My Top 50 Favorite "Horror" Movies
by Randomlymessed | created - 07 Nov 2017 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicMany 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
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: 591,968 | Gross: $13.54M
Comedy/Horror
2. The Mummy (1999)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
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: 459,188 | Gross: $155.25M
Adventure/Horror
3. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 68,037
Drama/Horror
4. Saw (2004)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 464,913 | Gross: $56.00M
Thriller/Horror
5. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 448,926 | Gross: $42.07M
Comedy/Horror
6. The Descent (2005)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
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: 245,903 | Gross: $26.02M
Horror/Adventure
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Musical
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: 386,081 | Gross: $52.90M
Musical/Horror
8. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 346,144 | Gross: $105.26M
Drama/Horror
9. The Babadook (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 246,309 | Gross: $0.92M
Horror/Drama
10. Night Watch (2004)
R | 114 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
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: 55,312 | Gross: $1.49M
Fantasy/Horror
11. 28 Days Later (2002)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 443,458 | Gross: $45.06M
Horror/Sci-Fi
12. Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)
Not Rated | 83 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
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: 8,964 | Gross: $0.13M
Fantasy/Horror
13. Raw (2016)
R | 99 min | Drama, Horror
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: 88,758 | 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: 47,316
Horror/Drama
15. Under the Shadow (2016)
PG-13 | 84 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 30,021 | Gross: $0.03M
Horror/Drama
16. Relic (2020)
R | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 30,072
Horror/Drama
17. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 69,511 | Gross: $24.95M
Sci-Fi/Horror
18. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
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: 38,473
Drama/Horror
19. The Night Eats the World (2018)
TV-14 | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
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: 15,778
Horror/Thriller
20. Birth/Rebirth (2023)
R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
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: 5,489
Horror/Thriller
21. Ginger Snaps (2000)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 52,103 | Gross: $0.00M
Fantasy/Horror
22. The Ritual (I) (2017)
TV-MA | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 118,665
Horror/Thriller
23. The Conjuring (2013)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 552,474 | Gross: $137.40M
Horror/Mystery
24. Saint Maud (2019)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 46,470
Drama/Horror
25. The Lost Boys (1987)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
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: 160,429 | Gross: $32.22M
Horror/Comedy
26. Talk to Me (I) (2022)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
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: 137,344
Horror/Thriller
27. Let Me In (I) (2010)
R | 116 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 127,062 | Gross: $12.13M
Fantasy/Horror
28. Men (2022)
R | 100 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 60,684
Horror/Fantasy
29. You Are Not My Mother (2021)
93 min | Drama, Horror
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: 5,794
Drama/Horror
30. Bones and All (2022)
R | 131 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
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: 56,924
Drama/Horror
31. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 137,999 | Gross: $0.01M
Horror/Mystery
32. It Comes at Night (2017)
R | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 102,684 | Gross: $13.99M
Drama/Horror
33. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
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: 119,891 | Gross: $30.57M
Horror/Comedy
34. Werewolves Within (2021)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
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: 24,893
Comedy/Horror
35. The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
Not Rated | 95 min | Horror
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: 22,276
Horror/Drama
36. Underworld (2003)
R | 121 min | Action, Fantasy, Thriller
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: 284,477 | Gross: $51.97M
Action/Horror
37. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
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: 24,192
Comedy/Horror
38. Come True (2020)
Unrated | 105 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 11,053
Horror/Sci-Fi
39. Ready or Not (I) (2019)
R | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
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: 180,773 | Gross: $28.71M
Comedy/Horror
40. The Loved Ones (2009)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror
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: 43,925
Thriller/Horror
41. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 68,584 | Gross: $14.24M
Horror/Comedy
42. Barbarian (2022)
R | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 177,946
Horror/Thriller
43. The Omen (1976)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
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: 130,389 | Gross: $4.27M
Mystery/Horror
44. Poltergeist (1982)
PG | 114 min | Horror, Thriller
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: 178,934 | Gross: $76.61M
Horror/Thriller
45. The Transfiguration (2016)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Horror
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: 4,064 | Gross: $0.02M
Drama/Horror
46. Sinister (I) (2012)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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: 278,789 | Gross: $48.09M
Horror/Mystery
47. Sputnik (2020)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
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: 27,146
Sci-Fi/Horror
48. The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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: 1,812
Horror/Fantasy
49. Annihilation (I) (2018)
R | 115 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
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: 358,952 | Gross: $32.73M
Adventure/Horror
50. Nina Forever (2015)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
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: 5,236
Drama/Horror
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