Well, would you look at that? It's almost Halloween again. But before you have to fill up the candy bowl and set the plastic cauldron of dry ice out on the porch, your good friends at RT have taken the time to refresh our list of the best horror movies of all time!
What makes a horror movie? The definition is open to interpretation, but if it made a sizeable portion of its audience scream, jump involuntarily, or dive for the covers, then you'll probably find it on this list. (Notable exception: The Hottie and the Nottie.) We've assembled all the usual suspects -- Freddy, Dracula, that cat with the leathery face -- and, as always, have taken care to add a few choices you may not expect.
As you'll know if you've read any of our previous lists, each entry has 20 reviews or more to back up its inclusion here, and the final rankings were devised using a weighted system that takes into account both the movies' Tomatometers and number of reviews.
Now that we've established the parameters and laid out the ground rules, there's nothing left to do but start the scariest countdown of the year!
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I don't know who made this list, but having "King Kong" rank first is laughable. In fact, most of these movies do not deserve to be so close at first. Bad taste all around right here.
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I'm no expert, but I think the list is ordered by the movies tomatometer. Although, after the list is made, the tomatometer may change, but it's order on the list doesn't.
So in short, who made this list? Everybody!
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Seriousky, why is everybody blaming RT? It's the users fault if you don't like it.
I don't like it either...but I don't care.
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David C. - they're weighted by published critics, not popular opinion. That's why you often see lowly rated films films that could be highly rated among a dedicated fan base, or the public at large, voting with their $$$.
Believe you me, all the readers at Rotten Tomatoes voted King Kong first, not by a long shot - that's strictly the "critics" call.
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I'm w/ you. King Kong isn't even a horror movie, so how it made the list, let alone #1 is beyond me. Same with Aliens, how did THAT make it into the Top 10, it isn't even a horror movie...
AND WHY THE HELL ISN'T THE HAUNTING (1963) ON THERE??! WHAT KIND OF A LIST IS THIS???!!!
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Well, it depend on what horror is for you, I suppose. King Kong is not, really not, a horror movie. What is scary in it? I mmean, I'm not talking about the effects, but about the story itself. Nothing scary in here.
(And if a movie is dependant on special effects to scare, it is not a good Horror movie. Phycho and The Exorcist is still scary, because they don't rely (solely) on FX to sacre the wits out of you)
Lastly, how come the Exorcist is not in the Top Ten? Or Misery? (Kathy Bates won a friggin' Oscar for this role!)
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Unless I completely blanked out...I didn't see Exorcist on the list AT ALL. Or Friday the 13th. And Halloween at #39? While a part of me is happy they didn't necessarily go for the stereotypical choices, the rest of me is appalled at what was left out.
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Amen to "The Exorcist"! Funny seeing the word "Amen" and "The Exorcist" in the same sentence. Also, if "Silence of the Lambs" (great movie) made it, then where the hell's "Seven"? IMO "Seven" is even creepier than Silence.
-Aaron
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My top horror films are
1-The Shining
2-The Exorcist
3-Sweeney
5-W
6-N
7-Evil Dead
8-Dracula
9-The Mist
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It's possible Confounded, I didn't read the list in its entirety. If they left out The Exorcist, it's a grave mistake
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I found out why Exorcist isn't on the list. The list start at 87%, and Exorcist is at 85. But the Exorcist has much more review than the first movie on the list. And The Exorcist: The version you never seen is at 88% with 76 review. How come it isn't? I don't understand.
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WAY too esoteric. This is made by critics for critics.
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Esoteric? Holy ****, that just saddens me to think that anyone can find this list even near the same realm as esoteric.
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yeah seriously, where the hell is The Exorcist?
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Night of the Hunter? Was that ever considered a horror film? There are a lot of great films here, but I have to agree with the idea that it was put together with the intent to be different from other lists.
I know that we usually see the same 30 or so films in a list hailing the 50 Best Horrors of All Time, but it's mostly because most horror fans do love them and consider them to be the best ones out there.
The idea of Near Dark, which I like, coming in above Halloween is just ridiculous. I also happen to adore King Kong, but I have never found it to be frightening at all. I am sure the first audiences were simply terrified by the sight of him, but to call this the #1 horror film of all time is just silly to me.
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Joke?? I'd say yes
Yeah I'm sure DONKEY KONG scared people soooooo much more then Halloween did..............
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Scariest thing about "Halloween"? The fact that while Myers was stalking his idiotic victims, my little sister could be heard sleepwalking around the house, bumping into things and making floorboards creak. Only thing that kept me awake, really.
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SionnachOghma...Halloween is not the in-your-face type film that horror movies became after it. Not a ton of blood & gore, heads chopped off, etc. It used cinemetography, direction, lighting and music to create mood and emotion. Suspenseful and creepy. Definitely a classic, and ahead of its time. I do agree on the Exorcist though. I don't understand how it was missing. The list was aweful.
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Here are some suggestions off the top of my head, some of these are not techincally "horror" movies but have elements of suspense and/or horror which were not on the list:
Jacob's Ladder
Frailty
Them (2007)
An American Werewolf In London
The Machinist
The
P
H
Stir Of Echoes
Audition
The Thing
The Descent
Rabid
The Fly (1986)
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"FRAILTY"?!?
My friend and I tried watching it once and spent most of the movie laughing... especially at the part with the ax that had "Otis" carved into the handle, like that was its name or something. It became an inside joke for the longest time... we started naming inanimated objects like our cars and such as "Otis" :)
But anyways, could this site be any slower?
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I am amazed at how much this list reads like the dusty collection of VHSs that got me through my teenage years: Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Eraserhead; Nosferatu; Peeping Tom; Nightmare on Elm Street; Cat People; Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead; Freaks; The Birds; The Innocents; Eyes Without a Face; Psycho; Night of the Hunter; Rosemary%u2019s Baby...how am I not in therapy?
Except for the Wicker Man. I was so disappointed when I eventually saw that. Could someone please explain why so many people love it so much? Cult Shmult.
If you haven't seen Repulsion, I cannot recommend it highly enough. So gorgeous and creepy.
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First, Jocorotten, I really hope that you're talking about the crappy Nic Cage remake of The Wicker Man and not the 1973 original. If you were disappointed by the original, then you have bad taste. It's that simple. The Wicker Man is amazing.
Second, how has no one mentioned the fact that the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers wasn't on the list? What criteria could they possibly be using to leave IotBS off the list?
For instance, take Horror of Draculam (1958), which was ranked number 49:
Tomatometer: 88%
Reviews: 24
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Now, look at Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), which wasn't on the list:
Tomatometer: 97%
Reviews: 35
Average Rating: 8/10
Could someone explain to me how this can be? What, do 1958 reviews count for more than 1978 reviews? Is there some kind of review inflation that I haven't been told about?
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I personally think Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) was a laughable horror movie and pretty lame, but I agree that by Tomatometer alone (wich this list claim to be based upon) it should be there. Like The Exorcist.
I don't understand how they made this list. They didn't even get their Tomatometer ratings right!
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Okay Halloween and The Exorcist are not one and two thus this is not a real list. EPIC FAIL
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Was The Shining on hear?
King Kong 1.?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa
RT shouldn't go by tomatoemeter, they should go by how scary it actually is.
Friday the 13th may not be in the 90%s, but it was pretty fritening.
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To put all these films in the category of horror is ridiculous. It does not make sense to me that they would put "Aliens" before the original "Alien". "Aliens" is a good film but more of an action movie than a horror.
My list in no particular order:
Night of the Living Dead (George Romero version)
Alien
The Thing
Bug
Audition
The Village
Psycho
The Shining
The Fly
One Hour Photo
The Descent
The Hills Have Eyes (Wes Craven version)
The Ruins
28 Days Later
Funny Games
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Last House on the Left
The Evil Dead
Dead Alive
Jacob's Ladder
If someone thinks that King Kong is the best horror movie out there, then classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, There Will Be Blood, Donnie Darko, and even A Clockwork Orange should be in this as well somewhere.
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To put all these films in the category of horror is ridiculous. It does not make sense to me that they would put "Aliens" before the original "Alien". "Aliens" is a good film but more of an action movie than a horror.
My list in no particular order:
Night of the Living Dead (George Romero version)
Alien
The Thing
Bug
Audition
The Village
Psycho
The Shining
The Fly
One Hour Photo
The Descent
The Hills Have Eyes (Wes Craven version)
The Ruins
28 Days Later
Funny Games
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Last House on the Left
The Evil Dead
Dead Alive
Jacob's Ladder
If someone thinks that King Kong is the best horror movie out there, then classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, There Will Be Blood, Donnie Darko, and even A Clockwork Orange should be in this as well somewhere.
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Nate A. - Audition is one crazy movie. So disturbing. Quite apart from giving me a life long fear of piano wire, I think that is the only film that has made me feel physically sick. That is powerful horror. Having said that, I am not sure I will ever go back for a repeat viewing.
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lol i didnt think anyone has seen Audition.. i own it. YEa where is the Shining. Its stanley Kubrick............... Best Horror movie ever!
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Good to see shout outs to Frailty and Jacob's Ladder.
This is probably the worst list I've ever read by RT. Back to the drawing board.
. . . I mean exorcist is famous for having people freaking out while watching it, and had amazing crowds when it opened. . . etc. Using percentage cut off points is LAZY and smacks of RT Elitism!
A good horror film you are freaked out well after you watch it! If you show it to a kid they have nightmares. Makes you look under the bed. I mean, KING KONG? Hell no. . .
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My God, What a crappy list. [b]No Phantasm?[/b] What a PUTRID List, many of those movies would be considered comedies. Bleh, Thumbs Down RT.
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i am in total agreement.....i'll buy 2 buckets, one for each of us to barf in!
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My God, What a crappy list. [b]No Phantasm?[/b] What a PUTRID List, many of those movies would be considered comedies. Bleh, Thumbs Down RT.
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The Shining?!?!?!?
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