Greatest Horror Films of All Time: Column Series

Our writers count down their lists of the greatest horror films of all time throughout October starting with our Honorable Mentions

What a great time to be a horror fan. While there have been a plethora of remakes and reimaginings and ,oh, sequel after sequel in recent years, this Halloween season, we are treated to a ton of great new genre films. From Ti West’s 2/3rds finished Pearl trilogy and Smile and Barbarian to Jordan Peel’s Nope, even a few legacy horror films this year with new Hellraiser and Texas Chainsaw movies. But for this season, we decided to attempt the impossible: we wanted to try our hand at a definitive list ranking the greatest horror films we have ever seen. 

How do you rank over a century’s worth of movies into a single list? Well, we decided you don’t. For this column, we decided to break down the many subgenres of horror and list our favorite films of each one. While there are an infinite number of subgenres to draw from (do you include David Lynch style surrealism? What about realism horror a la Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or Faces of Death?)We kept it pretty broad to cast the widest and most inclusive net possible.

In the discussion of horror, so many factors could come into play when deciding which movie is better than the other, and at the end of the day, we understand all lists are more than a little subjective.That is not to say the classics don’t have their place. Everyone knows the best of the best, and will rightly be included in this list where we see fit. We also wanted to include some of our favorites that might not be on everyone’s radar this Halloween. 

But to kick off this series, we decided to give a shout-out to our honorable mentions. These movies live deep in the zeitgeist but don’t quite qualify as the best of the best. We hope you enjoy this column throughout October and make sure to comment with your favorites if they didn’t make the list!

Honorable Mentions:

The Conjuring (2013)

Talk about a modern franchise with legs.James Wan initiated cinematic universe now has two direct sequels and two prequel series (The Nun and Annabelle) with sequels of their own and is currently the highest-grossing horror franchise to date. With Saw, Wan showed the world he could do psychological horror, then continued his reign of terror with Insidious, where he explored the supernatural. All the elements culminated into this haunted house juggernaut. Wan is a national treasure and almost 20 years into his career shows no signs of slowing down his contribution to horror.

Re-Animator (1985)

Ah, remember when all a good horror film needed was a foundation laid by Lovecraft, bonkers performances from theater actors attempting to break into the big time, and buckets of blood and prosthetics? Those were the days. Well, if there was ever a film that encapsulated the schlocky/camp horror genre of the ‘80s, Re-Animator is it. All you need to know about the premise is it centers around wacky med-school students who are intent on bringing back the dead: horror and gore ensue. Re-Animator is the perfect film for a movie night in mid-October with a few friends and drinks, though you’ll want to make sure your gag reflex is in working order as the gore climaxes in the most vomit-inducing way imaginable. 

Event Horizon (1997)

Don’t let anyone tell you Sam Neil’s career began and ended with Jurassic Park. Between this masterclass in grotesque space horror and the John Carpenter-directed Into the Mouth of Madness, Neil can do total insanity as well as anyone. The film centers around an abandoned spacecraft designed to create a rift in the space-time continuum only to be possessed by space demons. Thought Alien had a lock on interstellar horror? Think again.

Child’s Play Franchise (1988- present) 

Chucky has cemented his place in the horror hall of fame. The killer doll who terrorizes children and parents alike has been running a franchise for over 30 years, and he shows no signs of slowing down with his current series on SyFy.  Add this to his arsenal of eight films, and you have one of the most prolific killers in the genre. This doll has been inspiring nightmares longer than most YouTubers have been alive.

The Fly (1986) / Scanners (1981) / Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg will forever be at the top of the list of important contributions to the horror genre. The man single-handedly brought body horror to the cultural conversation in the ‘80s with a string of low-budget films beginning with Shivers in 1975 and culminating with Videodrome in 1983. Sprinkle in his now legendary films such as The Fly, The Brood, and Scanners, and it’s no wonder the conversation is incomplete without him. Here is one of the few filmmakers in history who has made the dramatic leap from low-budget arthouse horror to Oscar-nominated prestige drama (A History of Violence and Eastern Promises). Even this year, coming back into his body horror background with the excellent Crimes of the Future, David Cronenberg (and now even his son Brandon) will forever be an integral part of the horror conversation. 

Friday the 13th (1980)

One can’t talk about slasher films without discussing Friday the 13th and the subsequent avalanche of cheapy-made slasher films it inspired. To capitalize on the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, Sean S. Cunningham managed to jumpstart a classic horror film series that boasts 10 sequels, a remake and a crossover in which the infamous star of the series, Jason Voorhees, faces off against the equally infamous Freddy Krueger in Freddy vs Jason (2003). What the movie lacks in substance, it makes up for in gory kills and gratuitous sex scenes, a statement that holds true for the entire genre. At their best, Friday the 13th and its successors are harmless low-brow films that aren’t meant to be taken too seriously and are best enjoyed with a group of friends who can find humor in the over-the-top kills and ridiculous tropes of the genre.

The Blob (1988)

Of all the great 80s remakes of cheesy 50s sci-fi monster flicks, The Blob stands as one of the greats that, unfortunately, many people haven’t seen. Adapted from the 1958 movie with the same name, the plot follows an amoeba-like alien that crash lands in a small-town indicative of Middle America, in which the blob engulfs and dissolves anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. The movie is aware of exactly what it is and doesn’t strive to be anything more  or less. It delivers a cast of fun, likable characters getting into all kinds of shenanigans and memorable blob kills that are sure to resonate with viewers.

Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott changed the game in the late ‘70s with this heartstopping, blood-curdling terror fest. A group of low-level space cadets are on a mission lightyears away from earth in  cryogenic sleep,when orders to explore a crashed ship awaken them. What they find is beyond wild. When an unfertilized egg attacks a crew member, he is foolishly brought back onto the ship. All seems normal until a dinner sequence no one who has seen could ever forget. Sigourney Weaver sets the standard for a strong and smart final girl who outwits the Xenomorph on her tail one turn after the other. 

Coraline (2009)

The Descent (2005)

X (2022) / Pearl (2022)

Zombieland (2009)

Gremlins (1984)

House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) /Firefly Trilogy (2003-2019)

The Prowler (1981)

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Eraserhead (1977)

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

Cloverfield (2008)

Graphic By: Thom Denton