20 best horror movies of all time

1. Shining

USA, UK, 1980.
Horror, thriller, drama.
Duration: 144 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 4.

Writer Jack Torrance is in a creative crisis. To earn extra money, and at the same time to be distracted, he gets a job as a caretaker in the Overlook hotel, closed for the winter, and moves there with his family. Jack plans to spend this time writing a new novel. But soon terrible things begin to happen in the hotel.

The author of the original book, Stephen King, was dissatisfied with the film adaptation of Stanley Kubrick. Still, the director managed to perfectly convey the mystical and frightening atmosphere of the hotel, which is inhabited by ghosts. Well, Jack Nicholson's amazing play makes the picture a must-see.

2. Alien

USA, UK, 1979.
Horror, fantasy, thriller.
Duration: 116 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 4.

Spacecraft Nostromo receives a signal from the unexplored planet LV-426. Crew members assume they are being asked for help. But soon the team encounters a creepy alien who kills the heroes one by one.

The cult film by Ridley Scott began a whole multi-year franchise about xenomorphs, on which various directors worked. Still, the sequels are more reminiscent of dark action movies. And the first film is a fantastic horror, where a monster hunts for heroes in a confined space.

By the way, initially the author planned to kill all the characters in the film, which would exclude the possibility of a continuation. But the producers opposed this move and forced him to change the ending.

3. Something

USA, 1982.
Horror, fantasy.
Duration: 109 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 1.

In the ice of Antarctica, polar explorers find an alien organism. It soon turns out that he attacks people and, moreover, is able to take form and even copy the behavior of any living creature. Now all the inhabitants of the station are suspicious of each other, trying to track down the monster.

The film by John Carpenter is based on the 1951 film Something from Another World. But the remake managed to surpass the original both in terms of visual presentation and psychological stress.

4. Rosemary's baby

USA, 1968.
Horror, drama, thriller.
Duration: 137 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 0.

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move to an upmarket New York area. They quickly become friends with new neighbors, and everything seems to be going well in life. But one day Rosemary has a dream about being raped by a demon. And soon the girl discovers that she is pregnant.

The director Roman Polanski approached the staging of his debut film in Hollywood very scrupulously, paying attention to the smallest details in the plot. The author wanted no one to have doubts about the realism of what is happening. As a result, the picture perfectly combines the plot of a classic horror film about a satanic cult and a reflection of the real fear of motherhood.

5. The exorcist

USA, 1973.
Horror.
Duration: 122 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 0.

Actress Chris McNeill's 12-year-old daughter is having strange seizures. Moreover, during attacks, she behaves aggressively, and then completely begins to speak in a male voice and move strangely. Doctors do not find any physical problems, and then it becomes clear: the girl is possessed by the devil.

The film by William Friedkin is widely regarded as a horror classic. The director set himself the task of scaring the viewer in all ways, for which he used shaking scenery, and creepy make-up, and many special effects. And the scene of the exorcism of the devil, many considered even too realistic, although the performer of the role of Merrin's father Max von Sydow said that he did not believe in evil spirits at all.

Well, the moment where the girl's arms and legs are bent has become a part of history: it was copied in dozens of horror films, and then parodied in many comedies.

6. Jaws

USA, 1975.
Horror, adventure.
Duration: 124 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 0.

The local police sheriff discovers the remains of a girl on the shore, torn apart by a huge white shark. The number of victims is growing every day, but the city administration does not dare to notify residents of the danger. Then the main character teams up with a shark hunter and oceanographer to catch the monster together.

Steven Spielberg's film made a splash at the box office, having paid off dozens of times and turning the term "blockbuster" into an independent genre. And it is all the more surprising that this is a story about a huge monster devouring people.

7. Night of the Living Dead

USA, 1968.
Horror.
Duration: 96 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 9.

Barbara comes with her brother to her father's grave. And right at the cemetery they are attacked by a creepy man in rags. The girl manages to escape, and soon she finds herself in a house where several more strangers have gathered. And around the invasion of the living dead begins.

The film by aspiring director George Romero was the first story in which zombies were shown in their usual form today - earlier this term was attributed only to voodoo magic. Interestingly, Romero himself did not use it.

The film has many sequels and remakes, and the idea of mindless living dead, who are primarily dangerous because of their number, has gone into popular culture.

8. Halloween

USA, 1978.
Horror, thriller.
Duration: 101 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 8.

Michael Myers has been in the hospital since childhood due to the fact that he killed his sister. But one day the already matured criminal escapes, puts on a white mask and begins to terrorize a group of teenagers.

The author's work by John Carpenter launched a whole wave of slashers - horror films where a maniac in a mask hunts teenagers. Such paintings even became a symbol of the eighties. And Halloween itself has grown over time into one of the longest running horror franchises in history. In 2018, another part was released, which continued the events of the very first film, ignoring the sequels.

9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

USA, 1974.
Horror.
Duration: 83 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

Sally's girlfriend and her friends travel to Texas to visit their grandfather's grave. On the way, they find themselves on a farm where a very strange family lives, working in a slaughterhouse. Guests are invited to dinner, but it turns out that the hosts are not averse to hunting people.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" became the main prototype of all slashers, anticipating both "Halloween" and other prominent representatives of the genre. To date, the first part may seem rustic, although there are enough dark scenes in it.

But the picture also has many sequels, and in 2017 a prequel about the origin of the main villain, nicknamed Leatherface, was released. By the way, this character has a real prototype - the maniac Ed Gin.

10. Omen

USA, UK, 1976.
Horror.
Duration: 111 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

The wife of American diplomat Robert Thorne has a stillborn child. Her husband decides not to tell his wife the sad news and takes another baby instead. The child, who was named Damien, grows up in the family like a native. But in fact, his soul is cursed from birth. Damien is the Antichrist.

And yet another classic horror film that embodies the idea of fear of children. The contrast between the angelic face of the young actor and his sinister deeds really hooked the viewer. The picture came out with two more successful sequels, where they talked about Damien's adolescence and his mature years.

But the eponymous restart of the story failed, although the advertising campaign of the film was built very ingeniously, having released the picture on 06.06.2006.

11. A Nightmare on Elm Street

USA, 1984.
Horror.
Duration: 92 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

High school students of one of the schools begin to have the same dream: they are pursued by the disfigured maniac Freddy Krueger with metal knives on his glove. And the worst thing is that those whom he killed in a dream also die in reality. The heroes are trying to figure out where this ghost came from. But for this they need not sleep.

One of the most recognizable on-screen maniacs was invented by director Wes Craven, and over the years, the image of Freddy Krueger has firmly entered pop culture. Everyone knows his invariable attributes: a red-green sweater, a hat, a burnt face, and a glove with claws.

It is ironic that in the late nineties, when the horror genre was in serious decline, the same Craven shot the film "Scream", in which he deconstructed the slasher genre and showed all the stereotypes of such films.

12. Fly

USA, UK, Canada, 1986.
Horror, fantasy, drama.
Duration: 96 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

Scientist Seth Brandl creates a teleportation device. After several successful experiments with objects and animals, he decides to try the invention on himself. But at the moment of teleportation a fly flies into the device. Due to this accident, Seth gradually turns into a huge insect.

And again, a remake that surpassed the original in quality and popularity. The fact is that the master of the body-horror genre David Cronenberg undertook to shoot it. He was able to very vividly and unpleasantly show the mutations of the human body. Moreover, he designed a really creepy and cruel plot into a good drama.

13. Conjuring

USA, 2013.
Horror, thriller, detective.
Duration: 113 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

Spouses Ed and Lorraine Warren are experienced exorcists. They expel ghosts from their homes, and also lecture on otherworldly forces. But one day they have to face such a strong evil that not only the inhabitants of the damned dwelling, but also the spouses themselves are in danger.

This film was directed by James Wan - the creator of another famous horror franchise, Astral. He took as a basis the memoirs of the real Lorraine Warren, who claims that all these events actually happened. The result was a great horror with a lot of scary scenes, which later turned into a whole franchise with spin-offs like "The Curse of Annabelle".

14. Carrie

USA, 1976.
Horror.
Duration: 98 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 4.

Quiet and timid schoolgirl Carrie is constantly intimidated by a fanatically religious mother and bullied by her peers. Aggression accumulates inside her, which suddenly manifests itself in supernatural abilities. And at this time, classmates want to once again play it right at the prom.

The adaptation of Stephen King's debut novel from the famous Brian De Palma cemented the popularity of the book and stimulated many other directors to pay attention to the writer's work. The secret to the success of the story is simple: King took a familiar story about bullying at school and turned it into a mystical horror. Well, Palma just managed to perfectly adapt it all.

The slogan of this film is: "If The Exorcist made you flinch, Carrie will make you scream." And this is not an exaggeration: many spectators at first were seriously frightened by a terrible bloody scene at school.

15. Suspiria

Italy, 1977.
Horror, drama.
Duration: 98 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 4.

Young American ballerina Susie Bannion travels to Germany to study at the famous dance school. Soon there begin to mysteriously die girls. And then Susie realizes that the school has become the place of the witches' coven.

Dario Argento is an acknowledged master of the Giallo genre, which combines a crime thriller, explicit scenes and cruelty. But in "Suspiria" he went further, combining dark mysticism with a beautiful musical film.

And in 2018, the eponymous remake of this picture was released. The new version turned out to be more ambiguous and even philosophical. Although there are also enough beautiful and scary scenes in it.

16. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

USA, 1978.
Science fiction, thriller, horror.
Duration: 115 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 4.

Alien plants appear in the American town. Gradually, they turn into absolutely exact copies of people and take the place of the originals. The only difference is that the aliens are completely emotionless.

The classic eponymous picture came out in 1955, when the United States was experiencing hysteria about foreign spies. Then the film set the fashion for the story of the alien invasion.

The 1978 remake turned out to be even more interesting than the original. The unusual plot was supplemented with a horror atmosphere and eerie scenes of the appearance of spears from cocoons. And the gloomy ending of the picture went down in history as one of the most ominous scenes.

17. Poltergeist

USA, 1982.
Horror, thriller.
Duration: 114 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 3.

The Freeling family moves into a new house, where strange things soon begin to happen: objects move on their own, and equipment turns on. Then the tree outside the window tries to kidnap the Freelings' son, and while his parents rescue him, their daughter disappears.

The creator of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" Tobe Hooper, years later, released another cult horror film, only now in a completely different style. Based on a script by Steven Spielberg, the story has become one of the finest examples of haunted house horror.

18. Call

Japan, 1998.
Horror, thriller, detective.
Duration: 96 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 3.

There is a legend among teenagers about a terrible videotape. As soon as someone looks at the tape, a phone rings in his house, and a week later he dies. And after the mysterious death of his niece, reporter Reiko Asakawa decides to figure out the origin of this tape.

It was this film that gave us a creepy black-haired girl getting out of the TV. At first, she turned into one of the most famous and frightening images, and then into the object of many parodies.

The popularity of the original film was noticed in Hollywood, and three years later in the United States they released their own version of the picture. Curiously, the continuation of the American version was later filmed by the director of the Japanese original, Hideo Nakata.

19. Babadook

Australia, Canada, 2014.
Horror, mysticism.
Duration: 93 minutes.
IMDb: 6, 8.

Amelia, who has lost her husband, brings her little son Sam a children's book called "Babaduk". But the monster from history becomes real. It possesses the heroine and tries to kill the child.

Australian actress Jennifer Kent, in her directorial debut, spoke about the deep experiences of a single mother. Therefore, if you watch the film carefully, you can see not only cool screamers, but also the expression of a woman's grief for her deceased husband. And the ending hints that secret fears still cannot be completely eliminated - they can only be controlled.

20. Witch

USA, UK, Canada, Brazil, 2015.
Horror.
Duration: 93 minutes.
IMDb: 6, 8.

The action takes place in the 17th century. The family of William and Catherine is expelled from the settlement. She and her four children set up a dwelling near the forest, but the witch steals their newborn child. The family blames the eldest daughter Tomasin for all the troubles, who did not follow her brother, and this becomes the beginning of even greater troubles.

Rookie director Robert Eggers tried to capture the whole picture as naturalistic as possible: most of the shots are shown here in natural light in rather pale colors. And in fact, the meaning of the picture is not at all about witchcraft. Much more frightening is that each hero is hiding something even from his loved ones.