Similar to comedy, horror movies are particularly personal. The good ones tap into something deep and primal within us. This list consists of movies that have genuinely freaked me out and ones that are horror-centric (that, while not necessarily super scary, have greatly entertained me with their dark, creepy, often over-the-top gory subject/brain matter).

Note: Like my comedy list, this is a list of my favourite horror movies, as opposed to favourite movies that might happen to be horror. In other words, I’m judging them here primarily on their horror elements, which is why, for example, The Blair Witch Project, one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen, places higher than The Shining, which I think is much more technically and aesthetically accomplished.

50. The Stuff (Larry Cohen, 1985)

49. Willow Creek (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2013)

48. Evilspeak (Roger Kellaway, 1981)

47. The Amityville Horror (Stuart Rosenberg, 1979)

46. The Return of the Living Dead (Dan O’Bannon, 1985)

45. The Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones, 1982)

44. Paranormal Activity (Orin Pell, 2007)

43. The Fog (John Carpenter, 1980)

42. Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985)

41. Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009)

40. Just Before Dawn (Jeff Lieberman, 1981)

39. An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981)

38. The Golem (Paul Wegener, Carl Boese, 1920)

37. Day of the Dead (George Romero, 1985)

36. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)

35. Halloween Kills (David Gordon Green, 2022)

34. Halloween Ends (David Gordon Green, 2021)

33. Halloween (David Gordon Green, 2018)

32. Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik, 1983)

31. The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961)

30. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (F. W. Murnau, 1922)

29. Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990)

28. Christine (John Carpenter, 1983)

27. The Blob (Chuck Russell, 1988)

26. The Burning (Tony Maylam, 1981)

25. My Bloody Valentine (George Mihalka, 1981)

24. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

23. Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)

22. Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019)

21. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

20. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

19. Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)

18. Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987)

17. The Funhouse (Tobe Hooper, 1981)

16. Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018)

15. Nope (Jordan Peele, 2022)

14. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell, 1987)

13. Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968)

12. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (Sam Raimi, 1987)

11. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

10. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)

9. Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022)

8. The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)

7. It Follows (Robert David Mitchell,

6. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez), 1999)

5. The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)

4. Dawn of the Dead (George Romero,

3. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

2. Jaws (Steven Spielberg (1975)

1. Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)