Horror didn’t start with jump scares or franchises. It started with shadows, silence, and the fear of the unknown.
This list spans more than a century of horror cinema, from the earliest silent experiments to modern psychological terror. Some films are famous. Others are criminally overlooked. All of them matter.
This page is the hub for everything horror we publish. Bookmark it. Argue with it. Come back often.
Table of Contents
1890s–1920s: The Birth of Horror on Film
Silent cinema used atmosphere, myth, and superstition to define what horror could be before sound even existed.
Featured films:
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Le Manoir du Diable (1896)
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Nosferatu (1922)
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Häxan (1922)
👉 Explore more horror movies from the silent era →
1930s–1940s (Classic Monsters)
This era defined horror icons that still dominate pop culture. Studios perfected atmosphere and makeup, turning literary monsters into enduring cinematic legends.
Featured films:
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Dracula (1931)
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Frankenstein (1931)
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The Wolf Man (1941)
👉 Explore other classic monster horror movies →
1950s (Atomic Age & Sci-Fi Horror)
Post-war anxiety fueled stories about radiation, invasion, and science gone wrong. Horror blended with science fiction, reflecting fears of technology, nuclear power, and the Cold War.
Featured films:
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Gojira (1954)
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
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The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
👉 Explore more atomic-age and sci-fi horror films →
1960s (Psychological Horror Emerges)
The monsters moved inward. Horror became more intimate, unsettling audiences with paranoia, repression, and moral ambiguity rather than rubber suits and spectacle.
Featured films:
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Psycho (1960)
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Repulsion (1965)
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Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
👉 Explore more psychological horror from the 1960s →
1970s–1980s (The Golden Age)
This era pushed boundaries. Horror became raw, political, and confrontational, giving rise to slashers, possession films, body horror, and practical effects that still hold up today.
Featured films:
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The Exorcist (1973)
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Halloween (1978)
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The Thing (1982)
👉 Explore more golden-age horror movies →
1990s–2000s (Meta, Found Footage, Extremes)
Horror became self-aware and global. Filmmakers experimented with structure, realism, and shock, while international horror gained mainstream attention.
Featured films:
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Scream (1996)
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The Blair Witch Project (1999)
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Ringu (1998)
👉 Explore other modern and meta horror films →
2010s-2020s (Elevated & Social Horror)
Modern horror blends craft with commentary. These films use fear to explore grief, race, trauma, power, and isolation, proving the genre is as thoughtful as it is terrifying.
Featured films:
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The Witch (2015)
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Get Out (2017)
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Hereditary (2018)
👉 Explore more elevated horror from the 2010s →
Dracula on Film: The Eternal Face of Horror
No character has defined cinematic horror longer than Dracula. From silent-era shadows to lavish modern adaptations, Dracula evolves with each generation, reflecting changing fears around sexuality, power, immortality, and the unknown.
Featured films:
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Dracula (1931)
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Horror of Dracula (1958)
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Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Frankenstein on Film: The Monster That Never Died
Few stories have been adapted as often or as creatively as Frankenstein. Across more than a century of cinema, the tale has shifted from gothic tragedy to science-fiction warning to pop-culture icon, reflecting each era’s fears about creation, responsibility, and power.
Featured films:
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Frankenstein (1931)
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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
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Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Wolf Man and Werewolves on Film: Horror’s Wildest Transformation
The werewolf represents loss of control, identity, and the thin line between civilization and instinct. From tragic curses to savage modern reinventions, werewolf films reflect humanity’s fear of what happens when the rules break and the animal takes over.
Featured films:
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The Wolf Man (1941)
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An American Werewolf in London (1981)
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Ginger Snaps (2000)
👉 Explore the complete list of Wolf Man and werewolf movies →
Stephen King on Film: Horror’s Most Adapted Mind
No writer has shaped modern horror cinema more than Stephen King. His stories translate fear into character-driven nightmares, blending the supernatural with very human flaws. Some adaptations are iconic, others divisive, but together they form one of the most important bodies of horror films ever made.
Featured films:
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Carrie (1976)
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The Shining (1980)
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Misery (1990)
Horror Subgenres
Horror isn’t one thing. These subgenres reflect how fear evolves with culture, technology, and social anxiety.
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Psychological Horror
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Slasher Films
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Supernatural Horror
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Body Horror
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Found Footage
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Folk Horror
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Horror Comedy
Beginner Horror Watch Orders
New to horror? Start here. These films build tension without overwhelming you, and they show how the genre grows over time.
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“Not Too Scary” Horror Starter List
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Gateway Horror Films by Era
International Horror Essentials
Some of the most unsettling horror films ever made didn’t come out of Hollywood.
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Japanese Horror
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European Horror
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Korean Horror
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Latin American Horror
The Full 100 Horror Movies Master List
There are some real hidden gems here. Dating back to the first time a vampire was seen in film, in 1986, to the first Frankenstein in 1910, to the classic monster movies, many cult classics, and more.
Please share your favorites, too.
- Le Manoir du Diable 1896
- Frankenstein 1910
- L’Inferno 1911
- Der Student von Prag 1913
- Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari 1920
- Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920
- Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens 1922
- Haxan 1922
- The Phanton of the Opera 1925
- Faust: Eine Detsche Volkssage 1926
- The Unknown 1927
- Dracula 1931
- Frankenstein 1931
- Freaks 1932
- The Mummy 1932
- Vampyr 1932
- King Kong 1933
- The Invisible Man 1933
- The Bride of Frankenstein 1935
- The Wolf Man 1941
- Cat People 1942
- I Walked with a Zombie 1943
- The Uninvited 1944
- Dead of Night 1945
- The Picture of Dorian Gray 1945
- Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948
- House of Wax 1953
- Gojira 1954
- Les Diaboliques 1955
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
- Curse of the Demon 1957
- The Incredible Shrinking Man 1957
- Horror of Dracula 1958
- House of Usher 1960
- Les Yeux sans Visage 1960
- Peeping Tom 1960
- Psycho 1960
- The Innocents 1961
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962
- The Birds 1963
- Kwaidan 1964
- Onibaba 1964
- Repulsion 1965
- Night of the Living Dead 1968
- Rosemary’s Baby 1968
- The Last House on the Left 1972
- The Wicker Man 1973
- Don’t Look Now 1973
- The Exorcist 1973
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974
- Jaws 1975
- Carrie 1976
- The Omen 1976
- Eraserhead 1977
- Suspiria 1977
- House ハウス 1977
- Dawn of the Dead 1978
- Halloween 1978
- Alien 1979
- Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht 1979
- Friday the 13th 1980
- The Shining 1980
- An American Werewolf in London 1981
- The Evil Dead 1981
- Poltergeist 1982
- The Thing 1982
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
- The Fly 1986
- Evil Dead 2 1987
- Hellraiser 1987
- The Lost Boys 1987
- Misery 1990
- Child’s Play 1988
- The Silence of the Lambs 1991
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula 1992
- Candyman 1992
- Dead Alive 1992
- Scream 1996
- Ringu 1998
- The Sixth Sense 1999
- Ôdishon 1999
- The Blair Witch Project 1999
- Final Destination 2000
- Ginger Snaps 2000
- Ju-On: The Grudge 2002
- The Ring 2002
- 28 Days Later 2002
- Shaun of the Dead 2004
- Saw 2004
- Hostel 2005
- The Descent 2005
- [Rec] 2007
- El Orfanato 2007
- Låt den Rätte Komma In 2008
- Jennifer’s Body 2009
- The House of the Devil 2009
- Kill List 2011
- You’re Nex 2011
- The Cabin in the Woods 2012
- V/H/S 2012
- The Conjuring 2013
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 2014
Frequently Asked Questions
There’s no single answer. Some viewers point to Psycho for its influence, others to The Exorcist for pure terror, and many modern fans choose Get Out for its cultural impact. “Best” usually means the film that scared or stuck with you the most.
Start with story-driven films that build tension rather than nonstop shocks. Psychological horror, classic monster movies, and mainstream modern hits are good entry points before diving into more extreme subgenres.
Absolutely. Early and classic horror films focus on atmosphere, pacing, and ideas rather than effects. Many modern horror techniques were invented decades ago, and watching these films adds context to everything that came later.
Horror aims to scare, disturb, or unsettle, often using fear as the main emotional response. Thrillers focus more on suspense and tension, keeping the audience on edge without necessarily trying to frighten them outright. Many films overlap both genres.
🎃 Horror is personal. Everyone’s list is different.
Which movies would you add, remove, or fight us over? Share your favorites and keep the conversation going.
So what do you think? How many of these Dracula movies have you seen? Do you have any others to add to the list? Let us know in the comments section and please consider joining our Facebook page, Scary Movies at the Fort. Each October we host the 31 Nights of Horror. Check us out.
Also, be sure to check out our Complete List of Frankenstien, Wolfman, and The Mummy, and Universal Monster Movies.
