What Are the Best Horror Movies of All Time?

How did we choose these horror movies?

Every film on this list meets at least one outside benchmark, checked in Wikidata ^[1]: it was selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry, which chooses films for preservation ^[3], or it won or was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. From that pool, we chose 25 films that cover a range of styles and audiences. The benchmarks decide who qualifies; the final 25 is our editorial choice, not a ranking. We do not use review scores, and the list is in order of release, not quality.

Of our 25 picks, 20 are on the National Film Registry, 1 won Best Picture, and 7 others were nominated for Best Picture without winning; some films hold more than one honor. Years are each film's earliest release year in Wikidata ^[1].

Classic horror (1925 to 1963)

1. The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Lon Chaney plays the masked figure who haunts the Paris Opera. National Film Registry.
2. Dracula (1931). Bela Lugosi plays the vampire count in Universal's early sound classic. National Film Registry.
3. Frankenstein (1931). A scientist creates life, with Boris Karloff as the creature. National Film Registry.
4. Bride of Frankenstein (1935). The sequel in which a mate is made for the creature. National Film Registry.
5. Cat People (1942). A young immigrant in New York fears an old curse will turn her into a panther. National Film Registry.
6. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). A small town's residents are replaced by emotionless duplicates. National Film Registry.
7. Psycho (1960). Alfred Hitchcock's thriller set at the isolated Bates Motel. National Film Registry.
8. The Birds (1963). Birds inexplicably attack a California coastal town. National Film Registry.

The modern era begins (1968 to 1984)

9. Rosemary's Baby (1968). A pregnant woman comes to suspect her neighbors of a sinister plot. National Film Registry.
10. Night of the Living Dead (1968). Strangers barricade themselves in a farmhouse as the dead rise. National Film Registry.
11. The Exorcist (1973). A mother seeks help for her daughter, who appears to be possessed. Best Picture nominee; National Film Registry.
12. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Friends on a road trip encounter a deranged family. National Film Registry.
13. Young Frankenstein (1974). Mel Brooks's comic tribute to the 1930s Frankenstein films. National Film Registry.
14. Jaws (1975). A great white shark terrorizes a summer beach town. Best Picture nominee; National Film Registry.
15. Halloween (1978). A masked killer returns to his hometown on Halloween night. National Film Registry.
16. Alien (1979). The crew of a commercial spaceship is stalked by a deadly creature. National Film Registry.
17. The Shining (1980). A writer takes his family to a snowbound mountain hotel as its winter caretaker. National Film Registry.
18. The Thing (1982). An Antarctic research team faces a shape-shifting alien. National Film Registry.
19. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). A killer attacks teenagers in their dreams. National Film Registry.

Recent horror (1991 to 2025)

20. The Silence of the Lambs (1991). An FBI trainee seeks a jailed killer's help to catch another. Won Best Picture; National Film Registry.
21. The Sixth Sense (1999). A child psychologist treats a boy who says he sees dead people. Best Picture nominee.
22. Black Swan (2010). A ballerina's pursuit of a lead role turns into psychological horror. Best Picture nominee.
23. Get Out (2017). A young Black man's visit to his white girlfriend's family turns sinister. Best Picture nominee.
24. The Substance (2024). A fading star tries a black-market treatment that creates a younger version of herself. Best Picture nominee.
25. Sinners (2025). Twin brothers return to their Mississippi hometown to open a juke joint and face a supernatural threat. Best Picture nominee.

Quick facts for all 25 picks

Directors and runtimes come from Wikidata ^[1]. Runtimes can differ by a few minutes between versions.

Film	Year	Director	Runtime (min)
The Phantom of the Opera	1925	Rupert Julian	106
Dracula	1931	Tod Browning	75
Frankenstein	1931	James Whale	71
Bride of Frankenstein	1935	James Whale	78
Cat People	1942	Jacques Tourneur	73
Invasion of the Body Snatchers	1956	Don Siegel	80
Psycho	1960	Alfred Hitchcock	109
The Birds	1963	Alfred Hitchcock	119
Rosemary's Baby	1968	Roman Polanski	137
Night of the Living Dead	1968	George A. Romero	96
The Exorcist	1973	William Friedkin	122
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	1974	Tobe Hooper	83
Young Frankenstein	1974	Mel Brooks	114
Jaws	1975	Steven Spielberg	124
Halloween	1978	John Carpenter	92
Alien	1979	Ridley Scott	117
The Shining	1980	Stanley Kubrick	144
The Thing	1982	John Carpenter	109
A Nightmare on Elm Street	1984	Wes Craven	91
The Silence of the Lambs	1991	Jonathan Demme	118
The Sixth Sense	1999	M. Night Shyamalan	107
Black Swan	2010	Darren Aronofsky	108
Get Out	2017	Jordan Peele	104
The Substance	2024	Coralie Fargeat	141
Sinners	2025	Ryan Coogler	137

How has horror earned its place among the classics?

Every pick here earned outside recognition, which says something about a genre once dismissed as B-movie material. Twenty of our 25 picks are on the National Film Registry, and The Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture, according to Wikidata ^[1]. Recent horror films have also earned Best Picture nominations, including Get Out, The Substance, and Sinners, which the Academy listed among its Best Picture nominees for the 98th Oscars ^[2].

Several picks started long-running series. Alien led to the films in our Alien watch order, and genre crossovers such as The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers also appear on our best sci-fi movies list. The Shining and A Nightmare on Elm Street belong to the decade covered in our best movies of the 80s. and if you are curious how much of a "true story" horror really is, see our guide to whether The Conjuring is based on a true story.

Which notable horror films did not make the cut?

The Registry includes more horror than we could fit, such as Freaks (1932) and King Kong (1933) ^[1], and many well-loved recent horror films have not yet earned either benchmark. If you want more, those two are a good place to start.

Which directors appear more than once?

• James Whale: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein
• Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds
• John Carpenter: Halloween, The Thing

Repeat appearances come from the benchmarks, not from favoritism: each of these films qualified on its own.

How should you watch these horror movies?

We suggest pairing an older film with a newer one that shares its fear: Night of the Living Dead with Get Out for social horror, Psycho with Black Swan for psychological horror, and Alien with The Thing for creatures in isolated places. Watching them in pairs shows how much modern horror borrows from the classics. Most picks run under two hours, so a double feature fits comfortably in an evening.

Which of these horror movies should you watch first?

For a gentle start: Frankenstein, The Birds, or Young Frankenstein. For a real scare: The Exorcist, Halloween, or The Shining. For modern dread: Get Out, Sinners, or The Substance.

Some of the films on this list are rated R, and films from before 1968 were released before the modern rating system, so check each rating before watching with younger viewers.