Top 10 Scariest Films of All Time

10 The Silence of the Lambs

You know it’s got to be good if it’s a Best Picture Oscar winner. The Silence of the Lambs is potentially the scariest movie ever created around psychological attacks and deduction. You can blame this film all you like for the seemingly never-ending lame Hannibal Lecter impressions, but it gave us one of the film industry’s most iconic villains – not to mention the pivotal role of Anthony Hopkins’ career. Director Jonathan Demme is utterly relentless with the tension, succeeding where Ridley Scott failed in his 2001 sequel, Hannibal, by keeping the character of Lecter less of a caricature – and more of a believable terror. So settle down to 1991’s best film, maybe with a little Chianti…

9 Dawn of the Dead

Fantastic (sick?) director George Romero single-handedly created the zombie film genre with Night of the Living Dead in the sixties. Ten years later, he used his massively successful formula to make Dawn of the Dead – the much bigger, much gorier, and much funnier younger brother of Night. The true brilliance of Dawn of the Dead is the way in which it combined standard, gruesome zombie carnage with a humourous dose of satire and social commentary. The question at the end of the movie seems to be left hanging: are modern Americans really so different from the shambling undead zombies? Unfortunately this message was somewhat lost in the enjoyable, but definitely inferior, 2004 remake.

8 Suspiria

You know how, for some scary films, you have to turn the lights on for just a few scenes? Well in this film – don’t bother turning them off. Suspiria gets right to the point with a brisk double murder early on in the plot that involves a young lady looking out into the dark…only to realise a pair of terrifying eyes are staring back. This creepy start develops into a few stabbings and hangings, and culminates with a gruesome death by stained-glass impalement for her and her friend. Although a rather typical giallo (Italian horror film), director Dario Argento proves more than capable of creating an environment of horror and the supernatural – a good, creepy watch.

7 The Blair Witch Project

The first in a very (very) long line of ‘shaky hand-held home film’ horror movies, such as uber-successful Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project is actually pretty scary. Admittedly, with hindsight and a few years’ more filming experience, some of the scenes are a little bit obvious and slightly dated. But The Blair Witch Project came out in the 90’s, when the internet was in its infancy and spoilers were not published determinedly before every new scary movie release – in fact, the internet was used in this case to convince the public that the unnatural goings-on in this film were real. Love it or hate it (‘cause it makes you dizzy), the use of the shaky cam here must take credit for a whole new way of freaking us out.

6 Friday the 13th

Ok, so it’s a little bit cheesy. And the fashion is decidedly dodgy. But it was the 80’s – and Friday the 13th is definitely effective. Before this film came out – along with it’s epic makeup effects produced by the inimitable Tom Savini – the murder scenes in horror movies were nowhere even close to the vividness or creativeness of those in Friday the 13th. It might be a little bit dated, but when the arrow goes through the back of poor Kevin’s neck, you still jump. Not to mention the screams when the deformed boy jumps out the water behind long-suffering Alice.

5 Scream

The main reason Scream is so successful is because we finally have a group of characters that have all seen the same scary films we have, and who are aware of all the clichés that go along with the genre. However, it seems that nobody knows more than the killer (….killers?) who plays with his victims mercilessly, asking them questions about old horror films to help them guess his next move – an almost interactive game that the viewers can play along with. Director Wes Craven waits for as long as possible to pull out some very well-executed tense scenes, with the killer’s final reveal being realistically terrifying.

4 The Exorcist

Watch the whole film with the lights on. At midday, with the curtains open and the radio on. And then get ready to never, ever sleep again. The movie's premise, a little girl possessed by a demon, is pretty freaky as just words on paper. But director William Friedkin treats the horror of it all as if it were really happening next door to us. Before it can be defeated, this demon must be believed in. Fathers Karras and Merrin spend the third act of the movie fighting the Devil for control of the young girl’s soul. And in doing so, Karras, a man of wavering faith throughout most of the movie, finally believes in the only true good he knows by sacrificing himself to save her. Although The Exorcist is the reason why so many exorcism movies flood the marketplace – it is also the reason why they never fully deliver.

3 Psycho

Psycho is definitely in the list of the greatest thrillers of all time, and one of the greatest parts in Alfred Hitchcock's legendary CV. A true master of suspense and tension, Hitchcock crafted a memorable horror experience with a limited cast and even more limited budget. Nowadays, admittedly, the actual content of Psycho isn't as shocking as it was when it was first released in 1960. However, it proves Hitchcock’s skill as a director that Psycho is still a nerve-wracking watch. The killing of Janet Leigh's character (not to mention the accompanying score) is now one of the most iconic extracts in Hollywood history.

Psycho is such a classic that a shot-for-shot remake was made in 1998. Wouldn’t waste your time on that one, but honestly – the original is epic.

2 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Well, it has to be said – if you like your horror films brutal, bleak and swimming in blood, this is definitely the one for you. Toby Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the gruesome film that took the immoral, inbred folk from Deliverance and turned them into a sick, aggressive, insane clan of merciless cannibals. Start with a very typical opening point of a van full of teens who run out of petrol in just the wrong place in Texas, then throw in Leatherface (a charming gentleman wearing human skin and carrying, yes, a chainsaw) and some meat-hooks – and there’s your recipe for a pretty repugnant film that had to fight for a distributor due to the graphic violence. Before Leatherface became a squealing cross-dresser in the pretty awful Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, he was a hideous and raw horror icon, who would never have considered a skirt.

1 The Shining

Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining is almost certainly the most popular King film; an unsettling and upsetting chronicle of a family man's mental breakdown. Jack Nicholson infamously plays Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who foolishly accepts a job as a hotel caretaker – even in the knowledge that the previous caretaker had gone insane and murdered his family. Of course, things quickly take a turn for the worse. Deadly hedge mazes, lifts full of blood and the terrifying Room 237 are only some of the horrors that await viewers. Apart from being a terrifying film, The Shining has managed to leave its mark on modern culture – the image of Nicholson poking his head through a doorway and shouting "Here's Johnny!" is one of the most well-known movie moments ever. A fantastically petrifying watch… just don't expect to sleep that night.