ROTTEN TOMATOES: RT's Top 50 Horror Movie List Unmasked

RT's Top 50 Horror Movie List Unmasked

Check out the best-reviewed horror movies of all time!

by Rachel Sandor | October 10, 2007

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Halloween is a great time for three of life's essential pleasures -- pigging out on candy, dressing up in a fun costume, and watching an obscene amount of horror movies. Thankfully, Rotten Tomatoes' Top 50 Horror Movies list has arrived, showcasing the best-reviewed horror movies of all time!

Although our list has scares galore, plenty of our picks do much more than cause nightmares. Some will make you laugh (Shaun of the Dead), jump out of your seat (Carrie), be amazed by breathtaking cinematography (28 Days Later), and bear witness to some great performances (Kathy Bates in Misery and Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs).

I made the RT Top 50 Horror Movie List! And I only had to sacrifice a dozen online critics!
Our list will hopefully inspire you to check out those classic horror flicks you may not have seen in a while, like the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, where a young Johnny Depp meets his maker. There are also plenty of lesser known horror gems for you to discover, like Canada's teen werewolf tale, Ginger Snaps. Although some horror fan favorites (The Shining and Scream) didn't make the cut, we've still got zombie flesh-fests (Dawn of the Dead), some German expressionism (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and bizarre off-kilter thrills (Cat People).

So get on your costume, munch on a candy apple, and brace yourself. Rotten Tomatoes' Top 50 Horror Movie list is here!

CHECK OUT THE FULL LIST HERE!

Related Items

Movie:	Shaun of the Dead
	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
	Dawn of the Dead
	Scream
	The Shining
	Ginger Snaps
	Cat People
	Silence of the Lambs
	Misery
	28 Days Later
	Carrie
Celeb:	Anthony Hopkins
	Kathy Bates
	Johnny Depp

(1-20 of 32 posts) | Reply

Bruce Campbell writes:
on Oct 10 2007 06:31 PM

Evil Dead I and II were in the top 10.

Epic.

(Reply to this)

Metafact writes:
on Oct 10 2007 08:19 PM

Psycho at #1? Not bad, but not having The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and The Exorcist in the top ten? For shame...

(Reply to this)

stork-lor writes:
on Oct 10 2007 08:25 PM

The Exorcist and Halloween aren't in the top ten???

Pointless.

(Reply to this)

Now it's dark writes:
on Oct 10 2007 08:55 PM

Did not expect to see David Lynch and Guy Madden in there.

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whathaveicreated writes:
on Oct 10 2007 10:12 PM

the exorcist needs to be WAY higher on the list! and the shining didn't even make this list? what the hell?

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Oct 10 2007 10:54 PM

Blame it on the reviews! Just think, if your favorite good horror movies didn't make it, the ones that did might be even better...right?

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aknddon3 writes:
on Oct 11 2007 01:32 AM

Shaun of the Dead is not even a horror movie and no way is it or 25 movies better than Halloween, that should be in the top 5. Why is shaun considered a horror movie but Jaws is not?

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alsanali writes:
on Oct 11 2007 03:38 AM

If The Shining didn't even make it on the list, I won't even bother reading it.

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Vicens17 writes:
on Oct 11 2007 03:49 AM

wtf? Shaun of the Dead was good, but #3 on the Top 50 horror movies? I beg to differ.

Halloween, The Exorcist, Jaws, Poltergeist, I could go on, all deserve to be in the top 50. The only good decisions she did make on her list were the Evil Dead movies and Psycho.

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Vicens17 writes:
on Oct 11 2007 03:50 AM

I meant top 10, haha.

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Bruce Campbell writes:
on Oct 11 2007 04:35 AM

Has Rotten Tomatoes ever had a good list?

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Gimy writes:
on Oct 11 2007 06:05 AM

i worked backwards, clicked all the way to #1..psycho, good call. lost respect for this list when i saw the Descent at #22...and stopped clicking after i saw Blair Witch. good marketing doesn't make a good movie guys, plain and simple...it was PURELY marketing. EVERYBODY believed it was true and thats the only reason people went to see it, and the fact that the actors and creators REFUSED for awhile to acknowledge it or flat out COME OUT and say it was fake...was a nice(stupid in the long run) ploy. case in point, the sequel made NOTHING and the trilogy was scrapped. great marketing...sh3t movie. the descent was a chic flick...nothing less, nothing more. not having Scream in the top 25 was stupid. these lists are dumb...

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pota1967 writes:
on Oct 11 2007 06:14 AM

Oh, I get it. Its not really the 50 Best Horror Films but the best "Reviewed". IMO there is a difference.
I have been suckered in to seeing some of the good reviewed horror movies in recent years only to be disappointed.

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Bruce Campbell writes:
on Oct 11 2007 08:21 AM

I love how when people don't like a great movie (like the Blairwitch Project or The Descent) they always come up with the most ****y reasons why it's bad.

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cooperbob writes:
on Oct 11 2007 09:13 AM

not a bad list all things considered. i do have some quibbles of course...the excorcist is far too low. it should probably be # 1 to be honest. Any list of horror movies that doesn't cantain the exorcist, halloween, and night and dawn of the dead is automatically suspect. and though they are good movies, night of the hunter and ESPECIALLY silence of the lambs ARE NOT HORROR. Not at all. I wish reviewers would realize this. And I also missed The Haunting and The Changeling, two great ghost movies. still not bad all around.

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cooperbob writes:
on Oct 11 2007 09:14 AM

oh yeah, and to agree with other posters, not having the shining on the list is criminal.

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nogard46 writes:
on Oct 11 2007 09:20 AM

I know its best reveiewed but that list is void in my eyes, how can it not have the Shinning??? I was expecting that to be in the top 5!!! The Changeling should be in the top 10, The Omen? Poltregeist??? How about An American Werewolf thats a classic!!!

If it can have Shaun of the dead then it can have GhostBusters!

the Grudge should have made it maybe atleast 50 or something.

Blairwitch should be in the top 10

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bobtom writes:
on Oct 11 2007 10:36 AM

all of this makes me nervous to even look at the list

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Scarborough Fair writes:
on Oct 11 2007 12:05 PM

Shaun of the Dead is indeed a horror movie, and it got really good reviews. This is a list of the BEST REVIEWED horror films.

(Reply to this)

bobtom writes:
on Oct 11 2007 12:30 PM

so if shaun of the dead is a comedy, then so is scary movie 1-?

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