A great horror movie is often something distinct from most of the genre’s offerings. Few genres have been more historically reliable at the box office, and that’s in part because a pretty good horror movie is all audiences need to get their thrills.
The movies on this list, though, stand out above others from the genre. The very best horror movies leave you unsettled not just while you’re watching them, but also for weeks afterward. They remind you of how horrifying the world around you can be, even as they also offer delights that can make them endlessly rewatchable. Without further ado, these are the best horror movies ever made:
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
One of the more disturbing horror movies ever made, especially because of how much we don’t actually see, Rosemary’s Baby tells the story of a young woman who pregnant and moves into a New York City apartment. After she arrives there, she begins interacting with her off-kilter neighbors and becomes increasingly ill as her baby’s arrival gets closer and closer. The movie’s final, shocking revelations are genuinely horrific, but Mia Farrow’s brilliant, harrowing central performance makes the whole thing work.
The Exorcist (1973)
The Shining (1980)
The Shining eventually erupts into violence, but before it does that, the movie is tense, psychological movie about a family falling apart. Telling the story of a family as they move to an isolated Colorado hotel to take care of it during the winter, the movie brilliantly uses the empty spaces of the hotel to convey how easy it might be to lose a screw in there. Jack Nicholson delivers a terrifying central performance as a man who slowly becomes convinced that he should murder his family. Still, director Stanley Kubrick is the real standout here, pulling tension out of every moment of the movie.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was widely acclaimed upon its release, and with good reason. Get Out is a perfect blend of straight-up horror and satire, and it’s set against a straightforward but hugely fraught premise. The film follows a Black man dating a white woman who is going to visit her family for the weekend. While things seem off from basically the moment he arrives there, his decision to hang around anyway stems in part from his belief that sometimes white people are just weird. The movie is tense and funny and features a star-making central performance by Daniel Kaluuya, a normal guy trapped in insane circumstances.
Hereditary (2018)
Hereditary is genuinely scary. Still, part of what makes the movie so miraculous is the way it manages the tension of each of its scenes. Telling the story of a family who discover who their matriarch really was in the aftermath of her death, this movie is also a story about the burdens of being part of a family you didn’t choose. Toni Collette is brilliant in the central role, and Ari Aster’s direction announced the emergence of a brand new director whose every project was worth checking out.
The Thing (1982)
Evil Dead II (1987)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
