10 Scariest Horror Movies of the Last 100 Years, Ranked

Horror cinema goes back more than a century, with the existence of early pre-sound films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the original Nosferatu showing that for as long as there have been movies, people have wanted to be scared by movies. The horror genre evolved when sound came along, of course, and it’s never really slowed down since, because great works of horror can be found in every decade from the 1920s onward.

Picking out the scariest, though? That’s a little different from picking out the best, and it’s also probably more subjective. You may not find these scary, or you might. There’s really no guarantee here, but what can be said is there was an attempt at picking out undisputed classics alongside uniquely unsettling lesser-known movies, there’s a range of horror films release date-wise, and there’s also an assortment from across the globe (not just American flicks), to emphasize how we can all be united through a shared experience of simultaneous pants-s**ting. We are the world. We are the soiled.

10

‘The Thing’ (1982)

Directed by John Carpenter

The thing about The Thing is that it’s timelessly unsettling, thanks to a simple premise and special effects that are still astoundingly great. It’s an unpredictable movie thanks to that straightforward premise, which might sound paradoxical, but no; the whole film is about an alien lifeform that can mimic those it comes into contact with, which makes paranoia run high when it targets a team of researchers in Antarctica.

Since it involves an alien, it’s also a science fiction movie, and an all-timer when judged as one of those, too. But The Thing keeps the level sufficiently high enough to feel persistently like a horror film, and it does a lot with seemingly just a little. And yet for as great as it is, there’s arguably one other John Carpenter movie that’s both simpler and scarier… more on that one in a bit.

9

‘Faust’ (1926)

Directed by F. W. Murnau

In the interest of going back pretty much 100 years and shouting out something that’s still quite unsettling, here’s Faust. At the time of writing, it’s 99, so it just fits within the last century of horror. And it’s a fantasy horror film that brings to life the legendary tale of Faust, which involves forces of good and evil making a wager regarding whether a righteous man can be corrupted.

Even all this time later, few movies about “making a deal with the Devil” are quite as grand and visually spectacular as Faust, not to mention genuinely eerie. If you find silent cinema inherently not scary, maybe Faust won’t get to you all that much, but the imagery here is so striking and ahead of its time that it does ultimately feel like it could well be the scariest pre-talkie horror movie.

8

‘Tetsuo: The Iron Man’ (1989)

Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto

Though it’s another black-and-white horror movie, Tetsuo: The Iron Man is not going to be confused with Faust by anyone, seeing as it’s one of the loudest movies ever made; in other words, far from silent. It clangs, rattles, and might well cause tinnitus, being aggressive in sound and music while also being an assault on another sense: sight.

This is because Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a pretty disgusting-looking movie, but by design, given the premise here involves a man finding various parts of his body slowly turning into metal. It’s almost too effective as a work of body horror, and the lo-fi nature of the film and the grainy visuals don’t date it, as they instead actually work to hide many of the technical limitations that might’ve otherwise been visible, keeping the impact of the horror surprisingly high.

7

‘Black Swan’ (2010)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to making intense movies, with Black Swan being his most relentless work within the horror genre (even if his most intense film overall is probably Requiem for a Dream). Black Swan is all about the dangers of pursuing perfection, focusing on a ballerina who becomes distressingly dedicated to performing the lead role in a production of Swan Lake.

It’s a psychological horror/thriller movie through and through, and it mixes in a ton of disturbing imagery that often passes by in a flash, with the scariest moments here being almost subliminal. Black Swan also benefits from having a dedicated central performance thanks to Natalie Portman, playing a character who is dedicated to giving a central performance. The sense of madness and overwhelming passion for one’s craft shines through unnervingly well.

6

‘Noroi: The Curse’ (2005)

Directed by Koji Shiraishi

There’s another found footage movie that might be more commonly brought up as the scariest ever made (some project about a witch or something?), but Noroi: The Curse might actually be the most frightening. It understands exceptionally well how to use the format to make things feel scarier and more believable, with the premise here involving a filmmaker trying to connect various incidents to a single demonic entity.

It’s not so much what it’s about but the execution that makes Noroi: The Curse feel special. It aims to get under your skin, and if you’re particularly unsettled by this kind of horror, it’ll likely succeed and then some. Perhaps the only other found footage movie from around this time that comes close is Lake Mungo, which is also a bit underrated, at least compared to bigger hits like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.

5

‘Eyes Without a Face’ (1960)

Directed by Georges Franju

Don’t be fooled by the fact that this was made well over six decades ago: Eyes Without a Face is truly unsettling stuff, living up to that ominous title in spades. It’s also quite effective as a bleak drama, being about a doctor driven mad with guilt because an accident he caused disfigured the face of his daughter. The horror element comes in because he kidnaps other young women and keeps trying to remove their faces to repair/replace his daughter’s.

It shows a ton of gruesome sights for a movie of its age, and it’s also dripping in atmosphere and dread, providing more than just nightmare fuel for the squeamish. Eyes Without a Face has a good chance of being nightmare fuel for the non-squeamish, too, and it’s admirable how uniquely disturbing it is.

4

‘Halloween’ (1978)

Directed by John Carpenter

It would be pretty disappointing if a movie with the guts to call itself Halloween wasn’t appropriately scary, but you don’t have to worry about that so long as you’re watching 1978’s Halloween. The other movies called Halloween are more divisive, but John Carpenter’s 1978 original is about as classic as horror films get, and the whole thing is very direct. It’s about a killer on the loose, following a group of teenagers who get targeted by him.

It’s standard slasher movie stuff in hindsight, but it perfected the sub-genre quite early in the overall scheme of things. Halloween is minimalist and, for the most part, effective because it’s grounded. Michael Myers does seem inhuman, and more so in later films, but he rides a perfectly uncanny line here between being grounded and almost otherworldly, and it’s understandable why he’s gone on to be an all-time iconic screen villain.

3

‘Angst’ (1983)

Directed by Gerald Kargl

Angst is primarily a crime movie that gets so dark it also works as a horror film. It’s genuinely twisted and almost too dedicated to being uncompromising, with the whole thing really just being about a serial killer breaking into a home, and targeting the people who live there. It’s all drawn out, building up immense amounts of dread, and then not holding back when it comes to showing the inevitable violence.

It’s also the cinematography of Angst that has to be brought up and celebrated… or scorned. Or something in between; “celebrated” is not the right word, even if it’s visually so impressive and nauseating. Angst is very difficult to watch, and it’s the kind of horror movie that horrifies because so much of it comes across as genuinely realistic. Even those who are used to most kinds of horror films might have a bad time with this one.

2

‘The Shining’ (1980)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

While not a perfect adaptation, The Shining is a perfect movie based on a Stephen King novel… well, yeah, maybe loosely based. It shakes a lot of things up in a way that some people don’t like (King included), but if you approach it on its own terms, it’s remarkable as a horror movie, and it can be appreciated alongside the still brilliant source material. You can’t go wrong with either, or both, if you’re okay with acknowledging the differences.

The Shining is a film about isolation and madness, and it stays scary by having constant tension between what might be psychological, and what might be genuinely supernatural. It is another horror film that works because it taps into a sense of things being uncanny, and the whole “generally off” nature of the film is subtly frightening in a way that’s hard to put into words.

1

‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

Directed by William Friedkin

Just like it’s safe and maybe a bit boring to highlight something like Citizen Kane as the #1 drama of the last 100 years, or of all time, so too can one see The Exorcist called the scariest movie ever and maybe be tempted to roll one’s eyes. And that’s allowed, if you feel that way. Again, not everyone is going to be scared by the same things, and there’s been so much hyperbole around The Exorcist over the decades that some might approach it and come away potentially disappointed.

It’s the ultimate demonic possession movie, though, and hard to look past if you want to talk about groundbreaking and historically important horror movies. The Exorcist has dread, in-your-face horror, characters you care about and fear for, and an unwavering sense of tension throughout. It’s the full package, as far as the horror genre goes, and yeah, it might well live up to its reputation as the scariest movie of all time.

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