The most artistically accomplished, groundbreaking, and enduring horror films—the scariest at the time of their release and the most highly regarded by critics and horror publications—presented in chronological order.

The number of films equals the number of years from 1920 (the first horror film on the list) to 2024.

In 2025, the following films were added to the original 2020 list: The Brood (1979), The Mist (2007), Martyrs (2008), Under the Skin (2013), and The Wailing (2016).

Next update in 2030: 110 films.

IMDb – imdb.com/list/ls4174232874
List Challenges – listchallenges.com/the-greatest-horror-filmss

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THE GOLDEN 10 – (1960) Psycho – (1968) Night of the Living Dead – (1968) Rosemary's Baby – (1973) The Exorcist – (1974) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – (1975) Jaws – (1978) Halloween – (1979) Alien – (1980) The Shining – (1982) The Thing

THE SILVER 20 – (1920) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – (1922) Nosferatu – (1935) Bride of Frankenstein – (1961) The Innocents – (1963) The Birds – (1963) The Haunting – (1973) Don't Look Now – (1973) The Wicker Man – (1976) Carrie – (1977) Suspiria – (1978) Dawn of the Dead – (1981) An American Werewolf in London – (1981) The Evil Dead – (1984) A Nightmare on Elm Street – (1986) The Fly – (1987) Hellraiser – (1991) The Silence of the Lambs – (1996) Scream – (1998) Ringu – (1999) The Blair Witch Project

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Decades:
20s – 3
30s – 7
40s – 4
50s – 8
60s – 13
70s – 19
80s – 21
90s – 10
00s – 11
10s – 9

Most represented years (min. 3 films):
1981 – 5
1960, 1979, 1980 – 4
1973, 1976, 1978, 1985, 1987, 1999, 2007 – 3

Countries of origin:
59 – United States
15 – United Kingdom
6 – Japan
5 – France, Italy
4 – Canada, Spain
3 – Germany
1 – Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden

Directors (min. 2 films):
3 – John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Roman Polanski, George A. Romero, Jacques Tourneur, James Whale
2 – Dario Argento, Tod Browning, Wes Craven, Terence Fisher, Lucio Fulci, Alfred Hitchcock, Tobe Hooper, Sam Raimi, James Wan