Feeling in the mood for some Halloween scares? Check out the movies on this list, created from a painstaking culling of countless online lists of scary movies. These are the ten that appeared most often on most of the lists. I posted this list last year and it resulted in a lot of suggestions for other great scary movies. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.
10. Psycho (1960) Believe it or not, this one almost didn’t make the list. This is a classic that has spawned countless imitations.
9. It (2017) The Stephen King classic was brought back about a month ago and it is seriously creepy. There were at least five times during the movie when I got goosebumps because it was so creepy and suspenseful. Watching this will not help your clown fear at all.
8. Halloween (1978) Although Mike Myers later went on to bigger fame and fortune on Saturday Night Live and Wayne’s World, this movie has stood the test of time.
7. The Omen (1976) I never saw this, but if it’s got Gregory Peck it must be good. I hope it has Boo Radley too.
6. The Exorcist (1973) Talk about an ugly duckling! She later went on to become Miss Nevada. First time I saw this I was completely freaked out. me and my friends didn’t sleep all night. At the time I was also sure that a film like this would never be allowed in Canada.
5. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) I’m sure this was terrifying for all the old timey folks in 1968. Ironically, Mia Farrow played Rosemary, a woman impregnated by Satan. Many years later the baby she adopted with Woody Allen would later marry Woody Allen. I’m starting to think that Mia isn’t a very good mother.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) I started this series with Part 3 but went back and watched them all. I find a villian who can get you in your dreams to be the scariest of all. Sadly, some idiots made a remake of this in 2010. Did anyone see that? Me neither.
3. The Shining (1980) A cool classic. Nobody plays crazy quite like Jack Nicholson.
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2. 28 Days Later (2002) A zombie movie from 2002 before zombies were cool. I haven’t seen this one, but it showed up so regularly in my research I want to see it now.
1. Alien (1979) This one surprised me by being on almost every list. The suspense is painful and who can forget the tag line “In space no one can hear you scream.”
So what’s your favorite scary movie? Do you like being scared? What’s scarier, the books or the movies? What would you add to this list?
Have a great Tuesday! ~Phil
For me it was Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. I had nightmares for weeks!
If you like scary things with birds, I could recommend a good Dean Koontz book for you
I’ve seen most of these, and I gotta tell ya, as a person who is frightened by scary movie trailers, I cannot question this list.
I don’t like scary stuff and I’ll tell you why, THE SHINING. I watched it with my sister when I was 8ish and was scarred for life.
The movie that scarred me for life was the exorcist and I was 17 when I first saw it
But I couldn’t resist going to see IT. I am a Stephen King fan and it was really well done.
I went to go see some scary movie with my daughter and her friends when she was home from college one weekend and I was in the fetal position the entire time and screaming occasionally. They were cracking up at me.
I’m not a fan of all of the new scary movies that come out. They just seem to be cheap knock offs of the classic genre we grew up with
My daughter is big into horror so I went with her because I was having a YOLO moment or something stupid like that. She is also part of a haunted house her friend runs every fall. I’m going to visit her this weekend and go to the haunted house for the very first time. I’m terrified. LOL! If I die, be a dear and turn my blog into a book?
Absolutely. I already think that your blog should be a book. I love haunted houses. They’re fun because you know nothing bad is going to happen. It’s just people in costumes
Our conversation is going to make my blog post look a lot more popular than it is with all of the comments
And just so you know, I did visit your blog yesterday and I started reading the post, but I didn’t get to finish it, so I will be back.
I do like the Alien films, apart from Alien 4 which was awful. I love Ripply’s character – bad ass! Okay, this will sound weird. I haven’t seen the IT film yet, but I find the clown strangely alluring. There, I said it!
LOL, when you do see IT I think you will like it
The Exorcist is definitely on my list. I preferred 28 Weeks Later to 28 Days Later.
Halloween almost made me have an accident. A guy dressed like Jason jumped from the back of the stage and ran up the asile right after the closing line…”He is the bogyman.”
That’s great!
If more scary movies I knew
I’d add some to this list too.
No way! The Shining isn’t actually scary. It’s one of my favourite films ever but it doesn’t keep me up at night
https://tenmoreminutesblog.wordpress.com
Like I said, this list was an average of several online lists I found.
Paranormal Activity defo has to be here
We were talking about scary films last night and not only is The Shining my favourite, it’s actually my favourite film of all time 🔪😱
Going back a bit here but when I was a youngster Poltergeist!! Not scary now though…but then it was! Not really the same genre but Dead Calm is another that sticks out in my memory though haven’t watched it for years! Think the Final Destination films are clever, not really scary!
When I was younger I loved Poltergeist but a few years ago I rewatched it and what was cutting edge special effects in the 80’s looks pretty cheesy now.
Yes…guess its like a spoof now!
It doesn’t hold up very well, but when I saw the original Blair Witch in a darkened, cold as balls theater, it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time
Scary movies are my favorite movies. And I mean ‘scary’, not ‘gory’. I agree with most on your list, particularly The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, and Halloween. I would also add ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘Get Out’ (a new one!). Now I just want to go watch movies!!!! But I have to retweet you first.
Thank you for the RT!
For one who is not particularly fond of scary movies, I’m proud to say I’ve seen six of the movies on your list. 😉
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Loving this list of classics, Phil and have seen nearly all of them – shared link on my reg feature Monday Magic – this week Inspiring posts for Halloween! Claire
Thanks Claire! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!