My Top 50 Favorite "Horror" Movies

by Randomlymessed | created - 07 Nov 2017 | updated - 5 months ago | Public

Many of the movies on this list aren't considered to be true horror, but all of them incorporate elements from the genre that make them enjoyable viewings around Halloween, and are my personal favorites for that if nothing else.

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1. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Horror

76 Metascore

The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis

Votes: 593,875 | Gross: $13.54M

Comedy/Horror

2. The Mummy (1999)

PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

48 Metascore

At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.

Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo

Votes: 460,828 | Gross: $155.25M

Adventure/Horror

3. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

65 Metascore

After being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.

Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lim Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-su, Moon Geun-young

Votes: 68,259

Drama/Horror

4. 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: 466,626 | Gross: $56.00M

Thriller/Horror

5. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

72 Metascore

Five college friends head out to a remote cabin for a getaway, but things don't go as planned when they start getting killed. They soon discover that there is more to the cabin than it seems.

Director: Drew Goddard | Stars: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz

Votes: 450,624 | Gross: $42.07M

Comedy/Horror

6. The Descent (2005)

R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller

71 Metascore

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder

Votes: 246,881 | Gross: $26.02M

Horror/Adventure

7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Musical

83 Metascore

The legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall

Votes: 386,880 | Gross: $52.90M

Musical/Horror

8. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

62 Metascore

A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst

Votes: 347,418 | Gross: $105.26M

Drama/Horror

9. The Babadook (2014)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

86 Metascore

A 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.

Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney

Votes: 247,212 | Gross: $0.92M

Horror/Drama

10. Night Watch (2004)

R | 114 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror

58 Metascore

A fantasy-horror set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

Director: Timur Bekmambetov | Stars: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Menshov, Mariya Poroshina, Valeriy Zolotukhin

Votes: 55,384 | Gross: $1.49M

Fantasy/Horror

11. 28 Days Later (2002)

R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer

Votes: 445,597 | Gross: $45.06M

Horror/Sci-Fi

12. Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

Not Rated | 83 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

76 Metascore

A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.

Director: Issa López | Stars: Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Nery Arredondo, Hanssel Casillas

Votes: 9,043 | Gross: $0.13M

Fantasy/Horror

13. Raw (2016)

R | 99 min | Drama, Horror

81 Metascore

A young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.

Director: Julia Ducournau | Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas

Votes: 89,107 | Gross: $0.51M

Drama/Horror

14. Veronica (I) (2017)

TV-MA | 105 min | Horror, Mystery

Madrid, 1991. A teen girl finds herself besieged by an evil supernatural force after she played Ouija with two classmates.

Director: Paco Plaza | Stars: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer, Iván Chavero

Votes: 47,548

Horror/Drama

15. Under the Shadow (2016)

PG-13 | 84 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

83 Metascore

As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.

Director: Babak Anvari | Stars: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Arash Marandi

Votes: 30,115 | Gross: $0.03M

Horror/Drama

16. Relic (2020)

R | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

77 Metascore

A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.

Director: Natalie Erika James | Stars: Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Steve Rodgers

Votes: 30,226

Horror/Drama

17. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

75 Metascore

When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 69,840 | Gross: $24.95M

Sci-Fi/Horror

18. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Romance

81 Metascore

In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour | Stars: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Navabi

Votes: 38,619

Drama/Horror

19. The Night Eats the World (2018)

TV-14 | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

50 Metascore

The morning after a party, a young man wakes up to find Paris invaded by zombies.

Director: Dominique Rocher | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Golshifteh Farahani, Denis Lavant, Sigrid Bouaziz

Votes: 15,897

Horror/Thriller

20. Birth/Rebirth (2023)

R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

78 Metascore

A morgue technician successfully reanimates the body of a little girl, but to keep her breathing, she will need to harvest biological materials from pregnant women. When the girl's mother, a nurse, discovers her baby alive, they enter into a deal that forces them both down a dark path of no return.

Director: Laura Moss | Stars: Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister, Breeda Wool

Votes: 5,800

Horror/Thriller

21. Ginger Snaps (2000)

Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

70 Metascore

Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.

Director: John Fawcett | Stars: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers

Votes: 52,294 | Gross: $0.00M

Fantasy/Horror

22. The Ritual (I) (2017)

TV-MA | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

57 Metascore

A group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a most dangerous country in Europe - Sweden, encountering a menacing presence there stalking them.

Director: David Bruckner | Stars: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton

Votes: 119,649

Horror/Thriller

23. The Conjuring (2013)

R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

68 Metascore

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor

Votes: 554,727 | Gross: $137.40M

Horror/Mystery

24. Saint Maud (2019)

R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

83 Metascore

A pious nurse becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.

Director: Rose Glass | Stars: Morfydd Clark, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Jennifer Ehle, Marcus Hutton

Votes: 46,977

Drama/Horror

25. The Lost Boys (1987)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror

63 Metascore

After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires.

Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes

Votes: 161,108 | Gross: $32.22M

Horror/Comedy

26. Talk to Me (I) (2022)

R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller

76 Metascore

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou | Stars: Ari McCarthy, Hamish Phillips, Kit Erhart-Bruce, Sarah Brokensha

Votes: 142,702

Horror/Thriller

27. Let Me In (I) (2010)

R | 116 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

79 Metascore

A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono

Votes: 127,300 | Gross: $12.13M

Fantasy/Horror

28. Men (2022)

R | 100 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

65 Metascore

A young woman goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside following the death of her ex-husband.

Director: Alex Garland | Stars: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin

Votes: 62,864

Horror/Fantasy

29. You Are Not My Mother (2021)

93 min | Drama, Horror

74 Metascore

In a North Dublin housing estate Char's mother goes missing. When she returns Char is determined to uncover the truth of her disappearance and unearth the dark secrets of her family.

Director: Kate Dolan | Stars: Hazel Doupe, Carolyn Bracken, Ingrid Craigie, Jordanne Jones

Votes: 5,862

Drama/Horror

30. Bones and All (2022)

R | 131 min | Drama, Horror, Romance

74 Metascore

A young woman embarks on a 1000 mile odyssey through America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether love can survive their otherness.

Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Kendle Coffey

Votes: 57,876

Drama/Horror

31. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

65 Metascore

A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the cause of death of a young woman who was apparently harboring dark secrets.

Director: André Øvredal | Stars: Brian Cox, Emile Hirsch, Ophelia Lovibond, Michael McElhatton

Votes: 139,137 | Gross: $0.01M

Horror/Mystery

32. It Comes at Night (2017)

R | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

78 Metascore

Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son. Then a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.

Director: Trey Edward Shults | Stars: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough

Votes: 103,079 | Gross: $13.99M

Drama/Horror

33. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror

55 Metascore

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne

Votes: 120,484 | Gross: $30.57M

Horror/Comedy

34. Werewolves Within (2021)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

66 Metascore

Feature adaptation of the video game where werewolves attack a small town.

Director: Josh Ruben | Stars: Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns

Votes: 25,129

Comedy/Horror

35. The Dark and the Wicked (2020)

Not Rated | 95 min | Horror

72 Metascore

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.

Director: Bryan Bertino | Stars: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Lynn Andrews

Votes: 22,517

Horror/Drama

36. Underworld (2003)

R | 121 min | Action, Fantasy, Thriller

42 Metascore

Selene, a vampire warrior, is entrenched in a conflict between vampires and werewolves, while falling in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.

Director: Len Wiseman | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen

Votes: 285,141 | Gross: $51.97M

Action/Horror

37. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

R | 85 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

67 Metascore

Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves.

Director: Jim Cummings | Stars: Jim Cummings, Riki Lindhome, Robert Forster, Chloe East

Votes: 24,263

Comedy/Horror

38. Come True (2020)

Unrated | 105 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

68 Metascore

A teenage runaway takes part in a sleep study that becomes a nightmarish descent into the depths of her mind and a frightening examination of the power of dreams.

Director: Anthony Scott Burns | Stars: Julia Sarah Stone, Landon Liboiron, Carlee Ryski, Christopher Heatherington

Votes: 11,131

Horror/Sci-Fi

39. Ready or Not (I) (2019)

R | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Horror

64 Metascore

A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett | Stars: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny

Votes: 182,352 | Gross: $28.71M

Comedy/Horror

40. The Loved Ones (2009)

R | 84 min | Crime, Horror

73 Metascore

When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.

Director: Sean Byrne | Stars: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Richard Wilson

Votes: 44,054

Thriller/Horror

41. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

66 Metascore

When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.

Director: Dan O'Bannon | Stars: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews

Votes: 68,890 | Gross: $14.24M

Horror/Comedy

42. Barbarian (2022)

R | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

78 Metascore

A woman staying at an Airbnb discovers that the house she has rented is not what it seems.

Director: Zach Cregger | Stars: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis

Votes: 180,228

Horror/Thriller

43. 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: 132,457 | Gross: $4.27M

Mystery/Horror

44. 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: 179,543 | Gross: $76.61M

Horror/Thriller

45. The Transfiguration (2016)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Horror

65 Metascore

When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.

Director: Michael O'Shea | Stars: Eric Ruffin, Karin Cherches, Chloë Levine, Luis Scott

Votes: 4,070 | Gross: $0.02M

Drama/Horror

46. Sinister (I) (2012)

R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

53 Metascore

A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.

Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Thompson

Votes: 280,115 | Gross: $48.09M

Horror/Mystery

47. Sputnik (2020)

Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

61 Metascore

The lone survivor of an enigmatic spaceship incident hasn't returned home alone - hiding inside his body is a dangerous creature.

Director: Egor Abramenko | Stars: Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov, Anton Vasilev

Votes: 27,252

Sci-Fi/Horror

48. The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023)

Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

62 Metascore

Vicaria is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life.

Director: Bomani J. Story | Stars: Laya DeLeon Hayes, Denzel Whitaker, Chad L. Coleman, Reilly Brooke Stith

Votes: 1,884

Horror/Fantasy

49. Annihilation (I) (2018)

R | 115 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror

79 Metascore

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

Director: Alex Garland | Stars: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Benedict Wong

Votes: 361,387 | Gross: $32.73M

Adventure/Horror

50. Nina Forever (2015)

R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror

75 Metascore

Suicidal Rob starts dating a colleague at the supermarket. But whenever they have sex, his dead girlfriend, Nina, pops up.

Directors: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine | Stars: Cian Barry, Abigail Hardingham, Mandeep Dhillon, Katharine Bennett-Fox

Votes: 5,245

Drama/Horror



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