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41.3k voters

The Best Horror Movies Of All Time

Originally by Ranker Community

Updated May 14, 2021 1.1m votes 41.3k voters 774.6k views722 items

List RulesVote up the top horror films in any subgenre.

These are the most popular Horror movies ranked by adrenaline junkies worldwide. Anyone can vote on this CrowdRanked list of these famous horror movies. Ghosts, zombies, monsters, or maybe just the quiet guy down the street who straps on a hockey mask for kicks; these are the films that scare the pants off you will be the highest rated horror movie? What are the greatest horror films ever made? And how many of these popular horror movies have you actually seen? No matter the answer, you'll find that this list goes way beyond the top 100 horror films of all time.

Great horror films have a long and storied history in cinema. From the earliest horror movies like 1922's Nosferatu, to modern favorites like the Saw series, scary movies have always had a special place in the collective, twisted hearts of moviegoers. Each year, new good horror movies come out that are designed to terrify, with evil characters bent on death and destruction. Will they all wind up on a list of the scariest horror movies ever made? Probably not, but not for a lack of trying.

Many of the best horror films are haunted house movies, relying on the setting as a huge, spooky selling factor. Other excellent horror films rely on nausea-inducing tactics, making us recoil in terror, totally disturbed by whatever we're watching on screen. Start with all of the ones on this list, and of course, feel free to add any top horror movies that might be missing.

Enjoy this list of great horror films, and remember: You can rerank this list in any order you like. Boo!

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1
14,735
4,269
The Exorcist
Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn
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2
13,037
5,555
Halloween
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards
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3
15,393
5,703
The Shining
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall
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4
11,395
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A Nightmare on Elm Street
Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
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5
13,050
3,134
The Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
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6
10,187
4,379
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh
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7
10,224
4,509
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns
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8
9,182
4,131
Poltergeist
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams
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9
10,569
5,023
Alien
Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt
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10
8,159
3,731
Carrie
John Travolta, Sissy Spacek
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11
7,168
3,414
The Omen
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick
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12
8,746
2,551
The Conjuring
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
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13
7,178
3,298
Jaws
Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss
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14
9,206
4,703
The Thing
Kurt Russell, Keith David
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15
7,151
3,524
The Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi
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16
6,751
2,969
Insidious
Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey
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17
8,824
4,452
Friday the 13th
Kevin Bacon, Tom Savini
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18
9,471
4,126
It
Tim Curry, Seth Green
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19
7,137
3,755
Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero, Duane Jones
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20
6,393
2,902
The Amityville Horror
James Brolin, Margot Kidder
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21
7,627
3,822
The Ring
Naomi Watts, Pauley Perrette
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22
7,021
3,099
Pet Sematary
Stephen King, Fred Gwynne
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23
6,125
2,797
Misery
Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates
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24
6,384
3,440
Aliens
Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton
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25
6,836
3,478
The Sixth Sense
Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton
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