Top 400 Horror Movies #351-#400
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!
351 - From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Written by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Kurtzman
Starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino and Salma Hayek
Genre: Crime Drama, Vampires
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 62%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 48 Minutes
Rated R
352 - Ginger Snaps (2000)
Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.
Directed by John Fawcett
Written by Karen Walton and John Fawcett
Starring Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle and Kris Lemche
Genre: Werewolves
Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 48 Minutes
Rated NR
353 - Hello, Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
Thirty years after her accidental death at her 1957 senior prom, the tortured spirit of prom queen Mary Lou Maloney returns to seek revenge.
Directed by Bruce Pittman
Written by Ron Oliver
Starring Lisa Schrage, Michael Ironside and Wendy Lyon
Genre: Ghosts, Possession, Revenge
Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 59%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
Rated R
354 - It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
The first manned expedition to Mars is invaded by an unknown life form, which stows away on the rescue ship.
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Written by Jerome Bixby
Starring Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson and Kim Spalding
Genre: Science Fiction Horror, Aliens, Space, Trapped
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 69%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 9 Minutes
Rated Approved
355 - Kwaidan (1964)
A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Written by Yoko Mizuki (from the novel Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn)
Starring Rentaro Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama and Misako Watanabe
Genre: Anthology, Ghosts, Yokai, Historical
Country: Japan
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
Runtime: 3 Hours, 3 Minutes
Rated NR
356 - The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
British archaeologists and their American investor ship an Egyptian mummy's sarcophagus to London but someone has the amulet to revive the mummy that will then kill all those who disturbed its tomb.
Directed by Michael Carreras
Written by Michael Carreras
Starring Terence Morgan, Ronald Howard, Fred Clark and Jeanne Roland
Genre: Mummies, Curses
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: N/A
Runtime: 1 Hour, 21 Minutes
Rated NR
357 - Night of the Comet (1984)
A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.
Directed by Thom Eberhardt
Written by Thom Eberhardt
Starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and Robert Beltran
Genre: Post-apocalyptic, Zombies, Cannibals
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 79%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
Rated PG-13
358 - Friday the 13th (1980)
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
Written by Victor Miller and Ron Kurz
Starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King and Jeannine Taylor
Genre: Slasher
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 63%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
Rated R
359 - Waxwork (1988)
A wax museum owner uses his horror exhibits to unleash evil on the world.
Directed by Anthony Hickox
Written by Anthony Hickox
Starring Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman and Jennifer Bassey
Genre: Paranormal, Horror Comedy, Monsters
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 56%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
Rated R
360 - Saw (2004)
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
Directed by James Wan
Written by Leigh Whannell and James Wan
Starring Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell and Danny Glover
Genre: Torture, Gore, Madmen, Serial Killers, Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 51%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes
Rated R
361 - Creep (2014)
A young videographer answers an online ad for a one-day job in a remote town to record the last messages of a dying man. When he notices the man's odd behavior, he starts to question his intentions.
Directed by Patrick Brice
Written by Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass
Starring Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass
Genre: Madmen, Found Footage
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 89%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes
Rated R
362 - Scanners (1981)
A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.
Directed by David Cronenberg
Written by David Cronenberg
Starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack and Patrick McGoohan
Genre: Gore, Psychics, Madmen
Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 70%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes
Rated R
363 - The Black Cat (1934)
American honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshiping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Written by Peter Ruric, Edgar G. Ulmer and Tom Kilpatrick (from the story The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe)
Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Julie Bishop
Genre: Madmen, Satanism
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 89%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes
Rated NR
364 - Vault of Horror (1973)
An anthology of five horror stories shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building.
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Written by Milton Subotsky (from The Vault of Horror EC Comics series by Al Feldstein, William M. Gaines, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Joe Orlando and George Evans)
Starring Curd Jurgens, Terry Thomas and Tom Baker
Genre: Anthology, Supernatural, Vampires, Ghosts
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 80%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
Rated R
365 - The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Anthony Hinds (from the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux)
Starring Herbert Lom, Heather Sears and Edward de Souza
Genre: Haunting, Madmen
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: N/A
Runtime: 1 Hour, 24 Minutes
Unrated
366 - The Golem (1920)
In 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
Directed by Carl Boese and Paul Wegener
Written by Henrik Galeen and Paul Wegener
Starring Paul Wegener, Albert Steinruck and Ernst Deutsch
Genre: Witchcraft, Silent Film, Creatures
Country: German Empire
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 100%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated Unrated
367 - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason Voorhees is accidentally awakened from his watery grave, and he ends up stalking a ship full of graduating high school students headed to Manhattan, New York.
Directed by Rob Hedden
Written by Rob Hedden (from characters created by Victor Miller)
Starring Jensen Daggett, Kane Hodder and Todd Caldecott
Genre: Slasher, Sequel
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 11%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
Rated R
368 - Signs (2002)
A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Written by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Rory Culkin
Genre: Aliens, Conspiracy Theories
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 75%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 46 Minutes
Rated PG-13
369 - Open Water (2003)
Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat left them.
Directed by Chris Kentis
Written by Chris Kentis
Starring Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis
Genre: Sharks, Ocean, Survival Horror, Found Footage
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 71%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
Rated R
370 - Day of the Dead (1985)
As the world is overrun by zombies, a small group of scientists and military personnel dwelling in an underground bunker in Florida must determine whether they should educate, eliminate or escape the undead horde.
Directed by George A. Romero
Written by George A. Romero
Starring Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, and Joseph Pilato
Genre: Zombies, Post-apocalyptic
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 83%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes
Rated R
371 - Predator (1987)
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Directed by John McTiernan
Written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Kevin Peter Hall
Genre: Action, Aliens, Hunted
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 80%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 47 Minutes
Rated R
372 - Them! (1954)
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Written by Ted Sherdeman and Russell S. Hughes (from a story by George Worthing Yates)
Starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon
Genre: Animal Horror, Kaiju
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 93%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
Rated NR
373 - The Lighthouse (2019)
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity whilst living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
Directed by Robert Eggers
Written by Robert Eggers and Max Eggers
Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe
Genre: Isolation, Paranoia, Mermaids
Country: United States/Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes
Rated R
374 - Them (2006)
Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Written by David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Starring Olivia Bonamy and Michael Cohen
Genre: Home Invasion
Country: France/Romania
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 62%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes
Rated R
375 - Vampires vs. The Bronx (2020)
A group of young friends from the Bronx fight to save their neighborhood from gentrification...and vampires.
Directed by Oz Rodriguez
Written by Oz Rodriguez and Blaise Hemingway
Starring Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV, Sarah Gadon and Zoe Saldana
Genre: Horror Comedy, Vampires
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Rated PG-13
376 - Escape Room (2019)
Six strangers find themselves in a maze of deadly mystery rooms and must use their wits to survive.
Directed by Adam Robitel
Written by Bragi F. Schut and Maria Melnik
Starring Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Jay Ellis and Deborah Ann Woll
Genre: Trapped, Madmen
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 51%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes
Rated PG-13
377 - Raw (2016)
A young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.
Directed by Julia Ducournau
Written by Julia Ducournau
Starring Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf and Rabah Nait Oufella
Genre: Cannibalism, Body Horror
Country: France/Belgium
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 93%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes
Rated R
378 - Trick R Treat (2007)
Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Written by Michael Dougherty
Starring Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes and Leslie Bibb
Genre: Anthology, Paranormal, Serial Killers, Horror Comedy
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 83%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes
Rated R
379 - Splinter (2008)
Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still-living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror.
Directed by Toby Wilkins
Written by Ian Shorr, Kai Barry and Toby Wilkins
Starring Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner and Paulo Costanzo
Genre: Body Horror, Creatures, Trapped
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 74%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes
Rated R
380 - Tarantula (1955)
A spider escapes from an isolated Arizona desert laboratory experimenting in giantism and grows to tremendous size as it wreaks havoc on the local inhabitants.
Directed by Jack Arnold
Written by Robert M. Fresco, Martin Berkeley and Jack Arnold (from the teleplay for the Science Fiction Theater episode No Food for Thought by Robert M. Fresco)
Starring John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll
Genre: Kaiju, Body Horror, Mad scientist, Science Fiction Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 94%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
Rated Approved
381 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.
Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
Written by Tommy Lee Wallace
Starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin and Dan O'Herlihy
Genre: Supernatural Mystery, Paranoia
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 41%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes
Rated R
382 - Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters (1968)
The local yôkai (Japanese spirits) interfere to avenge a murder and thwart the plans of corrupt officials.
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Written by Tetsuro Yoshida
Starring Shinobu Araki, Saburo Date and Jun Fujimaki
Genre: Yokai, Samurai, Monsters, Ghosts
Country: Japan
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: N/A
Runtime: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
Rated NR
383 - The Burning (1981)
A former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, lurks around an upstate New York summer camp bent on killing the teenagers responsible for his disfigurement.
Directed by Tony Waylam
Written by Peter Lawrence, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Tony Waylam and Brad Grey
Starring Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres and Brian Backer
Genre: Slasher
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 80%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated R
384 - Mother's Day (1980)
Two brothers kidnap and brutalize three women for the pleasure of their demented mother.
Directed by Charles Kaufman
Written by Charles Kaufman and Warren Leight
Starring Tiana Pierce, Nancy Hendrickson and Deborah Luce
Genre: Horror Comedy, Madmen, Abduction
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 42%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated NR
385 - House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Two young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Directed by Rob Zombie
Written by Rob Zombie
Starring Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley and Sheri Moon Zombie
Genre: Madmen, Serial Killers, Horror Comedy
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 20%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 29 Minutes
Rated R
386 - The Crawling Eye (The Trollenberg Terror) (1958)
A series of decapitations on a Swiss mountainside appear to be connected to a mysterious radioactive cloud.
Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Written by Jimmy Sangster (from the ITV television serial program by George F. Kerr, Jack Cross and Giles Cooper)
Starring Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payne, Jennifer Jayne and Janet Munro
Genre: Science Fiction Horror, Psychics, Mystery, Aliens
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 63%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 24 Minutes
Rated NR
387 - The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (Dance of the Vampires) (1967)
A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.
Directed by Roman Polanski
Written by Gerard Brach and Roman Polanski
Starring Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski and Alfie Bass
Genre: Vampire, Horror Comedy
Country: United Kingdom/United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 70%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Not Rated
388 - It's Alive! (1974)
The Davies expect a baby, which turns out to be a monster with a nasty habit of killing when it's scared. And it's easily scared.
Directed by Larry Cohen
Written by Larry Cohen
Starring John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell and Andrew Duggan
Genre: Pregnancy Horror, Creature
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 70%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Rated PG
389 - Strait-Jacket (1964)
After a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.
Directed by William Castle
Written by Robert Bloch
Starring Joan Crawford, Diane Baker and Leif Erickson
Genre: Psychological Horror, Madmen, Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
Rated Approved
390 - The Deep House (2021)
Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury
Written by Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury and Rachel Parker
Starring Camille Rowe and James Jagger
Country: France
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 72%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Rated TV-MA
391 - A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Directed by Jee-woon Kim
Written by Jee-woon Kim
Starring Lim Soo-jung, Jung-ah Yum and Kim Kap-su
Genre: Hauntings, Psychological Horror
Country: South Korea
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 85%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 54 Minutes
Rated
392 - The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
A hooded serial killer terrorizes the residents of a small Arkansas town in 1946.
Directed by Charles B. Pierce
Written by Earl E. Smith
Starring Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine and Dawn Wells
Genre: Serial Killers, Mockumentary
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 42%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Rated Approved
393 - The Stepfather (1987)
After murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Written by Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield and Donald E. Westlake
Starring Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen and Shelley Hack
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 88%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 29 Minutes
Rated R
394 - House (1985)
A troubled writer moves into a haunted house after inheriting it from his aunt.
Directed by Steve Miner
Written by Fred Dekker and Ethan Wiley
Starring William Katt, Kay Lenz and George Wendt
Genre: Horror Comedy, Haunted House, Demons, Portal Horror
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 57%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
Rated R
395 - American Mary (2012)
The allure of easy money sends Mary Mason, a medical student, into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so-called "freakish" clients.
Directed by Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska
Written by Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska
Starring Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo & Tristan Risk
Genre: Body Horror, Gore, Horror Comedy
Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 61%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes
Rated R
396 - Green Inferno (2013)
A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.
Directed by Eli Roth
Written by Guillermo Amoedo and Eli Roth
Starring Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy and Aaron Burns
Genre: Cannibals
Country: United States/Chile/Peru/Canada/Spain
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 38%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
Rated R
397 - Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
The vengeful doctor rises again, seeking the Scrolls of Life in an attempt to resurrect his deceased wife.
Directed by Robert Fuest
Written by Robert Fuest and Robert Blees (from characters by James Whiton)
Starring Vincent Price, Robert Quarry and Valli Kemp
Genre: Madmen, Serial Killers
Country: United Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 57%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 29 Minutes
Rated PG
398 - The Skeleton Key (2005)
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
Directed by Iain Softley
Written by Ehren Kruger
Starring Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard and Joy Bryant
Genre: Voodoo, Witchcraft, Supernatural Mystery
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 38%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
Rated PG-13
399 - In the Tall Grass (2019)
After hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of tall grass in Kansas but soon discover there may be no way out...and that something evil lurks within.
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Written by Vincenzo Natali (from the novella In the Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill)
Starring Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted and Patrick Wilson
Genre: Supernatural, Portals, Time Travel
Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 36%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes
Rated TV-MA
400 - Body Bags (1993)
Three short stories in the horror genre: the first about a serial killer, the second about a hair transplant gone wrong, and the third about a baseball player.
Directed by John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Larry Sulkis
Written by Billy Brown and Dan Angel
Starring John Carpenter, Tom Arnold, Tobe Hooper and Mark Hamill
Genre: Anthology, Conspiracies, Body Horror, Serial Killers
Country: United States
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 67%
Runtime: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
Rated R
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