31 Essential Scary Movies

1. The Conjuring (2013) A husband and wife team of paranormal investigators come to the aid of a family whom are being terrorized by something otherworldly in their home.
2. The Mist (2007) Based upon the story by Stephen King, after a violent thunderstorm a rural Maine community becomes enveloped within a preternatural fog, containing innumerable horrors that are not from our world.
3. The Blair Witch Project (1999) The movie that more or less kicked off the found footage genre of horror, tells the story of three film students whom while on the trail of the allegedly fictional witch, become hopelessly lost in the woods.
4. 28 Days Later (2003) Awakening from a twenty eight day coma in the aftermath of an accident, a London bicycle courier discovers that a virulent pathogen has burned through the country, leaving survivors to contend with the murderously violent and raging infected.
5. Paranormal Activity (2009) A young couple in a suburban home are afflicted with increasingly unsettling and violent supernatural manifestations.
6. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) This Netflix limited series is the story of a fractured family, confronting memories of their old home both past and present, and the terrifying events that drove them from it.
7. Dawn of the Dead (2004) The directorial debut for Zack Snyder (“300”, “Watchmen”) and penned by James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) adapted from the classic story by George Romero, in many ways entirely revitalized zombie films. These undead aren’t shambling about; they’re running you down.
8. The Exorcist (1973) A young girl is possessed by a demonic spirit, leading to a literal confrontation between good and evil.
9. The Babadook (2014) A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
10. The Crazies (2010) After a government plane crashes in rural Iowa town and infects the local water supply with a virulent chemical, the populace begins to lose their sanity and turn upon one another with acts of violence and mayhem.
11. The Girl with all the Gifts (2017) One of several children immune to a mutated fungal disease that has eradicated free will and turned the rest of humanity into cannibalistic zombies, a gifted young girl escapes the safety of a special school and helps guide mankind’s survival.
12. Near Dark (1987) An early film from director Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”,” The Hurt Locker”), features the story of a small town farmer who after being bitten by a beautiful drifter, is reluctantly forced into the company of a murderous “family” of southern vampires.
13. Shawn of the Dead (2004) From director Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz”, “The Word’s End”) comes the classic horror-action-romantic comedy about an underachieving but lovable loser rising to heroic occasion to protect his estranged girlfriend and mum from a zombie outbreak.
14. The Shining (1980) While Stephen King famously hated this Stanley Kubrick adaption of his popular novel, the film expertly captures the isolated and oppressive atmosphere of The Overlook Hotel and its inhuman denizens that drive the winter caretaker into madness and murder.
15. The Mothman Prophecies (2002) The residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia are seeing something both inexplicable and horrifying; what may be worse is what the experiences may portend.
16. The Ritual (2017) Reuniting after the tragic death of their friend, four college pals set out to hike through the Scandinavian wilderness. A wrong turn leads them into the mysterious forests of Norse legend, where an ancient evil exists and stalks them at every turn.
17. The Terror (2018) Adapted from the novel by Dan Simmons, this AMC mini-series is a fictionalized account of the lost Franklin expedition. While searching for the Northwest Passage in 1847, The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror become icebound. Trapped in the cold and the dark, the Royal Naval expedition’s crew face deprivation, disease, madness, and something even worse.
18. The Thing (1982) Director John Carpenter’s science fiction-horror masterpiece, (a remake of the 1951 film “The Thing from Another World”, which in turn was adapted from the 1938 novella “Who goes there”?) is the story of a group of Antarctic scientists whom are terrorized by an entity that can become anyone and anything.
19. What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Director Taika Waititi’s (“Thor: Ragnarok”, “JoJo Rabbit”) hilarious send up of vampires is framed as documentary crew following about three immortals as they contend with paying the rent, getting into the hottest clubs, and finding new victims.
20. Halloween (1978) Fifteen years after being incarcerated for murder, Michael Meyers escapes and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois to resume his reign of terror on October 31st.
21. The Fly (1986) While developing a teleportation device, a brilliant scientist inadvertently splices together himself and the DNA of a common housefly caught within the machine. The merger creates a terrifying disintegration of both body and mind, and, a terrible transformation.
22. It Follows (2014) A girl tricked into sleeping with her new boyfriend, discovers she’s the recipient of a sexually transmitted curse. Now, death will inexorably creep upon her disguised as both friend and stranger.
23. The Ring (2002) Tracking an urban legend about a videotape that results in the death of anyone who views it within seven days, a journalist ends up becoming a part of the story with only a week to unravel the mystery.
24. The Descent (2005) After a year of emotional trauma, a woman and her friends on a cave diving expedition become trapped belowground. They’re not alone.
25. The Witch (2015) In 1603 New England, a devout family is enveloped with panic and despair after the youngest child vanishes without a trace, creating accusations of both witchcraft and demonic influence.
26. Sinister (2012) Desperate for a hit, a true crime author moves his family into a suburban home where a series of horrific deaths occurred. When he comes across a box of films in the attic, he discovers that something in the house is trying to help with his research in the most terrifying way imaginable.
27. Insidious (2010) A couple are forced to take drastic measures when their new home is seemingly haunted, and their son is being stalked by a malevolent entity.
28. In the Mouth of Madness (1994) Director John Carpenter’s homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, tells the story of an insurance investigator set upon the trail of a missing horror novelist, whose writings may be more than fiction.
29. Storm of the Century (1999) Just before a vicious nor’easter cuts off the isolated community of Little Tall Island, a sinister stranger is arrested by the town constable for a seemingly senseless murder. His demand of, “give me what I want, and I’ll go away” presages ever more dire and terrifying events. This is an original teleplay from Stephen King.
30. Quarantine (2008) An American remake of the Mexican horror film “REC”, a reporter and her cameraman, along with LAFD and LAPD officers, are sealed within a building by the CDC to contain a virulent outbreak.
31. An American Werewolf in London (1981) Two American backpackers are attacked by a lycanthrope in Scotland, with the survivor now entirely disbelieving he’s cursed to become a murderous wolf during the next full moon. This is another comedy-horror hybrid, featuring Academy Award winning make up effects by Rick Baker.