What is the best horror film? The finest aren’t just about jump scares or gore — they tap into our deepest anxieties and make a mark in our memory. The genre explores fear in its purest form, from classics such as The Exorcist, which set the bar for supernatural terror, and Stanley Kubrick’s mad and wonderful The Shining, to more recent hits like Hereditary and Midsommar, which have redefined horror with their visceral imagery and haunting storytelling.So if you’re looking for the perfect spine-chilling movies to watch this Halloween, our critics have selected the best for a night of fright, with hair-raising scares and nail-biting suspense. Here is our Top 41, ranked. What’s your favourite? Let us know in the comments what films we’ve missed.41. Speak No Evil2024, buy/rentJames McAvoy is terrifying as a demented sociopath in this remake of a 2022 Danish thriller. After meeting and bonding during a lazy, boozy holiday in Tuscany, the rowdy English couple Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) invite the Americans Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) for a weekend in their sprawling farmhouse in Devon. Once there, disturbing secrets are revealed.40. Raw2016, Apple TV/Sky Store A vegetarian student gains an appetite for human flesh in Julia Ducournau’s Franco-Belgian film, a movie you probably shouldn’t watch on a full stomach. It’s a compassionate study of its heroine and her traumas, but its gory dining scenes need a strong constitution.AdvertisementKatie Featherston and Micah Sloat in Paranormal ActivityALAMY39. Paranormal Activity2007, Prime Video Shot in seven days and with a budget of about £9,000, this film from the writer-director Oren Peli follows the increasingly disturbed nights of two San Diego yuppies. The execution is sublime, with everything from a creaking door to a bedsheet becoming nightmarish.38. It Follows2014, Plex David Robert Mitchell’s suspenseful film invents a supernatural torment for a young student (Maika Monroe) heinously treated by her new boyfriend.37. Us2019, buy/rent Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out is brilliantly ambitious, following creepy zombie doppelgangers terrorising a family on their holiday. A sharp, sometimes funny, often terrifying look at the US, with an excellent turn from Lupita Nyong’o.36. Hereditary2018, buy/rent The harassed-mother theme is taken to extremes by Toni Collette in the performance of a lifetime. Ari Aster pulled out all the stops in the horror department, inspired by Don’t Look Now and Rosemary’s Baby. The music oozes fear, darkness comes out of nowhere and there are doll’s house sets to make every hair on your body stand up.Essie Davis in The BabadookALAMY35. The Babadook2014, Netflix The director Jennifer Kent preys on the vulnerabilities of the widowed single mother, with an unnerving Freudian twist. Supernatural elements percolate the narrative as the film creeps to its climax, unceasingly mining the paranoia of a woman on the edge.Advertisement34. Dracula1958, Prime Video Vibrantly coloured blood meets Victorian petticoats in Hammer Studios’ adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic, with Christopher Lee taking on the feral, bloodsucking monster with originality and alarming smoothness.33. Scanners1980, Prime Video The Canadian director David Cronenberg scored one of his earliest hits with this paranormal thriller and its extraordinarily horrifying scene in which one telepath causes another’s head to explode.32. Nosferatu1922, buy/rent FW Murnau’s silent film was the first Dracula movie, an unofficial reworking of Bram Stoker’s tale. Its bald, claw-fingered ghoul (Max Schreck) is wonderfully creepy; its visual style is full of bold shadows; and its antiquated feel only adds to its eeriness.Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in Shaun of the DeadALAMY31. Shaun of the Dead2004, ITVX A cult favourite from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg with endlessly good gags, which captures the essence of ironic English comedy. Where to go when zillions of zombies take over the world? The Winchester, “because it’s a pub. It’s safe. It’s secure.”30. Audition1999, buy/rentTakashi Miike reverses the rules here as a female evil-demon figure avenges the arrogance of an ageing male widower with extreme violence and surgical precision.AdvertisementA scene from The BirdsALAMY29. The Birds1963, Now strikes back in Alfred Hitchcock’s loose adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s short story as birds start misbehaving. It’s a masterpiece with an untethered soul — no music grounds the film, no explanation is offered; the world just descends into a chaos only the greatest imagination could have thought up.28. Night of the Living Dead1968, Mubi All the zombies that have lumbered — and occasionally run — through subsequent horror films can trace their lineage back to the walking, flesh-eating corpses of this indie movie by George A Romero. The blood and guts are gruesome, and the film does sharp racial and social commentary too.27. 28 Days Later2002, buy on DVD Danny Boyle, the brains behind Trainspotting and The Beach, turns his artful hand to horror. The nightmare of waking up in an apparently deserted London is brought alive by a star-studded cast, including Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.Emily Blunt in A Quiet PlaceALAMY26. A Quiet Place2018, Paramount+ Directed by John Krasinski and starring his wife, Emily Blunt, this post-apocalyptic thriller hinges on silence as a family teeters around, desperate not to wake the demons of this wasteland. It’s a simple but genius premise.25. Train to Busan2016, ITVXThe South Korean action-packed zombie thriller doesn’t hold back on blood, guts and cannibalism. When an unfortunate infected culprit boards a train heading to Busan, all hell breaks loose. Unexpected glimpses of humanity elevate it from the standard zombie fare.Advertisement• Fifty years after The Exorcist — why horror will never die24. Invasion of the Body Snatchers1956, Prime Video In this dark, eerie film, brilliantly directed by Don Siegel, a small Californian town is invaded by sinister faceless “pod people” who replace the original inhabitants. Born of the tensions in Cold War America, it asks the question: do you ever really know who anyone is?23. Repulsion1964, PlexTV Hands come out of walls and ceilings crack as Catherine Deneuve plays a woman suffering a breakdown while living alone in a London flat. It’s not the most tactful of Roman Polanski’s movies, but it leaves you reeling.22. Get Out2017, Netflix Jordan Peele achieves the perfect balance of social commentary and scares with this chilling satire of liberal racism in the US. It stars the British actor Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, a photographer accompanying his white girlfriend for a weekend with her parents that turns sour, and the film’s terror comes from the mirror it holds up to society. It won Peele an Oscar for best original screenplay.21. Dawn of the Dead1978, Prime Video George A Romero topped the glories of Night of the Living Dead with this sequel. Set mainly in a shopping mall, it stocks up on lively action scenes while enjoying itself as a satire on consumerism and mindless shoppers.Advertisement20. Carrie1976, buy/rent Brian De Palma’s film marks John Travolta’s debut film performance and sparked an undying run of Stephen King adaptations. The stigmas of becoming a woman are at its heart and it doesn’t hold back on the worst nightmare of the lot — adolescence.Janet Leigh in Psycho’s famous shower sceneALAMY19. Psycho1960, buy/rentThe biggest hit of Alfred Hitchcock’s career, this eerie spine-tingler moved the genre into intense psychological realms. Chilling and brutal, the infamous shower scene is a triumph — as is the rest of the film.18. Ring1998, Freevee The popularity of Japanese horror films in Britain can be traced back to the release of this masterpiece from Hideo Nakata, which follows a journalist (Nanako Matsushima) investigating a rumour about a spooky VHS. Incredibly memorable, the film is the highest-grossing horror in Japanese film history.17. Suspiria1977, Prime VideoThe best-known film by the Italian horror master Dario Argento is the story of an American dancer who finds danger behind the scenes at a German ballet school. It comes with a gloriously theatrical idea of what a scary movie should be like: colourful lighting, a heavy-breathing soundtrack and torrents of blood.Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s BabyALAMY16. Rosemary’s Baby1968, Now Roman Polanski tackles satanism without resorting to the usual shlock horror as a pregnant woman (Mia Farrow) encounters some gruelling terrors while living with her husband (John Cassavetes) on New York’s Upper West Side. Spine-chilling to the end.15. The Wicker Man1973, buy/rent Presents This British cult classic exploits the unease anyone might feel when visiting a remote rural spot and being surrounded by creepy locals. Edward Woodward is an innocent copper who explores a pagan Scottish island governed by Christopher Lee. The finale is sublime.Robert Englund as Freddy KruegerALAMY14. A Nightmare on Elm Street1984, buy/rent This film led to eight sequels, and holds the claim to Johnny Depp’s debut role — immediately rocketing him into the limelight. Wes Craven’s creation, Freddy Krueger, terrorises high-school children in their sleep, a plot that was originally shot down among parents and critics for its distressing ability to terrify small children.13. An American Werewolf in London1981, buy/rent John Landis’s film about a tourist (David Naughton) on a hair-raising trip to England is big on special effects and has a strong blend of horror and black comedy. It still feels fresh.Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal LecterALAMY12. The Silence of the Lambs1990, Prime Video This film is the only horror movie to win best picture at the Oscars — and it deserved it. There’s Jodie Foster as a young FBI agent and Anthony Hopkins’s unforgettable, technically perfect performance as the grisly Hannibal Lecter. Sparks fly every time the pair are on screen together.11. Scream1996, Paramount+ Five sequels have followed Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven’s slasher, but none have captured the flair and novelty of the original $170 million-grossing film. Wonderfully silly, daring and ruthless, this film has a group of teenagers discussing horror films as they get picked off one by one. And — spoiler alert — Drew Barrymore is boldly killed off in the first 15 minutes.Haley Joel Osment and Bruce WillisALAMY10. The Sixth Sense1999, Disney+ M Night Shyamalan’s breakthrough movie about a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who tells a shrink (Bruce Willis) he can talk to ghosts is famous for its crafty plot and final twist, but it also has a strong atmosphere and lots of good scary scenes along the way. And it survives multiple viewings.9. Let the Right One In2008, buy/rentForget cheap thrills, this is a horror with a real heart. The Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s deliciously macabre story centres on a tentative romance between two 12-year-old misfits. The surprise hit of 2009, it proved that there’s still blood in the vampire genre.8. The Thing1982, buy/rent“Foolish”, “depressing” and “instant junk” was just some of the criticism fired at John Carpenter’s horror on its release. It found a second life in home video — and too right, it’s terrific. A baby-faced Kurt Russell stars opposite a repulsive monster in this tale of an Antarctic research station infiltrated by an alien organism.7. Midsommar2019, buy/rent Ari Aster’s film spooks audiences with what they know will happen but are powerless to stop. Set in a Swedish commune and starring Florence Pugh, this is for those who like to be disturbed.6. Don’t Look Now1973, ITVX Presents Set in Venice, Nicolas Roeg’s tale of a bereaved couple (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) is a classic piece of intelligent and restrained spookiness with visions of a mysterious red-coated child.5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre1974, buy/rent Tobe Hooper’s relentless shocker is deliciously grim. It follows a group of friends, a family of cannibals and a chainsaw-wielding madman named Leatherface. A year after it was released, the British Board of Film Classification banned it for 24 years.Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, 1978ALAMY4. Halloween1978, Sky Store John Carpenter’s slasher flick rewrote the horror rulebook and inspired countless imitators. It’s an impeccable piece of low-budget, high-shock cinema. The casting of the 19-year-old unknown Jamie Lee Curtis was inspired.3. The Blair Witch Project1999, buy/rentsoundtrack, no special effects, no onscreen violence and three unknown actors — yet this film made $240 million from a budget of about $60,000. That’s because it’s a bone-chilling return to basics, a tap into the depths of the viewer’s imagination.Jack Nicholson in The ShiningALAMY2. The Shining1980, buy/rent Adapted from a Stephen King novel, Stanley Kubrick’s superb horror features Jack Nicholson — “heeeere’s Johnny!” — and a glut of indelible moments: REDRUM reflected in a mirror, the bloody elevator, Danny on his tricycle and the spooky twins.1. The Exorcist1973, Now William Friedkin’s movie is the ultimate horror film. Inspired by a 1949 exorcism of a boy, the film stars Max von Sydow as a priest called in to cast out a devil possessing a 12-year-old girl. Cinemas offered “barf bags” and had St John Ambulance crew on standby.Two-for-one cinema tickets at EverymanMake Wednesday your go-to cinema day. Each month Times+ members can bring a friend for free at Everyman on a Wednesday. The perfect cinema experience with plush sofas, a full bar and great food. Visit mytimesplus.co.uk to find out more.
