Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The horror genre is notorious for bad acting, crappy makeup, and cheap scares. Most of the time, you can spot the victims from the start. But every now and then, a truly scary movie comes along that leaves you surprised and frightened, avoiding all the typical tropes and cliches. If you think all horror movies are too dumb for you, think again: here are ten films that are worth your while, smartypants.
'The Shining' (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece is one of the most expertly filmed movies ever made, one that holds nothing back and manages to be as thought provoking as it is terrifying. This is as cerebral as it gets, and you’ll spent as much time after you finish the movie trying to figuring it all out. [Where to stream The Shining]
'The Exorcist' (1973)
Perhaps the scariest movie ever made, William Friedkin’s classic doesn’t rely on gimmickry and cheap scares. Instead, he builds an incredible amount of tension in the film’s first half, then goes full-throttle in the second act, creating a massively unsettling picture about demonic possession. [Where to stream The Exorcist]
'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990)
Maybe it’s not technically a horror movie, but Jonathan Demme’s thriller made Hannibal Lecter a household name and one of the greatest — and scariest — movie villains. Demme’s film, in which the aforementioned cannibal psychologist helps a young FBI trainee track down a serial killer, is gorgeously shot and smartly plotted. [Where to stream The Silence of the Lambs]
'Repulsion' (1965)
Three years before he made the classic film of a young woman trapped in her home and marriage and forced to carry the antichrist to term, Roman Polanski made Repulsion. His first English-language film, it stars French actress Catherine Deneuve as a young woman living in her sister’s apartment in London who gradually descends into madness while experiencing a sexual awakening. [Where to stream Repulsion]
'The Others' (2001)
Taking a page of out Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, this spooky drama follows a repressed mother (played by Nicole Kidman) and her two eerie children who are convinced that their home is possessed by dark and dangerous spirits. [Where to stream The Others]
'Alien' (1979)
One of the rare examples of the perfect intersection between horror and science fiction, Ridley Scott’s Alien is a completely terrifying film with more layers in it than can fit into its confined setting. [Where to stream Alien]
'Let the Right One In' (2008)
Maybe it helps that it’s Swedish and every movie that comes out of that country has a chilling, cerebral Ingmar Bergman vibe, but this quiet little film about a pre-teen vampire delivers all kinds of scares while leaving its viewer with an ambiguous ending. [Where to stream Let the Right One In]
'The Haunting' (1963)
Robert Wise’s adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s spooky psychological novel is gorgeously shot in black-and-white, which only heightens the tension in this haunted-house story that maintains a chilling tone without ever showing any of the ghosts that are terrifying the living characters. [Where to stream The Haunting]
'The Conjuring' (2013)
A film that combines hauntings, possession, and bitchin’ ’70s outfits, The Conjuring is both an ode to the classic images of American horror as resurrected by the likes of Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven as well as serving some seriously creepy terrors on its own. [Where to stream The Conjuring]
'Shaun of the Dead' (2004)
Technically a zombie-movie spoof, Shaun of the Dead is that rare kind of horror comedy that manages to be both intelligent and pretty damn scary. [Where to stream Shaun of the Dead]
