200 Best Horror Movies of All Time

Critics Consensus: Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg’s Jaws has remained a benchmark in the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.

Critics Consensus: A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.

Critics Consensus: Funny, scary, and thought-provoking, Get Out seamlessly weaves its trenchant social critiques into a brilliantly effective and entertaining horror/comedy thrill ride.

Critics Consensus: Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn’t just create modern horror, he validated it.

Critics Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme’s smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

Critics Consensus: Brainy and bloody in equal measure, One Cut of the Dead reanimates the moribund zombie genre with a refreshing blend of formal daring and clever satire.

Critics Consensus: King Kong explores the soul of a monster — making audiences scream and cry throughout the film — in large part due to Kong’s breakthrough special effects.

Critics Consensus: While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.

Critics Consensus: A Quiet Place artfully plays on elemental fears with a ruthlessly intelligent creature feature that’s as original as it is scary — and establishes director John Krasinski as a rising talent.

Critics Consensus: Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, Halloween set the standard for modern horror films.

Critics Consensus: Smarter, fresher, and funnier than a modern vampire movie has any right to be, What We Do in the Shadows is bloody good fun.

Critics Consensus: Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, Diabolique is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock’s best work and with a brilliant twist ending.

Critics Consensus: Shaun of the Dead cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit.

Critics Consensus: Arguably the first true horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari set a brilliantly high bar for the genre — and remains terrifying nearly a century after it first stalked the screen.

Critics Consensus: One of the silent era’s most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu‘s eerie, gothic feel — and a chilling performance from Max Schreck as the vampire — set the template for the horror films that followed.

Critics Consensus: A frightening tale of Satanism and pregnancy that is even more disturbing than it sounds thanks to convincing and committed performances by Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon.

Critics Consensus: The Wailing delivers an atmospheric, cleverly constructed mystery whose supernatural thrills more than justify its imposing length.

Critics Consensus: An eccentric, campy, technically impressive, and frightening picture, James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein has aged remarkably well.

Critics Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was when it was first released.

Critics Consensus: The Babadook relies on real horror rather than cheap jump scares — and boasts a heartfelt, genuinely moving story to boot.

Critics Consensus: Train to Busan delivers a thrillingly unique — and purely entertaining — take on the zombie genre, with fully realized characters and plenty of social commentary to underscore the bursts of skillfully staged action.

Critics Consensus: Roman Polanski’s first English film follows a schizophrenic woman’s descent into madness, and makes the audience feel as claustrophobic as the character.

Critics Consensus: One of the best political allegories of the 1950s, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an efficient, chilling blend of sci-fi and horror.

Critics Consensus: Delightfully dark, Late Night with the Devil proves possession horror isn’t played out — and serves as an outstanding showcase for David Dastmalchian.

Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil’s Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.

Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.

Critics Consensus: Ringu combines supernatural elements with anxieties about modern technology in a truly frightening and unnerving way.

Critics Consensus: George A. Romero’s debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent.

Critics Consensus: Smart, well-acted, and above all scary, The Invisible Man proves that sometimes, the classic source material for a fresh reboot can be hiding in plain sight.

Critics Consensus: A nerve-wracking continuation of its predecessor, A Quiet Place Part II expands the terrifying world of the franchise without losing track of its heart.

Critics Consensus: Featuring Robert Mitchum’s formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, The Night of the Hunter is a disturbing look at good and evil.

Critics Consensus: Tigers Are Not Afraid draws on childhood trauma for a story that deftly blends magical fantasy and hard-hitting realism – and leaves a lingering impact.

Critics Consensus: Still unnerving to this day, Frankenstein adroitly explores the fine line between genius and madness, and features Boris Karloff’s legendary, frightening performance as the monster.

Critics Consensus: Full of disorienting visual effects, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr is as theoretically unsettling as it is conceptually disturbing.

Critics Consensus: Time has been kind to this horror legend: Freaks manages to frighten, shock, and even touch viewers in ways that contemporary viewers missed.

Critics Consensus: More than straight monster-movie fare, Gojira offers potent, sobering postwar commentary.

Critics Consensus: With a gripping story and impressive practical effects, Talk to Me spins a terrifically creepy 21st-century horror yarn built on classic foundations.

Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric, The Innocents is a stylishly crafted, chilling British ghost tale with Deborah Kerr at her finest.

Critics Consensus: Peeping Tom is a chilling, methodical look at the psychology of a killer, and a classic work of voyeuristic cinema.

Critics Consensus: Thrilling, unpredictable, and brilliantly acted, Border (Gräns) offers a singular treat to genre fans looking for something different.

Critics Consensus: JT Mollner delivers a thrillingly unexpected and electric ride with two breakout performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner in Strange Darling.

Critics Consensus: Mesmerizing and psychologically intriguing.

Critics Consensus: Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.

Critics Consensus: A hard-hitting horror film whose surface-level frights are just as engaging as its thematic concerns, When Evil Lurks marks a viscerally unsettling addition to the possession horror canon.

Critics Consensus: An elegant and spooky ghost story punctuated with clever jolts, Oddity hews to the fundamentals of fright and achieves shout-inducing results.

Critics Consensus: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night blends conventional elements into something brilliantly original — and serves as a striking calling card for writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour.

Critics Consensus: Wes Craven’s intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying visual appearance of Freddy Krueger, still causes nightmares to this day.

Critics Consensus: The blood pours freely in Argento’s classic Suspiria, a giallo horror as grandiose and glossy as it is gory.

Critics Consensus: Stunning visuals from Werner Herzog and an intense portrayal of the famed bloodsucker from Klaus Kinski make this remake of Nosferatu a horror classic in its own right.

Critics Consensus: Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.

Critics Consensus: The Innocents chillingly subverts the purity of youth in a powerfully acted thriller that lingers long after the credits roll.

Critics Consensus: The rare action thriller that spikes adrenaline without skimping on character development, Prey is a Predator prequel done right.

Critics Consensus: Pearl finds Ti West squeezing fresh gore out of the world he created with X — and once again benefiting from a brilliant Mia Goth performance.

Critics Consensus: Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.

Critics Consensus: Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date.

Critics Consensus: Perfectly mixing humor and horror, the only thing more effective than Re-Animator‘s gory scares are its dry, deadpan jokes.

Critics Consensus: David Cronenberg combines his trademark affinity for gore and horror with strongly developed characters, making The Fly a surprisingly affecting tragedy.

Critics Consensus: One of the most compelling and entertaining zombie films ever, Dawn of the Dead perfectly blends pure horror and gore with social commentary on material society.

Critics Consensus: The Cabin in the Woods is an astonishing meta-feat, capable of being funny, strange, and scary — frequently all at the same time.

Critics Consensus: Smart, original, and above all terrifying, It Follows is the rare modern horror film that works on multiple levels — and leaves a lingering sting.

Critics Consensus: Unapologetically silly and all the more entertaining for it, M3GAN is the rare horror-comedy that delivers chuckles as effortlessly as chills.

Critics Consensus: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? combines powerhouse acting, rich atmosphere, and absorbing melodrama in service of a taut thriller with thought-provoking subtext.

Critics Consensus: Raw‘s lurid violence and sexuality live up to its title, but they’re anchored with an immersive atmosphere and deep symbolism that linger long after the provocative visuals fade.

Critics Consensus: With four accomplished directors contributing, Dead of Night is a classic horror anthology that remains highly influential.

Critics Consensus: Bela Lugosi’s timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.

Critics Consensus: As populace pleasing as it is intellectually satisfying, The Host combines scares, laughs, and satire into a riveting, monster movie.

Critics Consensus: Carrie is a horrifying look at supernatural powers, high school cruelty, and teen angst — and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing prom scenes in history.

Critics Consensus: Smart, solidly crafted, and palpably tense, 10 Cloverfield Lane makes the most of its confined setting and outstanding cast — and suggests a new frontier for franchise filmmaking.

Critics Consensus: Exquisitely designed and fastidiously ornate, Masaki Kobayashi’s ambitious anthology operates less as a frightening example of horror and more as a meditative tribute to Japanese folklore.

Critics Consensus: A fresh spin on the classic slasher formula, X marks the spot where Ti West gets resoundingly back to his horror roots.

Critics Consensus: Kinetically directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory.

Critics Consensus: Don’t Look Now patiently builds suspense with haunting imagery and a chilling score — causing viewers to feel Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie’s grief deep within.

Critics Consensus: A bone-chilling body horror, Huesera offers genre fans a twisted take on What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

Critics Consensus: With Jordan Peele’s second inventive, ambitious horror film, we have seen how to beat the sophomore jinx, and it is Us.

Critics Consensus: Thelma plays with genre tropes in unexpected ways, delivering a thoughtfully twisty supernatural thriller with a lingering impact.

Critics Consensus: Like its augmented protagonist, Upgrade‘s old-fashioned innards get a high-tech boost — one made even more powerful thanks to sharp humor and a solidly well-told story.

Critics Consensus: Deeply unnerving and surprisingly poignant, The Orphanage is an atmospheric, beautifully crafted haunted house horror film that earns scares with a minimum of blood.

Critics Consensus: A spooky yarn told with taut economy, Werewolf by Night is a standout Marvel entry that proves Michael Giacchino as atmospheric and skilled a director as he is a composer.

Critics Consensus: Effortlessly mixing scares, laughs, and social commentary, Attack the Block is a thrilling, briskly-paced sci-fi yarn with a distinctly British flavor.

Critics Consensus: This intelligent horror film is subtle in its thrills and chills, with an ending that is both shocking and truly memorable.

Critics Consensus: Less a continuation than an outright reimagining, Sam Raimi transforms his horror tale into a comedy of terrors — and arguably even improves on the original formula.

Critics Consensus: Smart, subversive, and darkly funny, Ready or Not is a crowd-pleasing horror film with giddily entertaining bite.

Critics Consensus: Beast plays like bleak poetry, unfurling its psychological thrills while guided by its captivating leads and mesmerizing, visceral visuals.

Critics Consensus: Hereditary uses its classic setup as the framework for a harrowing, uncommonly unsettling horror film whose cold touch lingers long beyond the closing credits.

Critics Consensus: A gripping story brilliantly filmed and led by a pair of powerhouse performances, The Lighthouse further establishes Robert Eggers as a filmmaker of exceptional talent.

Critics Consensus: Green Room delivers unapologetic genre thrills with uncommon intelligence and powerfully acted élan.

Critics Consensus: Although it may strike some as too artsy for its own good, You Won’t Be Alone puts a thoughtfully fresh spin on familiar horror tropes.

Critics Consensus: Chilling performances and a restrained, eerie atmosphere make this British horror both an unnerving parable of its era and a timeless classic.

Critics Consensus: Deliciouly funny to some and eerily presicient to others, The Fly walks a fine line between shlocky fun and unnerving nature parable.

Critics Consensus: Sam Raimi returns to top form with Drag Me to Hell, a frightening, hilarious, delightfully campy thrill ride.

Critics Consensus: Well-acted and fiendishly frightening with an emotionally affecting story at its core, It amplifies the horror in Stephen King’s classic story without losing touch with its heart.

Critics Consensus: Terrifying and funny in almost equal measure, John Landis’ horror-comedy crosses genres while introducing Rick Baker’s astounding make-up effects.

Critics Consensus: Thanks to a smart script and documentary-style camerawork, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre achieves start-to-finish suspense, making it a classic in low-budget exploitation cinema.

Critics Consensus: Similar to the original in all the right ways — but with enough changes to stand on its own — Let Me In is the rare Hollywood remake that doesn’t add insult to inspiration.

Critics Consensus: David Lynch’s surreal Eraserhead uses detailed visuals and a creepy score to create a bizarre and disturbing look into a man’s fear of parenthood.

Critics Consensus: The strong female cast and biting satire of teenage life makes Ginger Snaps far more memorable than your average werewolf movie — or teen flick.

Critics Consensus: Decades later, it still retains its ability to scare — and Lon Chaney’s performance remains one of the benchmarks of the horror genre.

Critics Consensus: Don’t Breathe smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that’s all the more effective for its simplicity.

Critics Consensus: The delightfully gonzo tale of a lovestruck teen and his zombified mother, Dead Alive is extremely gory and exceedingly good fun, thanks to Peter Jackson’s affection for the tastelessly sublime.

Critics Consensus: Smart, darkly humorous, and above all scary, Barbarian offers a chilling and consistently unpredictable thrill ride for horror fans.

Critics Consensus: Well-crafted and gleefully creepy, The Conjuring ratchets up dread through a series of effective old-school scares.

Critics Consensus: Influential noir director Jacques Tourneau infused this sexy, moody horror film with some sly commentary about the psychology and the taboos of desire.

Critics Consensus: Plunging viewers into the nightmarish hellscape of an apartment complex under siege, [Rec] proves that found footage can still be used as an effective delivery mechanism for sparse, economic horror.

Critics Consensus: Bringing its sturdy setup thrillingly to life, The Cat and the Canary proves Paul Leni a director with a deft hand for suspenseful stories and expertly assembled ensembles.

Critics Consensus: Trading gore for grandeur, Horror of Dracula marks an impressive turn for inveterate Christopher Lee as the titular vampire, and a typical Hammer mood that makes aristocracy quite sexy.

Critics Consensus: House is a gleefully demented collage of grand guginol guffaws and bizarre sequences.

Critics Consensus: A punk take on the zombie genre, The Return of the Living Dead injects a healthy dose of ’80s silliness to the flesh-consuming.

Critics Consensus: A classic. The definitive version of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella from 1931, with innovative special effects, atmospheric cinematography and deranged overacting.

Critics Consensus: House of Wax is a 3-D horror delight that combines the atmospheric eerieness of the wax museum with the always chilling presence of Vincent Price.

Critics Consensus: Grindhouse delivers exhilarating exploitation fare with wit and panache, improving upon its source material with feral intelligence.

Critics Consensus: Grimmer and more terrifying than the 1950s take, John Carpenter’s The Thing is a tense sci-fi thriller rife with compelling tension and some remarkable make-up effects.

Critics Consensus: Bone Tomahawk‘s peculiar genre blend won’t be for everyone, but its gripping performances and a slow-burning story should satisfy those in search of something different.

Critics Consensus: A brilliantly unsettling blend of body horror and psychological thriller, Saint Maud marks an impressive debut for writer-director Rose Glass.

Critics Consensus: The Love Witch offers an absorbing visual homage to a bygone era, arranged subtly in service of a thought-provoking meditation on the battle of the sexes.

Critics Consensus: Duel makes brilliant use of its simple premise, serving up rock-solid genre thrills while heralding the arrival of a generational talent behind the lens.

Critics Consensus: Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film.

Critics Consensus: A handsomely told tale with an affecting performance from Lon Chaney, Jr., The Wolf Man remains one of the classics of the Universal horror stable.

Critics Consensus: The Endless benefits from its grounded approach to an increasingly bizarre story, elevated by believable performances by filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.

Critics Consensus: As thought-provoking as it is visually compelling, The Witch delivers a deeply unsettling exercise in slow-building horror that suggests great things for debuting writer-director Robert Eggers.

Critics Consensus: Though it deviates from Stephen King’s novel, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness — exemplified by an unforgettable turn from Jack Nicholson.

Critics Consensus: Mandy‘s gonzo violence is fueled by a gripping performance by Nicolas Cage — and anchored with palpable emotion conveyed between his volcanic outbursts.

Critics Consensus: Smartly filmed, tightly scripted, and — most importantly — consistently frightening, Poltergeist is a modern horror classic.

Critics Consensus: Those unfamiliar with Alejandro Jodorowsky’s style may find it overwhelming, but Santa Sangre is a provocative psychedelic journey featuring the director’s signature touches of violence, vulgarity, and an oddly personal moral center.

Critics Consensus: So scrappy that it feels as illicit as a book found in the woods, The Evil Dead is a stomach-churning achievement in bad taste that marks a startling debut for wunderkind Sam Raimi.

Critics Consensus: A rich visual treat for film fans, Mad God proves that even in the age of CGI, the cinematic allure of stop-motion animation remains strong.

Critics Consensus: A message movie in a hard horror shell, Hatching perches between beauty and revulsion — and establishes director Hanna Bergholm as a bright new talent.

Critics Consensus: Violation presents a powerful depiction of one woman’s trauma — and its uncomfortably gripping aftermath.

Critics Consensus: Like the best horror/comedies, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil mines its central crazy joke for some incredible scares, laughs, and — believe it or not — heart.

Critics Consensus: While it could stand to be a little funnier and quite a bit scarier, The Blackening is a thoughtful satire that skewers horror tropes and racial stereotypes.

Critics Consensus: George A. Romero’s contribution to vampire lore contains the expected gore and social satire — but it’s also surprisingly thoughtful, and boasts a whopper of a final act.

Critics Consensus: Led by Anna Diop’s strong central performance, the smartly disquieting Nanny is a promising debut for writer-director Nikyatu Jusu.

Critics Consensus: The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and and a rich performance from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations.

Critics Consensus: A smart and subversive twist on slasher horror, Fear Street Part II: 1978 shows that summer camp has never been scarier thanks to stellar performances from Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, and Ryan Simpkins.

Critics Consensus: Annihilation backs up its sci-fi visual wonders and visceral genre thrills with an impressively ambitious — and surprisingly strange — exploration of challenging themes that should leave audiences pondering long after the end credits roll.

Critics Consensus: Restrained but disturbing, A Tale of Two Sisters is a creepily effective, if at times confusing, horror movie.

Critics Consensus: Worth watching for Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton’s performances alone, Only Lovers Left Alive finds writer-director Jim Jarmusch adding a typically offbeat entry to the vampire genre.

Critics Consensus: The Invitation makes brilliant use of its tension-rich premise to deliver a uniquely effective — and surprisingly clever — slow-building thriller.

Critics Consensus: Led by a note-perfect performance from Charles Laughton, Island of Lost Souls remains the definitive film adaptation of its classic source material.

Critics Consensus: Rare Exports is an unexpectedly delightful crossbreed of deadpan comedy and Christmas horror.

Critics Consensus: Deliciously campy and wonderfully funny, Theater of Blood features Vincent Price at his melodramatic best.

Critics Consensus: The Others is a spooky thriller that reminds us that a movie doesn’t need expensive special effects to be creepy.

Critics Consensus: Both psychological and supernatural, The Haunting is a chilling character study.

Critics Consensus: Fear Street Part Three: 1666 sends the slasher series back in time for a trilogy-concluding installment that caps things off on a screaming high note.

Critics Consensus: Guillermo del Toro’s unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent.

Critics Consensus: Led by Rebecca Hall’s gripping central performance, The Night House offers atmospheric horror that engages intellectually as well as emotionally.

Critics Consensus: Totally Killer may not take full advantage of its promising conceit, but this time-traveling horror/sci-fi mashup is still enjoyable overall.

Critics Consensus: Effective space alien horror with a Soviet-era twist, Sputnik proves there are still some scary good sci-fi thrillers left in the galaxy.

Critics Consensus: Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema’s great horror franchises.

Critics Consensus: Relying more on mood and atmosphere than the thrills typical of modern horror fare, Universal’s The Mummy sets a masterful template for mummy-themed films to follow.

Critics Consensus: Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic.

Critics Consensus: The Dark and the Wicked delivers on its title with an unsettling horror story whose deep dread and bleak outlook further compound its effective jolts.

Critics Consensus: Carrying off well-worn vampire tropes with a balletic flourish, Abigail dances around the familiarity of its premise with a game cast and slick style.

Critics Consensus: An affectionate throwback to 1950s creature features, Tremors reinvigorates its genre tropes with a finely balanced combination of horror and humor.

Critics Consensus: The Exorcist rides its supernatural theme to magical effect, with remarkable special effects and an eerie atmosphere, resulting in one of the scariest films of all time.

Critics Consensus: Grounded in raw humanity by Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn, this sideways entry into A Quiet Place finds fresh notes of fright to play amid the silence.

Critics Consensus: The Omen eschews an excess of gore in favor of ramping up the suspense — and creates an enduring, dread-soaked horror classic along the way.

Critics Consensus: The Abominable Dr. Phibes juggles horror and humor, but under the picture’s campy façade, there’s genuine pathos brought poignantly to life through Price’s performance.

Critics Consensus: Guy Maddin’s film is a richly sensuous and dreamy interpretation of Dracula that reinvigorates the genre.

Critics Consensus: This anthology contains brutal, powerful horror stories by three of Asia’s top directors.

Critics Consensus: The Black Phone might have been even more frightening, but it remains an entertaining, well-acted adaptation of scarily good source material.

Critics Consensus: Smart, suspenseful, and visually distinctive, Julia’s Eyes marks another modern Spanish thriller that quickens the pulse while engaging the mind.

Critics Consensus: Carnival of Souls offers delightfully chilling proof that when it comes to telling an effective horror story, less can often be much, much more.

Critics Consensus: Brought hauntingly to life by Laura Galán’s committed performance, Piggy deftly deploys genre thrills in service of sharp social commentary.

Critics Consensus: Smartly constructed and powerfully acted, Hounds of Love satisfies as a psychological thriller with a few nasty surprises — and marks writer-director Ben Young as a promising talent.

Critics Consensus: Dead Ringers serves up a double dose of Jeremy Irons in service of a devilishly unsettling concept and commandingly creepy work from director David Cronenberg.

Critics Consensus: An audacious, unsettling Japanese horror film from director Takashi Miike, Audition entertains as both a grisly shocker and a psychological drama.

Critics Consensus: Offering just about everything longtime fans could hope for while still managing to carry the franchise forward, Evil Dead Rise is all kinds of groovy.

Critics Consensus: A slimy, B-movie homage oozing with affection for low-budget horror films, Slither is creepy and funny — if you’ve got the stomach for it.

Critics Consensus: Doctor Sleep forsakes the elemental terror of its predecessor for a more contemplative sequel that balances poignant themes against spine-tingling chills.

Critics Consensus: Combining belly-busting humor with delightfully over-the-top gore, Thanksgiving is a feast for grindhouse fans.

Critics Consensus: Day of the Dead may arguably be the least haunting entry in George A. Romero’s undead trilogy, but it will give audiences’ plenty to chew on with its shocking gore and scathing view of society.

Critics Consensus: Combining a deadly thriller plot with stylized violence, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage marks an impressive horror debut for Dario Argento.

Critics Consensus: Riveting and bone-chillingly creepy, Cropsey manages to be one of the best documentaries and one of the best horror movies of the year.

Critics Consensus: The Autopsy of Jane Doe subverts the gruesome expectations triggered by its title to deliver a smart, suggestively creepy thriller that bolsters director André Ovredal’s growing reputation.

Critics Consensus: Led by a franchise-best performance from Tobin Bell, Saw X reinvigorates the series with an installment that has a surprising amount of heart to go with all the gore.

Critics Consensus: An entertaining slasher with a gender-bending, body-swapping twist, this horror-comedy juggles genres with Freaky fun results.

Critics Consensus: As gripping as it is upsetting, Fresh makes a provocative meal out of the horror of modern dating.

Critics Consensus: An action-packed creature feature that’s fast, terrifying, and benefits greatly from a completely game Kaya Scodelario, Crawl is a fun throw-back with just enough self-awareness to work.

Critics Consensus: The Conjuring 2 can’t help but lose a bit of its predecessor’s chilly sting through familiarity, but what remains is still a superior ghost story told with spine-tingling skill.

Critics Consensus: Carried by its charismatic young cast, Better Watch Out is an adorably sinister holiday horror film.

Critics Consensus: Horror icon Wes Craven’s subversive deconstruction of the genre is sly, witty, and surprisingly effective as a slasher film itself, even if it’s a little too cheeky for some.

Critics Consensus: A welcome return for director Richard Stanley, Color Out of Space mixes tart B-movie pulp with visually alluring Lovecraftian horror and a dash of gonzo Nicolas Cage.

Critics Consensus: Visually audacious, disorienting, and just plain weird, Videodrome‘s musings on technology, entertainment, and politics still feel fresh today.

Critics Consensus: Admirable for its originality and ambition even when its reach exceeds its grasp, Nope adds Spielbergian spectacle to Jordan Peele’s growing arsenal.

Critics Consensus: The Girl with All the Gifts grapples with thought-provoking questions without skimping on the scares — and finds a few fresh wrinkles in the well-worn zombie horror genre along the way.

Critics Consensus: Candyman takes an incisive, visually thrilling approach to deepening the franchise’s mythology — and terrifying audiences along the way.

Critics Consensus: Dark, violent, and drenched in dread, Goodnight Mommy is perfect for extreme horror enthusiasts — or filmgoers who prefer to watch between splayed fingers.

Critics Consensus: Ambitious, impressively crafted, and above all unsettling, Midsommar further proves writer-director Ari Aster is a horror auteur to be reckoned with.

Critics Consensus: Predator: Part sci-fi, part horror, part action — all muscle.

Critics Consensus: Flawed but eminently watchable, Joel Schumacher’s teen vampire thriller blends horror, humor, and plenty of visual style with standout performances from a cast full of young 1980s stars.

Critics Consensus: Saturated in disquieting mood while leveraging a nightmarishly gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage, Longlegs is a satanic horror that effectively instills panic.

Critics Consensus: Fright Night deftly combines thrills and humor in this ghostly tale about a man living next to a vampire.

Critics Consensus: Warm Bodies offers a sweet, well-acted spin on a genre that all too often lives down to its brain-dead protagonists.

Critics Consensus: Evocative direction by Jacques Tourneur collides with the low-rent production values of exploitateer Val Lewton in I Walked with a Zombie, a sultry sleeper that’s simultaneously smarmy, eloquent and fascinating.

Critics Consensus: Near Dark is at once a creepy vampire film, a thrilling western, and a poignant family tale, with humor and scares in abundance.

Critics Consensus: Certain aspects of horror’s most murderously meta franchise may be going stale, but a change of setting and some inventive set pieces help keep Scream VI reasonably sharp.

Critics Consensus: Frightening, funny, and packed with action, Dog Soldiers is well worth checking out for genre fans — and marks writer-director Neil Marshall as a talent to keep an eye on.

Critics Consensus: Scary, strange, and maybe a little silly, House of Usher represents an early high mark for Vincent Price and a career triumph for director Roger Corman.

Critics Consensus: Werewolves Within is the rare horror comedy that offers equal helpings of either genre — and adds up to a whole lot of fun in the bargain.