Top 50 Favorite Horror Films
by charmeleon0001 | created - 08 Mar 2012 | updated - 07 Apr 2013 | PublicFor a movie to qualify as horror, something about it has to be dark at it's core. The tone of the movie must be disturbing, sick or "horrifying" in some way. It isn't necessarily what is in the film but how the film is handled. The film must also have some form of antagonist(s) that can be described as a monster.
Thusly, I am excluding the following movies from this list, that many may consider horror. The Langoliers, Blade, War of the Worlds, The Mummy (1999),Prometheus, Rodan, An American Werewolf in Paris, Vampires, Blood: the last Vampire, Westworld, Triangle, Godzilla (1998), Signs, Ghidora the three headed monster, Forbidden Planet and Underworld.
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1. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 466,565 | Gross: $13.78M
2. Tremors (1990)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross
Votes: 150,509 | Gross: $16.67M
3. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 762,968 | Gross: $85.16M
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,098 | Gross: $0.09M
5. 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: 445,660 | Gross: $45.06M
6. Pitch Black (2000)
R | 109 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A transport ship crashes and leaves its crew stranded on a desert planet inhabited by bloodthirsty creatures that come out during an eclipse.
Director: David Twohy | Stars: Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Vin Diesel, Keith David
Votes: 252,960 | Gross: $39.24M
7. Resident Evil (2002)
R | 100 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey, Oscar Pearce
Votes: 288,415 | Gross: $40.12M
8. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen
Votes: 205,489 | Gross: $50.65M
9. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
R | 101 min | Action, Horror
A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber
Votes: 272,442 | Gross: $59.02M
10. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,791 | Gross: $59.74M
11. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 950,509 | Gross: $78.90M
12. Jeepers Creepers (2001)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery
A brother and sister driving home through isolated countryside for spring break encounter a flesh-eating creature which is in the midst of its ritualistic eating spree.
Director: Victor Salva | Stars: Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck, Patricia Belcher
Votes: 142,556 | Gross: $37.90M
13. Predator 2 (1990)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Predator returns to Earth, this time to stake a claim on the war-torn streets of a dystopian Los Angeles.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades
Votes: 182,574 | Gross: $30.67M
14. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,317 | Gross: $25.59M
15. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Alice wakes up in the Raccoon City hospital after the area has been overrun by zombies, and must now make it out of the city before a nuclear bomb is dropped.
Director: Alexander Witt | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Eric Mabius, Oded Fehr
Votes: 209,949 | Gross: $51.20M
16. Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
R | 91 min | Fantasy, Horror
When Cyrus Kriticos, a very rich collector of unique things, dies, he leaves his house, fortune, and his prized collection of ghosts.
Director: Steve Beck | Stars: Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard
Votes: 93,809 | Gross: $41.87M
17. Trucks (1997 TV Movie)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Aliens arrive, parking in a geostationary orbit over Nevada. Using powers unknown to us, they declare war, and use unmanned trucks as weapons.
Director: Chris Thomson | Stars: Timothy Busfield, Brenda Bakke, Aidan Devine, Roman Podhora
Votes: 3,699
18. Village of the Damned (1995)
R | 98 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Michael Paré
Votes: 34,240 | Gross: $9.42M
19. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
R | 105 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon
Votes: 383,876 | Gross: $101.07M
20. 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: 145,459 | Gross: $13.01M
21. Screamers (1995)
R | 108 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A military commander stationed off planet during an interplanetary war travels through the devastated landscape to negotiate a peace treaty, but discovers that the primitive robots they built to kill enemy combatants have gained sentience.
Director: Christian Duguay | Stars: Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, Jennifer Rubin, Andy Lauer
Votes: 29,446 | Gross: $5.78M
22. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
PG-13 | 99 min | Horror
A loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier, Lorna Raver
Votes: 217,470 | Gross: $42.10M
23. Hollow Man (2000)
R | 112 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A brilliant scientist's discovery renders him invisible, but transforms him into an omnipotent, dangerous megalomaniac.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens
Votes: 138,398 | Gross: $73.21M
24. Virus (1999)
R | 99 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
After outrunning a typhoon at sea, a strong-willed tugboat navigator and her crew discover a high-tech alien life form that's taken control of a Russian research vessel and aims to destroy on a massive scale.
Director: John Bruno | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Joanna Pacula
Votes: 29,924 | Gross: $14.01M
25. 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: 450,656 | Gross: $42.07M
26. Evolver (1995)
R | 91 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A teenage boy gets a robotic opponent after winning a laser tag contest; however the robot is not what it seems!
Director: Mark Rosman | Stars: Ethan Embry, Cassidy Rae, Nassira Nicola, Chance Quinn
Votes: 1,361
27. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan
Votes: 54,748
28. 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: 52,294 | Gross: $0.00M
29. The Thing (I) (2011)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson.
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. | Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen
Votes: 145,534 | Gross: $16.93M
30. Death Machine (1994)
R | 120 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
After a mad genius inventor of killer robots and cyborgs at Chaank Armaments Corp. kills execs, he unleashes his ultimate death machine on the new cute CEO firing him.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Brad Dourif, Ely Pouget, William Hootkins, John Sharian
Votes: 4,843 | Gross: $1.42M
31. 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: 621,268 | Gross: $75.59M
32. The Fly (1986)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Votes: 201,880 | Gross: $40.46M
33. Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
R | 104 min | Horror
Set a few days after the original, a championship basketball team's bus is attacked by The Creeper, the winged, flesh-eating terror, on the last day of his 23-day feeding frenzy.
Director: Victor Salva | Stars: Jonathan Breck, Ray Wise, Nicki Aycox, Garikayi Mutambirwa
Votes: 70,576 | Gross: $35.67M
34. Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996 Video)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Earl Bassett, now a washed-up ex-celebrity, is hired by a Mexican oil company to eradicate a Graboid epidemic that's killing more people each day. However, the humans aren't the only one with a new battle plan.
Director: S.S. Wilson | Stars: Fred Ward, Chris Gartin, Helen Shaver, Michael Gross
Votes: 32,741
35. Silent Hill (2006)
R | 125 min | Horror, Mystery
A woman, Rose, goes in search for her adopted daughter within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill.
Director: Christophe Gans | Stars: Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger
Votes: 244,002 | Gross: $46.98M
36. Carrie (1976)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta
Votes: 206,649 | Gross: $33.80M
37. Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Venomous spiders get exposed to a noxious chemical that causes them to grow to monumental proportions.
Director: Ellory Elkayem | Stars: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Terra, Scarlett Johansson
Votes: 60,215 | Gross: $17.32M
38. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
R | 98 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.
Director: Stephen King | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith
Votes: 35,826 | Gross: $7.43M
39. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Unrated | 83 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Extraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum
Votes: 9,107
40. 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: 593,922 | Gross: $13.54M
41. Pandorum (2009)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Mystery
Two crew members of a spaceship wake up from hypersleep to discover that all their colleagues are missing. Despite this, it appears that they are not alone.
Director: Christian Alvart | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue
Votes: 159,524 | Gross: $10.33M
42. Leviathan (1989)
R | 98 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
Perched on the hull of a wrecked Soviet freighter, a team of deep-sea miners led by head oceanographer Steven Beck comes face to face with a mutant creature that's the product of a failed genetic experiment.
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern
Votes: 23,782 | Gross: $15.70M
43. Fright Night (2011)
R | 106 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
"Fright Night" - A new neighbor moves in next to Charley, who discovers that he is an ancient vampire who preys on the community. Can he save his neighborhood from the creature with the help of the famous "vampire killer", Peter Vincent?
Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Toni Collette
Votes: 113,101 | Gross: $18.30M
44. Deadly Friend (1986)
R | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
After his friend is killed by her abusive father, the new kid in town attempts to save her by implanting a robotic microchip into her brain.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Matthew Labyorteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey
Votes: 8,738 | Gross: $8.99M
45. Forbidden World (1982)
R | 77 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
In the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten loose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.
Director: Allan Holzman | Stars: Don Olivera, Jesse Vint, June Chadwick, Linden Chiles
Votes: 6,295
46. Jason X (2001)
R | 92 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century, and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed, and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him.
Director: James Isaac | Stars: Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig, Jeff Geddis, David Cronenberg
Votes: 61,526 | Gross: $13.12M
47. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
R | 109 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Two centuries after her death, a powerful human/alien hybrid clone of Ellen Ripley aids a crew of space pirates in stopping the aliens from reaching Earth.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman
Votes: 263,399 | Gross: $47.75M
48. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
During an archaeological expedition on Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica, a team of archaeologists and other scientists find themselves caught up in a battle between the two legends. Soon, the team realize that only one species can win.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, Ewen Bremner
Votes: 212,214 | Gross: $80.28M
49. Event Horizon (1997)
R | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson
Votes: 197,155 | Gross: $26.67M
50. The Faculty (1998)
R | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
When Casey Connor, Herrington High School's newspaper photographer, witnesses the murder of a nurse and sees her alive again, he decides to investigate the bizarre happenings.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett
Votes: 135,083 | Gross: $40.06M
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