Top 45 Horror Movies

by Ezprogers10 | created - 01 May 2011 | updated - 01 May 2011 | Public

The scariest of the scary

 Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc
  • Instant Watch Options
  • Genres
  • Movies or TV
  • IMDb Rating
  • In Theaters
  • Release Year
  • Keywords





IMDb user rating (average) to
Number of votes to »




Reset
Release year or range to »




































































































1. Halloween (1978)

R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller

90 Metascore

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes

Votes: 306,667 | Gross: $47.00M

" He was the Bogeyman"

2. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

R | 83 min | Horror

90 Metascore

Five 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.

Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain

Votes: 183,504 | Gross: $30.86M

"You gotta make it stop!"

3. The Exorcist (1973)

R | 122 min | Horror

83 Metascore

When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb

Votes: 454,731 | Gross: $232.91M

" The power of Christ compels you!"

4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

R | 91 min | Horror

76 Metascore

Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.

Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon

Votes: 262,335 | Gross: $25.50M

"What ever you do don't fall asleep!"

5. Poltergeist (1982)

PG | 114 min | Horror, Thriller

79 Metascore

A family's home is haunted by a host of demonic ghosts.

Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight

Votes: 179,481 | Gross: $76.61M

"They're Here!"

6. Friday the 13th (1980)

R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

22 Metascore

A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.

Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan

Votes: 157,365 | Gross: $39.75M

"Kill her Mommy!"

7. Scream (1996)

R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery

66 Metascore

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.

Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich

Votes: 388,232 | Gross: $103.05M

"Hello Sydney."

8. The Omen (1976)

R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery

62 Metascore

Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, David Warner

Votes: 132,328 | Gross: $4.27M

"Look at me Damien it's all for you!"

9. The Shining (1980)

R | 146 min | Drama, Horror

68 Metascore

A 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.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers

Votes: 1,105,971 | Gross: $44.02M

Here's Jonny!"

10. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.

Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Votes: 1,547,498 | Gross: $130.74M

"I ate his liver..."

11. The Ring (2002)

PG-13 | 115 min | Horror, Mystery

57 Metascore

A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman

Votes: 374,838 | Gross: $129.13M

"Seven days!"

12. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller

89 Metascore

A 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.

Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman

Votes: 139,052 | Gross: $0.09M

"The humans are eating the flesh!"

13. Children of the Corn (1984)

R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller

45 Metascore

A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.

Director: Fritz Kiersch | Stars: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin

Votes: 57,306 | Gross: $14.57M

"OUTLANDER!"

14. Black Christmas (1974)

R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

65 Metascore

During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.

Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon

Votes: 48,330 | Gross: $4.05M

"Hey it's me Billy!"

15. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Approved | 137 min | Drama, Horror

96 Metascore

A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer

Votes: 235,016

"Witches... All of them witches! "

16. Carrie (1976)

R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery

86 Metascore

Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta

Votes: 206,568 | Gross: $33.80M

"They're all gonna laugh at you!"

17. Candyman (1992)

R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller

61 Metascore

The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.

Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons

Votes: 100,114 | Gross: $25.79M

"Candyman Candyman Candyman Candyman .....Candyman!"

18. The Fog (1980)

R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller

55 Metascore

An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman

Votes: 82,944 | Gross: $21.38M

"Don't go into the fog!"

19. Orphan (2009)

R | 123 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

42 Metascore

A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder

Votes: 252,223 | Gross: $41.60M

"I don't think Mommy likes me very much. "

20. Saw (2004)

R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

46 Metascore

Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.

Director: James Wan | Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung

Votes: 466,497 | Gross: $56.00M

"I want to play a game!"

21. Halloween (2007)

R | 109 min | Horror

47 Metascore

After being committed for 15 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution and immediately returns to Haddonfield to find his baby sister, Laurie.

Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif

Votes: 130,554 | Gross: $58.27M

"Inside every one us, there exists a dark side. Most people rise above it, but some are consumed by it. Until there is nothing left, but pure evil."

22. Misery (1990)

R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller

75 Metascore

After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen

Votes: 235,423 | Gross: $61.28M

"God I love You!"

23. Terror Train (1980)

R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

42 Metascore

Three years after a prank went terribly awry, the six college students responsible are targeted by a masked killer at a New Year's Eve party aboard a moving train.

Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield

Votes: 13,840

"Have you ever shoveled any coal?"

24. Prom Night (1980)

R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

45 Metascore

At a high-school senior prom, a masked killer stalks four teenagers who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate six years previously.

Director: Paul Lynch | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin

Votes: 20,909 | Gross: $14.80M

"Killer's coming! Killer's gonna get you!"

25. Scream 4 (2011)

R | 111 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

52 Metascore

Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer.

Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Lucy Hale

Votes: 171,124 | Gross: $38.18M

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

26. Alien (1979)

R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

89 Metascore

The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 949,893 | Gross: $78.90M

"We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space."

27. The Sixth Sense (1999)

PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

64 Metascore

Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams

Votes: 1,050,836 | Gross: $293.51M

"I see dead people!"

28. Halloween II (1981)

R | 92 min | Horror

40 Metascore

While Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and The Shape is not far behind her.

Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer

Votes: 101,667 | Gross: $25.53M

"I shot him six times!"

29. Psycho (1960)

R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

97 Metascore

A 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.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin

Votes: 717,961 | Gross: $32.00M

"We all go a little mad sometimes!"

30. Final Destination (2000)

R | 98 min | Horror, Thriller

39 Metascore

After getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them.

Director: James Wong | Stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke

Votes: 279,332 | Gross: $53.33M

"As far as I know, this *beep* can circle around and get us all again. But for right now, I'm the safest *beep* in the world, because you're still NEXT!"

31. Jaws (1975)

PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller

87 Metascore

When 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.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary

Votes: 659,150 | Gross: $260.00M

"This shark, swallow you whole!"

32. The Ruins (2008)

R | 90 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller

44 Metascore

A leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.

Director: Carter Smith | Stars: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey

Votes: 84,229 | Gross: $17.43M

"We're being quarantined here. We're being kept here to die!"

33. Paranormal Activity (2007)

R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery

68 Metascore

After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

Director: Oren Peli | Stars: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong

Votes: 256,096 | Gross: $107.92M

"What is your quest? What is your favorite color?"

34. It (1990)

TV-14 | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.

Stars: Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson

Votes: 140,830

"I am everything you ever were afraid of!"

35. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

95 Metascore

Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.

Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson

Votes: 53,227 | Gross: $4.36M

36. Child's Play (1988)

R | 87 min | Horror, Thriller

58 Metascore

A struggling single mother unknowingly gifts her son a doll imbued with a serial killer's consciousness.

Director: Tom Holland | Stars: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif

Votes: 116,665 | Gross: $33.24M

Hi I'm Chucky wana play?"

37. Aliens (1986)

R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser

Votes: 762,659 | Gross: $85.16M

"We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night... mostly."

38. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

R | 101 min | Horror, Mystery

52 Metascore

Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.

Director: Jim Gillespie | Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Heche, Ryan Phillippe

Votes: 158,063 | Gross: $72.59M

"I know what you did last summer!"

39. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

R | 86 min | Horror, Thriller

52 Metascore

Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time, as the life of her own son hangs in the balance.

Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams

Votes: 82,016 | Gross: $55.04M

"My brother killed my sister."

40. Scream 2 (1997)

R | 120 min | Horror, Mystery

62 Metascore

Two years after the first series of murders, as Sidney acclimates to college life, someone donning the Ghostface costume begins a new string of killings.

Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jada Pinkett Smith

Votes: 209,634 | Gross: $101.36M

"Hello Sydney, remember me?"

41. Dracula (1931)

Passed | 75 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

71 Metascore

Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.

Directors: Tod Browning, Karl Freund | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye

Votes: 58,602

"I am Dracula."

42. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

R | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror

49 Metascore

A psychiatrist familiar with knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.

Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette

Votes: 90,244 | Gross: $44.79M

"It's now or never. I'm not gonna kid you, this is as dangerous as it gets. If you die in this dream it's for real. Nobody has to go in that doesn't want to."

43. Creepshow (1982)

R | 120 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

59 Metascore

"Creepshow" is a 1982 movie that tells five grisly tales from a children's comic book: a murdered father rising from his grave, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.

Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall

Votes: 53,203 | Gross: $21.03M

"What the *beep*? Another son of a bitchin' blackout! If it was MY power company, this would never happen... "

44. The Mist (2007)

R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

58 Metascore

A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher

Votes: 340,138 | Gross: $25.59M

"I just want you to know that it's okay... being scared. And, well, if you need a friend, someone to talk too... "

45. The Evil Dead (1981)

NC-17 | 85 min | Horror

71 Metascore

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker

Votes: 232,311 | Gross: $2.40M

"You bastards, why are you torturing me like this? Why?"



Recently Viewed