10 Greatest Classic American Horror Movies

Whether it's an essential classic like The Haunting or a modern horror classic like The Babadook , the scariest movies in film history are the epitome of the deeply visceral reactions that the Seventh Art is able to generate. These absolute masterpieces toy with the audiences' deepest fears in ways that result in absolutely unforgettable experiences.

Image via Tri-Star Pictures Adrian Lyne 's psychological horror film Jacob's Ladder is one of the most criminally underrated cult classics of '90s Hollywood. It stars Tim Robbins as Jacob, a Vietnam War veteran whose traumatizing experiences in the military result in the most bizarre hallucinations. What follows is one of the most haunting thrillers of all time .

Jacob's Ladder is probably not the best choice for those who prefer more straightforward horror, because this is a surreal arthouse gem that delights itself in confusing and disorienting the audience . Those who love that kind of thing, however, are virtually guaranteed to love Jacob's Ladder , whose psychologically deep and stylistically bold atmosphere is nothing if not profoundly chilling.

Image via MGM As audiences have grown more tolerant, censorship has decreased around the world, and effects have gotten stronger, horror has generally gotten considerably scarier as the years have gone on. There are still plenty of older classics that are utterly terrifying , however, and Robert Wise 's British-American gem The Haunting is most definitely one of those films.

One of the most perfect horror movies based on books , The Haunting has been labeled as one of the scariest movies ever made Frankly, it's difficult to disagree with them. This is just about as psychologically intense and potently atmospheric as haunted house movies get.

Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface in Texas Chain Saw Massacre Image via Vortex Inc. The New Hollywood film movement was far and away one of the most important and influential in the history of cinema, revolutionizing pretty much all genres imaginable—horror included. Few New Hollywood horror gems were ever more influential than Tobe Hooper 's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , one of the greatest counter-cultural movies from the era.

Typically, when a horror movie gets banned around the world , you know it's one of the good ones; and Texas Chain Saw is no exception. What makes it so special is how masterfully Hooper builds an air of dread and terror without ever actually showing much graphic violence, since the majority of the kills happen off-screen . If anything, this is irrefutable proof that films which leave most of the horror to the imagination are often the most effective.

Amelia (Essie Davis) lies in bed with her six-year-old son, Sam (Noah Wiseman), reading him a children's book in 'The Babadook' (2014). Image via Umbrella Entertainment One of the most original horror movies of the 21st century , Jennifer Kent 's modern Australian masterpiece The Babadook is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of the past couple of decades. Though it initially failed to become a commercial success in Australia, it soon garnered such strong international attention that it's now just about as mainstream as modern horror gems get.

Throughout the 21st century, horror cinema has distanced itself from the jump-scare-heavy stories of the past and started experimenting with more atmospheric, psychologically-driven horror—the sorts of films that have come to be known as "elevated horror." Out of the bunch, The Babadook stands out as one of the scariest . Blending a genuinely moving story with some of the best-executed psychological horror of the 2010s, it's a must-see for all fans of the genre.

Laurie Strode holding a knife and looking scared in Halloween (1978). Image via Compass International Pictures If a hypothetical Mount Rushmore of horror filmmakers were ever built, John Carpenter would have to be right up there, and that's thanks to masterpieces like Halloween . One of the most important and groundbreaking pioneers of the slasher subgenre of horror, this is one of those R-rated slasher movies that are true masterpieces from start to finish.

It's a film all about slow-burning psychological tension and unsettling atmosphere-building rather than pure shock or gore, taking full advantage of a budget of less than half a million dollars . Shoestring-budget horror is often the most creative, and Halloween is no exception. Suburban spaces suddenly became the scariest location imaginable, and it was all thanks to Carpenter and his creation of Michael Myers, easily one of the scariest characters in film history.

Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.

Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.

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Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention.

Freddy wins That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.

Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.

Chucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.

The Thing may very well be the scariest sci-fi movie ever made , a perfect blend between aesthetics and theme. Indeed, this is a movie reflecting the state of all-encompassing paranoia of the Cold-War era United States, yet Carpenter never allows that thematic dimension to overpower the film's fear factor. Full of mystery, terrifying twists, and disgustingly good special effects, it's one of those horror classics that have aged like fine wine.

Image via A24 Ari Aster 's Hereditary nowadays continues to be praised While that may or may not be the case, there's one thing that's pretty much undeniable: It sure is one of the scariest films the big screen has seen in years. But aside from being deeply unsettling, it's also a surprisingly sad and emotionally stirring film, one of the best mother-son movies of the last decade.

Ellison looks at old evidence in Sinister. Image via Lionsgate Films Back in 2020, BroadbandChoices.co.uk founded the Science of Scare Project, where they showed experiment participants a series of horror films and measured their heart rates in order to find what could "objectively" be the scariest movie ever made. The winner was Scott Derrickson 's Sinister , and although scariness is ultimately purely subjective, there's no arguing against science.At the very least, Sinister is one of the scariest movies released since 2000 , and though it isn't at all devoid of jump scares and other horror clichés, those are at least used as effectively as they possibly could have been . There's an oppressive atmosphere of dread surrounding the entire experience of watching Sinister , one so impeccably constructed that virtually anyone who loves scary movies should check out this one at least once.

Jack Nicholson as Jack in 'The Shining' Image via Warner Bros. Over a quarter of a century after his death, Stanley Kubrick continues to be praised For proof of why, one needn't look much further than The Shining , the only time the director ever dipped his toes into horror. And yet, he has such a perfect understanding of the genre and of what makes its fans tick, that it would easy to watch this Stephen King adaptation and assume that its director had been making horror films for decades.

Simply put, The Shining is one of those precious horror movies that can be called perfect , anchored Slow yet incredibly atmospheric, bloody yet only in brief bursts, and delectably—as well as horrifyingly—bizarre in all the right places, this is one of the most essential Hollywood classics of the '80s, regardless of genre.

The Exorcist - 1973 (3) Image via Warner Bros. Pictures To this day, many would still say that William Friedkin 's The Exorcist is the scariest horror movie ever made, and it wouldn't be easy to disagree with them. At the time of its release, this possession masterpiece had audiences reacting with a level of panic and shock that was unlike anything else movie theaters had ever seen . And though The Exorcist has undeniably lost a bit of its shock value, the effectiveness of its horror elements is still as potent as it has ever been.

Based on one of the most influential horror books of all time (penned The special effects and makeup still look horrifyingly real, the performances

Like Follow Followed The Exorcist R Horror Release Date December 26, 1973 Runtime 122 minutes Director William Friedkin Writers William Peter Blatty Cast See All Ellen Burstyn Chris MacNeil Linda Blair Regan MacNeil