Things are pretty scary right now with everything that is currently happening in the world and we’re all looking for some sort of distraction to get our minds off it, even just for a little while. Instead of doomscrolling social media, why not get scared about something outrageous as opposed to something all too real?
Horror movies aren’t simple, escapist fare, though. In fact, they are pretty inscrutable: Character motivations rarely make much sense, and what are those monsters even doing anyway? What media scholars call “intertextuality” — how works of art refer to other works of art to give them meaning in specific contexts — is important for understanding horror, in that some of these movies simply don’t make sense unless you’ve seen the ones that came before them.
If that’s the case: What are the movies you have to watch for more modern films to be legible? We’ve put together a list of 10 of the most essential horror movies ever made, and justifications for their cultural relevance. Get ready to scream.
More Must-See Movies
The Shining (1980)
144m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers
Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Even if you haven’t seen The Shining, chances are you’ve seen much of The Shining in spoofs, gifs, images, homages, and parodies. The legendary cinematography of Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece has gone on to influence almost all modern horror and the art of film writ large. Telling the story of a family tortured by angry spirits in a massive, abandoned hotel, Kubrick creates a menacing atmosphere that feels almost apocalyptic in scale and scope. Although Stephen King (the ubiquitous author who wrote the book on which the movie is based) despised this specific interpretation of his work, it’s clearly one of the few cases of an adaptation far outshining its source material.
Hausu (1977)
Genre
Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Cast
Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ohba
Casual horror fans might not be aware of this psychedelic Japanese film, which has become a cult classic amongst true aficionados. The trippy and surreal misadventure provides plenty of campy thrills and some truly bizarre sequences unlike anything ever captured on film before or after its 1977 release. Far from the sleekly produced nightmares of contemporary cinema, this truly flawed film is somehow romantic, endearing, nostalgic, unsettling, and beyond unnerving all at the same time. Don’t worry too much about following along with the plot, just enjoy the ride.
I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
108m
Genre
Thriller, Crime, Horror
Stars
Sarah Butler, Jeff Branson, Tracey Walter
Directed by
Steven R. Monroe
Perhaps one of the grisliest movies ever made, it’s almost wrong to categorize I Spit On Your Grave as horror — although it’s totally fictional, there’s something so deeply dirty and disturbing about its contents that it would almost be better understood as a kind of snuff film. Ostensibly about a violated woman seeking retribution, the film sparked moral outrage for its hideous depiction of sex crimes upon its release in 1978. Roger Ebert simply described it as “a vile bag of garbage.” Nonetheless, I Spit On Your Grave wound up serving as a template for an entire subgenre later dubbed “rape-revenge” — and the movie’s stark cinematography remains a huge influence on contemporary TV ranging from Twin Peaks to Riverdale.
Halloween (1978)
91m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes
Directed by
John Carpenter
IAlthough it was far from the first entry in the “slasher” subgenre, Halloween is a sort of Ur-text for that style of cinema. When the deranged Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital he embarks on a bloodthirsty romp, leaving a wake of teenage bodies behind him. Can the androgynous and virginal Laurie Strode survive his unending onslaught? Certainly, movies like Friday The 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Nightmare on Elm Street could have made their way onto this list, but Halloween is probably the purest example of the basic slasher formula that would later be endlessly copied throughout the ’80s and ’90s.
Audition (1999)
115m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Jun Kunimura
Directed by
Takashi Miike
The extent to which Japanese cinema — and director Takashi Miike, specifically — has gone on to shape almost every horror movie released in the past decade is deeply underemphasized in cinephilic circles. Although often dismissed as “torture porn,” Miike’s thoroughly disturbing masterpiece, Audition, functions as a tortuous and melancholic psychodrama and a subtle feminist critique of gendered expectations in the East. Not for the squeamish.
Suspiria (1977)
99m
Genre
Horror
Stars
Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Directed by
Dario Argento
Reinterpreted as an excellent and esoteric Holocaust parable in 2018, the original 1977 Giallo classic was a complete reimagining of what the horror genre could accomplish. Shot in a lushly neon color palette, the film’s enchanting vision of dark witchcraft has cast a spell on viewers for more than four decades. A gentle art nouveau aesthetic is juxtaposed sharply against the brutal violence endured by the movie’s protagonists.
Psycho (1960)
109m
Genre
Horror, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
Widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time — horror or otherwise — Psycho spawned endless psychoanalytic criticism, which investigated the motifs of violence and gender confusion with Freudian verve. Film scholars have dissected this movie so thoroughly that frame-by-frame analysis of its most famous scenes is commonly taught to budding moviemakers in art schools around the world. Hitchcock’s minimalism and tightly wound terrors are a far cry from the bombastic and omnipresent jumpscares that appear in spooky movies these days, but there’s no way to argue that Psycho hasn’t served as something of a blueprint for almost every horror film that came after it.
Nosferatu (1922)
94m
Genre
Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Stars
Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Directed by
F.W. Murnau
Dracula might get more name recognition, but Nosferatu really is film’s foremost vampire. This 1922 silent film, based on Stoker’s famous gothic novel, showcases the beauty of German expressionist cinema, with its chiaroscuro design and angular, brutalist scenery. The hyper-aestheticized visual world of Nosferatu would come to define the look of horror. Echoes of Nosferatu can be spotted throughout the works of auteurs like Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Guillermo del Toro, and many more.
The Exorcist (1973)
122m
Genre
Horror
Stars
Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow
Directed by
William Friedkin
The Exorcist is the standard by which the scariness of every movie that has come out since its 1973 release has been judged — and with good reason. The movie’s practical effects remain absolutely revolting and heart-wrenchingly grotesque to this day — and the human story beneath the puddle of pea soup is equally as compelling. This movie somehow remains so feared that some maintain the footage it was shot on is cursed.
Scream (1996)
112m
Genre
Crime, Horror, Mystery
Stars
David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
Directed by
Wes Craven
Perhaps the greatest example of postmodern cinema ever made, Scream exploded the rules of horror by self-consciously deconstructing the tropes that had become so patently stale before its 1996 release. And despite it being over two decades old, the humor really holds up. As characters are killed off one by one, their snarky comments about final girls and sexual promiscuity remain bizarrely poignant. It’s astounding that the movie got blamed for inciting violence, considering it’s actually a rather obvious but thoroughly astute criticism of depictions of violence in cinema.
Also, here’s a list we’ve compiled of the 10 best thriller movies that stand the test of time as well as the Halloween movies that can get you in the seasonal spirit.
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