100 Scariest Movies of All Time
Want a thrill? Draw your curtains and settle in for a list of the greatest horror movies of all time.
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- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.The scariest movie of all time. It will scar you for life, and leave you haunted by the effects.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.Hereditary is a new horror landmark that puts a unique face on things that go bump in the night.
- DirectorRobert EggersStarsAnya Taylor-JoyRalph InesonKate DickieA family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.This movie combines classic horror and generally scary arithmetic to create a NEW and great film. The Witch is a really atmospheric film with an elaborate build-up of suspense and eerie themes throughout; it's not like other horror films because the characters are rich in depth and their personalities are more complex for a horror movie character.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is by far one of the SCARIEST movies I've seen. This horrific film is very gory and disturbing and very chaotic and suspenseful. The film exhausted me, as the chase scenes are really intense and are part of a lot of the film.
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsEssie DavisNoah WisemanDaniel HenshallA single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.The Babadook is dark, eerie, creepy, and scariest of all, metaphorically psychological. It's the looming threat of insanity that drives this film. This movie is extremely well made, and is extremely twisted.
- DirectorAlexandre AjaStarsCécile de FranceMaïwennPhilippe NahonBest friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror."Haute Tension" is appropriately gruesome and shocking and does not take the wise cracking, action movie based horror movie approach that so many recent horror films have taken. The film is well made and paced and builds up the suspense to a crescendo and does not overstay it's welcome.
- DirectorJordan PeeleStarsDaniel KaluuyaAllison WilliamsBradley WhitfordA young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.While the story does have its comedic aspects, it is well balanced with thrills, spooks, and mature storytelling with a very interesting and twisted plot.
- DirectorFede AlvarezStarsJane LevyShiloh FernandezJessica LucasFive friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.This remake finds many way to bow to the original, aside the obligatory visual quotes. The use of practical effects, notably, in an era of CGI- filled movies, is extremely refreshing. The gore feels painful, makes you cringe, churned my stomach. It successfully palliates a somewhat shallow characterization that makes it difficult to root for the characters.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsChloë Grace MoretzTilda SwintonDoris HickA darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.Suspiria is incredibly well filmed with such a style that makes it feel old with an awesome soundtrack! Glorious eerie vibes in many parts which is nice. Very much reminds me of Black Swan just very different and more terrifying.
- DirectorSeverin FialaVeronika FranzStarsLukas SchwarzElias SchwarzSusanne WuestTwin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don't recognize.A creepy little horror-thriller for the discerning horror fans who don't crave cheap, gimmicky thrills!
- DirectorDavid MoreauXavier PaludStarsOlivia BonamyMichaël CohenAdriana MoccaLucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.Very tense, uneasy and suspenseful, especially if watched alone at night. Great use of environment to terrify you. I'm interested in researching to see what real life case this is based. Ending was great.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother."Psycho" has one of the best scripts you'll ever find in a movie. The domestic conflict is well-known. But nothing shocks like the experience itself. Anthony Perkins' skillfully crafts his performance as Norman Bates, avoiding a ranting, raving, drooling, murder-happy, manic characterization; instead his performance as Norman is subtle, creepy, cool, and unsettling.
- DirectorRobert EggersStarsRobert PattinsonWillem DafoeValeriia KaramanTwo lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.Driven by its stars' maniacal performances, The Lighthouse makes for an impeccably crafted, though thematically uneven, blend of horror and humor.
- DirectorJordan PeeleStarsLupita Nyong'oWinston DukeElisabeth MossAdelaide Wilson and her family are attacked by mysterious figures dressed in red. Upon closer inspection, the Wilsons realize that the intruders are exact lookalikes of them.A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.This is Stanley Kubrick's classic vision of Stephen King's horror tale of madness and blood.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsVanessa RedgraveOliver ReedDudley SuttonIn 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.This film is the only film I've ever seen, regardless of genre, to take the viewer into the pit of hell and to hold her/him there unrelenting, uncompromising, and to make the viewer feel as s/he has actually experienced hell. It's bleak, horrifying, shocking, disgusting and thoroughly delicious.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsJennifer LawrenceJavier BardemEd HarrisA couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsFlorence PughJack ReynorVilhelm BlomgrenA couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.Set in broad daylight, during the time of Northern Europe's midnight sun, this horror movie isn't about getting the creeps so much as it is about the slow, methodical unmasking of horrors most human.
- DirectorSteve MinerStarsBetsy PalmerAmy SteelJohn FureyFive years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings.Friday the 13th part 2 is a great horror film and is the best in the series. Has its share of sex drugs and blood easy to follow with a great opening. Amy Steel gives a good performance as our heroine and the rest of the cast is fine as well.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.'Jaws' is the original summer blockbuster, setting the standard by which all others are measured. It's the Michael Jordan of cinema: there will never be another 'Jaws,' simply because the film so profoundly changed the way movies are made and marketed.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence."Repulsion" is a great example of how to make a truly scary movie: The trick is not to fill the screen with monsters or indestructible serial killers, it is to portray fear in a way that will be familiar to the audience. It is clear from early on in the film that the lead character, Carol, played brilliantly by an extremely young-looking Catherine Deneuve, is not exactly normal.
- DirectorBryan BertinoStarsMarin IrelandMichael Abbott Jr.Julie Oliver-TouchstoneOn a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.This is an excellent example of how found footage films should be done. Totally uses the instant and immersive quality of the medium to its full potential. What's more, it's a movie that makes a late game turn that takes it from "very good" to "very great." The last ten minutes elevate the movie to a whole new level of creepy.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.Intense, disorienting, unsettling, upsetting, polarising - Martyrs is all these things, but it is also intelligent, moving and strangely transcedent. If you want to be put through the wringer by a film, make it this one. This is not an easy film to watch, but it is a valuable film to watch.