My Top 10 Horror Movies Of All Time

I.One,

I have been a fan of Horror movies since very young age. It was around the age of 12-13 that I started the likings for this genre. I have been watching many Hindi horror movies since then especially those made by Ramsay Brothers. Movies like Khuni Murda, Darwaaza, Khandar, Insaan Bana Shaitan etc. have been reasons for me getting scared and enjoying it at the same time.

As I became old I understood that how poorly these movies were made. The concept used to be fantastic but the execution and performance with those B Grade actors made me laugh at those movies during my early 20s.I used to think how poorly this genre has been handled in Indian Film Industry, though there was never a dearth of good story. In my quest for good horror movies I started look into more recent ones but alas I was disappointed. Only Raaz was one well made horror movie in decades. Hence, due to lack of better horror movies I began looking for some English horror movies with reference of some of my friends in personal life and of course some of friends on NG I now own a good set of number of horror movies (thanks to the Weekly Movie Thread by Ihab).

So here is my list of the TOP 10 BEST HORROR movies which I have come across. I will just name them and attach a video. With internet its not difficult for you all to go into details –

1. The Exorcist – Easily the best horror movie of all time. Here is a blue-ray remastered trailer of the movie.

2. 1920 – The only Hindi movie which was able to scare me and its amongst my top favorite horror movies. Actually comes just after The Exorcist.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=w7SlZ5isNiA

3. The Ring – 7 Days and Samara Morgan will come to get you! Scary!!!

4. Paranormal Activity – With only hand held camera it can scare you and scare you till you get the goosebumps –

5. A Nightmare On Elm Street – You dont wanna sleep again, coz if you do … Freddie is watching!!!

6. Drag Me To Hell – Surprised me, I was caught off-guard 🙂 Scared me! Watch it to feel it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUZTybLlWKI

7. The Last Exorcism – Sure it will gave a scare even to an Exorcist!

8. The Amity Ville Horror – Moving into a new house? Yes. After watching this movie. Hmmmmm…. Yap, you will think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xHJOG03eDE

9. The Shining – A lonely and new place can be so …. damn scary. Watch this movie for Jack Nicholsan. He gives a scare with his sheer performance without those make-ups.

10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – The first of a kind movie depicting sick mentality a human can achieve. A Classic!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vs3981DoINw

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Comments (44)

  2. I.One,

    Thanks for this very good post.

    Have not seen most of these movies but I did not find The Exorcist scary at all. May be it was scary for its time but I found it very funny. The girl cussing was very funny for me – may be it was because I had seen Scary Movie 2 which had a spoof of The Exorcist.

    Liked The Ring. It began as a cliched 7 days videotape movie but it was good. The scene where she comes out of the TV was indeed scary.

    The Exorcism of Emily Rose was good. Saw only part of The Shining but it was scary.

    I would recommend The Others if you have not seen it. Its not scary but it is a very good movie and the twist is really good.

    I would also recommend Psycho – it has no ghost or anything but is still qualifies as a horror movie and is a good movie.

    I would also recommend Saw (only the first part) and Wrong Turn.

  3. Sputnik,

    You saw The Exorcist after Scary Movie? Of course how you gonna like it? Anyways, its mine and thousands are of view its the best! Turn off the light, increase volume to full, make sure you are alone and then watch any of the above movies. Its a worth a scare 🙂

    Psycho as the name suggests is a psycho movie and belongs to totally different genre altogether where I and millions regard it as the best.

    Saw was again more of a Psycho movie and not horror. Have watched all 7 parts of Saw, 1st is the best. Wrong Turn is kinda Zombie movie. Very gory but effective than zombies though it does not deserve to be top10. Have watched all four parts of Wrong Turn.

    1. Scary is more to do with anticipation or atmosphere for me. The Exorcism of Emily Rose was much more scary for me. When the girl started cussing it was not at all scary for me. When Evil Dead came out people used to say its so scary but I saw this much later (in mid-late 1990s) and did not find it scary at all.

      Psycho still qualifies as a horror/scary movie and it is on most Top 10 horror movie lists. But it is also regarded as the mother of the “slasher” genre.

      I have not seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but isn’t that also a psycho movie? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw all belong to what is known as the “slasher” genre.

      Actually Ed Gein is the inspiration for the Norman Bates character from Psycho as well as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

  4. not seen half of the movies in the list..

    yet 1920 in the list is a bit of shock,,,,,its far behind being a scary film…….was expecting few other films ….but its not there

    1. Mujtaba, have you watched 1920 with lights off, high volume, alone!!!? It can scare you buddy. Its one best horror movie to come out of India.

      You can add your list where you were expecting some other films. Will give you relevant feedback.

  5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a climax wherein the grand father is shown as the one living on the blood of humans. Very old and had kind of super-natural feel to it. Others were all as you say “slasher” or psychos which is bound to be there in any horror movie. But yes we can also replace Texas with Rosemary’s Baby.

    My top 10 psychopath movies can be –

    1. Psycho

    2. Fight Club

    3. Silence Of The Lambs

    4. Hannibal

    5. Halloween

    6. Se7en

    7. My Bloody Valentine

    8. The Vanishing

    9. Saw series

    10. Shutter Island

    1. Have you seen The Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp? It is not that scary but I liked it a lot. It has a ghost so technically should qualify as a horror movie. Johnny Depp was excellent.

      1. Sputnik, of course have watched Sleepy Hollows, technically qualifies as horror movie but I found more of it as witchcraft and seems like I was watching a witch movie rather than horror. Yes its a horror movie but does not qualify to be in the best though it can be a good watch even for kids.

  6. I.One,

    You have very strict rules on horror movies 😉 I would not recommend The Sleepy Hollow to the kids though.

    I was not suggesting movies to be in the best list. I was just mentioning movies so that you or others can check them out if not already seen.

  7. Yes, unless its of some supernatural power with an objective to scare the audience a movie cant be called a horror movie.

    You see, people how group everything under horror. Horror and Psychopath are totally different genre of movies constantly being mixed up and put under the same bracket.

    BTW, never liked Zombie movies. Though there are some for fun like Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Zombieland, Resident Evil etc. they do qualify as horror movies.

  8. I confused The Last Exorcism with The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I have not seen The Last Exorcism. So I edited my above comments.

    The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based on a true story and is more of a courtroom drama.

  9. thanks for the post… I am not a fan of this genre, mainly because I don’t get scared by watching most of the horror movies.
    I will try some from this list to see if any of them manages to scare me.

    I have been watching quite a few movies lately. Plan to write a detailed post later.

  11. Nice post. I have watchd the exorcist, 1920, the shining,exorcism of emiley rose, evil dead,phoonk, raaz…
    TEOER was not scary at ol for me sputnik… Which scene scared u??

  12. I like watching horror movies. I liked some of the movies you mentioned here. Paranormal Activity is overrated, it didn’t scared me at all while Drag Me to Hell made me laugh instead of scaring me. Have you tried Asian(Japanese,Thai, Chinese,Korean) Horror Movies. They make the best horror films. Most of the Hollywood horror movies are remake of them like Ring, Shutter, Grudge, One Missed Call, Pulse.
    I also recommend you to watch The Descent, its a British Horror Film.

  13. Hi there, with all the above cited comments I simply agree with repliers, I have very recently seen the “The Ring” and I was stunned with the imagination and execution.The best story line along the right sequence of horror scene and able to hold your breath. I am die heart fan of Horror-Psycho thriller movies but really get disappointed after watching Bollywood horror movies.
    Only “1920” and Raaz(2003) were made well. I would recommend to all scary movie lovers to watch following movies.
    1] The silence of the Lamb
    2]The Grudge
    3] The unborn
    4] The Uninvited
    5] Alien
    6]Rosemary’s baby
    7]The night of living dead
    8] hostel part 1
    9] Dead silence
    10] Child”s play 1 n 2
    11] Poltergeist

  16. Excellent post I.One. have not seen 5, 8 and 10. The movies that really haunted me or had spine chilling moments while watching a horror movie are Evil dead (i was in school), the ring, grudge, paranormal activity and exorcist. Even the Conjuring and tale of two sisters were really good for its theme. Shutter is another movie along with Raaz where I got shocked in some scenes.

  17. Horror is one of my favorite genre . And the best thing is I get scared in even a half decent film 😛 . Actually enjoying a horror movie depends lot on atmosphere .Lights off,high volume,alone this is the perfect atmosphere . Got some great recommendations from this post and comments .

  18. Watched THE RING – one of the best horror movies ever seen. The suspense and tension was palpable throughout.Not for a moment my attention diverted. The screenplay and direction is excellent and the main trumpcard of this movie.I guess the perfromances could have been better – Martin and Naomi both kinda looked out of place to me. The child actor was superb. There are some things I have not yet understood though, need to think a bit more………….

    Please provide more recos of this genre based on my liking –

    I like the type of horror movies which are full of suspense and gripping rather than those who wants to scare you by showing scary looking ghosts jumping and screaming around, blood and gore. 2 of the recent movies I have really liked are – SHINING and the RING. CONJURING was excellent in the 1st half but became average later

  20. I dont get scared by watching horror bt still enjoy them , the thrill and tension is what works for me more

    I have seen The exorcist i find it good to be in list ….

    1920 although is no match to these hollywood movies bt is best out of bollywood IMO

    the ring and shining are awesome

    Rest i havent seen apart from The texaschainsaw massacre which IMO is over rated , ppl term it classic i read ,its CRAP IMHO , i think it myt have started this trend where they show a group going for trip n face some unusual things kind of template thats why they term it classice, but it neither has the chill nor thrill

  21. Stir of Echoes – A decent addition to your horror movie collection. One time watch. “After being hypnotized by his sister in law, a man begins seeing haunting visions of a girl’s ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around her.” 2.5/5

  23. Sisters (1973) Found the movie decent. It is 3 decades old movie but is quite engaging. It is about twin sisters and how they are connected with each other, even after one of them dies. “The Staten Island apartment of lovely model Danielle becomes the scene of a grisly murder that is witnessed by her neighbor, Grace, a reporter. But the police don’t believe her story, so it’s up to Grace to solve the murder mystery on her own.” My ratings – 2.5/5

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvsixXqC-gM

    1. Have you watched the movie Carrie (1976)? There was a remake which released last year too. Its not horror but its different/weird. You can try to watch it.

  25. The Fourth Kind (2004) It is a movie based on supposedly real incidences happening around the state of Alaska. A couple psychologists goes through some horrible experiences, when one of them is mysteriously murdered. Locals start getting weired experiences. There seems to be some form of supernatural or alien element involved. People start disappearing or they are victims of either murder or suicides. Milla Jovovich plays the role of lead. It is an OK movie but what is interesting is the movie is based on real incidence and it was widely reported as well. It is not the movie which is more interesting, but the actual incidences reported. My ratings for the movie – 2.5/5

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/TNqr7B5RRcI

  26. Shutter (2004) It is a Korean movie I guess. Watched it with Eng subs. A group goes through some supernatural events wherein they end up ending their life. Found it very interesting. Has some scary moments and a reasonably good story. Most of the plot was copied in English movie Shutter which released in 2008. Synopsis – A young photographer and his girlfriend discover mysterious shadows in their photographs after a tragic accident. They soon learn that you can not escape your past. My ratings – 3/5

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlzw-PZveDE

  28. I liked the following horror movies (not in any particular order)

    1. The Exorcist

    2. Omen (part 1)

    3. Dracula (horrors of Dracula)

    4. Dracula (Prince of darkness)

    5. Dracula (Dracula has risen from the grave)

  29. The Ninth Gate Gave it a watch on the recommendation of Sputnik. Movie stars Johnny Depp and was a horror / mystery with element of thrill. It is about a book dealer who has a reputation of trading with antic books which are centuries old. On one of his assignment he discovers some supernatural phenomena. “A rare book dealer, while seeking out the last two copies of a demon text, gets drawn into a conspiracy with supernatural overtones.” It is a good one time watch. Liked the way suspense was revealed towards the climax. The flow of the movie was good and Johnny as usual raises the quality of the movie by couple of notches high, just based on his performance. Ratings – 3/5

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1ueyfoNTdU

  30. In The Mouth Of Madness (1995) Movie is about an Insurance Claim Investigator played by Sam Niell whose job is basically to investigate the claims in order to prove their authenticity and fraud if any. In his next investigation he comes across a book writer Sutter Cane, who in his way shows some things which Sam would never believe it. “An insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer’s books have on his fans is more than inspirational.” A good horror movie. The screenplay is fantastic and the story is good. Being a 1995 movie, you can expect the special effects to be substandard but they are very few of them. Would qualify to be one of the best of 90s horror movie. I would rate it 3.5/5

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/v9hDRiJY6nk

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