Greatest Horror Top 30
by evilbass2004 | created - 16 May 2015 | updated - 16 May 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 454,659 | Gross: $232.91M
Don't worry about the director's cut - it's rubbish. Go for the original. Sequence of events makes lots more sense. Saw this when I was 12. I've never gotten over it.
2. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 659,041 | Gross: $260.00M
Some say this isn't horror. If you grew up in the lat 70's/early 80's you'd beg to differ.
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: 762,532 | Gross: $85.16M
The greatest film of all time is the 3rd greatest horror of all time. Yep, it's scifi, but it's horror too. Epic, brilliant film. Hands up for James Cameron to go back to dark scifi.
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,547,237 | Gross: $130.74M
Truly original thriller/horror. Stands the test of time, and was pretty much Anthony Hopkins's last ever good film.
5. Evil Dead II (1987)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
Ash Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Votes: 181,813 | Gross: $5.92M
Scary, hilarious, and severely underrated. "Groovy"
6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
R | 81 min | Horror, Mystery
Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.
Directors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Stars: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard, Bob Griffin
Votes: 285,279 | Gross: $140.54M
Scared the living *beep* out of me. I got got caught up in the hype and watched the mock doco a few days before - which added severely to the creepiness.
7. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,105,583 | Gross: $44.02M
Yes, Kubrick at his finest. It's a goddam shame SK wrote that godawful sequel. Please don't make it into a movie.
8. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Campbell Scott
Votes: 140,012 | Gross: $75.07M
Only posession film that's come close to 'The Exorcist' in cerebral creepiness.
9. The Exorcist III (1990)
R | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.
Director: William Peter Blatty | Stars: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller
Votes: 38,806 | Gross: $26.10M
Yes, all the other sequels and prequels were trash, but this is great. 'The thing in white with the scissors' is my only warning.
10. Warlock (1989)
R | 103 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
A warlock flees from the 17th to the 20th century, with a witch-hunter in hot pursuit.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Julian Sands, Lori Singer, Richard E. Grant, Mary Woronov
Votes: 18,960 | Gross: $9.09M
I love this film. So underrated, with the baddest bad guy ever.
11. 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: 120,410 | Gross: $30.57M
The first 15 mins of this film haunted my childhood.
12. 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: 450,416 | Gross: $42.07M
Awesome. So good it's silly good.
13. The Gate (1987)
PG-13 | 85 min | Fantasy, Horror
Kids left home alone accidentally unleash a horde of malevolent demons from a mysterious hole in their suburban backyard.
Director: Tibor Takács | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp, Kelly Rowan
Votes: 19,572 | Gross: $13.54M
For a kids movie this packs lots of punch. A bit out of date now, but 80's horror at its finest.
14. Misery (1990)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen
Votes: 235,383 | Gross: $61.28M
'Hoblingly' good.
15. 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: 179,450 | Gross: $76.61M
I had to put it in there.
16. Fright Night (1985)
R | 106 min | Horror
"Fright Night" sees a teenager believing that the newcomer in his neighborhood is a vampire. He turns to an actor in a television hosted horror movie show for help to deal with the undead.
Director: Tom Holland | Stars: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 78,593 | Gross: $24.92M
The remake wasn't a patch on this.
17. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,398 | Gross: $25.75M
Spectacular twist half way through. I always loved the non-vamp bit best though!
18. 1408 (2007)
PG-13 | 104 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A man who specialises in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Director: Mikael Håfström | Stars: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub
Votes: 293,939 | Gross: $71.99M
Scary as *beep*. This one's a haunter.
19. 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: 246,759 | Gross: $26.02M
Great!
20. 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: 340,057 | Gross: $25.59M
Awesome adaption of one of SK's finest short stories. Ends differently, but I still dig it.
21. The Sacrament (2013)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
A news team trails a man as he travels into the world of Eden Parish to find his missing sister, where it becomes apparent that this paradise may not be as it seems.
Director: Ti West | Stars: Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Kentucker Audley, Amy Seimetz
Votes: 20,894 | Gross: $0.01M
Indi film with a difference. Intelligent, well-thought out plot with a show stealing performance from the bad guy.
22. 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: 445,218 | Gross: $45.06M
You've got to love Danny Boyle doing horror.
23. The Others (2001)
PG-13 | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
In 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann
Votes: 393,039 | Gross: $96.52M
24. 30 Days of Night (2007)
R | 113 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.
Director: David Slade | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster
Votes: 189,300 | Gross: $39.57M
Great adaption of the graphic novel.
25. Rogue (2007)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Horror
An American journalist on assignment in the Australian outback encounters a man-eating crocodile while trapped on a rapidly flooding mud island.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington, Caroline Brazier
Votes: 33,395 | Gross: $0.01M
If you like your Aussie horror - and don't mind 'chomp horror' - this is great.
26. The Sixth Sense (1999)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Votes: 1,050,687 | Gross: $293.51M
M Night never made one again like this one.
27. 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: 206,528 | Gross: $33.80M
SK again in his heyday.
28. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,601 | Gross: $0.01M
Not classed as a horror, but proabably the most disturbingly horrifying film I've ever seen, and it stayed with me for weeks. What makes it even more nightmarish is that it's all true.
29. The Ninth Gate (1999)
R | 133 min | Mystery, Thriller
A book broker discovers his latest find may summon Satan.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner
Votes: 197,378 | Gross: $18.66M
Eerie, smart and awesome.
30. Orphan (2009)
R | 123 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder
Votes: 252,174 | Gross: $41.60M
She still scares the *beep* outta me.
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