fathers” who helped usher in the Purge. This one day of the year is the time when all crime, including murder, is legalized.
The scariest thing about this horror thriller is the sheer politeness of the violence. Neighbors invite each other over for Purge parties, newscasters read body counts like sports scores, and even your spouse might be planning to participate in the night’s festivities.
17. Reincarnation (2005)
Another Japanese film for the countdown, Reincarnation is the story of a hotel with a dark past. Through the eyes of a psychopathic father and the young woman he possesses, the audience is taken on a twisted journey throughout the resort. The movie has graphic scenes of dismemberment, suffering, and even the onscreen murder of children, something that even the scariest of American horror movies tend to shy away from.
16. Poltergeist (1982)
One of the many classic horror movies that has since spawned sequels and a recent remake, the original Poltergeist stands a cut above the rest. With an amazingly young and talented actress who was taken too soon, the film horrified moviegoers and new homeowners nationwide.
15. Misery (1990)
A Stephen King classic, Misery and its “hobbling” scene cemented Nurse Annie as cinema’s worst caretaker and best No. 1 fan. With incredibly believable scenes of desperate escape attempts, torture, and violent mood swings, James Caan and Kathy Bates fill up 107 minutes with too many memorable lines and moments to count.
14. The Babadook (2014)
Another horror film from Australia, The Babadook has graced Netflix’s queue for a few month’s now and rightfully so. Genuinely scary and refreshingly original, this horror film follows a widow and her young son as he battles his fears and an imaginary monster that turns out to be not only real, but deadly. This film has been critically praised and is the third-highest rated film of 2014 on Rotten Tomatoes.
13. Alien (1979)
This Ridley Scott sci-fi horror thriller helped launch Sigourney Weaver’s acting career and convinced the world that if aliens do exist, they want to murder us. The crew of the Nostromo spaceship is helpless against its extraterrestrial passenger and remember…in space, no one can hear you scream.
12. It Follows (2015)
The most recently made movie on the list, It Follows crept into theaters this year as a dark horse horror-thriller. An excellent balance of silence and creepy scores plus a simple premise made for an awesome and exhilarating break from modern day horror movies like Paranormal Activity and Ouija.
11. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
While your kids at home might be a lot to handle, at least be thankful that they’re not actually the spawn of Satan. Roman Polanski’s 1968 classic features a young mother, impregnated by the dark one himself, as she fights to protect her soul and her mind from a demonic cult.
10. The Wicker Man (1973)
After a horrible, horrible, horrible remake starring the horrible, horrible, sometimes okay Nicholas Cage, this English classic is well-made and downright creepy. Featuring the recently deceased actor, death metal musician, and all-around awesome person, Christopher Lee, The Wicker Man is a shining example of what a horror mystery should aspire to be.
9. The Strangers (2005)
Two people in a house being ruthlessly tormented and murdered by complete strangers.
This often overlooked film owes some of its scare factor to something absolutely terrifying– random chance. Featuring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as lovers spending the night in a home far from the city, The Strangers is one of those rare movies that doesn’t complicate its story with unnecessary plot lines and cheap thrills– its just plain scary.
8. Jaws (1975)
The biggest departure from traditional horror on this list is also one of its scariest. Stephen Spielberg’s summer shark blockbuster has terrified entire generations of kids and adults of the ocean. Despite a tight budget and a horrendous filming schedule, Jaws can still make most people look under the water in their swimming pool for sharks.
7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Hello, Clarice…Those two words introduced the young FBI agent and the world to Dr. Hannibal Lector. The story of a young woman probing the mind of a brilliant and cannibalistic man, Silence of the Lambs played on the palpable chemistry between Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins to toy with its 1991 audience. Critically praised and commercially successful, the film has spawned parodies, copycats, and even its very own episode of South Park.
6. 28 Days Later (2002)
In a sea of zombie movies, this British horror film starring a young Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Red Eye, Inception) floats along a river of blood all the way to the top. With gritty visuals and an unpredictable storyline, 28 Days Later imagines a world overrun by zombies and left inhabited with desperate and immoral human survivors who make an effort to beat back the monsters, one day at a time.
5. The Ring (2002)
The movie that made everyone switch from VHS to DVD, The Ring was a monster success at the box office and also succeeded at verifiably scaring the living hell out of every person that dared to watch it on their living room TV. If you didn’t at least worry about Samara coming through your screen, you either didn’t watch it or you’re lying.
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Yet another movie franchise ruined by sequels, prequels, and remakes, this 1974 original still freaks out anybody who’s ever driven through the American midwest. The remarkable lack of excessive blood or gore is just another reminder that a truly scary film doesn’t need to bleed all over its audience.
3. Psycho (1960)
Watching Alfred Hitchcock calmly and politely showcase the house that was the scene of a horrible series of murders might not be bloody or gory, but the master of suspense created Psycho and rebooted the horror genre. Behind Norman Bates’ smile, a horrible killer wrecked with a split-personality disorder came into our homes and never left.
2. Halloween (1978)
The “night HE came home” comes every single year and chances are John Carpenter’s Halloween is on TV. The first-person continuous shot of a six year-old Michael Myers stabbing his older sister has disgusted viewers for almost 40 years. You hear the theme song, you see the mask, and you feel the knife as Laurie Strode fights for her life in the little town of Haddonfield, IL.
Starting a little slow, the beginning of this movie features a short explanation of the mysterious “New Founding Fathers” who helped usher in the Purge. This one day of the year is the time when all crime, including murder, is legalized.
The scariest thing about this horror thriller is the sheer politeness of the violence. Neighbors invite each other over for Purge parties, newscasters read body counts like sports scores, and even your spouse might be planning to participate in the night’s festivities.
17. Reincarnation (2005)
Another Japanese film for the countdown, Reincarnation is the story of a hotel with a dark past. Through the eyes of a psychopathic father and the young woman he possesses, the audience is taken on a twisted journey throughout the resort. The movie has graphic scenes of dismemberment, suffering, and even the onscreen murder of children, something that even the scariest of American horror movies tend to shy away from.
16. Poltergeist (1982)
One of the many classic horror movies that has since spawned sequels and a recent remake, the original Poltergeist stands a cut above the rest. With an amazingly young and talented actress who was taken too soon, the film horrified moviegoers and new homeowners nationwide.
15. Misery (1990)
A Stephen King classic, Misery and its “hobbling” scene cemented Nurse Annie as cinema’s worst caretaker and best No. 1 fan. With incredibly believable scenes of desperate escape attempts, torture, and violent mood swings, James Caan and Kathy Bates fill up 107 minutes with too many memorable lines and moments to count.
14. The Babadook (2014)
Another horror film from Australia, The Babadook has graced Netflix’s queue for a few month’s now and rightfully so. Genuinely scary and refreshingly original, this horror film follows a widow and her young son as he battles his fears and an imaginary monster that turns out to be not only real, but deadly. This film has been critically praised and is the third-highest rated film of 2014 on Rotten Tomatoes.
13. Alien (1979)
This Ridley Scott sci-fi horror thriller helped launch Sigourney Weaver’s acting career and convinced the world that if aliens do exist, they want to murder us. The crew of the Nostromo spaceship is helpless against its extraterrestrial passenger and remember…in space, no one can hear you scream.
12. It Follows (2015)
The most recently made movie on the list, It Follows crept into theaters this year as a dark horse horror-thriller. An excellent balance of silence and creepy scores plus a simple premise made for an awesome and exhilarating break from modern day horror movies like Paranormal Activity and Ouija.
11. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
While your kids at home might be a lot to handle, at least be thankful that they’re not actually the spawn of Satan. Roman Polanski’s 1968 classic features a young mother, impregnated by the dark one himself, as she fights to protect her soul and her mind from a demonic cult.
10. The Wicker Man (1973)
After a horrible, horrible, horrible remake starring the horrible, horrible, sometimes okay Nicholas Cage, this English classic is well-made and downright creepy. Featuring the recently deceased actor, death metal musician, and all-around awesome person, Christopher Lee, The Wicker Man is a shining example of what a horror mystery should aspire to be.
9. The Strangers (2005)
Two people in a house being ruthlessly tormented and murdered by complete strangers.
This often overlooked film owes some of its scare factor to something absolutely terrifying– random chance. Featuring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as lovers spending the night in a home far from the city, The Strangers is one of those rare movies that doesn’t complicate its story with unnecessary plot lines and cheap thrills– its just plain scary.
8. Jaws (1975)
The biggest departure from traditional horror on this list is also one of its scariest. Stephen Spielberg’s summer shark blockbuster has terrified entire generations of kids and adults of the ocean. Despite a tight budget and a horrendous filming schedule, Jaws can still make most people look under the water in their swimming pool for sharks.
7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Hello, Clarice…Those two words introduced the young FBI agent and the world to Dr. Hannibal Lector. The story of a young woman probing the mind of a brilliant and cannibalistic man, Silence of the Lambs played on the palpable chemistry between Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins to toy with its 1991 audience. Critically praised and commercially successful, the film has spawned parodies, copycats, and even its very own episode of South Park.
6. 28 Days Later (2002)
In a sea of zombie movies, this British horror film starring a young Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Red Eye, Inception) floats along a river of blood all the way to the top. With gritty visuals and an unpredictable storyline, 28 Days Later imagines a world overrun by zombies and left inhabited with desperate and immoral human survivors who make an effort to beat back the monsters, one day at a time.
5. The Ring (2002)
The movie that made everyone switch from VHS to DVD, The Ring was a monster success at the box office and also succeeded at verifiably scaring the living hell out of every person that dared to watch it on their living room TV. If you didn’t at least worry about Samara coming through your screen, you either didn’t watch it or you’re lying.
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Yet another movie franchise ruined by sequels, prequels, and remakes, this 1974 original still freaks out anybody who’s ever driven through the American midwest. The remarkable lack of excessive blood or gore is just another reminder that a truly scary film doesn’t need to bleed all over its audience.
3. Psycho (1960)
Watching Alfred Hitchcock calmly and politely showcase the house that was the scene of a horrible series of murders might not be bloody or gory, but the master of suspense created Psycho and rebooted the horror genre. Behind Norman Bates’ smile, a horrible killer wrecked with a split-personality disorder came into our homes and never left.
2. Halloween (1978)
The “night HE came home” comes every single year and chances are John Carpenter’s Halloween is on TV. The first-person continuous shot of a six year-old Michael Myers stabbing his older sister has disgusted viewers for almost 40 years. You hear the theme song, you see the mask, and you feel the knife as Laurie Strode fights for her life in the little town of Haddonfield, IL.
1. The Exorcist (1973)
Slowly, but surely, this countdown couldn’t have ended any other way. Its hard to find a film that made its audiences physically sick from fear. Theaters refused to play it, parents protested it, and it only grew in popularity. At a time in which most scary movies involved monsters or knife-wielding maniacs, the possession of a little girl by the worst that Hell has to offer was a whirlwind of controversy. Terrific acting and a lot of split pea soup cemented this film as the top pick for scariest movie ever made.
David Stansberry is an intern contributor and student at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in Economics and English.
Twitter: @Dave_Trace
Instagram: @Dave_Trace
Facebook: www.facebook.com/davidstansberryIII
Slowly, but surely, this countdown couldn’t have ended any other way. Its hard to find a film that made its audiences physically sick from fear. Theaters refused to play it, parents protested it, and it only grew in popularity. At a time in which most scary movies involved monsters or knife-wielding maniacs, the possession of a little girl by the worst that Hell has to offer was a whirlwind of controversy. Terrific acting and a lot of split pea soup cemented this film as the top pick for scariest movie ever made.
David Stansberry is an intern contributor and student at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in Economics and English.
Twitter: @Dave_Trace
Instagram: @Dave_Trace
Facebook: www.facebook.com/davidstansberryIII
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