Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Halloween is here again and in-between putting on your costume and eating candy, you may want to sit down and watch a scary movie!
Moviefone has assembled a list of the 35 scariest movies ever made to help you celebrate All Hallows’ Eve!
Let’s begin!
Related Article: The 20 Most Terrifying Horror Films of the Last Decade Ranked!
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
In 2047, a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship ‘Event Horizon’ which disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage. With its return, the crew of the ‘Lewis and Clark’ discovers the real truth behind the disappearance of the ‘Event Horizon’ – and something even more terrifying.
“Infinite space. Infinite terror.”
Release Date: Aug 15, 1997
Run Time: 1 hr 35 min
Budget: $60,000,000
A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son (Ty Simpkins) inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.
“It’s not the house that’s haunted.”
Release Date: Apr 1, 2011
Run Time: 1 hr 42 min
Budget: $1,500,000
One night per year, the government sanctions a 12-hour period in which citizens can commit any crime they wish — including murder — without fear of punishment or imprisonment. Leo (Frank Grillo), a sergeant who lost his son, plans a vigilante mission of revenge during the mayhem. However, instead of a death-dealing avenger, he becomes the unexpected protector of four innocent strangers who desperately need his help if they are to survive the night.
Release Date: Jul 18, 2014
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
Budget: $9,000,000
Five years after surviving Art the Clown’s (David Howard Thorton) Halloween massacre, Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they’re safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.
“Prepare to be terrified again.”
Release Date: Oct 11, 2024
Run Time: 2 hr 5 min
Budget: $2,000,000
Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli (Lina Leandersson), who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building.
“Eli is 12 years old. She’s been 12 for over 200 years, and she just moved in next door.”
Release Date: Oct 24, 2008
Run Time: 1 hr 55 min
Budget: $4,000,000
Cillian Murphy in 2002’s ’28 Days Later.’ Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs — and it’s absolutely impossible to contain.
Release Date: Jun 27, 2003
Run Time: 1 hr 53 min
Budget: $8,000,000
29. ‘Saw’ (2004)
Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must fight to win their lives back, or die trying…
“How much blood would you shed to stay alive?”
Release Date: Oct 29, 2004
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
Budget: $1,200,000
Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video… and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring so she can save herself and her son.
“Before you die, you see”
Release Date: Oct 18, 2002
Run Time: 1 hr 55 min
Budget: $48,000,000
In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.
“Everything you’ve heard is true.”
Release Date: Jul 30, 1999
Run Time: 1 hr 21 min
Budget: $60,000
When twin brothers (Theo James) find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
“Everybody dies. And that’s fucked up.”
Release Date: Feb 21, 2025
Run Time: 1 hr 37 min
Budget: $10,000,000
25. ‘Scream’ (1996)
Drew Barrymore in ‘Scream’. Photo: Dimension Films.
A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl (Neve Campbell) and her friends find themselves contemplating the ‘rules’ of horror films as they try to survive a real-life one.
“Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder.”
Release Date: Dec 20, 1996
Run Time: 1 hr 52 min
Budget: $14,000,000
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
“Let the festivities begin.”
Release Date: Jul 3, 2019
Run Time: 2 hr 27 min
Budget: $9,000,000
When carefree teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her older boyfriend for the first time, she learns that she is the latest recipient of a fatal curse that is passed from victim to victim via sexual intercourse. Death, Jay learns, will creep inexorably toward her as either a friend or a stranger. Jay’s friends don’t believe her seemingly paranoid ravings, until they too begin to see the phantom assassins and band together to help her defend herself.
“It doesn’t think, it doesn’t feel, it doesn’t give up.”
Release Date: Mar 27, 2015
Run Time: 1 hr 41 min
Budget: $2,300,000
After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other.
“Scream your last breath.”
Release Date: Aug 4, 2006
Run Time: 1 hr 40 min
Budget: $3,500,000
Finney Blake (Mason Thames), a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer (Ethan Hawke) and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
“Never talk to strangers.”
Release Date: Jun 24, 2022
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
Budget: $16,000,000
20. ‘M3GAN’ (2023)
(L to R) M3GAN, Gemma (Allison Williams) and Cady (Violet McGraw) in ‘M3GAN,’ directed by Gerard Johnstone. © 2023 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
A brilliant toy company roboticist (Allison Williams) uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece (Violet McGraw). But when the doll’s programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend with terrifying results.
“She’s more than a toy. She’s family.”
Release Date: Jan 6, 2023
Run Time: 1 hr 42 min
Budget: $12,000,000
After returning from a wedding reception, a couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive.
“Lock the door. Pretend you’re safe.”
Release Date: May 30, 2008
Run Time: 1 hr 26 min
Budget: $9,000,000
Paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives.
“Based on the true case files of the Warrens.”
Release Date: Jul 19, 2013
Run Time: 1 hr 52 min
Budget: $13,000,000
Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) lives with his wife, Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their three children, Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins), and Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), in Southern California where he sells houses for the company that built the neighborhood. It starts with just a few odd occurrences, such as broken dishes and furniture moving around by itself. However, when he realizes that something truly evil haunts his home, Steve calls in a team of parapsychologists led by Dr. Lesh to help before it’s too late.
Release Date: Oct 29, 1982
Run Time: 1 hr 54 min
Budget: $10,700,000
When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.
“Every family tree hides a secret.”
Release Date: Jun 8, 2018
Run Time: 2 hr 8 min
Budget: $10,000,000
Hugh Grant in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
Two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Release Date: Nov 8, 2024
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
Budget: $10,000,000
Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp that was the site of a child’s drowning.
“They were warned…They are doomed…And on Friday the 13th, nothing will save them.”
Release Date: May 9, 1980
Run Time: 1 hr 35 min
Budget: $550,000
Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) adopts the newborn Damien (Harvey Stephens) without the knowledge of his wife (Lee Remick). Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.
“It is the greatest mystery of all because no human being will ever solve it.”
Release Date: Jun 25, 1976
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
Budget: $2,800,000
12. ‘Psycho’ (1960)
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) cares for his housebound mother.
“A new and altogether different screen excitement!”
Release Date: Sep 8, 1960
Run Time: 1 hr 49 min
Budget: $806,947
A young couple, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy (John Cassavetes), moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.
“Pray for Rosemary’s Baby.”
Release Date: Jun 12, 1968
Run Time: 2 hr 18 min
Budget: $3,200,000
Maika Monroe in ‘Longlegs’. Photo: Neon.
In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent (Maika Monroe) uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
Release Date: Jul 12, 2024
Run Time: 1 hr 41 min
Budget: $10,000,000
9. ‘Alien’ (1979)
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
Release Date: Jun 21, 1979
Run Time: 1 hr 57 min
Budget: $11,000,000
A fading celebrity (Demi Moore) decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself (Margaret Qualley).
“Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?”
Release Date: Sep 20, 2024
Run Time: 2 hr 21 min
Budget: $17,500,000
Members of an American scientific research outpost in Antarctica find themselves battling a parasitic alien organism capable of perfectly imitating its victims. They soon discover that this task will be harder than they thought, as they don’t know which members of the team have already been assimilated and their paranoia threatens to tear them apart.
“Anytime. Anywhere. Anyone.”
Release Date: Jun 25, 1982
Run Time: 1 hr 49 min
Budget: $15,000,000
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their son Danny (Danny Lloyd), must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren’t prepared for the madness that lurks within.
“A masterpiece of modern horror.”
Release Date: Jun 13, 1980
Run Time: 2 hr 24 min
Budget: $19,000,000
Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a top student at the FBI’s training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
“To enter the mind of a killer she must challenge the mind of a madman.”
Release Date: Feb 14, 1991
Run Time: 1 hr 59 min
Budget: $19,000,000
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop’s daughter, Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers’ children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen (Johnny Depp), must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world…
“If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming she won’t wake up at all.”
Release Date: Nov 16, 1984
Run Time: 1 hr 31 min
Budget: $1,800,000
When Sally (Marilyn Burns) hears that her grandfather’s grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), set out with their friends to investigate. After a detour to their family’s old farmhouse, they discover a group of crazed, murderous outcasts living next door. As the group is attacked one by one by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), who wears a mask of human skin, the survivors must do everything they can to escape.
“Who will survive and what will be left of them?”
Release Date: Oct 11, 1974
Run Time: 1 hr 23 min
Budget: $140,000
12-year-old Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother (Ellen Burstyn) becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.
“Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house…And a man has been sent for as a last resort. This man is The Exorcist.”
Release Date: Dec 26, 1973
Run Time: 2 hr 2 min
Budget: $12,000,000
A scene from 1978’s ‘Halloween’. Photo: Compass International Pictures.
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
“The night he came home!”
Release Date: Oct 27, 1978
Run Time: 1 hr 31 min
Budget: $325,000
