Best Horror Movies of All Time

Everyone has their own opinions about the best horror movies ever made. That includes me.

But I wanted something more. So I built a database of every horror movie ever made. And then I created my own scoring system (the Horror Consensus Index, or HCI, score) based on the scores for each film on major film reviews platforms.

That left me with this (excellent) list of the top horror films of all time. Enjoy.

Best 100 Horror Films, Scored and Ranked

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Rank	Film	HCI Score	RT%	IMDb	Metacritic
1	Psycho (1960)	9.3	97	8.5	97
2	Rosemary’s Baby (1968)	9.1	97	8	96
3	Bride of Frankenstein (1935)	9.0	98	7.8	95
4	Alien (1979)	8.9	93	8.5	89
5	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	8.9	95	8.6	86
6	Eyes Without a Face (1960)	8.8	97	7.6	90
7	Jaws (1975)	8.8	97	8.1	87
8	Halloween (1978)	8.8	97	7.7	90
9	The Innocents (1961)	8.7	95	7.7	88
10	Night of the Living Dead (1968)	8.7	95	7.8	89
11	The Wicker Man (1973)	8.7	100	7.5	87
12	Get Out (2017)	8.7	98	7.8	85
13	One Cut of the Dead (2017)	8.7	100	7.6	86
14	The Invisible Man (1933)	8.6	95	7.6	87
15	Deep Red (1975)	8.6	93	7.5	89
16	Let the Right One In (2008)	8.6	98	7.8	82
17	Godzilla Minus One (2023)	8.6	99	7.7	81
18	The Wailing (2016)	8.5	99	7.4	81
19	Mulholland Drive (2001)	8.4	87	7.9	87
20	The Babadook (2014)	8.4	98	6.8	86
21	A Quiet Place (2018)	8.4	96	7.5	82
22	Cat People (1942)	8.3	92	7.2	85
23	Godzilla (1954)	8.3	94	7.6	79
24	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)	8.3	84	7.4	91
25	Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)	8.3	93	7.4	81
26	Possession (1981)	8.3	100	7.3	75
27	The Fly (1986)	8.3	93	7.6	81
28	Shaun of the Dead (2004)	8.3	93	7.9	76
29	The Host (2006)	8.3	93	7.1	85
30	Coraline (2009)	8.3	91	7.8	80
31	What We Do in the Shadows (2014)	8.3	96	7.6	76
32	Under the Shadow (2016)	8.3	99	6.8	83
33	Hereditary (2018)	8.3	90	7.3	87
34	Eraserhead (1977)	8.2	87	7.3	87
35	Suspiria (1977)	8.2	94	7.3	79
36	Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)	8.2	94	7.4	79
37	A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)	8.2	96	6.9	81
38	It Follows (2014)	8.2	95	6.8	83
39	The Witch (2015)	8.2	91	7	84
40	The Lighthouse (2019)	8.2	90	7.4	83
41	The Innocents (2021)	8.2	97	7	79
42	Strange Darling (2024)	8.2	96	7	80
43	The Exorcist (1973)	8.1	78	8.1	83
44	Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)	8.1	93	7.4	75
45	A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)	8.1	94	7.4	76
46	Little Shop of Horrors (1986)	8.1	91	7.1	81
47	Misery (1990)	8.1	91	7.8	75
48	Black Swan (2010)	8.1	85	8	79
49	Raw (2016)	8.1	93	6.9	81
50	Train to Busan (2016)	8.1	95	7.6	73
51	Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)	8.1	97	6.9	76
52	Us (2019)	8.1	93	6.8	81
53	Exhuma (2024)	8.1	93	6.9	80
54	The Invisible Man Returns (1940)	8.0	87	6.5	87
55	Them! (1954)	8.0	93	7.2	74
56	The Housemaid (1960)	8.0	100	7.2	68
57	Black Sabbath (1963)	8.0	89	7	82
58	House (1977)	8.0	91	7.3	75
59	Dawn of the Dead (1978)	8.0	92	7.8	71
60	Poltergeist (1982)	8.0	88	7.3	79
61	Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)	8.0	89	7	80
62	The Witches (1990)	8.0	94	6.8	78
63	Cure (1997)	8.0	94	7.5	70
64	Dracula, Pages From a Virgin’s Diary (2002)	8.0	88	6.8	84
65	Drag Me to Hell (2009)	8.0	92	6.6	83
66	Green Room (2015)	8.0	90	7	79
67	10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)	8.0	91	7.2	76
68	The Love Witch (2016)	8.0	95	6.2	82
69	Creep 2 (2017)	8.0	100	6.4	75
70	Saint Maud (2019)	8.0	92	6.6	83
71	Mad God (2021)	8.0	92	6.8	80
72	Talk to Me (2022)	8.0	94	7.1	76
73	You Won’t Be Alone (2022)	8.0	93	6.4	82
74	Barbarian (2022)	8.0	92	7	78
75	Pearl (2022)	8.0	93	7	76
76	X (2022)	8.0	94	6.5	80
77	When Evil Lurks (2023)	8.0	97	6.9	75
78	Late Night with the Devil (2023)	8.0	97	7	72
79	Sleep (2023)	8.0	95	6.6	80
80	The Substance (2024)	8.0	89	7.2	78
81	Oddity (2024)	8.0	96	6.7	78
82	A Different Man (2024)	8.0	93	6.9	78
83	The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)	7.9	89	7	78
84	The Masque of the Red Death (1964)	7.9	91	6.9	77
85	Re-Animator (1985)	7.9	94	7.1	73
86	Evil Dead II (1987)	7.9	88	7.7	72
87	Requiem (2006)	7.9	86	6.8	82
88	The Loved Ones (2009)	7.9	98	6.6	73
89	Zombieland (2009)	7.9	89	7.5	73
90	Let Me In (2010)	7.9	88	7.1	79
91	Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)	7.9	86	7.2	79
92	Housebound (2014)	7.9	95	6.7	76
93	The Gift (2015)	7.9	91	7	77
94	The Endless (2017)	7.9	91	6.5	80
95	Mandy (2018)	7.9	90	6.5	83
96	Host (2020)	7.9	99	6.5	73
97	Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022)	7.9	97	6	81
98	Prey (2022)	7.9	94	7.1	71
99	The Wolf Man (1941)	7.8	91	7.2	72
100	The Haunting (1963)	7.8	87	7.4	74

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About This List

I included a link to watch each film online. When I could find it for free on YouTube or a similar platform, I included that link. Otherwise, I included Amazon Prime Video links.
The search bar can help you filter for year, rank number, HCI score, or platform score.
This list is only current through 2024. I will add all of the horror movies from 2025 at the beginning of 2026.
Scroll horizontally to see all the other columns.

About the HCI Score

The Horror Consensus Index (HCI) score is an aggregate horror film rating system I developed, leveling and combining IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic scores into a single weighted measure of critical and audience reception.

The HCI score runs on a scale from 0 to 10, displaying one decimal place. The higher a movie’s HCI score, the better it is.

For inclusion on this list of best horror movies, a film had to have been scored on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. This left out some films, but almost invariably, horror movies that haven’t been scored on all three platforms are incredibly obscure and would have received much higher aggregated scores than they deserved if they had been included in the HCI calculation.

I Want to Hear from You

Determining the “best” horror films in history is a subject that’s likely to bring up some FEELINGS in a lot of you.

I want to hear it. Tell me what you agree with or disagree with. Give me your lists of best horror movies.

Leave it all in the comments, and thanks in advance.

😱

Alex Lindley

Alex Lindley is a writer, editor, and perhaps the world’s biggest horror and sci-fi movie fan. He started DarkFilmTheories.com to fill the void left by the removal of IMDb forums—where some of the best discussion about film meanings, themes, and theories once happened.

Best 100 Horror Films, Scored and Ranked

About This List

About the HCI Score

I Want to Hear from You

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