With Halloween quickly approaching, people are getting in the mood for something scary (well, at least some of you are). Nothing fits the dark, creepy mood quite like a horror movie, and when the jumps and scares are legit, all the better.
Here are 13 horror movies that’ll scare the pants off of you — for real. Watch them, if you dare.
The Exorcist (1973)
There’s a reason The Exorcist has long been viewed as one of the best horror movies of all time: because it’s about as terrifying as you can get. Upon its release, the film was seen as incredibly risky with its religious imagery and brutal showcasing of a teenage girl possessed by an evil demon. In the movie, the possessed Regan (Linda Blair) is shockingly vulgar, throwing out words that cannot be repeated here, and she began the now-decades-long trend of evil things scrabbling up the wall and onto the ceiling. Oh, and also projectile vomiting and a 180-degree head turn.
Poltergeist (1982)
Some might scoff at this one; after all, the effects in Poltergeist are pretty dated. But the movie, which looks closely at a family who moves into a home built on a Native American burial ground, is a simple premise that turns into a terrifying story. The family’s small daughter, Carol Anne (the late Heather O’Rourke, who died six years after the movie’s release) is abducted into another dimension by the house’s spirits … through the TV.
As strange as that sounds, it’s actually pretty darn scary. At one point in the movie, a huge tree in the backyard tries to swallow the family’s son — it spoke to each child’s worst nightmare. And some adults.
The Visit (2015)
This recent horror gem by M. Night Shyamalan didn’t look like anything special upon first release, but its rather original plot (two grandkids go and stay with their grandparents for the weekend, to horrific results) makes it shine.
We’re so used to children being the horror element, and The Visit makes its elderly characters the scary ones. Imagine going to meet your grandparents for the first time, and all your grandfather does is go out to a creepy woodshed and stare at the door. Or picture your grandmother stripping naked at night and scratching endlessly at the walls. Yes, that happens. And there’s one scene that had the theatre audience absolutely howling in disgust — but don’t worry, no spoilers.
The Shining (1980)
Pretty much a part of the horror canon since it was released, The Shining is a beacon that most horror films aspire to. Because of its genius and many legendary scenes, people sometimes look over the absolute scariness of the concept: being isolated in a massive, haunted mountain lodge for months — like cabin fever on crack. Add some frightening twin girls, hallways full of blood and Jack Nicholson brandishing an axe, and honestly, what’s not to be scared of?
The Omen (1976)
Little boy Damien in his adorable school clothes … oh wait, no, that kid is the son of the devil. When U.S. ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife are unable to have a child of their own, they willfully take Damien into their house, and suddenly people all around Thorn are dropping dead. Alternatively known as The Antichrist, The Omen is slow-moving, dark, and just plain creepy.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Don’t scoff! The early films of the Nightmare on Elm Street series are downright scary. We selected the third one because it features some of the most creative deaths in the entire collection. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) returns to haunt a group of teens’ dreams, but these aren’t just ordinary teens. They’re housed in a psychiatric ward for various mental ailments, ranging from addiction to catatonia, and that makes them easy victims for the blade-fingered Freddy. One of the poor victims is even made into a marionette, with his own veins as the strings. Laugh at the dated special effects, sure, but this film takes horror to new, innovative heights.
It (2017)
The cinematic follow-up to the 1990 TV movie (which was also scary in its own right), It is more terrifying in terms of psychological scariness. The story follows the kids in the small town of Derry, who are terrorized by an evil spirit that manifests as Pennywise the Clown. The evil force is capable of appearing in whatever physical form it chooses, usually adapting to the victim’s particular fear.
Get ready, horror junkies, because Chapter II — when the kids grow into adults and are still being stalked by Pennywise — is aiming to hit theatres next year. For now, you’ll have to be satisfied with this creepy predecessor.
28 Days Later (2002)
It’s one thing when zombies move slowly and don’t put up much of a fight. One shot to the head and they’re done. But in the outstanding 28 Days Later, the living dead move quickly. And we’re talking Usain Bolt quickly. One of the first movies to put that into effect, for once zombies become a worthy opponent. Equal parts harrowing and disgusting, you may find your leg twitching as the movie’s characters try (and for the majority, fail) to escape their undead brethren.
Misery (1990)
Author Stephen King’s third entry on this list (there are many, many more that could be included), Misery takes a seemingly innocuous concept and turns it into a terrifying nightmare scenario. When superfan Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) discovers her favourite author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) after he’s seriously injured in a mountain car crash, she takes him back to her isolated cabin where he’s held prisoner until he writes his next book to her liking. Did we mention there are several scenes of painful torture? A sledgehammer is used. We’ll leave it at that.
Alien (1979)
By now, even if you’re relatively new to horror, you’re most likely familiar with the infamous “alien exploding out of man’s stomach” scene. Yes, kids, this is the movie in which that disgusting moment takes place. When the crew of a spaceship in a very distant part of the universe is taken over by an alien species (that, of course, gestates in human bodies), it’s game over. The aliens themselves are nasty: they’re tall and fast with sinewy limbs and a long, snake-like tail. Did we mention their huge, teeth-filled mouths dripping acidic saliva? Or the little “second jaw” that comes out of its mouth?
At least there’s a salve to the whole thing — we’re introduced to Sigourney Weaver in her Ripley breakout role.
The Ring (2002)
Based on 1998’s masterful Japanese horror film Ringu, The Ring managed to bring all the scary elements of the original across the ocean for North American audiences to enjoy/fear/cry about. The premise is simple: a mysterious videotape kills anyone who watches it within seven days. If you’re old enough to know what “snow” is on a TV screen, chances are you’ve never looked at it in the same way since watching this movie.
The Conjuring (2013)
Very creepy doll. That’s all you need to know. Well, she doesn’t play a huge role in the movie, but we catch a glimpse of her at the beginning and end, a foreboding sign of what’s to come. (And to tease for the eventual release of sister movie, Annabelle.)
In an old farmhouse in 1970, strange, unexplained things start happening to a family, until they call in paranormal investigators to help them. The sleuths discover that the farmhouse is actually steeped in evil spirits, all starting with a woman’s suicide in a backyard tree. The horrific events start out mild and then escalate to truly creepy proportions.
The Descent (2005)
Claustrophobics, take heed: there are a lot of tight spaces in The Descent. The movie follows a group of women as they go on a caving expedition, and things go horribly wrong when they’re picked off one by one by strange underground creatures. Not so much gruesome as it is anxiety-inducing, this movie flew under the radar for the most part. If you have a genuine fear of being closed in or trapped, then the film will do its job and sweat up those palms.