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The Best Classic Horror Movies

Updated October 21, 2020 90.0k votes 4.5k voters 111.4k views177 items

List RulesAny good old horror films recognized as classics

If you’re a true horror film enthusiast then you’ll recognize these classic horror movies that earned worldwide recognition: Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Tod Browning’s Dracula, James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the most famous horror director of all time, Alfred Hitchcock, who produced some of the greatest horror movies in all of film history, including The Birds and Psycho and other old horror movies.

The movies on this list have stood the test of time as being the greatest horror films in history, so if you're in the mood for horror, these won't disappoint. Some are so essential, you may feel like you've seen them even if you haven't. They include: The Shining, Jaws, Alien, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Halloween, Rosemary’s Baby, Dressed to Kill, I Walked With a Zombie, and Possession. This list includes old slasher films as well as scary psychological horror movies that terrified early audiences of cinema.

Vote up your favorite classic horror flick today, or add a good old scary classic that isn't on the list already.

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The Shining
Stanley Kubrick
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Barry Dennen, Barry Nelson
Released: 1980
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The Exorcist
William Friedkin
Actors: Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, William Peter Blatty
Released: 1973
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Halloween
John Carpenter
Actors: Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards, Donald Pleasence, Sandy Johnson, Charles Cyphers
Released: 1978
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The Thing
John Carpenter
Actors: Kurt Russell, Keith David, John Carpenter, Adrienne Barbeau, Wilford Brimley
Released: 1982
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Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero
Actors: George A. Romero, Duane Jones, Bill Hinzman, Karl Hardman, Judith O'Dea
Released: 1968
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Frankenstein
James Whale
Actors: Boris Karloff, John Boles, Colin Clive, Francis Ford, Paul Panzer
Released: 1931
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The Birds
Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Rod Taylor
Released: 1963
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Rosemary's Baby
Roman Polanski
Actors: Mia Farrow, Tony Curtis, John Cassavetes, Charles Grodin, Ruth Gordon
Released: 1968
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The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Demme
Actors: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Chris Isaak, George A. Romero, Roger Corman
Released: 1991
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The Omen
Richard Donner
Actors: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Patrick Troughton, Billie Whitelaw
Released: 1976
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Nosferatu
F. W. Murnau
Actors: Max Schreck, John Gottowt, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Karl Etlinger
Released: 1922
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Bride of Frankenstein
James Whale
Actors: Boris Karloff, Walter Brennan, Billy Barty, Elsa Lanchester, John Carradine
Released: 1935
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Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam
Released: 1960
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Alien
Ridley Scott
Actors: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton
Released: 1979
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Carrie
Brian De Palma
Actors: John Travolta, Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Nancy Allen, Amy Irving
Released: 1976
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Poltergeist
Tobe Hooper
Actors: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein, Beatrice Straight
Released: 1982
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The Haunting
Robert Wise
Actors: Claire Bloom, Lois Maxwell, Julie Harris, Russ Tamblyn, Richard Johnson
Released: 1963
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House on Haunted Hill
William Castle
Actors: Vincent Price, Richard Long, Elisha Cook, Jr., Alan Marshal
Released: 1959
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Misery
Rob Reiner
Actors: Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates, James Caan, Rob Reiner, Richard Farnsworth
Released: 1990
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Dawn of the Dead
George A. Romero
Actors: Tom Savini, Ken Foree, James A. Baffico, Howard Smith, David Early
Released: 1978
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A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven
Actors: Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Lin Shaye
Released: 1984
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The Mummy
Karl Freund
Actors: Boris Karloff, Edward Van Sloan, Noble Johnson, David Manners, Bramwell Fletcher
Released: 1932
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Aliens
James Cameron
Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen
Released: 1986
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Creature from the Black Lagoon
Jack Arnold
Actors: Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Julie Adams, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell
Released: 1954
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An American Werewolf in London
John Landis
Actors: Jenny Agutter, Frank Oz, Rik Mayall, David Naughton, Griffin Dunne
Released: 1981