Updated March 27, 2021 740.9k votes 26.5k voters 290.7k views121 items
List RulesVote up the best intelligent horror movies.
If you think horror movies are nothing more than slashers slashing, supernatural creatures wreaking havoc, and gallons of the red stuff, think again; intelligent horror movies demonstrate that smart horror exists - and is really good to boot. The best intelligent horror films operate at multiple levels, weaving social commentary into plot lines that are equal parts thought-provoking and terrifying.
From Jordan Peele's Get Out to John Krasinski's A Quiet Place, there's no shortage of films that prove horror is actually smart. But what are the smartest entries in the intelligent horror genre?
1
16,0471,644The Silence Of The Lambs
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins2
15,3852,080The Exorcist
Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn3
15,4592,198The Conjuring
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson4
15,4232,214The Shining
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall5
13,3932,022Halloween
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards6
14,5182,265The Sixth Sense
Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton7
12,8032,010Carrie
John Travolta, Sissy Spacek8
13,0682,080Insidious
Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey9
13,8792,223It
Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård10
12,9512,131Saw
Danny Glover, Monica Potter- 1112,4812,135
The Ring
Naomi Watts, Pauley Perrette - 127,3841,293
Alien
Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt 13
11,5042,101Final Destination
Ali Larter, Seann William Scott- 1410,8411,980
The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson - 154,929891
The Amityville Horror
James Brolin, Margot Kidder 16
9,4101,946The Omen
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick17
10,2392,13828 Days Later
Cillian Murphy, Christopher Eccleston18
11,2172,363The Cabin In The Woods
Chris Hemsworth, Sigourney Weaver19
10,0812,171Sinister
Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio- 203,215647
Scream
Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan 21
8,7171,909Dawn of the Dead
Tom Savini, Ken Foree22
9,8292,215Paranormal Activity
Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat23
8,5151,929House on Haunted Hill
Vincent Price, Richard Long- 248,3811,897
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh 25
9,8872,354The Others
Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston