The 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time (Variety)

[claws]

You know you are dealing with a special kind of list when

... The Shining and The Thing did not make the top 10
... there's Hostel II and Human Centipede 2 but no Poltergeist or American Werewolf.

What do you think?


1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974
2. The Exorcist 1973
3. Psycho 1960
4. Jaws 1975
5. Rosemary's Baby 1968
6. Night of the Living Dead 1968
7. Audition 1999
8. Frankenstein 1931
9. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975
10. Carrie 1976
11. Alien 1979
12. King Kong 1933
13. The Silence of the Lambs 1991
14. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror 1922
15. Don't Look Now 1973
16. Halloween 1978
17. Diabolique 1955
18. The Shining 1980
19. The Mummy 1932
20. Get Out 2017
21. Black Sunday 1960
22. Carnival of Souls 1962
23. Dawn of the Dead 1978
24. The Blair Witch Project 1999
25. Scream 1996
26. The Innocents 1961
27. Dracula 1931
28. The Wicker Man 1973
29. The Phantom of the Opera 1925
30. Eyes Without a Face 1960
31. Ringu 1998
32. The Night of the Hunter 1955
33. M 1931
34. Evil Dead II 1987
35. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
36. Hereditary 2018
37. Deep Red 1975
38. Freaks 1932
39. Kwaidan 1964
40. Bride of Frankenstein 1935
41. The Devils 1971
42. 28 Days Later 2002
43. Vampyr 1932
44. Manhunter 1986
45. The Invisible Man 1933
46. The Thing 1982
47. Godzilla 1954
48. The Birds 1963
49. The Witch 2015
50. Onibaba 1964
51. Irreversible 2002
52. Blood and Black Lace 1964
53. Eraserhead 1977
54. Let the Right One In 2008
55. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920
56. The Fly 1986
57. Peeping Tom 1960
58. Raw 2016
59. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962
60. Funny Games 1997
61. Candyman 1992
62. Gremlins 1984
63. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1931
64. Planet Terror 2007
65. The Incredible Shrinking Man 1957
66. The Babadook 2014
67. Possession 1981
68. The Sixth Sense 1999
69. Near Dark 1987
70. The Wailing 2016
71. Hostel: Part II 2007
72. Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954
73. Blood for Dracula 1974
74. A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
75. The Descent 2005
76. I Walked with a Zombie 1943
77. The Blob 1958
78. Angst 1983
79. The Omen 1976
80. House of Wax 1953
81. The Wolf Man 1941
82. What Lies Beneath 2000
83. The Little Shop of Horrors 1960
84. Dead Ringers 1988
85. Re-Animator 1985
86. Village of the Damned 1960
87. The Vanishing 1988
88. Blood Feast 1963
89. Horror of Dracula 1958
90. A Page of Madness 1926
91. Dead of Night 1945
92. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) 2011
93. Cat People 1942
94. Event Horizon 1997
95. Dead Alive 1992
96. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978
97. The Haunting 1963
98. The Devil's Backbone 2001
99. Suspiria 1977
100. Repulsion 1965

[RCMerchant]

In no particular order...

I most certainly wouldn't include garbage like HOSTEL.
Not one Lugosi movie? WHITE ZOMBIE, at least.
And I would include ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932). And CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962). And GOZU (2003).

Edit: Yeah- I read the list too quickly earlier- DRACULA and CARNIVAL OF SOULS are listed.

[claws]

Not one Lugosi movie?

27. Dracula 1931

[M.10rda]

They're just trying to get folks like us to notice them and repost their dumb list. 

[RCMerchant]

These are the ones I would NOT include- for various reasons-just my opinion, of course...


9. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975- Never seen it-don't care to.
10. Carrie 1976- Good film, but in the top 100? Nah.
11. Alien 1979- I liked it- but...I dunno...
19. The Mummy 1932- Bored me to tears. Cinematography was excellant, though.
20. Get Out 2017- Not seen.
24. The Blair Witch Project 1999- It was a gimmick. I enjoyed it, but it way overated.
28. The Wicker Man 1973- Again- bored me to tears.
31. Ringu 1998-Eh.
36. Hereditary 2018- Not seen.
42. 28 Days Later 2002- Seen it all before.
44. Manhunter 1986-No way.
49. The Witch 2015-? (A ? means "what? as in "never even heard of it.")
51. Irreversible 2002-?
58. Raw 2016-?
60. Funny Games 1997-?
61. Candyman 1992-Nope.
62. Gremlins 1984- It's a kids movie, fer christ sake.
66. The Babadook 2014- Boring.
68. The Sixth Sense 1999- Meeeehhhh...
71. Hostel: Part II 2007- Torture porn garbage.
74. A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984- Good movie, but the series turned Freddy into a wisecraking joker, which kinda spoiled the first movie for me.
75. The Descent 2005- No thanks.
79. The Omen 1976- It was fine for it's day, but nah....
80. House of Wax 1953-Great film, but top 100? Not for me.
81. The Wolf Man 1941-It's a fun movie, but not in my top 100.
82. What Lies Beneath 2000-?
83. The Little Shop of Horrors 1960- A comedy, not a horror movie.
87. The Vanishing 1988-?
88. Blood Feast 1963-Fun Z budget junk- but top 100? Are they kidding?
92. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) 2011- Garbage.
94. Event Horizon 1997- Nope.
98. The Devil's Backbone 2001-Never seen it.
99. Suspiria 1977-Bored me.

There were a few others I would debate, but these for certain.

[claws]

9. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975 - kinda controversial, and people don't seem to like it very much.
44. Manhunter 1986 - It is a fanboy favorite, they love to hype it on the internet. It's alright, but not a "horror classic"?
51. Irreversible 2002 - never seen, but I read it is nasty. Not a title I see listed in "best horror" at all.
58. Raw 2016 - Never seen, but I know it always got good reviews. Still, another title I never see listed.
70. The Wailing 2016 - same status as Raw (2016)
71. Hostel: Part II 2007 - Why? Part II is actually WORSE than the first.
82. What Lies Beneath 2000 - another odd choice. It's not a bad movie, but not a movie that pops up on lists either.
92. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) 2011 - Why?

[zombie no.one]

3. Psycho 1960
4. Jaws 1975
5. Rosemary's Baby 1968
16. Halloween 1978
37. Deep Red 1975
56. The Fly 1986
61. Candyman 1992
79. The Omen 1976

these would probbbbably make my top 100.

THE OMEN is the best horror film on that whole list.

no F13? bruh do you even voorhees?

[M.10rda]

SALO and IRREVERSIBLE are attempts by the listmaker(s) at edgy arthouse cred. Both are horrific, surely. Whether they are good Horror films or among the best 100 is another matter. To allude to Burgomaster's recent post in the "Odd DVDs & Blu-Rays" section, Variety might just as well have selected A SERBIAN FILM...

Anyway, this list accomplished the same arthouse horror cred objective by including ERASERHEAD and POSSESSION....... ranked far too low, however.

HOSTEL II has developed an odd reputation for being the "cool" HOSTEL. It does have more interesting characters and better performances than the first one, and perhaps a more intriguing central conflict. However, being the sequel, it lacked all of the tension and shock value of the first one. I like HOSTEL II less. However also, it's still a HOSTEL film, and thus probably doesn't belong on this list.

Again, let's consider the source. This is Variety. This is Variety. What does Variety's staff really know about horror cinema? We might as well get mad about a list by Entertainment Weekly or People Magazine or The Weekly World News. 

[Trevor]

51. Irreversible 2002 - never seen, but I read it is nasty. Not a title I see listed in "best horror" at all.

It isn't just nasty, it's very nasty indeed. 😳😳😳

[Rev. Powell]

Here's how badmovies.org users voted their favorite horror movies (although only 7 of us participated):

1. The Thing (1982)                           95 points
2. Alien (1979)                               78
3. Psycho (1960)                              67
4. The Shining (1980)                         57
5. Night of the Living Dead (1968)            52
6. Jaws (1975)                                51
7. Halloween (1978)                      49
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)      42
9. Frankenstein (1931)                      40
10 (tie). Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)   35
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)      35
12. The Exorcist (1973)            33
13 (tie). The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)   32
Dracula (1931)               32
15. The Omen (1976)            30
16 (tie). Dawn of the Dead (1978)      29
Suspiria (1977)               29
Videodrome (1983)            29
19 (tie). Possession (1981)         25
Pieces (1982)               25
The Lost World (1925)            25
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)              25
23 (tie). Bride of the Monster (1955)      24
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)      24
25 (tie). The Haunting (1960)         23
Hausu (1977)               23
The Mutilator (1981)            23
The Wicker Man (1973)            23

[claws]

Technically, the Variety list doesn't really suck that much as it covers about 75% of common, classic, well-known horror titles.
Adding unknown and rare movies can be difficult, I reckon.
Mixing in movies that are generally known to be "bad" makes you think if the OP is trolling.

Either way, there is no winning as people have different taste and opinions on what is considered the best.

[zombie no.one]

Here's how badmovies.org users voted their favorite horror movies (although only 7 of us participated)

shame..... as someone who has never done 'social media' , messageboards have been my only form of online participation since forever. in the last 10 years all the boards I posted regularly on have either closed, or basically become decimated, posting wise. this place better not turn into a ghost forum!

[chainsaw midget]

no F13? bruh do you even voorhees?

Friday the 13th is an oddity. 

It's an icon series without a good strong iconic movie.

The best movie in the series, the first one, doesn't even have the main character that the rest of the series is known for.  The second movie has him, but not his iconic hockey mask.  The third movie gives him the mask, but he's still just some guy.  It takes until the fourth movie where we get the undead hokcey masked killer the seires is know for, and by then the formula is wearing thin. 

[zombie no.one]

no F13? bruh do you even voorhees?

Friday the 13th is an oddity. 

It's an icon series without a good strong iconic movie.

The best movie in the series, the first one, doesn't even have the main character that the rest of the series is known for.  The second movie has him, but not his iconic hockey mask.  The third movie gives him the mask, but he's still just some guy.  It takes until the fourth movie where we get the undead hokcey masked killer the seires is know for, and by then the formula is wearing thin. 

even though I really enjoy most of them on a 'guilty pleasure' level, I have to basically agree... one thing I do like is how all of the entries have their own style that makes them fairly distinct from the others. PART 4 is probably the darkest, 5 is madcap gonzo, 6 tries the almost self-aware parody thing, etc etc

[M.10rda]

Here's how badmovies.org users voted their favorite horror movies (although only 7 of us participated):

Our list is a far more accurate reflection of reality.   

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 6 stands on its own as a solid, well-made, not stupid, respectable ambassador for the series.
I do find something to enjoy in most of them, though many of them err on the side of being pretty dumb. I keep considering a rewatch of 5, which used to be among my least favorite entries. It seems to be developing the same reputation that 8/MANHATTAN used to have - as a slept-on gem. (Sorry, I've never been able to take MANHATTAN seriously.)