Horror movies have always thrilled movie going audiences since the days of the silent film. After all, who doesn’t like a good scare, especially around all-hallows eve. So many great horror movies have been made over the course of movie making history, that it is difficult to pick the best ones of all time. However, we’re going to attempt this frightening task and rank the top 10 horror movies of all time.
Because horror movies are so fun, here is our list of the top 10 horror movies based on Rotten Tomato adjusted critic scores.
10. The Night of the Hunter – Adjusted Score: 106.71%
Directed By: Charles Laughton
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce
The Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is a religious fanatic and serial killer who targets women who use their sexuality to attract men. Serving time in prison for car theft, he meets condemned murderer Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who confesses to hiding $10,000 in stolen loot. Released from jail, Powell is obsessed with finding the money, and he tracks down Harper’s widow, Willa (Shelley Winters), and her two children, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce).
9. Alien – Adjusted Score: 107.702%
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton
In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investi10. The Night of the Hunter – Adjusted Score: 106.71%gate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma.
8. The Bride of Frankenstein – Adjusted Score: 108.021%
Directed By: James Whale
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester
After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) falls under the control of his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who insists the now-chastened doctor resume his experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster (Boris Karloff) remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him without understanding that his intentions are generally good despite his lack of socialization and self-control.
7. Repulsion – Adjusted Score: 108.345%
Directed By: Roman Polanski
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Patrick Wymark
In Roman Polanski’s first English-language film, beautiful young manicurist Carole (Catherine Deneuve) suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen (Yvonne Furneaux), leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend (Ian Hendry), Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.
6. Nosferatu the Vampire – Adjusted Score: 108.539%
Directed By: F.W. Murnau
Starring: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
5. King Kong: Adjusted Score: 108.53%
Directed By: Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper
Starring: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Sam Hardy
Actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham’s new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls for rugged First Mate John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). Upon arriving at a mysterious island, Ann is taken hostage by natives who prepare her as a sacrifice to the enormous ape Kong who rules over their jungle. But when Ann is rescued and Kong is captured, the real trouble begins.
4. Psycho – Adjusted Score: 109.182%
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Alfred Hitchcock’s landmark thriller of the macabre stars Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins in a terrifying tale about a quiet motel and a mysterious killer.
3. A Quiet Place – Adjusted Score: 110.543%
Directed By: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe
In this terrifyingly suspenseful thriller, a family must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) Abbott are determined to find a way to protect their children at all costs while they desperately search for a way to fight back. Hailed by critics and audiences around the world, experience the must-see movie of the year.
2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Adjusted Score: 111.252%
Directed By: Robert Wiene
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
At a carnival in Germany, Francis (Friedrich Feher) and his friend Alan (Rudolf Lettinger) encounter the crazed Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss). The men see Caligari showing off his somnambulist, Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a hypnotized man who the doctor claims can see into the future. Shockingly, Cesare then predicts Alan’s death, and by morning his chilling prophecy has come true — making Cesare the prime suspect. However, is Cesare guilty, or is the doctor controlling him?
1. Get Out – Adjusted Score: 113.39%
Directed By: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
