It’s that time of year. Time for a list of 31 awesome horror movies for all horror-junkies to enjoy! I’ve watched ’em all folks! I’m also including trailers so you can preview any you haven’t seen yet, ya welcome.
But first, let’s chat a moment.
Guys. It’s FAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL.
The LEAVES. The FOOD. SPOOKY BASKETS. OCTOBER – my birthday nbd… HALLOWEEEEEEEN.
Every. Thing.
All of it. It’s great.
It’s especially great if you’re a horror movie fan, like me. Usually, I have to trick people into going to a scary movie with me, but this time of year, it’s almost a required activity. Which makes me sooooo happy. Watching horror movies alone is a drag, man. And I’m ALWAYS on the search for a good horror flick.
A rad book for the horror fan in your life (which, if you’re reading this, is probably you.) Screaming for Pleasure by S. A. Bradley.
If you’re a reader, and maybe interested in something a little less horror and a little more classic Halloween/Fall vibes, I HIGHLY recommend checking out the book The Halloween Tree, you can see my quick review here.
When a really good scary movie comes along – one that sticks with you for years – it’s the best. Finally, something that breaks the mold. But they are so few and far between.
Really, I can enjoy most horror movies, but the ones that really stick out in quality or scare-factor don’t come alone that often. But when they do. OOOOooogurl. It makes my life. There are horror movies I’ve watched and forgot. There are ones that make me cringe (pointless shock-factor – cough*The Human Centipede*cough*) and ones that are a fun, predictable ride – what’s up, Scream.
For the other horror fans on the internet (I know you’re out there) I thought I’d put together my personal list of the best, most memorable horror movies I’ve seen to date. There’s 31 of ’em, so if you’re really committed you could watch one a day for all of October!
I’d love to hear any recommendations for movies I should check out this Halloween season too, so leave a comment and let me know what I should watch next!
In no particular order, let the horror begin!
Creature Features
Ya know what we’re talkin’ about here: The monsters “we know” aren’t real… Buuuuuuuuuuut.
1.Dog Soldiers(2002)
This was the first horror movie I ever saw. It was on in the living room at my dad’s and he just sorta let me and my brother watch it when we were probably too young. Of course we thought it was great and I make a point of rewatching it every now and then. I can’t get over the werewolves on stilts (you’ll get it when you watch it.)
A guy boxes a werewolf. I meeaaaan, c’mon. You can’t get better than that.
2.The Descent (2005)
I’ve gone spelunking, and if you think I start seeing things in the dark every time solely because of this movie – you. are. right.
This movie actually has female characters that act like real people doing real people things. It’s crazy how movies become that much better when you write women like human beings. Whodathunkit.
Aside from that bonus, The Descent is also a truly unnerving movie. If you enjoy exploring caves, seriously, don’t watch it.
3.It (2017)
I mean, okaaay. Can we talk about Bill Skarsgard’s performance in this remake of one of the all-time classic horror films? AH-MAZING. So creepy. So awful. I hate him. But it was GREAT.
It has everything I hoped for from the remake. It keeps the nostalgic feeling alive, especially since it’s set when the characters are kids in the same timeline as the original. But the horror got a BIG upgrade. The new pennywise is (IMO) miles scarier than the original. No hate on the legend that is Tim Curry.
4.A Quiet Place (2018)
Ok.
Oh. Kay.
Oooookay. Guys. This movie. THIS movie.
I’m not even sure where to start. There’s so much good about this movie. The premise – a world where making any sound could get your killed – is really interesting. But then you add in all the great actors, and an actual deaf actress to play a deaf character (YAASSSS) and the story about a family trying to live in silence, almost constantly in fear.
My mom is NOT a horror movie fan, but I talked her into seeing this one because of how good it is. It’s heart-wrenching. A horror movie. Heart-wrenching.
It is a horror movie, but it’s equally the story of a family.
When You Need Some Laughs with Your Screams
Even the most avid horror fan needs a break from the pure panic and gore every once in a while. Here’s a couple of my favorite funny horror picks for those moments.
5.Zombieland (2009)
Zombieland was the zombie film none of us knew we needed. The actors are great, it’s hilarious, the zombies are scary (and gross) enough to make you tense (fine, make ME tense – zombies are one of my triggers) and it’s got fuckin’ Bill Murray being fuckin’ Bill Murray.
6.This Is The End (2013)
Is it a horror movie? I mean??? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s got the end of the world, Hermione (aka Emma Watson) mugging the main dudes, appearances by a bunch of other celebrities – Rihanna straight up SMACKS Michael Cera, it’s great, no hate to him – and some sort of Hell creatures????
I dunno if it’s a true horror film (even though I was alone the first time I watched it and the Hell creatures legitimately freaked me out) but it’s fantastic regardless.
People Are The Worst
We’ve got zombies, we’ve got vampires, we’ve got werewolves, we’ve got demons – but what people do to other people. Yeesh. It’s not a contest, guys, calm down. Amiright?
7.Don’t Breathe (2016)
This movie is a step above the normal horror movie quality just through the story alone. It’s actually got a story, it’s not just people dying. It plays on your senses. There’s one scene – really one moment – that’s stuck in my brain and made it a movie I won’t forget. Me and a few other people physically gagged. You’ll probably know it when you see it.
8.Get Out (2017)
I probably don’t need to say much about this movie. It feels like everyone and their mom has at least heard of it, if not already seen it. It makes the list for a lot of reasons.
It’s another horror movie that breaks away from predictable genre stereotypes. It has a compelling story and interesting characters. It also hits on some societal issues, but just when you think you get it, it flips on you, and it’s not actually about what you thought it was about. If you haven’t watched it, you really should.
Even people who aren’t horror movie fanatics will probably enjoy it because it could be reclassified as a thriller pretty easily.
9.Hush (2016)
The best horror movies have something that sets them apart from the usual formula. A deaf hero in a horror movie is different, a deaf female hero is even further outside of the norm.
I’m sure there’s a way this could’ve gone sideways and been boring or predictable, but Hush made it to my list of favorite horror movies instantly. It’s edge-of-your-seat intense. It’s got some of the great horror movie elements – a house in the forest, an isolated victim, hope being introduced then promptly ripped away, all sorts of jumps and creepy moments. But at no point do you think you could just skip past this part.
I also think it’s impressive when any movie can rely on basically one character for 90% of the screentime and pull it off (I Am Legend, whatsup) so when a scary movie does it well it’s fantastic.
10.You’re Next (2013)
This horror movie seems pretty standard at first. It reminded me of The Strangers. Which is all good, it seemed like it was gonna be one of those fun ride ones, and it is just that. Pretty much. The reason it’s stuck in my mind is that it has the same element as Hush and a few other favs of mine – eventually, the killers figure out they’ve chosen the wrong victim, and it is oh so satisfying.
11.Bad Samaritan (2018)
I watched this pretty recently because it looked good and entertaining. And it absolutely was. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a horror movie with the serial killer angle, and OOOOOguuuurrl David Tennant is creepy AF. He’s awful and perfectly hatable, and watching him get away with everything is infuriating.
12.The Purge
The original Purge movie was (like many before it) a genre breakaway that led to a franchise that produced other good, but not groundbreaking, sequels.
I don’t know what it is about The Purge that we all loved so much. I feel like it’s something about a commentary on society combined with some over-the-top violence that makes it feel less real, so we can just call it fun and pretend we’re not three degrees of separation from it becoming our reality and everything crumbling around us into a dystopian, Handmaid’s Tale type future where hope is all but lost and we have to struggle to find our basic humanity again.
Something like that.
I can totally get behind those light-up masks though. Halloween 2.0 over here, damn guys.
13.A Perfect Getaway (2009)
Honeymoon gone wrong. A Perfect Getaway is kinda like clue, but on an island. It has interesting characters, features a serial killer for its Big Bad, and builds tension the whole way through to the super satisfying ending.
Found Footage
The found footage genre has some of the scariest movies (IMO) and every time I watch one I go in knowing I’m gonna have to sleep with the lights on.
14.The Blair Witch Project (1999)
YES. I realize that at this point The Blair Witch Project has been parodied so many times it’s scare-factor has been diffused a bit. But it holds a special dark place in my heart.
I feel like I have a really vivid memory of seeing this in theaters… But when it came out I was 10. So… Maybe not. Either way, The Blair Witch Project is how I found out that found-footage horror movies are 10x more likely to get under my skin than regular horror movies. I was part of the crowd questioning whether or not this was real footage and saying stuff like, “They couldn’t release that if it were real… could they?“
It wasn’t the first of the fount-footage genre, but I think it’s fair to say it got a whole new generation hooked on this particular type of horror movie.
15.Paranormal Activity (2009)
And 10 years later, they did it again!
Okay, I think we can all agree the Paranormal Activity franchise, like others before it *cough*Saw*cough* has run away with itself. BUT the original had me sleeping with the light on for a month. No joke.
Demon-y things are my kryptonite. Also zombies. Add found-footage style filming and I’m a goner.
ANYways. The first Paranormal Activity did hit a nerve. It was just a little too real and A LOT too creepy. Say what you will about it now, but it injected life back into the found-footage genre in a big way.
I wonder if we’ll see another found-footage legend pop up in 2019? Hmmmm……
Will people PLEASE stop playing with Ouija boards now? I know you won’t. Just hoping.
16.V/H/S
I don’t know what I expected when I watched V/H/S but whatever I thought it would be, it blew right past all my expectations and immediately found a place on my favorites shelf.
It’s found footage mini horror stories. Each one equally unnerving and waaay too realistically acted.
17.The Den (2014)
This made an unexpected lasting impression. It’s an interesting storyline. Again, it has that found-footage vibe, which we know by now is gonna get me, but this time it’s through the lens of computer cams, rather than cam cams. It’s unnerving because, if you know anything about technology, the dark web, or human trafficking, it’s a little too plausible.
If I’d realized exactly what it would end up being before I watched it, I might’ve passed it by. Not because it’s a bad movie – it’s pretty well done – but because I find the reality of this particular subject difficult to separate from mentally or emotionally. I didn’t watch the 2nd Unfriended (Dark Web) for that exact reason.
18.The 4th Kind (2009)
FOUND FOOTAGE! FOUND FOOTAGE! FOUND FOOTAGE!
They get me every time.
Yes, they had me questioning, yet again, what was real. I had all sorts of trust issues with my bedroom windows after this movie. And I found out that apparently aliens can be up there with zombies and demons on the list of things that keep me from sleeping.
I’m not sure what exactly that says about my deep-seeded fears, but I’m sure a therapist somewhere has an opinion.
Good Luck Sleeping
Just accept right now that you’e gonna be surviving on a couple hours of sleep a night for a few days after watching one of these gems.
19.Hereditary (2018)
*Shudders*
Hereditary.
This is the most recent horror movie I’ve watched. And it’s the first time I can remember watching a trailer and really questioning whether or not I wanted to watch the movie. That’s especially weird because the trailer honestly doesn’t give you much to go on. It just seemed… unsettling.
And oh. It was unsettling. And the horror-theme in Hereditary is the kind that usually really doesn’t get to me. At all.
I don’t remember the last time I actually like REALLY gasped *hand over mouth* during a horror movie, or had to put my hand over my eyes because I knew if I saw the thing on the screen I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Also, if you click your tongue around me now I will flinch and maybe punch you.
20.Lights Out (2016)
Be prepared to sleep with the lights on. It has made multiple people I know personally paranoid about shadows and the dark. Really it seems like any horror movie involving James Wan or Blumhouse is worth giving a chance at this point. They’re just involved in so many great ones, and Lights Out is definitely on the list.
The monster is excellently creepy – “she’s” a demon thing, so automatically ups the creep factor to me. I also found myself equal parts infuriated by and feeling sorry for the mother.
21.It Follows (2015)
I can give almost anything a chance when it has that quiet, small town, 80s nostalgia vibe. Stranger Things. When it’s basically Stranger Things, I’m in.
It Follows isn’t Stranger Things, sorry if I got your hopes up. But it does have that nostalgic vibe to it. The creators made it feel like an 80s era movie – slowplaced (but not boring), quiet, defined more by the character interactions than special effects – but it’s not actually set in any particular era.
It also has a demon-y creature (gooodbye sleep, it’s been swell!) that follows you around until it kills you, or until you pass on the curse to someone else. Like an even less-fun-than-usual STD.
Just Goin’ Through Some Changes
Change is hard. To be fair it’s probably worse if you have multiple personalities, a robot in your head telling you what to do, or you spontaneously start growing horns that open up a whole new world of TMI. But change is hard for all of us.
22.Split
Slowclap for M. Night Shyamalan. He’s had some ok stuff, he’s had some notoriously awful stuff, but Split is genuinely great. James McAvoy is fantastic and moves from creepy to straight-up scary by the end.
The story is great, the characters are interesting, it makes you think a bit (always a nice change of pace for me) and still retains its status as a horror movie.
23.Upgrade (2018)
This is high-tech horror and the fight/action scenes are really fun to watch. It does go from entertaining and even funny, to really dark by the end.
24.Horns (2014)
Horns is a genuinely good movie. It’s probably somewhere between a thriller and a horror movie, really. It has Daniel Radcliffe doing an impressive American accent, and is disturbing, thoughtful and hilarious all at the same time.
25.Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Maybe vampire movies are destined to just be a lot of fun. They play perfectly into the halloweeny, horror movie aesthetic, and Jennifer’ Body is even more interesting than a normal vampire flick because it centers around the relationship between two girls. Meghan Fox is actually very creepy, and the story isn’t totally predictable.
26.Train to Busan (2016)
So most decent zombie movies make me uncomfortable, but I can deal with slow, dragging, tripping, ‘can’t catch me’ zombies. Those are not the the zombies of Train to Busan. No. They are not. And the virus that turns people into zombies does not take a couple days of a slow, painful illness to set in.
Oh no, friend. This virus doesn’t even take a couple minutes before the victim starts getting all twitchy and snappy.
It’s basically my worst nightmare zombies. And also a good movie, with an ending that might’ve made me cry.
Halloween Night
There are plenty of movies on this list that would be great picks for getting in the mood for Halloween, but these ones are a few of my first choices.
27.Crimson Peak (2015)
To describe this movie I tell people it’s what would’ve happened if Jane Austen wrote a horror film.
This made it to the favorites pile immediately, but tbh I really didn’t understand exactly what I loved about it. After watching it a few more times and hearing other peoples’ take on it, I have more of an appreciation for what makes Crimson Peak stand out. Aside from the awesome victorian-gothic aesthetic, the interesting storyline (in a horror move, whaaaat? Yeah, I KNOW) and the great cast, the heroine is also fantastic. Actually the women in general in Crimson Peak are great. It’s always a breath of fresh air when the female characters actually come off as… ya know, human.
The Crimson Peak heroine is a sweet, young victorian-era wifey-wannabe. At first she’s headed toward one-dimensionality like I’m headed toward the nearest Starbucks (Full steam, every day, always. In case that wasn’t clear.) She’s all set to find a man to save her, buuuuuut that’s not exactly how things work out. And it’s great.
28.Saw (2004)
What can we say about Saw? Well, for starters. Literally NO ONE saw that twist coming. I feel like if Saw came out today, and people took to social media with their unmarked *spoilers* the way that the lowest scum of our time do, there might’ve been literal murders.
It broke straight though the predictable horror movie stereotypes and Hulk-smashed them into oblivion. With like, a lot, of blood and gore too.
And then the powers that be went on and kicked it way past death with however many sequels, that honestly just got nasty at some points. And they could never live up to the first.
A legend was born with Saw. It was gross. But SO good.
29.Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Cabin in the Woods is every Horror Movie trope packed into one highly entertaining box, wrapped in scary film cliches, smothered in humor.
It’s actually decently creepy and truly fun to watch, but it’s 100% here to rag on the horror film genre and all it’s predictable plotholes. There’s even a character that actively points out – and literally references how this is what dumb people do in horror movies – the stupid decisions the formulaic group of youths are making as they go through the motions of completing every step you yell at them not to take.
It’s not a Scary Movie type parody though. It is actually it’s own horror movie, and the ending explanation just cranks it straight up to 100.
30.Fright Night (2011)
This might be the most standard horror movie on the list, but I still love it. I end up loving pretty much anything with Anton Yelchin (RIP) in it. It is just a fun, blood-sucking ride. I’m not saying it’s genre breaking in anyway, or particularly unique, but it’s a good horror movie.
31.Trick r’ Treat (2007)
This is just a Halloween instant classic. Yes, it pays homage to pumpkins, monsters, candy, costumes, and all other forms of Halloween culture, but it’s also actually really good. 100% not a kid movie. It is a horror movie. There are some pretty gross parts, and a decent heaping of gore too.
I never buy movies. I own Trick r’ Treat.
SO. Any movie you think I need to add to my list? I know there’s gonna be some I haven’t seen that deserve a spot, so let me know!
HONORABLE MENTION
The Collector
The Conjuring 1 & 2
World War Z
