Your search is over! We tell you the 100 best horror movies...
Now the 100 best horror movies can be your entertainment schedule for the rest of the year. PERFECT!
The challenge is now watching them all before the end of 2006 when the NEW list comes out!
Your first step should be to carefully go through the list of the 100 best horror movies and cross off those that you have seen a million times.
Next, decide which direction you want to go - start from the number 100 best horror movie working toward number 1, or jump right in with number 1 of the 100 BEST horror movies and filter down from there. Either way, what you have before you is a full year's worth of nail-biting, heart pumping ewww gross check under the bed good times!
Browse the *Top 100 Horror Movies
OK then...let's jump right in to the 100 BEST Horror Movies with number....
100. Manhunter (1986 Directed by Michael Mann)
99. Fright Night (1985 Directed by Tom Holland)
This toy's no doll...
98. Child's Play (1988 Directed by Tom Holland)
The Child’s Play franchise is, at best, unbelievable...and at worst kind of stupid. Still, the children's toy with the heart and soul of a serial killer belongs on the list of the 100 BEST horror movies and has spawned several sequels - including one that I have not seen yet where the doll supposedly sires a child. That's going to be interesting...
97. IT(1990 Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace)
96. The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954 Directed by Jack Arnold)
95. Willard (1971 Directed by Daniel Mann)
Hip vampires in Lost Boys
94. The Lost Boys (1987 Directed by Joel Schumacher)
We see our first "Classic" inside the top 100 best horror movies of all time with Creature from the Black Lagoon (and there's a remake in the wings). And then there's The Lost Boys. I can remember wanting to be a vampire REALLY BAD after seeing these cool bloodsuckers in action.
93. Silvet Bullet (1985 Directed by Daniel Attias)
92. Fear dot com (2002 Directed by William Malone)
91. Don't say a word (2001 Directed by Gary Fleder)
90. Children of the Corn (1984 Directed by Fritz Kiersch)
89. The Blob (1958 Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten Jr. (uncredited) )
88. April Fools Day (1986 Directed by Fred Walton)
Before Nichol Kidman moved in, Stepford was a scary place
87. The Stepford Wives (1975 Directed by Bryan Forbes)
86. Creepshow (1982 Directed by George A. Romero)
85. Dracula (1992 Directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
84. Nightmare on Elm Street 7 - Wes Craven's New nightmare (1994 Directed by Wes Craven)
83. Invasion of the body snatchers (1956 Directed by Don Siegel)
82. Fallen (1998 Directed by Gregory Hoblit)
81. Day of the Dead (1985 Directed by George A. Romero)
The first of several Romero zombie movies creeps in here, so if animated rotten flesh is your thing you'll be in heaven. We're also starting to see some of the sequels in New Nightmare - and we'll see many more from Wes Craven as we move along. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a tough one, as a case can be made for it's not being a horror flick at all, but rather a sci-fi thriller...well, it scared me to death when I was a kid so it made the list on nostalgia if you don't believe in the merit...
80. Children of the damned (1963 Directed by Anton Leader)
79. The invisible Man (1933 Directed by James Whale)
78. When a Stranger Calls (1979 Directed by Fred Walton)
77. Halloween 7: H20 (1998 Directed by Steve Miner)
76. The Wolf Man (1941 Directed by George Waggner)
75. House of Wax (1953 Directed by André De Toth)
74. From Dusk till Dawn (1996 Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
Classic Boris Karloff
When I was a kid, I got a monster movie book for Christmas. It talked about the classic movies and the horror immortals like Lon Chaney and, of course, Boris Karloff. I studied the make-up and lighting techniques that made these classic films so unique, and dreamed about one day making monster movies for a living. Well, I have a website and that's close enough!
73. The Mummy (1932 Directed by Karl Freund)
72. Alone in the Dark (1982 Directed by Jack Sholder)
71. The Haunting (1963 Directed by Robert Wise)
70. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 Directed by Robert Wise)
69. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984 Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.)
68. Candyman (1992 Directed by Bernard Rose)
67. 13 Ghosts (2001 Directed by Steve Beck)
66. The Blair Witch Project (1999 Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez)
This last grouping has some interesting members, from classic horror to a movie obviously made for about $13 (Blair Witch Project). Oh, and Silent Night, Deadly Night is an interesting one to be sure. This flick was protested and banned because of it's "less than flattering" portrayal of Ole' St. Nick...Just don't get the disc mixed up with It's a Wonderful Life... 13 Ghosts is worth it just for the creepy ghost effects, and the original The Haunting FAR exceeds the weak attempt at it's remake and has earned it's place on this list of the 100 best horror movies.
65. People under the stairs (1991 Directed by Wes Craven)
64. Salem's Lot (1979 - Directed by Tobe Hooper)
63. Urban Legend (1998 Directed by Jamie Blanks)
62. Return of the Living Dead (1985 Directed by Dan O'Bannon)
61. House of 1000 Corpses (2003 Directed by Rob Zombie)
Stupid Name, scary movie
60. Pumpkinhead (1989 Directed by Stan Winston)
59. The Phantom of the Opera (1925 Directed by Rupert Julian, Ernst Laemmle)
58. The Fog (1980 Directed by John Carpenter)
57. Pet Sematary (1989 Directed by Mary Lambert)
Before there was a hit Broadway musical, there was Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera. This movie had it all: Cheesy acting, scary gothic black and white and a classic story that has been often copied but never replaced. Oh, and as you peruse this site you'll hear about contributor Wayne from time to time - and Wayne loves The Fog and Pet Semetary.
56. Mimic (1997 Directed by Guillermo del Toro)
55. Cujo (1983 Directed by Lewis Teague)
54. Rosemary's Baby (1968 Directed by Roman Polanski)
53. Nosferatu (1922 Directed by F.W. Murnau)
52. Saw (2004 Directed by James Wan)
51. King Kong (1933 Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack)
The original King Kong with Fay Wray will always be my favorite, and the poor attempt by Jessica Lange didn't even make the list. Speaking of King Kong, I would have loved to include the most recent remake by Peter Jackson in 2005 but...although it's AWESOME, it doesn't even resemble a horror movie. Rosemary's Baby is WAY too creepy, by the way. I can't bring myself to watch that one again...Nosferatu is the vampire that started it all, and Saw was a cool concept with some awesome "devices".
Drew Barrymore cameos in Scream
50. Scream (1996 Directed by Wes Craven)
Scream 2 (1997 Directed by Wes Craven)
Scream 3 (2000 Directed by Wes Craven)
49. Jeepers Creepers (2001 Directed by Victor Salva)
48. I know what you did last Summer (1997 Directed by Jim Gillespie)
47. House on Haunted Hill (1959 Directed by William Castle)
The Scream trilogy by Wes Craven is included here as a single selection - both because they are all continuations of the same story (pretty much) and because I didn't want a single franchise to take up too much of the top 100. The Scream trilogy did quite a bit to bring horror back to the box office, and the adventures of Sydney Prescott and the ghost mask guy are definitely worth watching. Jeepers Creepers and I know what you did last Summer are both nice watches with scary villains, and House on Haunted Hill (the original with Vincent Price) rounds out our first entry to the Top 50.
46. The Fly (1958 Directed by Kurt Neumann)
45. Hannibal (2001 Directed by Ridley Scott)
44. Christine (1983 Directed by John Carpenter)
43. Joy Ride (2001 Directed by John Dahl)
42. Return of the Living Dead 2 (1988 Directed by Ken Wiederhorn)
Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster
41. Frankenstein (1931 Directed by James Whale)
40. Demon Seed (1977 Directed by Donald Cammell)
39. Final Destination (2000 Directed by James Wong)
38. Hellraiser (1987 Directed by Clive Barker)
37. Deranged (1974 Directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby)
36. Red Dragon (2002 Directed by Brett Ratner)
35. Dawn of the Dead 2004 (2004 Directed by Zack Snyder)
34. Puppet Master (1989 Directed by David Schmoeller)
Here's Boris Karloff again (I guess you can tell at this point that I think he was GREAT!) followed by a couple of movies that resulted in successful franchises in Final Destination and Hell Raiser. You will notice, however, that the sequels to these movies didn't make the top 100. They are worth watching as a bit of a tangent to this list. Well, maybe not the Hell Raiser series, as it seemed to get progressively dumber. Red Dragon is the prequel to the Silence of the Lambs series, and is a remake of Manhunter from 1986 (which is on this list at number 100).
33. Fire Starter (1984 Directed by Mark L. Lester)
32. The Omen (1976 Directed by Richard Donner)
31. The Ring (2002 Directed by Gore Verbinski)
30. Cabin Fever (2003 Directed by Eli Roth)
29. Bride of Frankenstein (1935 Directed by James Whale)
28. Resident Evil (2002 Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)
I couldn't let this group go by without another bit of commentary - Fire Starter, The Omen, The Ring and Cabin Fever are great choices for a weekend of horror. There is a Fire Starter 2 that was made for T.V. (never saw it), several Omen sequels that are passable and a sequel to The Ring (don't bother). Classic Bride of Frankeinstein is a "must see" and Milla Jovovich absolutely KICKS BUTT as the heroine in Resident Evil.
Underworld: Sexy, scary and cool
27. Underworld (2003 Directed by Len Wiseman)
26. The Amityville Horror (1979 Directed by Stuart Rosenberg)
25. 28 Days Later (2002 Directed by Danny Boyle)
24. Seven (1995 Directed by David Fincher)
23. Prom Night (1980 Directed by Paul Lynch)
We are really getting to the cream of the crop at this point with some high budget visual masterpieces like Underworld and Seven, as well as some simple but effective fare with the original Amityville Horror and British biohazard/zombie film 28 days Later. Prom Night? Well, it's just a classic that's all, with Ms. Jamie Lee at her screaming best.
Who can forget this image?
22. Jaws (1975 Directed by Steven Spielberg)
21. Night of the Living Dead (1968 Directed by George A. Romero)
Hold on folks - as we get in to THE TOP 20!
20. The Evil Dead (1981 Directed by Sam Raimi)19. The Hitcher (1986 Directed by Robert Harmon)
18. The Birds (1963 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
17. Re-animator (1985 Directed by Stuart Gordon)
16. Aliens (1986 Directed by James Cameron)
15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 Directed by Tobe Hooper)
14. Poltergeist (1982 Directed by Tobe Hooper)
13. The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971 Directed by Robert Fuest)
12. Alien (1979 Directed by Ridley Scott)
11. Darkness Falls (2003 Directed by Jonathan Liebesman)
Scary, scary, SCARY movie!
**Special Note on Darkness Falls** We've gotten a bit of pushback for including Darkness Falls among all of these classics of horror. The truth is, if I had my way completely it would have made the top 10. Why? This is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen, and embodies the essence of horror as it recalls childhood fears of the dark. Watch this one and you'll see what I mean.
Top 10 Horror Movies as of January 2006!
The movies that you are about to see represent the very best horror has to offer. You'll notice that there are two selections in the top 10 horror movies of all time that "double up" with a part 1 and part 2 sharing the slot - this is because the second movie is a direct continuation of its predecessor, and should therefore be watched together.10. Friday the 13th (1980 Directed by Sean S. Cunningham)
Friday the 13th 2 (1981 Directed by Steve Miner)
9. Carrie (1976 Directed by Brian De Palma)
8. Halloween (1978 Directed by John Carpenter)
Halloween II (1981 Directed by Rick Rosenthal)
7. Phantasm (1979 Directed by Don Coscarelli)
6. Silence of the Lambs (1991 Directed by Jonathan Demme)
5. Psycho (1960 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 Directed by Wes Craven)
3. Misery (1990 Directed by Rob Reiner)
2. The Shining (1980 Directed by Stanley Kubrick)
And...the BEST HORROR MOVIE of all time...
1. The Exorcist (1973 Directed by William Friedkin)And there you have it, the 100 best horror movies as of the end of 2005. Some may disagree with a few of the placements, and we are certain that there are movies that slipped through the cracks. Regardless, this list of the 100 BEST horror movies represents the stand-outs of the genre and if you watch every movie listed here you can count yourself among the "best read horror enthusiasts".
Browse the *Top 100 Horror Movies
Disagree with some of the placements? Insist that there are movies on this list that do not belong on a list of the 100 best horror movies, or some horror gems that were neglected? Before you get too uptight check out these Honorable mentions!
Also, feedback is important, as this list of the 100 BEST horror movies will be revised every year to take into account new arrivals as well as those that should have been here in the first place.
For the NEW updated 100 Greatest Horror Movies for 2008 click here!
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