Well, would you look at that? It's almost Halloween again. But before you have to fill up the candy bowl and set the plastic cauldron of dry ice out on the porch, your good friends at RT have taken the time to refresh our list of the best horror movies of all time!
What makes a horror movie? The definition is open to interpretation, but if it made a sizeable portion of its audience scream, jump involuntarily, or dive for the covers, then you'll probably find it on this list. (Notable exception: The Hottie and the Nottie.) We've assembled all the usual suspects -- Freddy, Dracula, that cat with the leathery face -- and, as always, have taken care to add a few choices you may not expect.
As you'll know if you've read any of our previous lists, each entry has 20 reviews or more to back up its inclusion here, and the final rankings were devised using a weighted system that takes into account both the movies' Tomatometers and number of reviews.
Now that we've established the parameters and laid out the ground rules, there's nothing left to do but start the scariest countdown of the year!
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DTitus writes: on Oct 31 2008 09:52 PM This list is 100% pure unadulterated ***. (Reply to this) |
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DTitus writes: on Oct 31 2008 09:57 PM In reply to this comment (#2105416) This list is A*S*S (Reply to this) |
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DTitus writes: on Oct 31 2008 10:00 PM Did I mention that this list is A*S*S? I couldn't remember, because I'm still in shock at how much A*S*S this list is. (Reply to this) |
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Nathaniel Y. writes: on Oct 31 2008 10:50 PM How the hell did REAR WINDOW slip by you guys? I think it's scarier and more suspenseful than THE BIRD and even PSYCHO. Your website gave it 100% so it should've at least been on there somewhere. (Reply to this) |
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strandiam writes: on Nov 01 2008 06:11 AM This list is the absolute worst. -Almost nothing made in the past 20 years. -Almost nothing from Outside America. -3/4 of the list is not even close to the horror category. I'm not even going to bother listing all the obvious movies almost all the readers would agree with. Rename this article "Moving Pictures and Talkies that frightened your great-grandparents". (Reply to this) |
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halimali writes: on Nov 01 2008 06:52 AM Oh another great horror movie is missing that is The Omen!!!! So I guess 3 great movies were not included in this list which is an insult: 1- Exorcist 2- The Omen 3- The Others (Reply to this) |
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Tuckermax writes: on Nov 01 2008 03:54 PM Quite Honestly, I stopped reading the list at #39 when I found "Halloween" there. Not only does it deserve to be placed on the list of Top 5 Horror Films of all time, but possibly at #1. Sitting in a movie theater in 1979 watching this film was the single most terrifying experience I had ever had at the movies. From reading these responses I find that "The Exorcist" is not even on the list, all I can say is WTF. Does anyone involved in this list even have a clue as to what a great Horror Film Is? I think the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. (Reply to this) |
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Aaron C. writes: on Nov 01 2008 10:16 PM In reply to this comment (#2092850) Amen to "The Exorcist"! Funny seeing the word "Amen" and "The Exorcist" in the same sentence. Also, if "Silence of the Lambs" (great movie) made it, then where the hell's "Seven"? IMO "Seven" is even creepier than Silence. -Aaron (Reply to this) |
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Miguel A R. writes: on Nov 02 2008 01:29 AM This list speaks loads about american critics. żNo asian movies? żAlmost no european movies? I can agree that the best horror movies aren't necessarily the most scary. We're talking about "cinematic artistry" or craftmanship here, so: Where's The thing, a movie as well crafted as anything on this list? Where's Hammer horror? Horror of Dracula barely made it into the list and Tod Browning's Dracula, a film that was an old stale corpse even when it was released, is up there with the best of them? OK, Whale's Frankenstein movies are great, but where's Revenge of Frankenstein? Where's Frankenstein must be destroyed? And where's Mario Bava? If we're talking about historic relevance here, about seminal pictures, where's Blood and black lace, the grand daddy of all slashers (and way better than most of them)? I understand why this list has turned out such weird choices. If you asked all this critics about the best horror movie ever, I doubt any of them would say "King Kong", but it would be equally hard to find any of them that doesn't like the movie. So, it may not reflect any critic's particular taste, but gives an eloquent picture of their common tastes. Ain't it funny that the only foreign films that made it into the list, are arty "auteur" stuff? (Reply to this) |
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tearfromthared writes: on Nov 02 2008 07:15 AM This should have been at least in 2 different categories, for those who think that little or no, good horror films were made after 1970! And those who live in the current century. I fail to see how scary some of these are. I agree with the others how the hell is king kong scary and where is exorcist or the shining? and many others mentioned? (Reply to this) |
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stinkyfish75 writes: on Nov 02 2008 08:40 AM This is the most ridiculous list ive come across in along time. Having Halloween at #39 i think, The Exorcist not mentioned at all, King Kong at #1. Then all the movies from the early 1900's on the list, they might have been the first of their kind but that doesnt make them the best, Its like saying the Model T Ford is better than the cars of today, it might have been a great truimph of engineering at time and pioneered the way for future cars, but it doesnt compare to automobiles today. (Reply to this) |
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Eric C. writes: on Nov 02 2008 09:51 AM You left out the Lizzie McGuire movie. It should have been in the top ten. RT - look I'm not a rocket scientest but you really screwed this one up. (Reply to this) |
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ted l. writes: on Nov 02 2008 11:55 AM Which idiot made this list? King Kong as scariest horror film?!?!? Why not just throw in harry potter for good measure as after all it has wizards and dragons in it. I cant believe in a list of top horror the exorcist or the omen did not get a mention. Blair witch?? Jacobs ladder??? Hellraiser??? The thing??? The fly??? The blob?? Audition?? The ring??? Call yourselves film buffs???? (Reply to this) |
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DoomRulz writes: on Nov 02 2008 12:33 PM In reply to this comment (#2092734) I'm w/ you. King Kong isn't even a horror movie, so how it made the list, let alone #1 is beyond me. Same with Aliens, how did THAT make it into the Top 10, it isn't even a horror movie... AND WHY THE HELL ISN'T THE HAUNTING (1963) ON THERE??! WHAT KIND OF A LIST IS THIS???!!! (Reply to this) |
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JL writes: on Nov 02 2008 03:10 PM In reply to this comment (#2093992) Since horor genre tends to contain a lot of scifi elements I can understand some of the oddball picks here. But horror is horror and there is plenty of it to make a top 100 list. I never really considered the Alien series horror. These lists have gone down hill since IGN bought RT from the original founders. (Reply to this) |
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borisyeltsin11 writes: on Nov 02 2008 03:48 PM Yay. Eraserhead. (Reply to this) |
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Gary Z. writes: on Nov 02 2008 06:33 PM Aside from The Exorcist and The Shining being completely ignored, I have too many issues to list. I don't expect all of my choices to be present. But, c'mon... How can you possibly put Aliens above Alien. How can a landmark film be rated below a shoot-em-up thriller, at best? No Jacobs Ladder? No An American Werewolf in London? No The Ring? Abyssmal list... (Reply to this) |
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Ed P. writes: on Nov 03 2008 04:31 AM Honestly, is this a joke? King Kong as no.1? Ok I get it. Film nerds like to ramble about old films and how important they are. As someone who constantly reads movie mags, looks at this website and did cinema studies at uni, i feel as though my opinion holds water. This list was RUBBISH. There'd honestly be 5-10 I haven't heard of. Sure, classics, since nobody knows them now - Must be really important. Good call on Rosemary's Baby, The Birds and alot of the classic ones like Carrie and Misery. But WHERE is The Descent??? That would be top 5 for me. And I might be mistaken but was the Exorcist not there? TERRIBLE. (Reply to this) |
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Wooley writes: on Nov 03 2008 10:35 AM I must say this. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THRILLERS (EVEN PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS) AND HORROR MOVIES!!! I will never understand people who don't understand the difference. Silence of the Lambs is not, never was, and never will be, a HORROR MOVIE! And Night of the Hunter?!!! Are you joking?!!! Great movie. Not a horror movie. Not on any planet. No matter how much of a cork-sniffing critic one might be. And, as an aside, there are NOT thirty-eight better horror movies than HALLOWEEN. (Reply to this) |
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Jaster Mereel writes: on Nov 03 2008 03:02 PM This is BY FAR the worst ranking of horror movies I have ever seen. King Kong #1, really? Shawn of the Dead (among many others) beats Halloween (Halloween was 39 out of 50?!)? Hell, Freddy vs Jason was a better horror movie than King Kong. Come to tink of it the American Grudge was better than KK. Although I'm not really a fan of the series, but a Saw movie did not make the list? As has been said before, where's the exorcist, the original omen, and many the j-horror movies? This list is complete and utter ****e. (Reply to this) |
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