Can you believe Halloween night is already here? Every Halloween, I enjoy marathoning several horror movies in a row, but I like to mix it up each year instead of watching the same ones each time.
If you're looking for some of the scariest options out there, then this list should help you pick what to watch tonight. These are genuinely scary horror movies, so I don't recommend watching any of them with young kids who will probably be left scarred for life (unless that's your goal).
Sinister (2012)
A mainstream horror movie that sometimes feels like a snuff film, it's no wonder a study once found Sinister to be the scariest movie of all time. Funnily enough, scriptwriter C. Robert Cargill was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching another terrifying movie, The Ring, and thus Sinister was born.
Director Scott Derrickson excels at building the tension, but the sound design is what helps make Sinister so effectively scary, that and the profoundly unsettling Super 8 films that really become the focal point of the movie. It's hard to imagine what was going on in Cargill's head if he could cook up the stuff in this movie where a true-crime writer moves his family into a house with a disturbing past.
The Exorcist (1973)
Considered one of the scariest movies of all time, if not the scariest of all time, this 1973 film from director William Friedkin based on William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name is a horror classic for good reason.
Modern audiences might not quite understand just how terrifying this movie was when it was first released in the 1970s, but back then, fear of demonic possession was much more present, and people were genuinely frightened by the concept of a little girl getting taken by demon-like what happens to Regan in this film. It's not just the plot that scared people either. The Exorcist was quite graphic for that era with Regan's infamous rants, her head spin, the pea soup vomit, and several brutal jump scares.
When Evil Lurks (2023)
Easily one of the cruelest and most brutal horror movies I've seen in recent years, this Argentinian feature on Shudder is not for the faint of heart. This is an incredibly graphic film revolving around a small town that has been infested with demonic entities.
These beings possess people, turning them into members of what the townsfolk call the "Rotten," and once the demon is born into the world, it's very hard to get rid of it. The possessions happen so fast that the only way to escape is to run for your life. No one is safe in this film. It's shocking and visceral; a truly terrifying experience.
Oddity (2024)
Oddity is one of 2024's best and most underrated horror movies. An Irish film from writer and director Damian Mc Carthy, Oddity follows a blind shopkeeper and medium investigating the circumstances surrounding her sister's suspicious murder.
We're initially told that her twin sister was murdered by a patient at the psychiatric hospital where her husband works. Darcy (Carolyn Bracken) believes there is more to the story than is being told, so she arrives at the home of her late sister to investigate herself, with some assistance from her life-sized mannequin.
The Vanishing (1988)
Despite its somewhat polarizing ending, this 1988 Dutch film is still considered one of the most frightening. The story is pretty simple, following a young couple on holiday in France when they stop at a gas station and, suddenly, the woman vanishes. Her boyfriend, Rex, is left to search for her but to no avail.
Three years later, Rex is still trying to find her and is shocked when a teacher approaches him one day and claims to know what happened. What makes The Vanishing so effective is just how realistic it all feels. This isn't a movie that needs gore to shock you, it just needs human nature and suspense.
More terrifying movies to watch on Halloween
- Hellraiser
- Hostel
- Saw
- Terrifier
- The Nightmare on Elm Street
- Halloween
- Rosemary's Baby
- The Shining
- Doctor Sleep
- Barbarian
- Hereditary