Variety: 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time
Curated by the horror codex · From Variety · 100 films · Last updated Apr 26, 2026
Variety's ranking of the 100 best horror films of all time, compiled by the trade publication's film critics. A canonical industry-perspective list spanning silent-era classics through contemporary releases.
1The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
1974 ★ 5.0
2The Exorcist
1973 ★ 4.1
3Psycho
1960 ★ 4.8
4Jaws
1975 ★ 4.1
5Rosemary's Baby
1968 ★ 4.1
6Night of the Living Dead
1968 ★ 4.3
7Audition
2000 ★ 4.5
8Frankenstein
1931 ★ 4.3
9Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
1976
10Carrie
1976 ★ 4.7
11Alien
1979 ★ 4.9
12King Kong
1933 ★ 4.3
13The Silence of the Lambs
1991 ★ 4.1
14Nosferatu
1922 ★ 4.7
15Don't Look Now
1973
16Halloween
1978 ★ 4.8
17Diabolique
1955 ★ 4.0
18The Shining
1980 ★ 4.8
19The Mummy
1932 ★ 3.0
20Get Out
2017 ★ 4.4
21Black Sunday
1960
22Carnival of Souls
1962 ★ 4.0
23Dawn of the Dead
1978 ★ 3.5
24The Blair Witch Project
1999 ★ 4.5
25Scream
1996 ★ 5.0
26The Innocents
1961
27Dracula
1931 ★ 3.5
28The Wicker Man
1973 ★ 4.3
29The Phantom of the Opera
1925
30Eyes Without a Face
1960 ★ 4.0
31Ring
1998
32The Night of the Hunter
1955 ★ 5.0
33M
1931 ★ 4.0
34Evil Dead II
1987 ★ 4.2
35Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 ★ 3.5
36Hereditary
2018 ★ 4.3
37Deep Red
1975 ★ 4.0
38Freaks
1932 ★ 4.5
39Kwaidan
1965 ★ 5.0
40Bride of Frankenstein
1935 ★ 3.0
41The Devils
1971
4228 Days Later
2002 ★ 4.2
43Vampyr
1932
44Manhunter
1986
45The Invisible Man
1933
46The Thing
1982 ★ 4.5
47Godzilla
1954 ★ 4.0
48The Birds
1963 ★ 3.7
49The Witch
2016 ★ 4.5
50Onibaba
1964 ★ 4.0
51Irreversible
2002 ★ 4.5
52Blood and Black Lace
1964
53Eraserhead
1977 ★ 5.0
54Let the Right One In
2008 ★ 4.0
55The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920 ★ 4.5
56The Fly
1986 ★ 5.0
57Peeping Tom
1960 ★ 4.0
58Raw
2017 ★ 3.5
59What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962 ★ 4.0
60Funny Games
1997 ★ 4.2
61Candyman
1992 ★ 3.0
62Gremlins
1984 ★ 3.7
63Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1931 ★ 3.0
64Planet Terror
2007 ★ 2.8
65The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957
66The Babadook
2014 ★ 4.8
67Possession
1981 ★ 4.5
68The Sixth Sense
1999 ★ 3.9
69Near Dark
1987 ★ 4.5
70The Wailing
2016 ★ 4.0
71Hostel: Part II
2007
72Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954 ★ 3.3
73Blood for Dracula
1974
74A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984 ★ 3.0
75The Descent
2005 ★ 4.0
76I Walked with a Zombie
1943
77The Blob
1958 ★ 3.0
78Angst
1983
79The Omen
1976 ★ 3.8
80House of Wax
1953