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Serena’s 50 Favorite Horror Films
It’s Halloween season and that means almost every big movie site has posted their TOP list of “best horror films of all time.” Now when I take a look at most of these lists, they’re pretty generic and safe. You usually see the same horror films make it on each list and most of them are critically acclaimed. However, if you’re a true horror buff, you appreciate the films that most times critics despise or don’t even bother watching.
We welcome and admire the campiness of cheesy 80’s slasher flicks, and we love the horror underappreciated or underseen from general audiences. For instance, ‘The Exorcist’ is probably one of the best horror films of all time, but it’s not one of my favorite horror films. It’s not a movie I can buy on DVD and watch on multiple viewings.
So here is a list of 50 of my all time favorite movies and I recommend all these films to watch during the Halloween season. Comment below with your favorite horror films! Enjoy!
1. Scream
2. Fright Night
3. The Lost Boys
4. Halloween
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street-The “Nancy” Trilogy (1,3, and New Nightmare)
7. Friday the 13th
8. The Hitcher (original)
9. CreepShow 2
10. Shocker
11. Night of the Demons
12. Vamp
13. Ils
14. The Howling
15. The Monster Squad
16. Witchboard
17. From Dusk Till Dawn
18. The Blob (remake)
19. Deep Red
20. Night of the Living Dead (original)
21. Braindead (Dead Alive)
22. Identity
23. The Gate
24. John Carpenter’s The Thing
25. The Hills Have Eyes (original and remake)
26. The Evil Dead
27. Night of the Creeps
28. Jeepers Creepers
29. Invaders From Mars
30. Child’s Play
31. Deep Rising
32. Return of the Living Dead
33. Tales From the Hood
34. Creep
35. Wrong Turn
36. Frailty
37. The Faculty
38. Innocent Blood
39. Silver Bullet
40. Saw
41. The Descent
42. Behind the Mask-The Rise of Leslie Vernon
43. Hatchet
44. Nightwatch (1998)
45. Phantasm
46. Ginger Snaps
47. My Little Eye
48. House
49. Severance
50. Def by Temptation (all time guilty pleasure)
Horror films are paying some of out bills right now. I have no problem with fans of any genre having their website, and you acknowledge that even the most borderline, low buidget slasher is fine with some people, but how about some room for the most highlhy reverred films? Like right now “MICHAEL CLAYTON” is blowing away all the critics – and for good cause. A potential classic. A balance would be appreciated and could possibly take this site beyond the fringe.
There’s a fascinating story about how it got made, despite being turned down by all the studios.
hmm… no “The Shining”
i also really like interview with a vampire and tremors and american psycho and the ring.
Hey Jim,
If you do a simple search, you’ll see we’ve posted about Michael Clayton a couple of times already
Can I just add, as a side note, “Shocker” star Mitch Pileggi, who you may recall from “The X-files” as Skinner, played a military man firing into a crowd of zombies, with, I think, two lines or so in Return of the Living Dead Pt2 (an inferior sequel). We bought a copy and I saw it and giggled. I love seeing that kind of stuff.
What image is included with this post? It looks like a face being sucked into a book. In fact I know its a face being sucked into a book but I can’t recall the film its from. Please help!
I’m sorry, but a Top 50 Horror-films list without ALIEN simply hasn’t any credibility whatsoever.
Mr. James-the still is from Braindead…it’s two zombies kissing.
Mozzerino- note I said my favorite horror films…not best horror films.
Wow! Thanks Serena! I could have sworn this was an image from my brain where a book is sucking a face into it. I’m probably getting the image of Bruce Campbell mixed up in my mind from Army of Darkness. I looked at the image again and can now see the hair of the once zombie doing the sucking.
I like your number 5 choice, but I think Children of the Corn should be up there. Then again it’s not my list.
oh yea, favorite, not best, my bad. just saw #7 response.
I have to react to your list with a “meh”….
Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:
A Tale Of Two Sisters
Jaws
Alien
Halloween
Suspiria
Inferno
Deep Red
Psycho
Peeping Tom
The Birds
The Changeling
Black Sunday
Black Sabbath
Romero’s Dead movies
Shaun Of The Dead
28 Days Later
The Evil Dead movies
Eyes Without A Face
Martin
Nosferatu (both Murnau’s and Herzog’s)
Kairo (Pulse)
Cure
Uzumaki
Audition
Bubba Ho-Tep
Carnival Of Souls
Dead And Buried
Don’t Look Now
Gojira
Hour Of The Wolf
Slither
….. and pretty much anything with Vincent Price.
Hmmm… you need to expand your horizon.. Alot of teen horror flicks in your list… Have you seen any asian horror movies?
Watch some proper horror flims
Devils Back Bone
Kairo (2001) (aka pulse)
Ôdishon (1999) (aka Adution)
Session 9
Do you not feel embarrsed as a so Called Horror Buff that “Scream” is your No.1?
11. scoville – good shout to alot of his movies!!
I agree Gerball,
Serena seems to be stuck in a certain adolescent idea of what makes a good horror movie.
I should have put Devil’s Backbone on my list but I tend to not think of it as horror, and Session 9 was better than most.
a few of my favorites that are almost always overlooked:
May
Love Object
Session 9
Cemetery Man
Event Horizon
sorry, double post
An adolescent idea of what makes a good horror movie?
Come on. Favourite movies don’t always have to do with what you have seen recently. Favourite movies have to do with where you are in your life at that time. It has nothing to do with the movies chosen, it has nothing to do with what sort of critical acclaim it deserves, it has to do with why they are special to you. Maybe Scream was the first horror movie she ever saw, hence it is her number one. Or maybe she just likes it.
That Seems a little condescending.
I never said that it’s a bad thing to like those movies, just that she seems to be stuck within that “sub-genre” of what Gerball called “teen-horror”.
It would be nice if she was able to enjoy a more broad range of the horror spectrum.
Then again, that’s just my opinion. Just like when Serena said “if you’re a true horror buff, you appreciate the films that most times critics despise or don’t even bother watching.” I don’t agree with that opinion, but it’s her opinion and I respect it as that.
Nice Dead Alive pic!
“I Kick Arse For the Lord”
I’ll also add Audition, Jacob’s Ladder and Who Can Kill a Child? films that you should watch if you have not already
why should she feel embarrassed having scream as her number 1?
is it mine? no…
is it yours? no…
is it hers? yes…so who cares?
in no particular order…..all titles are the originals unless stated otherwise!
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Night Of The Hunter
The Wicker Man
Don’t Look Now
Halloween 1, 2 and 3 (what can I say..i love the absolutely lunacy of 3. An incredibly odd film)
Halloween
Re-Animator
Martin
Voices
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Exorcist
The Evil Dead
Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Psycho
Fright Night
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (not entirely a horror but it creeps the shit out of me)
Peeping Tom
The Crazies
Cannibal Holocaust
Suspiria
Dawn of the Dead
Fright Night
Day of the Dead
The Omen
Frenzy
Blair Witch Project
Blood Feast
The Fly (original and remake)
Hostel
The Thing
Creepers
Demons
The Entity
Funny Games
Night of The Creeps
The Hitcher
Last House on The Left
The Hills Have Eyes
The Burning
Audition
Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives
My number one would be Showgirls.
Scream? I liked it, but it wouldn’t be in my top 25 I don’t think. I like your list though, love the inclusion of The Gate, Tales from the Hood, Night of the Creeps, Creepshow.
I’ve never done my own top horror films list, but John Carpenters’ The Thing, Alien, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre original would all be up there. As for recent horror films, I liked Wolf Creek and everything before the end of High Tension.
Creep was very good, if you’re talking about the one with Franka Potente. I like the original Black Christmas and love Phantasm. Also would include the Romero Dead Trilogy.
It irks me to no end when someone thinks it’s all right to put down another person’s opinion because it doesn’t meet their criteria. Is it too much to find something to agree with on the list and then recommend some of your favorites?
I never considered myself a fan of horror growing up because I couldn’t handle the slasher films; however when I gave it more thought I have always liked horror. Only then it was (and is now) a thriller or supernatural. I grew up loving the Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock. Pshyco will always be a favorite of mine. I loved watching old Vincent Price movies and then all the old monster flicks like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman and The Mummy. Heck, I even liked the cheesy movies Elvira would host late at night …Attack of the Killer Tomatoes will always hold a special place in my heart. LoL
Nowadays I like a range of good and bad horrors. I have to back Serena up on liking Scream and I’m not embarassed by it, nope, it was a lot of fun. Very few movies make me scream aloud in the theater and damn it…that movie did!
“It would be nice if she was able to enjoy a more broad range of the horror spectrum.”
This truly made me laugh. Scoville I love horror films and have watched all the foreign, asian, and indie horror films I could think of. Do you see movies like ‘Urban Legend,’ ‘Valentine,’ and ‘I Know what you did last summer’ on the list? I have films from renowned directors such as Argento, Landis, Coscarelli, Carpenter, and Raimi. Hell, most of the films I listed are from the 80’s. So to say I have “adolescent” idea of horror is reaching. And no Gerball, I’m not embarassed to have Scream as number one….AT THE TIME when I had seen it…it was amazing, and the memory of that has stuck.
Good list, here is some of mine.
Evil Dead 1-3
An American Werewolf In Paris
Nightmare On Elm Street 1+3+4+7
American Phycho
Re-Animator
28 Days Later
Saw
Jeepers Creepers
The Lost Boys
You people always take my posts WAAAAAAY too seriously.
Please, next time you see my name, just read my post as if I’m a good friend who is giving you a hard time.
Thank you for laughing at my post Serena, instead of getting mad. I never meant to be insulting the way it might have come across.
.22 – Well it would be a boring world and this site would prob not exists if we all had a love fest over everyones views!
23. Serena – Thanks for replying these board are so much better when the author takes part. Everyone has guilty pleasures and i even admit to liking Scream but as your a “horror buff” it just doesnt sit with me that scream is your number one. I thought maybe our definition of a good horror movie was widely different (as the definition of a horror movie is getting broader all the time) but u have good films on your list, but each to their owen!!!
How can you not have the Exorcist?
I would add the original The Haunting by Robert Wise based on Shirley Jackson’s book.
Since when is Deep Rising a horror movie??
If you liked Nightwatch I highly recommend you check out Bornedals original version from 1993. It’s way better.
Hey Maurice,
What can I say…it’s just not one of my all time faves :)…but I did explain why it’s not on MY list in the article…remember these are my fave…NOT BEST. :)
That is cool that you have The Thing up there I think its a great film. Not so much in the area of actually scaring you with boo moments but mostly just raising a sense of paranioa to an incredible level. Never being sure of who you can trust and wondering if the person working along next to is actually The Thing in disguise.
Serena did you ever see the film Nosferatu the remake by Werner Herzog or the film Shadow of the Vampire? There is more to those films than horror but I found those films to be very creepy plus Willem Dafoe made an exellent Vampire =).
Here is my top list:
Saw
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th
Halloween
The Descent
Hannibal
Dead Alive
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
I am a fan of horror movies, can’t wait to see SAW IV!!!
Serena, your list is total win for just having The Monster Squad on it, “Kick him in the nards!”
And lmao at reply #20, I totally concur.
Where the HELL is Suspiria ?
Henrik,
You don’t classify a movie about a sea monster killing people in horrific ways a horror movie?! It’s a horror movie in my books…I’ll check out Bornedals though…thanks!
To John Spiker…sorry dude, if I had a top 100 Suspiria would have made it…Deep Red was my fave
Fred, Monster Squad is awesome! “Wolfman’s got Nards!” lol
Krazie835-I haven’t watched the Nosferatu remake, but I have watched Shadow of the vampire….very creative film!
Let me get this straight you chose Deep Rising as one of your favorite horror movies but not Jaws? OK…whatever floats your boat…
So, we will try this again:
The mere idea that Serena has ‘Night of the Demons’ and ‘Witchboard’ shows some props to Kevin Tenny. Her list can’t be all bad. I also noted she has Steve Miner’s ‘House’ and Tibor Tibaks ‘The Gate’. I also noted the abscene of “Near Dark”, which is a bit odd. Or did I miss it?
Anyway, here is mine.
1 – The Fog [1980]
2- Near Dark
3 – The Fly [1986]
4- Halloween [1978]
5- My Bloody Valentine
6- Witchboard
7- Evil Dead II
8- The Hitcher [1986]
9- The Thing [1982]
10- The Night Flier [Stephen King]
11- Mary Rielly
12- Candyman
13- Graveyard Shift [Stephen King]
14- Jaws
15- A Nightmare On Elm Street
16- Fright Night
17- 28 Days Later
18- Blue Monkey
19- Jeepers Creepers
20- The Pool
21- The People Under The Stairs
22- Saw
23- Return Of The Living Dead
24- The Lost Boys
25- Poltergeist
26- Exorcism Of Emily Rose
27- Of Unknown Orgin
28- The First Power
29- The Outing
30- Spellbinder
31- NekromantiK
32- Phantasm II
33- Halloween H20
34- In The Mouth Of Madness
35- Child’s Play
36- Creature From The Black Lagoon
37- Pin :Plastic Nightmare
38- Society
39- Gravedancers
40- House
41- Dog Soldiers
42- Alien
43- Lair Of The White Worm
44- The Gate
45- Visiting Hours
46- Ginger Snaps 2
47- Night Of The Creeps
48- Dagon
49- Hellraiser
50- Pumpkinhead
I made up a 50 list of my own, but I have finally decided not to comment/post it. Why?
The real horror is an annoying bug in this thread which keeps marking me as a spam comment. It’s a vampire pain in the neck!
Anyway, “Near Dark” and “Mary Reilly” were among my 50.
WHAT A TERRIBLE LIST, there are some good, but not enough of them….
Hey Darren,
Sorry about the bug….by the way..Near dark is awesome…It would have made my list if I was doing 100…Eric Red is one of my favorite screenwriters!
Hey jesse,
Sorry you don’t like the list, but to each his own! What are some of your faves?
Thanks, Serena. I sent John an email about it…just in case if the snafu infiltrates the Blog and everyone is turned into spam…
The Shinning
The Excercist (Directors cut) chick crawling down the stairs backwards gave me the creeps
Amityville Horror (original)
Poltergeist
The Ring
The Thing
Night of the Creeps (I wish Netflix would offer this one)
…and that creepy video that you had on this site yesterday. Man, I still have skid marks on my chair.
I know it isn’t categorized as horror, but Jaws is the most terrifying shit I’ve ever seen. Absolutely terrifying.
And last week, I watched Psycho for the very first time in my Intro to Film class. Great movie!
darren when did you last watch my bloody valentine?
because that used to be a favorite of mine as well but i watched it a couple of weeks back.
it has not aged well at all….
I forgot lost boys on my list too……great fucking film.
Also I forgot
Hellraiser
The Fly
Amityville Horror(remake)
Alien
i just saw my bloody valentine last week, and those characters drove me up a wall. That howard guy, and the guy with the huge moustache… You need to be able to root for SOMEONE to survive. I also was surprised by the number of off-screen deaths as opposed to the ones we actually got to see.
The Shining
Alien
The Thing
Halloween
The Fly
Psycho
From Dusk Til Dawn
The Dead Trilogy
Hellraiser
Jaws
28 Days Later
The Descent
The Hitcher
Cube
Session 9
Maniac
Evil Dead 1, 2 and 3
Zombie(Zombi 2/Zombie Flesh Eaters)
Audition
The Eye
Ichi the Killer
Shaun of the Dead
All time favorite- Braindead/Dead Alive
Is Serena 15 yrs old? You lost all credibility once you put “The Faculty” on there.
Notably missing on there is
The Fog (1980)
The Exorcist
Carrie
Poltergeist
Rosemary’s Baby
The Omen
Dawn of the Dead (remake)
Event Horizon (my guilty pleasure)
The Shining
The Entity
Hey T-vo, I don’t know how many times I have to write this, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, just in case you haven’t read the previous comments…These are a list of my FAVE horror movies…not the BEST. Yes, you named really good ones, but they just didn’t make my top 50 movies that I treasure…be it they’re good or bad horror films. Btw…a 15 year old would not have as many older horror films as I have on my list. But, to answer your question: I’m 23 years old :P
Christine
Ringu
The House on Haunted Hill(original)
It’s kind of flattering to see THE LOST BOYS on that list, since my wife produced it for awhile and I knew the director, producers, et al very well at the time and put in my 2 cents, but it was by no means a horror film. Loosely based on Peter Pan
SILVER BULLET!!! I havent seen that one in ages! this is a great list…theres alot of movies on there that I LOVED watching as a kid that I havent seen in a while. Thanks:)
Come on, how can you defend “The Faculty” with a straight face!???
While it wouldn’t make my favorites list, The Faculty was definitely a fun watch.
I may get railed for this, but (and I’m not even sure this can be considered a horror flick – may be more of a psychological thriller) I just remember being really freaked out by, and loving, Raising Cain. Serena, horror or thriller?