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Awesome Horror Movies That Will Actually Scare You

by GrouperTrooper • Created 12 years ago • Modified 12 years ago
I am not a person who is easily frightened when watching most "Horror" movies, but the following list are 15 that I actually find myself jumping at. (Please note, these are not the "Best Horror Movies Ever" types as that would have me include movies that I find more culturally significant than scary by today's standards (such as the Exorcist))
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  • 15 titles
  • The Thing (1982)

    1. The Thing

    19821h 49mR57Metascore
    8.2 (504K)
    A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
    DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith David
    In my opinion, this is my pick as the best scary/horror movie ever made. It's jumpy, gory, creepy, makes you think, and all the while weaves an intricate story that scares your from the inside out (pun intended).
  • William Juan Prieto in Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

    2. Paranormal Activity 2

    20101h 31mR53Metascore
    5.7 (113K)
    After experiencing what they think are a series of "break-ins", a family sets up security cameras around their home, only to realize that the events unfolding before them are more sinister than they seem.
    DirectorTod WilliamsStarsKatie FeatherstonMicah SloatMolly Ephraim
    So the first PA was only really "scary" during the last 5 minutes of the movie. This one starts off at about the last 45 minutes (so you get your money's worth) and the story actually fits perfectly well inline with the first movie (much better so than I expected, and there is nothing that detracts from a horror movie like a bad story line).
  • Hostel (2005)

    3. Hostel

    20051h 34mR55Metascore
    5.9 (200K)
    Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
    DirectorEli RothStarsJay HernandezDerek RichardsonEythor Gudjonsson
    Yo, legit. This movie be F-ed up. It's insanely gory and insanely disturbing and, from what I understand, loosely based on an actual place that would kidnap backpackers abroad and let wealthy business men pay to torture them to death. I guess that's what you get when Quentin Tarantino decides to make a horror movie.
  • Natalie Mendoza, Shauna Macdonald, Saskia Mulder, Alex Reid, Nora-Jane Noone, and MyAnna Buring in The Descent (2005)

    4. The Descent

    20051h 39mR71Metascore
    7.2 (263K)
    A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
    DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex Reid
    Oh how I hate small spaced. And dark spaces. Small, dark spaces miles underground. It's that first hour of the movie that just makes me cringe... and then the demon-cave creatures attack.
  • Alien (1979)

    5. Alien

    19791h 57mR89Metascore
    8.5 (1M)
    After investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin, the crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform.
    DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn Hurt
    This movie is a classic and very unique in how it uses sexuality to scare feer/creep factor in its viewers. (And I still find the special effects relevant to today's movies, at least in a way that doesn't have me laughing at some guy clearly wearing a mask)
  • Anthony Perkins, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, and Heather Dawn May in Psycho (1960)

    6. Psycho

    19601h 49mR97Metascore
    8.5 (759K)
    A secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera Miles
    Great movie, ground breaking for its time, and still gives a great story line (I'm usually pretty good with guessing the endings of movies, but I didn't see this one coming at all).
  • Susan Backlinie and Bruce in Jaws (1975)

    7. Jaws

    19752h 4mPG87Metascore
    8.1 (708K)
    When a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it's up to the local police chief, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
    DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard Dreyfuss
    The first time I watched Jaws, I was so afraid of water afterwards that I even thought twice before getting into the shower.
  • Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)

    8. Saw

    20041h 43mR46Metascore
    7.6 (494K)
    Two men awaken to find themselves on the opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other, escape or face the consequences. These two are the latest contestants in Jigsaw's games.
    DirectorJames WanStarsCary ElwesLeigh WhannellDanny Glover
    Before there was Saw-12 and empty seats at the movie theater, there was Saw. It introduced us to gore, mental games, and a hopeless feeling of impending doom.
  • Cloverfield (2008)

    9. Cloverfield

    20081h 25mPG-1364Metascore
    7.0 (436K)
    A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
    DirectorMatt ReevesStarsMike VogelJessica LucasLizzy Caplan
    Ok, I am going to be upfront with you and say that I have a lot of issues with this movie (the monster looks like it's a fleshy lizard but isn't effected by cruise missiles?) but what really scares about this movie is one scene, in the subway, in the dark, with things hunting the main characters. Watch this movie in the dark when you're home alone and you'll probably be checking under your bed and around the ceiling before you get in it.
  • Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)

    10. Rosemary's Baby

    19682h 17mR96Metascore
    8.0 (250K)
    A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
    DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth Gordon
    Classic horror where story is front and center. Maybe not "terrifying" by my opinion, but it had me thinking for weeks after I watched it.
  • Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, and Harvey Stephens in The Omen (1976)

    11. The Omen

    19761h 51mR62Metascore
    7.5 (142K)
    Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
    DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey Stephens
    Don't be fooled by the re-make, this is a great horror movie.
  • Jessica Tyler Brown, Lauren Bittner, and Chloe Csengery in Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

    12. Paranormal Activity 3

    20111h 23mR59Metascore
    5.8 (103K)
    In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity called Toby, who resides in their home.
    DirectorsHenry JoostAriel SchulmanStarsChloe CsengeryJessica Tyler BrownChristopher Nicholas Smith
    Story Line: C+
    Creep Factor: B+
    Jump Factor: A+
    Making characters that the viewers actually care about and don't want to see harmed? Priceless
  • Saw II (2005)

    13. Saw II

    20051h 33mR40Metascore
    6.6 (290K)
    A detective and his team must rescue eight people trapped in a factory by a man known as Jigsaw.
    DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsDonnie WahlbergBeverley MitchellFranky G
    Total gore feast, but the needle pit. The needle pit... to this day I still can't watch that scene.
  • Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, and Mark Ruffalo in Zodiac (2007)

    14. Zodiac

    20072h 37mR79Metascore
    7.7 (643K)
    Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
    DirectorDavid FincherStarsJake GyllenhaalRobert Downey Jr.Mark Ruffalo
    What's scary about this movie, to me, is that this all actually happened and the killer is still unknown and out there.
  • Liv Tyler and Kip Weeks in The Strangers (2008)

    15. The Strangers

    20081h 26mR47Metascore
    6.1 (152K)
    James Hoyt and Kristen McKay visit an isolated vacation home to enjoy some time together. However, they are in for a rude surprise when three masked assailants make their stay a nightmare.
    DirectorBryan BertinoStarsScott SpeedmanLiv TylerGemma Ward
    You might as well lock all your doors and windows before watching this, because you'll just end up doing it afterwards anyways.

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