1. THE EXORCIST (1973)
You might not agree that The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever, but it's probably not a huge surprise to see it at the top of our list either, with a whopping 19% of all votes cast. William Friedkin's adaptation of the novel of the same name about a boy possessed by a demon and attempts to banish the demon became the highest-grossing R-rated horror film in history and the first to be nominated for Best Picture in the United States. Oscar (garnered nine other nominations and took home two trophies). But outside of its critical and commercial bona fides, the film is known for the mass hysteria it inspired across the country, from protests over its controversial subject to widespread reports of gagging and fainting in the audience. Its dramatic pacing and somewhat dated effects may seem strange compared to some contemporary horror, but there's no denying the power the film continues to have over first-time viewers.
James Wan has carved himself a niche among the modern masters of horror, directing such films as Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious, and this true-life tale based on the experiences of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens, best known for their work on the bizarre case that inspired the Amityville horror films (who played a role in The Conjuring 2), were played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who based the actual startles and scary moments with a credible weariness of the world. Together, Wan and his co-stars found a new terror in the familiar genre tropes, and the end result is an expanding cinematic universe that only continues to grow.
4. THE SHINING (1980)
Literally, dozens of Stephen King novels and stories have been adapted for the big screen, and several of those movies are considered classics today, like Carrie, Misery, and Pet Sematary (and that doesn't even take into account things that aren't horror films like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me). But the mother of them all is easily Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. A marvel of set design and production and a truly unnerving take on the traditional haunted house story, The Shining features a host of memorable visuals and an iconic Jack Nicholson performance. The film's relatively few scary leaps are still absolutely chilling, but its true power lies in the way it crawls under your skin and causes you to experience Jack Torrance's slow descent into madness. It is rightly considered one of the best horror movies ever made, and it ranked fourth in our poll.
5. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
While the top four movies on this list collectively garnered 42% of the total votes counted, they were followed by six movies that garnered about 3% of the votes each. In other words, these last six films were separated by no more than 60 votes. The first of these is this low-budget slasher directed and co-written by Tobe Hooper, very loosely inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein. Texas Chainsaw's grimy aesthetic helped give it an air of authenticity, making it even scarier ("This could really happen, guys!"), And Gunnar Hansen's massive and menacing Leatherface presence paved the way for others. brutes like Michael. Myers and Jason Voorhees. Several attempts have been made to breathe new life into the franchise, and we have another on the way, but none have matched the original in sheer power tool-inspired horror.
6. THE RING (2002)
It's always a tricky proposition to take something that works well for one culture and try to translate that formula successfully into another, but Gore Verbinski succeeded with The Ring. A remake of Japanese director Hideo Nakata's acclaimed thriller about a cursed videotape, Verbinski's shot kept the surprising visuals of the original film, the ghost of a girl in a white dress and long black hair covering her. face, and found that he was terribly scared. of audiences no matter where they are from. While the film was not as highly regarded as its predecessor, it does feature a committed performance by a then up-and-coming Naomi Watts, and for many, it served as an introduction to East Asian horror cinema.
7. HALLOWEEN (1978)
8. SINISTER (2012)
For those who didn't read the "scientific study" mentioned above, we finally got to the movie that it topped as the scariest. Before joining the MCU with 2016's Doctor Strange, director Scott Derrickson had amassed a few horror movies, some of which gained a cult following. One of them was this small-scale haunted house / possession story about a true crime writer (Ethan Hawke) moving his wife and kids into a house where a family was murdered, only to find that the new place might already have a pretty wicked situation. tenant. Writer C. Robert Cargill was reportedly inspired to write the script based on a nightmare he had after watching The Ring, and the story shares a little similarity to that movie, with the spooky angle of the snuff movie. But for many who watched it, the dramatic reveals and spooky scenes far outweighed any recycled genre trope that might have been present. Plus, there's at least one report saying it's the scariest movie ever made, so that must count for something.
9. INSIDIOUS (2010)
10. IT (2017)
The fear of clowns is a very real thing, even if it has become so common to advertise it that it seems insincere. If you need more evidence, we direct you to the 2017 TI box office, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, which broke The Exorcist's 44-year record as the highest-grossing horror film ever. Oh, and of course your 10th place on this list. Andy Muschietti's big-budget adaptation relied on nostalgia to tell his story of children scarred by trauma, while Bill Skarsgard's version of Pennywise, the evil shape-shifting clown, was bizarre and haunting in every way. . Throw in a healthy dose of scares, a handful of awesome pieces, and some top-notch CGI, and you've got a recipe for a horror movie that's fun and full of scares.
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