50 best horror movies to spook you out this Halloween

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Jamie Lee Curtis ramps up the tension in 1978
Jamie Lee Curtis ramps up the tension in 1978's Halloween, while Jack Nicholson bares his teeth in Stanley Kubrick's iconic The Shining, from 1980. (Image: Compass International Pictures/Getty)

With nights drawing in, fresh pumpkins adorning supermarket shelves and a chill in the air, our attention inevitably turns to how best to spook ourselves out in the run-up to Halloween.

But with so many films to choose from, where do you even begin? Well thankfully all the research has been done for you, with a stellar top 50 primed for your perusal below. Interestingly, audiences rated the first two instalments of the Alien franchise as the very best.

Despite the first film coming out more than 40 years ago, the franchise is still as popular as ever, with Disney planning a new instalment set for release sometime in 2024. The analysis by online party products retailer Party Delights used IMDB ratings, Rotten Tomatoes scores and average monthly search volume to whittle down a top 50.

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John Carpenter’s original Halloween, released around the same time as Alien, ranked third and is similar in terms of its longevity with new instalments planned for release over the coming years. Elsewhere, 2017’s Get Out followed and was the first of director and writer Jordan Peele’s two films in the top 50, with 2019’s Us placing 12th.

Bank of Dave self-made millionaire giving away money to 'keep kids working hard' eiqrriddriedinvBank of Dave self-made millionaire giving away money to 'keep kids working hard'

Jaws rounded off the top five with the Steven Spielberg classic being only one of six films in the top 50 to have an IMDB rating of more than eight - two of which are Alien and Aliens. Released back in 1975, the movie shocked audiences at the time, with revolutionary technology being used that would ultimately form the basis for another of the director's commercial hits, Jurassic Park some 15 years later.

One of the oldest movies on the list, Frankenstein, ranked next with the classic boasting strong figures across all metrics. Japanese horror House followed, placing just ahead of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho which had the joint highest IMDB rating (8.5) of any film on the list along with Alien.

The Stephen King adapted novel IT and 2009’s surprise hit Zombieland placed ninth and tenth, keeping another one of the author’s classic adaptations The Shining out of the top 10.

The full top 50 horror films

Rank

Film

Year of release

Rotten Tomatoes Score

IMDB rating

IMDB votes

Chilling warning text sent by ex boyfriend minutes before murdering former loverChilling warning text sent by ex boyfriend minutes before murdering former lover

Monthly search volume

1

ALIEN

1979

98%

8.5

907,439

60000

2

ALIENS

1986

98%

8.4

735,367

54000

3

HALLOWEEN

1978

96%

7.7

289,793

153000

4

GET OUT

2017

98%

7.8

644,852

28000

5

JAWS

1975

97%

8.1

628,087

22000

6

FRANKENSTEIN

1931

94%

7.8

75,906

33000

7

HOUSE

1977

90%

7.3

‎30,665

84000

8

PSYCHO

1960

96%

8.5

690,614

18000

9

IT

2017

86%

7.3

572,873

84000

10

ZOMBIELAND

2009

89%

7.6

597,641

33000

11

THE SHINING

1980

82%

8.4

1,054,301

32000

12

US

2019

93%

6.8

317,462

42000

13

DRACULA

1931

94%

7.4

55,386

25000

14

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

2004

92%

7.9

573,403

18000

15

KING KONG

1933

96%

7.9

‎88,145

12000

16

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

1925

90%

7.5

19,246

27000

17

MIDSOMMAR

2019

83%

7.1

356,916

63000

18

NOSFERATU

1922

97%

7.9

101,140

10000

19

A QUIET PLACE

2018

96%

7.5

552,839

15000

20

THE CONJURING

2013

86%

7.5

527,408

27000

21

THE MUMMY

1932

89%

7

28,423

32000

22

28 DAYS LATER

2002

87%

7.5

‎426,401

24000

23

SCREAM

1996

81%

7.4

366,074

41000

24

THE FLY

1958

95%

7.6

192,027

11000

25

HEREDITARY

2018

90%

7.3

345,053

21000

26

THE INVITATION

2015

89%

6.6

114,446

39000

27

THE RING

1998

98%

7.2

73,678

11000

28

THE THING

1982

84%

8.2

441,029

15000

29

THE EXORCIST

1973

84%

8.1

423,534

16000

30

THE FLY

1986

93%

7.6

192,027

11000

31

NOSFERATU

1979

95%

7.4

38,304

10000

32

TRAIN TO BUSAN

2016

94%

7.6

236,534

9700

33

HALLOWEEN

2018

79%

6.5

161,068

153000

34

READY OR NOT

2019

88%

6.8

‎165,522

25000

35

POLTERGEIST

1982

88%

7.3

‎171,286

16000

36

THE LIGHTHOUSE

2019

90%

7.4

233,145

11000

37

THE WITCH

2015

90%

7

278,785

14000

38

MISERY

1990

91%

7.8

222,116

8700

39

CARRIE

1976

93%

7.4

195,595

8800

40

DON'T BREATHE

2016

88%

7.1

‎287,281

12000

41

DRAG ME TO HELL

2009

92%

6.6

210,691

14000

42

OCULUS

2013

75%

6.5

134,185

45000

43

THE BABADOOK

2014

98%

6.8

‎234,980

8600

44

MANDY

2018

90%

6.5

84,185

15000

45

REVENGE

2017

93%

6.4

45,956

10000

46

DOCTOR SLEEP

2019

78%

7.3

203,187

15000

47

GERALD'S GAME

2017

91%

6.5

117,418

10000

48

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

2011

92%

7

432,630

8200

49

IT FOLLOWS

2014

95%

6.8

254,205

8100

50

ATTACK THE BLOCK

2011

90%

6.7

109,271

9200

Paul Speed

Stephen King, Neve Campbell, Stanley Kubrick, Sigourney Weaver, Jack Nicholson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween, Aliens, Twitter, Mobile Streams, Netflix

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