Top 400 Horror Movies #251-#300
It does come down to personal preference in the end, but as someone who grew up on horror movies and continues to devour them ravenously, I feel like I've been able to condense the best horror movies out there into this list of the best 400. Of course there are some films that I haven't gotten around to yet (there are just SO many movies and so little time), so you may notice something or other missing that deserves to be on this list. But from what I've gathered, these are the greatest movies that the genre has to offer. I've ranked them from best to worst, taking into account things such as originality, characters, plot, cinematography, atmosphere, acting, set designs, and above all, how genuinely scary they are. I hope I can turn you on to some new movies, or remind you of a classic that you'd like to revisit. Enjoy!
251 - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Victor Frankenstein builds a creature and brings it to life, but it behaves not as he intended.
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Jimmy Sangster (from the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)
Starring Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart and Christopher Lee
Genre: Frankenstein, Madmen
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 80%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes
Rated Approved
252 - The Meg (2018)
A group of scientists exploring the Marianas Trench encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed - the Megalodon.
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Written by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber (from the novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten)
Starring Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson and Cliff Curtis
Genre: Sharks, Ocean
Country: United States/China
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 45%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 53 Minutes
Rated PG-13
253 - Crawl (2019)
A young woman, while attempting to save her father during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Written by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen
Starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper and Morfydd Clark
Genre: Animals, Trapped
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 84%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
Rated R
254 - Maniac Cop (1988)
Directed by William Lustig
Written by Larry Cohen
Starring Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon
Genre: Madmen, Revenge, Supernatural
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 50%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Rated R
255 - Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
Directed by William Lustig
Written by Larry Cohen
Starring Robert Davi, Claudia Christian and Michael Lerner
Genre: Madmen, Revenge, Supernatural, Sequel
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 60%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Rated R
256 - Interview with the Vampire (1994)
A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
Directed by Neil Jordan
Written by Anne Rice (from the novel Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice)
Starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas
Genre: Vampires, Gothic
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 63%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes
Rated R
257 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
A teenage boy is haunted in his dreams by deceased child murderer Freddy Krueger, who is out to possess him in order to continue his reign of terror in the real world.
Directed by Jack Sholder
Written by David Chaskin (from characters created by Wes Craven)
Starring Mark Patton, Robert Englund and Kim Myers
Genre: Sequel, Demons, Nightmares, Possession
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 41%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
Rated R
258 - The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
A photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
Written by Jeff Buhler (from the short story The Midnight Meat Train by Clive Barker)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones and Leslie Bibb
Genre: Serial Killers, Mystery, Gore, Cults
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 73%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
Rated R
259 - The Howling (1981)
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless (from the novel The Howling by Gary Brandner)
Starring Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee and Dennis Dugan
Genre: Werewolves
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 71%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated R
260 - Session 9 (2001)
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
Directed by Brad Anderson
Written by Brad Anderson and Stephen Gevedon
Starring David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon and Paul Guilfoyle
Genre: Hauntings, Psychological Horror, Paranoia, Ghosts
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 64%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
Rated R
261 - The Purge (2013)
A wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legal.
Directed by James DeMonaco
Written by James DeMonaco
Starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and Max Burkholder
Genre: Home Invasion
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 39%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Rated R
262 - What Lies Beneath (2000)
The wife of a university research scientist believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost - or that she is losing her mind.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Written by Clark Gregg and Sarah Kernochan
Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford and Katharine Towne
Genre: Supernatural Mystery, Ghosts
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 47%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 10 Minutes
Rated PG-13
263 - Eden Lake (2008)
Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
Directed by James Watkins
Written by James Watkins
Starring Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis and Jack O'Connell
Genre: Torture, Madmen
Country: United Kingdom/Cayman Islands
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 79%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated R
264 - Blood Red Sky (2021)
A woman with a mysterious illness is forced into action when a group of terrorists attempt to hijack a transatlantic overnight flight.
Directed by Peter Thorwarth
Written by Stefan Holtz and Peter Thorwarth
Starring Peri Baumeister, Carl Anton Koch and Alexander Scheer
Genre: Vampires, Action/Adventure, Terrorism, Trapped
Country: United Kingdom/Germany
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 80%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 1 Minute
Rated TV-MA
265 - Overlord (2018)
Directed by Julius Avery
Written by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith
Starring Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell and Mathilde Ollivier
Genre: War, Torture, Gore, Creatures, Body Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 81%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes
Rated R
266 - Wrong Turn (2003)
Chris and a group of five friends are left stranded deep in the middle of the woods after their cars collide. As they venture deeper into the woods, they face an uncertain and bloodcurdling fate.
Directed by Rob Schmidt
Written by Alan B. McElroy
Starring Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku and Emmanuelle Chriqui
Genre: Cannibals, Madmen
Country: Canada/Germany/United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 40%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 24 Minutes
Rated R
267 - Se7en (1995)
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Directed by David Fincher
Written by Andrew Kevin Walker
Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey and Gwyneth Paltrow
Genre: Serial Killers, Thriller, Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 81%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 7 Minutes
Rated R
268 - All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
A group of high-schoolers invite Mandy Lane, an innocent, desirable girl, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop mysteriously.
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Written by Jacob Forman
Starring Amber Heard, Anson Mount and Whitney Able
Genre: Serial Killers, Home Invasion
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 46%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Rated R
269 - Halloween II (1981)
While Sheriff Brackett and Dr. Loomis hunt for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to hospital, and the serial killer is not far behind her.
Directed by Rick Rosenthal
Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence and Charles Cyphers
Genre: Slasher, Sequel
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 32%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes
Rated R
270 - Ravenous (1999)
In a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.
Directed by Antonia Bird
Written by Ted Griffin
Starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette and Jeremy Davies
Genre: Cannibals, Madmen, Historical
Country: United Kingdom/United States/Czech Republic
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 49%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes
Rated R
271 - Re-Animator (1985)
A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Written by Dennis Paoli, William Norris and Stuart Gordon (from the story Herbert West - Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft)
Starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott and Barbara Crampton
Genre: Horror Comedy, Madmen, Gore, Zombies
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 93%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 44 minutes
Rated Unrated
272 - The Mummy (1932)
A living mummy stalks the beautiful woman he believes is the reincarnation of his lover.
Directed by Karl Freund
Written by John L. Balderston (from a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer)
Starring Boris Karloff, Zita Johann and David Manners
Genre: Mummies
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 13 minutes
Rated Approved
273 - Night of the Hunter (1955)
A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Directed by Charles Laughton
Written by James Agee (from the novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb)
Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish
Genre: Madmen
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 95%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes
Rated NR
274 - Nope (2022)
The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.
Directed by Jordan Peele
Written by Jordan Peele
Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Brandon Perea
Genre: Mystery, Aliens, Animal Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 82%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 10 Minutes
Rated R
275 - Splice (2009)
Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast hope to achieve fame by successfully splicing together the DNA of different animals to create new hybrid animals for medical use.
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Written by Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor
Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley and Delphine Chaneac
Genre: Creatures, Science Fiction
Country: Canada/France
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 75%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
Rated R
276 - Critters (1986)
A group of small but vicious alien creatures called Crites escape from an alien prison transport vessel and land near a small farm town on earth, pursued by two shape-shifting bounty hunters.
Directed by Stephen Herek
Written by Domonic Muir, Stephen Herek and Don Keith Opper
Starring Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh and Billy Green Bush
Genre: Creatures, Aliens, Horror Comedy, Shape-shifters
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 50%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes
Rated PG-13
277 - Alice, Sweet Alice (Communion) (1976)
In 1961, a divorced catholic couple's life is turned upside down when one of their two adolescent daughters is suspected of her younger sister's brutal murder during her First Communion, and a series of subsequent stabbings.
Directed by Alfred Sole
Written by Rosemary Ritvo and Alfred Sole
Starring Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula E. Sheppard and Brooke Shields
Genre: Slasher, Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 83%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 47 Minutes
Rated R
278 - Witchboard (1986)
When his girlfriend becomes dangerously obsessed with a ghost she contacted using a ouija board, Jim reluctantly joins forces with her ex - his own estranged childhood best friend - to identify and exorcise the evil spirit.
Directed by Kevin Tenney
Written by Kevin Tenney
Starring Todd Allen, Tawny Kitaen and Stephen Nichols
Genre: Witchcraft, Possession, Demons, Ghosts
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 50%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes
Rated R
279 - [REC] (2007)
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Directed by Juame Balaguero and Paco Plaza
Written by Juame Balaguero, Luiso Berdejo and Paco Plaza
Starring Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza and Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Genre: Zombies, Found Footage
Country: Spain
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 89%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes
Rated R
280 - Monkey Shines (1988)
A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.
Directed by George A. Romero
Written by George A. Romero (from the novel Monkey Shines by Michael Stewart)
Starring Jason Beghe, John Pankow and Kate McNeil
Genre: Mystery, Animals
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 55%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 53 Minutes
Rated R
281 - The Devil's Candy (2015)
A struggling painter's possessed by dark forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale.
Directed by Sean Byrne
Written by Sean Byrne
Starring Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby and Pruitt Taylor Vince
Genre: Serial Killers, Supernatural
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 92%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
Rated NR
282 - Attack the Block (2011)
A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
Directed by Joe Cornish
Written by Joe Cornish
Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Alex Esmail
Genre: Horror Comedy, Aliens
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
Rated R
283 - Kuroneko (A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove) (1968)
Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Directed by Kaneto Shindo
Written by Kaneto Shindo
Starring Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Sato and Kiwako Taichi
Genre: Ghosts, Yokai, Historical, Revenge
Country: Japan
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 95%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes
Rated NR
284 - Island of Lost Souls (1932)
An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Written by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie (from the novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells)
Starring Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi and Richard Arlen
Genre: Madmen, Creatures, Trapped
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes
Rated Passed
285 - Watcher (2022)
Directed by Chloe Okuno
Written by Zack Ford and Chloe Okuno
Starring Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman and Burn Gorman
Genre: Psychological Horror, Paranoia, Serial Killers
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated R
286 - There's Someone Inside Your House (2021)
The graduating class at Osborne High is being targeted by a masked assailant, intent on exposing the darkest secret of each victim, and only a group of misfit outsiders can stop the killings.
Directed by Patrick Brice
Written by Henry Gayden (from the novel There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins)
Starring Sydney Park, Theodore Pellerin and Asjha Cooper
Genre: Slasher, Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 46%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 36 Minutes
Rated TV-MA
287 - Nightbreed (1990)
Directed by Clive Barker
Written by Clive Barker (from the novel Cabal by Clive Barker)
Starring Craig Sheffer, David Cronenberg and Anne Bobby
Genre: Monsters, Supernatural Mystery, Urban Legends
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 41%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes
Rated R
288 - Phantasm (1979)
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a lethal arsenal of terrible weapons with him.
Directed by Don Coscarelli
Written by Don Coscarelli
Starring A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm
Genre: Paranormal Mystery, Shape-shifters
289 - Apostle (2018)
In 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.
Directed by Gareth Evans
Written by Gareth Evans
Starring Dan Stevens, Richard Elfyn and Paul Higgins
Genre: Cults, Mystery, Gore, Monsters, Historical
Country: United States/United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 79%
Runtime: 2 Hours, 10 Minutes
Rated TV-MA
290 - Viy (1967)
A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
Directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kropachyov
Written by Konstantin Ershoy, Georgiy Kropachyov and Aleksandr Ptushko (from the novella Viy by Nikolay Gogol)
Starring Leonid Kuravlyov, Natalya Varley and Aleksey Glazyrin
Genre: Witchcraft, Witches, Demons, Ghosts, Revenge
Country: Soviet Union
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 83%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes
Rated NR
291 - Haxan (Witchcraft Through the Ages) (1922)
Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in modern Europe.
Directed by Benjamin Christensen
Written by Benjamin Christensen
Starring Benjamin Christensen, Maren Pedersen and Clara Pontoppidan
Genre: Silent Film, Witchcraft, Witches
Country: Sweden/Denmark
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated NR
292 - Us (2019)
A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.
Directed by Jordan Peele
Written by Jordan Peele
Starring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss
Genre: Doppelgangers, Supernatural Mystery, Apocalyptic
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 93%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 56 Minutes
Rated R
293 - The Lords of Salem (2012)
A radio DJ is sent a box containing a record - a "gift from the Lords." The sounds within the grooves trigger flashbacks of her town's violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords back to take revenge on Salem, Massachusetts?
Directed by Rob Zombie
Written by Rob Zombie
Starring Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster and Bruce Davison
Genre: Witchcraft, Witches
Country: United States/United Kingdom/Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 46%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes
Rated R
294 - The Gorgon (1964)
In the early twentieth century, a Gorgon takes human form and terrorizes a small European village by turning its citizens to stone.
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by John Gilling and Anthony Nelson Keys (from a story by J. Llewellyne Devine)
Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco and Barbara Shelley
Genre: Monsters, Supernatural Mystery, Gothic
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 64%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes
Rated NR
295 - The Old Ways (2020)
Directed by Christopher Alender
Written by Marcos Gabriel
Starring Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortes, Julia Vera and Sal Lopez
Genre: Kidnapped, Possession, Demons, Witchcraft
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 95%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Rated R
296 - Malignant (2021)
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
Directed by James Wan
Written by James Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Akela Cooper
Starring Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson and George Young
Genre: Supernatural, Psychics, Serial Killers
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 75%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 51 Minutes
Rated R
297 - Sisters (Blood Sisters) (1973)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Directed by Brian De Palma
Written by Brian De Palma and Louisa Rose
Starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt and Charles Durning
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 87%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
Rated R
298 - The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
In eighteenth-century Spain, an adopted boy becomes a werewolf and terrorizes the inhabitants of his town.
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Anthony Hinds (from the novel The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore)
Starring Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain
Genre: Werewolves, Curses
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 50%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
Rated Approved
299 - They Live (1988)
Directed by John Carpenter
Written by John Carpenter (from the short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson
Starring Roddy Piper, Keith David and Meg Foster
Genre: Conspiracies, Aliens, Science Fiction Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 85%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
Rated R
300 - A Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve) (1971)
The murder of a wealthy heiress by her husband triggers a series of brutal killings in the surrounding bay area.
Directed by Mario Bava
Written by Mario Bava, Guiseppe Zaccariello, Filippo Ottoni, Dardano Sacchetti and Franco Barberi
Starring Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli and Claudio Camaso
Genre: Slasher, Gore
Country: Italy
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 85%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 24 Minutes
Rated R
Comments