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 ★ 4.6
2The Exorcist
1973 ★ 4.2
3Psycho
1960 ★ 4.5
4Jaws
1975 ★ 4.4
5Rosemary's Baby
1968 ★ 4.4
6Night of the Living Dead
1968 ★ 4.5
7Audition
2000 ★ 3.9
8Frankenstein
1931 ★ 4.5
9Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
1976
10Carrie
1976 ★ 4.5
11Alien
1979 ★ 4.8
12King Kong
1933 ★ 3.9
13The Silence of the Lambs
1991 ★ 4.2
14Nosferatu
1922 ★ 4.4
15Don't Look Now
1973 ★ 3.8
16Halloween
1978 ★ 4.6
17Diabolique
1955 ★ 4.2
18The Shining
1980 ★ 4.2
19The Mummy
1932 ★ 3.5
20Get Out
2017 ★ 4.1
21Black Sunday
1960 ★ 3.8
22Carnival of Souls
1962 ★ 3.9
23Dawn of the Dead
1978 ★ 3.9
24The Blair Witch Project
1999 ★ 4.0
25Scream
1996 ★ 4.5
26The Innocents
1961 ★ 4.3
27Dracula
1931 ★ 3.8
28The Wicker Man
1973 ★ 4.3
29The Phantom of the Opera
1925 ★ 3.8
30Eyes Without a Face
1960 ★ 4.3
31Ring
1998 ★ 3.8
32The Night of the Hunter
1955 ★ 4.8
33M
1931 ★ 4.0
34Evil Dead II
1987 ★ 4.5
35Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 ★ 4.0
36Hereditary
2018 ★ 4.2
37Deep Red
1975 ★ 4.1
38Freaks
1932 ★ 3.9
39Kwaidan
1965 ★ 5.0
40Bride of Frankenstein
1935 ★ 3.9
41The Devils
1971 ★ 4.3
4228 Days Later
2002 ★ 4.3
43Vampyr
1932 ★ 3.9
44Manhunter
1986 ★ 4.0
45The Invisible Man
1933 ★ 3.8
46The Thing
1982 ★ 4.5
47Godzilla
1954 ★ 4.2
48The Birds
1963 ★ 3.8
49The Witch
2016 ★ 4.1
50Onibaba
1964 ★ 4.1
51Irreversible
2002 ★ 4.3
52Blood and Black Lace
1964 ★ 4.0
53Eraserhead
1977 ★ 4.2
54Let the Right One In
2008 ★ 4.3
55The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920 ★ 4.3
56The Fly
1986 ★ 4.4
57Peeping Tom
1960 ★ 4.2
58Raw
2017 ★ 3.6
59What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962 ★ 4.3
60Funny Games
1997 ★ 4.3
61Candyman
1992 ★ 4.1
62Gremlins
1984 ★ 4.0
63Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1931 ★ 3.6
64Planet Terror
2007 ★ 3.2
65The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957 ★ 4.0
66The Babadook
2014 ★ 3.7
67Possession
1981 ★ 4.2
68The Sixth Sense
1999 ★ 3.9
69Near Dark
1987 ★ 4.0
70The Wailing
2016 ★ 4.4
71Hostel: Part II
2007 ★ 3.5
72Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954 ★ 3.3
73Blood for Dracula
1974 ★ 3.5
74A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984 ★ 4.0
75The Descent
2005 ★ 4.2
76I Walked with a Zombie
1943 ★ 4.0
77The Blob
1958 ★ 3.2
78Angst
1983 ★ 4.1
79The Omen
1976 ★ 4.0
80House of Wax
1953 ★ 3.5