50 best horror movies to spook you out this Halloween
With so many horror movies to choose from at this spooktacular time of year, it can be hard to know where to begin. But thankfully all the research has been done for you, with fifty of the very best - and we mean the VERY best - to choose from below
With nights drawing in, fresh pumpkins adorning supermarket shelves and a chill in the air, our attention inevitably turns to how best to spook ourselves out in the run-up to Halloween.
But with so many films to choose from, where do you even begin? Well thankfully all the research has been done for you, with a stellar top 50 primed for your perusal below. Interestingly, audiences rated the first two instalments of the Alien franchise as the very best.
Despite the first film coming out more than 40 years ago, the franchise is still as popular as ever, with Disney planning a new instalment set for release sometime in 2024. The analysis by online party products retailer Party Delights used IMDB ratings, Rotten Tomatoes scores and average monthly search volume to whittle down a top 50.
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John Carpenter’s original Halloween, released around the same time as Alien, ranked third and is similar in terms of its longevity with new instalments planned for release over the coming years. Elsewhere, 2017’s Get Out followed and was the first of director and writer Jordan Peele’s two films in the top 50, with 2019’s Us placing 12th.
Jaws rounded off the top five with the Steven Spielberg classic being only one of six films in the top 50 to have an IMDB rating of more than eight - two of which are Alien and Aliens. Released back in 1975, the movie shocked audiences at the time, with revolutionary technology being used that would ultimately form the basis for another of the director's commercial hits, Jurassic Park some 15 years later.
One of the oldest movies on the list, Frankenstein, ranked next with the classic boasting strong figures across all metrics. Japanese horror House followed, placing just ahead of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho which had the joint highest IMDB rating (8.5) of any film on the list along with Alien.
The Stephen King adapted novel IT and 2009’s surprise hit Zombieland placed ninth and tenth, keeping another one of the author’s classic adaptations The Shining out of the top 10.
Do you agree with the top 50? Any glaring omissions? Let us know in the comments below
The full top 50 horror films
Rank
Film
Year of release
Rotten Tomatoes Score
IMDB rating
IMDB votes
Monthly search volume
1
ALIEN
1979
98%
8.5
907,439
60000
2
ALIENS
1986
98%
8.4
735,367
54000
3
HALLOWEEN
1978
96%
7.7
289,793
153000
4
GET OUT
2017
98%
7.8
644,852
28000
5
JAWS
1975
97%
8.1
628,087
22000
6
FRANKENSTEIN
1931
94%
7.8
75,906
33000
7
HOUSE
1977
90%
7.3
30,665
84000
8
PSYCHO
1960
96%
8.5
690,614
18000
9
IT
2017
86%
7.3
572,873
84000
10
ZOMBIELAND
2009
89%
7.6
597,641
33000
11
THE SHINING
1980
82%
8.4
1,054,301
32000
12
US
2019
93%
6.8
317,462
42000
13
DRACULA
1931
94%
7.4
55,386
25000
14
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
2004
92%
7.9
573,403
18000
15
KING KONG
1933
96%
7.9
88,145
12000
16
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
1925
90%
7.5
19,246
27000
17
MIDSOMMAR
2019
83%
7.1
356,916
63000
18
NOSFERATU
1922
97%
7.9
101,140
10000
19
A QUIET PLACE
2018
96%
7.5
552,839
15000
20
THE CONJURING
2013
86%
7.5
527,408
27000
21
THE MUMMY
1932
89%
7
28,423
32000
22
28 DAYS LATER
2002
87%
7.5
426,401
24000
23
SCREAM
1996
81%
7.4
366,074
41000
24
THE FLY
1958
95%
7.6
192,027
11000
25
HEREDITARY
2018
90%
7.3
345,053
21000
26
THE INVITATION
2015
89%
6.6
114,446
39000
27
THE RING
1998
98%
7.2
73,678
11000
28
THE THING
1982
84%
8.2
441,029
15000
29
THE EXORCIST
1973
84%
8.1
423,534
16000
30
THE FLY
1986
93%
7.6
192,027
11000
31
NOSFERATU
1979
95%
7.4
38,304
10000
32
TRAIN TO BUSAN
2016
94%
7.6
236,534
9700
33
HALLOWEEN
2018
79%
6.5
161,068
153000
34
READY OR NOT
2019
88%
6.8
165,522
25000
35
POLTERGEIST
1982
88%
7.3
171,286
16000
36
THE LIGHTHOUSE
2019
90%
7.4
233,145
11000
37
THE WITCH
2015
90%
7
278,785
14000
38
MISERY
1990
91%
7.8
222,116
8700
39
CARRIE
1976
93%
7.4
195,595
8800
40
DON'T BREATHE
2016
88%
7.1
287,281
12000
41
DRAG ME TO HELL
2009
92%
6.6
210,691
14000
42
OCULUS
2013
75%
6.5
134,185
45000
43
THE BABADOOK
2014
98%
6.8
234,980
8600
44
MANDY
2018
90%
6.5
84,185
15000
45
REVENGE
2017
93%
6.4
45,956
10000
46
DOCTOR SLEEP
2019
78%
7.3
203,187
15000
47
GERALD'S GAME
2017
91%
6.5
117,418
10000
48
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
2011
92%
7
432,630
8200
49
IT FOLLOWS
2014
95%
6.8
254,205
8100
50
ATTACK THE BLOCK
2011
90%
6.7
109,271
9200