The 100 Scariest Movies of All Time
From classic jump scares to psychological horrors, these films are sure to keep you awake at night.
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Why do some people love being scared? It seems counterintuitive to have a bad time just to feel good. Ask any horror buff and they will tell you otherwise. There are a serious of emotional responses in the brain that light up when we are afraid—releasing dopamine, adrenaline, and an exhilarating feeling only accomplished when that level of fight-or-flight is achieved. The best horror movies are the ones that can capitalize on that bizarre, scientific process, like a terrifying roller coaster for our brain.
To help get you there, we’ve rounded up the 100 scariest movies of all time. It’s a collection of hauntings, demonic possessions, crazed killers, camping trips gone wrong, and found-footage nightmares. Among classics such as Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist, you’ll find modern masterpieces of horror, including Hereditary, The Grudge, and The Conjuring. With 100 films to sort through, even the most eclectic scary-movie fan will surely find something new to send a chill down their spine. Scroll down, if you dare …
Skinamarink (2023)
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Skinamarink is an entirely new kind of found-footage horror film, delighting fans of the genre looking for the next boundary-pushing thrill. The film follows two young children, alone and afraid, looking for their parents as parts of their house disappear.
Inland Empire (2006)
Angst (1983)
Director: Gerald Kargl
Angst is such a violent film that the 1983 Austrian-prison-psychopath thriller (!) was banned in many countries.
Rec (2007)
Raw (2016)
Terrified (2017)
It: Chapter Two (2019)
Director: Andy Muschietti
Thought Bill Skarsgård’s take on Stephen King’s creepy clown was scary? Just wait until you see Chapter 2.
The Substance (2024)
Director: Coralie Fargeat
The Substance is a soon-to-be body-horror staple, starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid in a story about a celebrity who resorts to experimental drugs to look younger.
Saw (2004)
Saint Maud (2019)
Director: Rose Glass
One of the most modern films on this list, A24’s Saint Maud follows a religious caretaker who questions her faith. After self-immolating, she receives signs that warn her to stay ready for a dangerous test.
The Purge (2013)
Director: James DeMonaco
What if murder were legal for 24 hours? That’s the system the government creates to curb crime and overpopulation in The Purge ... to obviously detrimental effects.
The Wailing (2016)
Director: Na Hong-jin
Korean horror movies will scare you in ways that you never imagined were possible. Train to Busan put zombies on a high-speed train and The Call made even talking on the phone a scary endeavor. In The Wailing, director Na Hong-jin blends multiple genres to tell a unique story of demons and plagues. It’ll frighten horror buffs who think they’ve seen it all.
It Follows (2014)
Braindead (1992)
Director: Peter Jackson
Before Peter Jackson started adventuring with hobbits, the New Zealand–based director wowed audiences with a zombie flick—also known in some markets as Dead Alive—about a woman who turns violent after she’s bitten by a mutant rat-monkey hybrid creature.
When Evil Lurks (2023)
Director: Demián Rugna
This Argentinian horror film about demonic possession on a farm shocks viewers with some of the goriest imagery of the past few years.
The Strangers (2008)
Director: Bryan Bertino
With the help of some truly ruthless intruders, The Strangers takes the bones of every home-invasion story and kicks it up a notch. When Kristen and James head to their vacation home in (of course!) the wilderness, they expect to have a relaxing retreat. Instead, they’re forced to fight for their lives when a strange woman knocks on their door.
Sinister (2012)
Director: Scott Derrickson
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t buy a haunted house. But in Sinister, true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) thinks it’s a perfectly rational idea. In hopes of writing a best seller, he moves his family into a home where an unsolved murder took place. But he soon learns that curiosity comes at a price.
Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Directors: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Goodnight Mommy follows two young boys who are reunited with their mom after she has a mysterious surgery. They’re initially overjoyed to see her, but their excitement turns to fear when she sets strange house rules. Is the woman they’ve been sent to really their mom, or someone else?
Talk to Me (2023)
Director: Danny and Michael Philippou
Did you go to a party where the hosts brought out a severed hand that they play a weird Ouija-like ritual with as the main attraction? Definitely do not ask it about your mother’s suicide! “All throughout the film, I was drawing from things that scare me personally,” Danny Philippou told Esquire.
Hellraiser (1987)
Director: Clive Barker
Hellraiser kicks off with two classic horror tropes you should avoid at all costs: moving into an old, scary house where a murder occurred and buying a mystical puzzle box. I’m so glad they did, though—because it gave us Pinhead.
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