The Best Classic Horror Movies
The best classic horror movies have stood the test of time as not only being the greatest horror films in history but some of the greatest works of cinema the world has ever seen. From generational psychological thrillers like Silence of the Lambs and The Shining to sadistic slashers like Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to masochistic monster movies like The Thing and Alien, each and every film on this list simultaneously represents the best and most important films in the history of horror.Â
These great classic horror movies are a must-watch for anyone who loves a good scare, and for the film buff, they can learn all the tricks of the trade that have made the horror genre one of the most lucrative and influential genres cinema has to offer. These classic horror masterpieces span nearly 100 years of cinema and chart out in 1997.
Vote up the best classic horror movies of all time, and be sure to check out the scariest movies of all time!
- 1Horror, Thriller
- Actors: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: John Carpenter
On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being ...more - 2Horror
- Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn
- Released: 1973
- Directed by: William Friedkin
One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd -- levitating, speaking in tongues --Â ...more - 3Horror, Thriller
- Actors: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and ...more - 4Thriller, Drama
- Actors: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald
- Released: 1991
- Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant ...more - 5Horror, Thriller
- Actors: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam
- Released: 1960
- Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), is overcome by exhaustion during a ...more - 6Horror, Science Fiction
- Actors: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: John Carpenter
In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings ...more
