Horror is a genre as old as motion pictures themselves. The first horror short film, “Le Manoir du Diable” (“The House of the Devil”) was shot in France in 1896, and the genre has gone through numerous evolutions since then. From early vampire classics like “Nosferatu” to gorey slasher films like “The Evil Dead” to modern psychological horror films including “Get Out,” the range of fear-inducing tactics that directors utilize is limitless.
To determine the best horror films of all time, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of early October 2023, weighting all ratings equally. We considered only horror films with at least 10,000 audience votes on either IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes. Directorial credits are from IMDb.
The films represent every decade from the 1930s to the present day and range from silent classics to eerie minimalist arthouse films to campy horror comedies. Some famous horror directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, George A. Romero, John Carpenter, and Sam Raimi, have multiple films on the list.
Now there are more horror films than ever. Streaming services have given indie and sub-genre horror a platform it never had. Fans currently have a plethora of first-rate fear-inducing options at their fingertips, including serialized horror shows. (These are the most popular horror shows on TV right now.)
Here are the best horror films of all time:
50. The Others (2001)
- IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (350,811 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (344,533 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (165 reviews)
- Directed by: Alejandro Amenábar
Nicole Kidman stars as a woman living with her two photosensitive children in a Victorian mansion, waiting for her husband to return from battle during World War II. When a new set of servants unexpectedly arrives, she begins to suspect something sinister is afoot.
49. Cat People (1942)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (21,290 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (7,805 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (66 reviews)
- Directed by: Jacques Tourneur
Irena is a newly wed Serbian fashion illustrator living in Manhattan who refuses to consummate her marriage due to an ancient family curse. She fears that she will transform into a panther if she allows herself to become aroused.
48. Possession (1981)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (37,861 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (4,539 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (35 reviews)
- Directed by: Andrzej Żuławski
After returning from a business trip, Mark discovers that his wife has met someone else and wants a divorce. He reluctantly obliges, but as he investigates her increasingly erratic behavior, he discovers she’s been hiding something much darker than an affair.
47. The Old Dark House (1932)
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (10,263 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (2,779 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (27 reviews)
- Directed by: James Whale
In the Welsh countryside, a vicious storm has stranded five travelers in the home of an eccentric family. As secret after secret is revealed, the guests will be lucky to survive the night.
46. Martin (1977)
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (10,610 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (7,256 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (30 reviews)
- Directed by: George A. Romero
Martin, a troubled young man who has a taste for human blood, claims that he is a vampire and moves in with his cousin in Pennsylvania, an elderly Catholic who attempts to save Martin’s soul.
45. Poltergeist (1982)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (150,926 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (182,495 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (63 reviews)
- Directed by: Tobe Hooper
An average suburban family in California has their world turned upside down by ghosts as a series of increasingly sinister haunting episodes culminate in the disappearance of their youngest child.
44. Fright Night (1985)
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (65,010 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (49,792 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (38 reviews)
- Directed by: Tom Holland
Teenager Charley believes that his new neighbor is a vampire and turns to the help of a washed-up actor who formerly played a vampire hunter in order to catch his neighbor and stop his murderous spree.
43. House of Wax (1953)
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (17,115 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (41,386 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (43 reviews)
- Directed by:André De Toth
When a sculptor and his business partner fail to agree on the direction to take their wax museum, the business partner burns their studio down for the insurance money, erroneously believing that the artist has died in the fire.
42. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
- IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (33,369 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (14,196 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (134 reviews)
- Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
This Iranian vampire film follows two lonely young people in a decrepit city as they try to do right by the people they care about, while also satisfying their needs — material and otherwise.
41. The Omen (1976)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (112,250 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (126,066 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (50 reviews)
- Directed by: Richard Donner
When an American diplomat’s wife gives birth in Rome, the baby dies. Without her knowledge, he adopts an orphaned baby from the hospital and they raise him as their own. Unfortunately, mysterious deaths seem to follow the child wherever he goes.
40. It (2017)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (488,616 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (67,821 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (386 reviews)
- Directed by: Andy Muschietti
In this adaptation of a Steven King novel, a group of outcast teens takes on a supernatural shapeshifter that has been preying on their fears and abducting children in their town for centuries.
39. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (57,600 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (55,385 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (44 reviews)
- Directed by: Dan O’Bannon
This comedic spoof on a classic zombie film follows a group of warehouse workers and teenage punks as they fight off hordes of corpses that have come back to life after a toxic chemical spill.
38. Pearl (2022)
- IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (67,249 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (620 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (196 reviews)
- Directed by: Ti West
A prequel to Ti West’s slasher flick “X,” “Pearl” is set in Texas in the early 1900s. It tells the story of a deranged young woman who lives a quaint life on her parents’ farm but will do anything it takes to escape and become a star.
37. Carrie (1976)
- IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (175,705 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (353,181 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (67 reviews)
- Directed by: Brian De Palma
When a sheltered high schooler with a domineering, religious mother gets invited to the senior prom, a mean-spirited prank triggers her telekinetic skills, and all hell breaks loose.
36. The Conjuring (2013)
N/A
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (513,796 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (159,849 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (223 reviews)
- Directed by: James Wan
After the Perron family moves into an old Rhode Island farmhouse, paranormal events escalate until the family seeks help from two renowned demonologists.
35. Eraserhead (1977)
- IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (109,203 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (57,614 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (62 reviews)
- Directed by: David Lynch
David Lynch’s first feature-length film is a surrealist nightmare in which a man in a loveless relationship must care for his mutant child after its mother is driven away by its incessant cries.
34. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (145,895 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (202,791 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (63 reviews)
- Directed by: Tobe Hooper
“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” follows a group of friends who travel to a rural area of Texas to visit a family grave and end up at a dilapidated house, terrorized by a family of cannibals.
33. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
- IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (13,209 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (5,663 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (41 reviews)
- Directed by: Rouben Mamoulian
When a kind and mild-mannered doctor takes his own experimental potion, he transforms into a hideous, homicidal beast who indulges his every whim — and soon, the alter-ego threatens to take over his life.
32. Re-Animator (1985)
- IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (60,101 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (37,271 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (61 reviews)
- Directed by: Stuart Gordon
This horror comedy centers around a Swiss medical student who has invented a serum that can bring dead bodies back to life — but not without some unintentional consequences.
31. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (56,317 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (35,471 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (61 reviews)
- Directed by: Philip Kaufman
This remake of the 1956 classic of the same name follows Matthew Bennell as he begins to notice changes in those around him after the appearance of organic pods around town.
30. 28 Days Later (2002)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (429,321 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (482,890 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (235 reviews)
- Directed by: Danny Boyle
Bike courier Jim wakes from a coma to find that society has collapsed as a virus causing rage has rapidly infected the population of Great Britain. Along with a few other uninfected travelers, Jim must dodge the fast-moving creatures and find out if there is anywhere safe left to go.
29. The Uninvited (1944)
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (10,632 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (2,710 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (20 reviews)
- Directed by: Lewis Allen
In this atmospheric film, a pair of London siblings who have bought an enchanting seaside house discover that specters already call it home.
28. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (99,007 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (115,651 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (56 reviews)
- Directed by: John Landis
One of the most acclaimed horror comedies of all time, this movie tells the story of two American college students who face a horrific situation abroad. The film has grown in reputation since its release, due in part to makeup artist Rick Baker’s exceptional effects.
27. Dracula (1931)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (49,098 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (44,826 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (47 reviews)
- Directed by: Tod Browning, Karl Freund
Bela Lugosi made a career out of playing the blood-sucking vampire, Count Dracula. While it was not the first vampire movie, this 1931 version of “Dracula” may be the most influential.
26. The Fly (1986)
- IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (167,978 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (90,069 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (68 reviews)
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg’s remake of the 1958 original is frightening, funny, and at times grotesque. Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist, Seth Brundle, who accidentally combines his DNA with that of a house fly, with horrifying results. The movie benefits from the slow and sometimes hard-to-watch transformation of Brundle into “Brundlefly.”
25. The Tenant (1976)
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (42,042 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (11,360 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (32 reviews)
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
When a quiet man rents a Paris apartment, he discovers that its previous tenant attempted suicide, and becomes paranoid that the landlord and other neighbors are conspiring to force him to do the same.
24. The Exorcist (1973)
- IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (411,866 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (420,561 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (83 reviews)
- Directed by: William Friedkin
“The Exorcist” presents the unrelenting demonic possession of a young girl (Linda Blair). Extreme viewer reactions such as vomiting and fainting in the theater arguably fueled word-of-mouth momentum, contributing to the film’s enduring blockbuster status.
23. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (216,821 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (415,796 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (54 reviews)
- Directed by: Wes Craven
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” introduced one of horror’s most recognizable villains: Freddy Krueger, a burned killer who stalks his victims in their dreams. Krueuger appears in all nine of the franchise’s movies. The movie also features a young Johnny Depp in his first movie role.
22. The Evil Dead (1981)
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (194,931 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (202,972 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (61 reviews)
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
This cult classic from Sam Raimi put the director — who would go on to shoot three big budget Spider-man movies — on the map. Its use of inventive filmmaking techniques and dark humor made it a huge hit with audiences, leading to the creation of two more films in the franchise and a 2013 remake.
21. A Quiet Place (2018)
N/A
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (480,270 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (24,285 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (387 reviews)
- Directed by: John Krasinski
In a post-apocalyptic world where blind aliens with ultra-sensitive hearing stalk the remaining humans, an isolated family must go about their daily lives in silence in order to survive.
20. The Birds (1963)
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (179,225 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (176,695 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (57 reviews)
- Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
“The Birds,” based on the horror story by British writer Daphne du Maurier, is about our feathered friends who one day inexplicably attack people. New Yorker critic Richard Brody said, “Few films depict so eerily yet so meticulously the metaphysical and historical sense of a world out of joint.”
19. Train to Busan (2016)
- IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (239,451 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (13,743 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (125 reviews)
- Directed by: Sang-ho Yeon
While on a high-speed train in Korea, a father and his neglected young daughter must endure the beginnings of a zombie apocalypse.
18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (47,052 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (19,223 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (57 reviews)
- Directed by: Don Siegel
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is a thinly veiled commentary on the communist witch hunt in the 1950s by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the accompanying blacklist of artists said to have had communist leanings. The plot is about a small-town doctor who sees behavioral changes among his friends and neighbors, and discovers aliens are replacing humans.
17. The Thing (1982)
- IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (391,164 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (132,442 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (69 reviews)
- Directed by: John Carpenter
Based on Howard Hawks’s “The Thing from Another World,” John Carpenter’s “The Thing” follows a group of researchers stationed in Antarctica as they encounter an alien being that has the ability to imitate other life forms.
16. Evil Dead II (1987)
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (154,088 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (148,534 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (60 reviews)
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
Six years after the release of “Evil Dead,” Sam Raimi gave us this sequel. The movie’s much larger budget allowed Raimi more freedom to indulge in his creative style of filmmaking, resulting in a horror classic that is equal parts fun and frightening.
15. Get Out (2017)
N/A
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (530,461 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (76,158 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (397 reviews)
- Directed by: Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele’s feature debut follows a Black photographer who travels from Brooklyn to the suburbs of upstate New York to meet his white girlfriend’s parents, and discovers that her family is up to something more sinister than he ever could have imagined.
14. Halloween (1978)
- IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (244,066 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (303,558 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (73 reviews)
- Directed by: John Carpenter
John Carpenter’s “Halloween” is a slasher classic that inspired countless imitations. The film’s premise is relatively simple: A man who murdered his sister as a young boy returns to terrorize the town in which the crime took place after spending years in a mental asylum.
13. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (121,700 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (130,710 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (74 reviews)
- Directed by: George A. Romero
George A. Romero’s debut film, “Night of the Living Dead” created the prototype for the modern zombie film genre. The movie, which was independently produced with only a small budget, has grown to be considered one of the best horror movies ever because of its raw violence, bleak vision, and political subtext.
12. The Shining (1980)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (942,587 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (482,374 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (96 reviews)
- Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
A Stephen King adaptation that famously deviates from its source material, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is endlessly intriguing, despite its relatively simple premise. Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a writer who has agreed to oversee the Overlook Hotel through a long, snowy winter accompanied by his wife and young psychic son.
11. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (45,621 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (24,880 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (47 reviews)
- Directed by: James Whale
This sequel picks up where the original “Frankenstein” leaves off, with Dr. Frankenstein renouncing his Monster but believing that he’s still destined to unlock the secrets to immortality. He creates the Bride as a companion for the Monster, who’s played to perfection by Boris Karloff.
10. King Kong (1933)
- IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (82,510 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (90,230 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (66 reviews)
- Directed by: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
“King Kong” pairs blonde beauty (Fay Wray) with a 50-foot ape in a frightening twist of the Beauty and the Beast tale. The movie’s special effects were revolutionary at the time and continue to deliver a certain creepiness to this day.
9. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (115,719 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (204,847 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (47 reviews)
- Directed by: George A. Romero
“Night of the Living Dead” director George A. Romero returned to the subject of zombies with this classic film in which the zombies seek what they were most familiar with during their lives. For many, one such place is the shopping mall, where most of the film takes place.
8. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
- IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (203,627 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (73,974 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (73 reviews)
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
“Rosemary’s Baby” takes an unfantastic approach to its premise of a woman who believes her unborn child may have had demonic origins. The result is one of the decade’s most frightening films, which inspired countless occult follow-ups.
7. Frankenstein (1931)
- IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (68,290 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (5,681 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (49 reviews)
- Directed by: James Whale
“Frankenstein” is among the greatest of the classic monster movies. It was among English director James Whale’s earliest films and was added to the United States National Film Registry in 1991 — 60 years after its release.
6. Let the Right One In (2008)
N/A
- IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (222,354 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (61,663 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (195 reviews)
- Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
This Swedish film centers around a meek 12-year-old named Oskar who is relentlessly bullied and dreams of revenge, and his new neighbor, a pale, mysterious girl who communicates with him through Morse code.
5. Jaws (1975)
- IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (565,147 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (945,011 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (93 reviews)
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
A small New England beach town becomes the target of a menacing shark, and the local police chief enlists the help of a marine biologist and a grizzled shark hunter to track and kill the beast.
4. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
N/A
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (685,998 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (637,219 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (243 reviews)
- Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
A young girl named Ofelia moves in with her new stepfather, a ruthless Army captain serving Spain’s fascist dictatorship. Ofelia follows a fairy into the forest, where she befriends a mysterious faun who may or may not be worthy of her trust.
3. Alien (1979)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (823,459 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (460,436 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (126 reviews)
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
“Alien” tells the story of the crew of a commercial space tug named Nostromo, who are awakened from stasis on their way back to Earth in order to investigate a strange transmission coming from a nearby alien moon.
2. Psycho (1960)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (630,728 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (240,418 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (104 reviews)
- Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
A quintessential horror film, whose shower scene is one of the most infamous moments in cinematic history, “Psycho” depicts the unfortunate fate of a woman on the run with stolen cash as she stops at a small motel and meets its polite but eerie proprietor.
1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- IMDb user rating: 8.6/10 (1,332,128 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (847,443 reviews)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (104 reviews)
- Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Anthony Hopkins gives a chilling performance as an incarcerated serial killer, cannibal, and brilliant psychiatrist in this psychological horror film, in which an FBI cadet seeks his help in finding a serial killer who has been abducting and flaying young women.