Horror movies – especially those bloody and super-scary ones – can trigger sleepless nights and cause excessive fear. It’s not hard to imagine a situation where you are afraid when in the dark simply because you watched a terrifying horror film. On the pro side, spending time watching these films can increase the need for bonding, burn calories, and trigger a much-needed adrenaline release. In this blog post, we highlight the best 7 horror movies of all time.
1. The Exorcist (1773)
The Exorcist is a 1973 supernatural horror movie based on a 1971 novel of the same name. The film stores Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Kitty Winn, Lee J. Cobb, and Jack MacGowran. In its first part, the film follows a young girl who is demonically possessed. Her mother tries to resolve this by engaging Catholic priests. While the film had its hitches, took much longer, and cost twice the original budget, it, all the same, turned out to be a masterpiece.
2. The Conjuring (2013)
This is a 2013 supernatural horror film that was written by Chad Hayes and directed by James Wan. The film was inspired by real-life horror stories and the plot features The Warrens, who come to the assistance of the Perron family that has experienced distributing events at their Rhode Island farmhouse. Since it was released in the United States and Canada back in 2013, the film has received many positive reviews. It made more than $319 worldwide from a budget of $20 million.
3. The Shining (1980)
This is a psychological horror film that was by a 1977 Stephen King novel of the same name. It stars Shelley Duvall, Jack Nicholson, Danny Llyod, and Scatman Crothers. Nicholson (Jack Torrance), the movie’s primary character, is an upcoming writer who’s also recovering from alcoholism. He accepts a position as an off-season caretaker for a hotel in Colorado Rockies, along with his wife and boy. There are supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel and the story picks up from here.
4. Hereditary (2018)
This is one of the best-rated horror films with an IMDB rating of 7.30 and a Rotten Tomatoes of 89%. A girl named Annie and the rest of her family is grief-stricken when they lose their mother. However, strange things come to light when more is revealed about the girl’s ancestry. The film was pioneered in January 2018 and made $80 million from a $10 million budget.
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
This is one of the most breathtaking Texas Chain Saw Massacre films. It was set in 1974 and features a group of friends who are victimized by family cannibals while on a tour. The movie was – in part – inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein, a murderer. But the rest of the plot is entirely fictional. While the director, Hooper, produced the movie on a small budget of only $400,000, it went on to gross $30 million in the domestic box office market.
6. The Ring (2002)
The Ring is another famous supernatural horror movie that stars Martin Henderson, Naomi Watts, Brian Cox, and David Dorfman. It was remade from a Japanese horror movie based on a 1991 novel. The plot features an investigative journalist probing a cursed videotape that appears to kill the viewer about 7 days later. The Ring was a certain success given a worldwide box office gross of $249 million from a $48 million production budget. Two other sequels were produced in 2005 and 2017.
7. Halloween (1978)
This 1978 movie is an independent splasher that also turned out to be one of the best horror films of all time. The film revolves around Michael Myers, a mental patient who is cast to a sanitarium for killing his teenage sister on the night of Halloween when he was only 6 years old. Fast forward to 15 years later, when he escapes the mental facility and goes back to his hometown. Here, he kidnaps ladies while being pursued by the psychiatrist.
In addition to these definitely awesome horror films, others that deserve a special mention on this list include Insidious (2010), IT (2017), and Sinister (2012).