top horror movies by critics
by ajabgul_swagger | created - 23 Dec 2017 | updated - 4 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 38,656
2. 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: 69,899 | Gross: $24.95M
3. 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: 44,078
4. Green Room (2015)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Patrick Stewart
Votes: 139,322 | Gross: $3.22M
5. Re-Animator (1985)
Unrated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
Votes: 71,538 | Gross: $2.02M
6. Zombieland (2009)
R | 88 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.
Director: Ruben Fleischer | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 621,674 | Gross: $75.59M
7. 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: 89,179 | Gross: $0.51M
8. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,655 | Gross: $5.10M
9. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Passed | 93 min | Horror
A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.
Directors: Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney, Ernst Laemmle, Edward Sedgwick | Stars: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe
Votes: 20,116 | Gross: $3.75M
10. We Are Still Here (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 84 min | Horror, Mystery
In the cold, wintery fields of New England, a lonely old house wakes up every thirty years - and demands a sacrifice.
Director: Ted Geoghegan | Stars: Andrew Sensenig, Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, Lisa Marie
Votes: 19,922
11. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Levi Stubbs
Votes: 86,435 | Gross: $38.75M
12. Cronos (1992)
R | 94 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel
Votes: 33,139 | Gross: $0.62M
13. Near Dark (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror
A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Votes: 44,766 | Gross: $3.37M
14. Russian Ark (2002)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky
Votes: 21,828 | Gross: $0.04M
15. Chronicle (2012)
PG-13 | 84 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery underground. Soon they find their lives spinning out of control and their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides.
Director: Josh Trank | Stars: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly
Votes: 264,552 | Gross: $64.58M
16. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
R | 99 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Twin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don't recognize.
Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Stars: Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Susanne Wuest, Hans Escher
Votes: 59,807 | Gross: $1.17M
17. Slither (2006)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.
Director: James Gunn | Stars: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Don Thompson
Votes: 88,914 | Gross: $7.77M
18. 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: 52,320 | Gross: $0.00M
19. Altered States (1980)
R | 102 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid
Votes: 38,657 | Gross: $19.85M
20. Gremlins (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, John Louie
Votes: 247,932 | Gross: $148.17M
21. Spring (I) (2014)
Not Rated | 109 min | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi
A young man in a personal tailspin flees from US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Lou Taylor Pucci, Nadia Hilker, Francesco Carnelutti, Nick Nevern
Votes: 31,413 | Gross: $0.05M
22. Backcountry (I) (2014)
R | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
An urban couple goes camping in the woods and find themselves lost in the territory of a predatory black bear.
Director: Adam MacDonald | Stars: Jeff Roop, Missy Peregrym, Nicholas Campbell, Eric Balfour
Votes: 24,213
23. The Lure (2015)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
In Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.
Director: Agnieszka Smoczynska | Stars: Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka
Votes: 9,799 | Gross: $0.10M
24. Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A sound engineer's work for an Italian horror studio becomes a terrifying case of life imitating art.
Director: Peter Strickland | Stars: Toby Jones, Antonio Mancino, Guido Adorni, Susanna Cappellaro
Votes: 17,433
25. Santa Sangre (1989)
NC-17 | 123 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes "her arms".
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Stars: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou
Votes: 23,342
26. Willow Creek (2013)
Not Rated | 80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A man and his girlfriend camp in the woods to capture firsthand evidence of Bigfoot.
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait | Stars: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Bucky Sinister
Votes: 12,855
27. Beetlejuice (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Annie McEnroe
Votes: 340,335 | Gross: $73.71M
28. Dressed to Kill (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Votes: 48,260 | Gross: $31.90M
29. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002)
Not Rated | 73 min | Drama, Horror, Musical
A ballet rendition of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", stylized as an Expressionistic silent film.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Wei-Qiang Zhang, Tara Birtwhistle, David Moroni, CindyMarie Small
Votes: 2,236 | Gross: $0.06M
30. The House of the Devil (2009)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery
In 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.
Director: Ti West | Stars: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig
Votes: 51,297 | Gross: $0.10M
31. Save the Green Planet! (2003)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Byeong-gu believes that the world is on the verge of an alien invasion, and sets out to save the world.
Director: Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yun-shik, Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jae-yong
Votes: 8,707 | Gross: $0.01M
32. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 39,725 | Gross: $2.42M
33. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower
Votes: 145,586 | Gross: $13.01M
34. Cam (2018)
TV-MA | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Alice, an ambitious camgirl, wakes up one day to discover she's been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself.
Director: Daniel Goldhaber | Stars: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, Devin Druid
Votes: 36,095
35. The Endless (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
As kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington
Votes: 49,456 | Gross: $0.27M
36. House of Wax (1953)
GP | 88 min | Horror
An associate burns down a wax museum with the owner inside, but he survives only to become vengeful and murderous.
Director: André De Toth | Stars: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones
Votes: 20,267 | Gross: $23.75M
37. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Mystery
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky | Stars: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla, János Derzsi
Votes: 15,971 | Gross: $0.03M
38. Starfish (2018)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A unique, intimate portrayal of a girl grieving for the loss of her best friend, which just so happens to take place on the day the world ends.
Director: A.T. White | Stars: Virginia Gardner, Christina Masterson, Eric Beecroft, Natalie Mitchell
Votes: 3,662 | Gross: $0.01M
39. Crawl (I) (2019)
R | 87 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A young woman, while attempting to save her father during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson
Votes: 94,078 | Gross: $39.01M
40. Julia's Eyes (2010)
Not Rated | 118 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.
Director: Guillem Morales | Stars: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui, Francesc Orella
Votes: 37,433
41. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Horror
Doctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar Anton Phibes seeks revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the death of his wife.
Director: Robert Fuest | Stars: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas
Votes: 16,684 | Gross: $0.55M
42. The Mummy (1932)
Approved | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror
A resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
Director: Karl Freund | Stars: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron
Votes: 30,144
43. Hush (I) (2016)
R | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
A deaf and mute writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.
Director: Mike Flanagan | Stars: John Gallagher Jr., Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Samantha Sloyan
Votes: 153,875
44. Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Passed | 70 min | Film-Noir, Horror, Sci-Fi
A mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.
Director: Erle C. Kenton | Stars: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams
Votes: 10,909
45. Horror of Dracula (1958)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama, Horror
When Jonathan Harker rouses the ire of Count Dracula for accepting a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, his friend Dr. Van Helsing pursues the predatory villain.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling
Votes: 27,986
46. The Witches (1990)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jasen Fisher, Rowan Atkinson
Votes: 54,680 | Gross: $10.36M
47. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Passed | 98 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert
Votes: 15,813 | Gross: $2.79M
48. The Wolf Man (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Horror, Mystery, Romance
Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 30,730
49. Dead of Night (1945)
Approved | 77 min | Drama, Horror
Guests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer | Stars: Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall
Votes: 14,222
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