15 Great Iconic Horror Movies to Watch

Last Updated on October 6, 2021 by

Do you love scary horror movies? This solid collection contains both new and old horror films that all have one thing in common – they are extremely creepy! So why not book a horror movie marathon this weekend? But be prepared for a lot of sleepless nights to come…

15. Scream (1996)

The first movie in the Scream series breathed new life into the genre in the ’90s, and Wes Craven’s modern classic manages to both operate unabashedly with virtually every horror movie cliche in the book while being very scary. The brutal murders of two high school students shake the small community of Woodsboro and teenager Sidney Prescott is reminded of the murder of his mother a year earlier. The police are looking for a person in a white ghost mask and as more and more people in Sidney’s surroundings fall victim to the brutal killer, she begins to understand that it is her who he is really looking for.

14. The Mist (2007)

“The Mist” is based on a novel by Stephen King from 1980 and takes place in a small town that, after a heavy storm, suffers a mysterious fog. In the fog, horrible creatures are hiding and a small group of survivors desperately try to stay alive in a small grocery store.

13. Saw (2004)

The nightmare in Saw begins immediately. Two men, Adam and Lawrence, wake up chained to a bathroom with a corpse and a gun between them. Soon they discover that they are tiles in a sick game and through a cassette player they receive instructions from an unknown figure who calls themselves “Jigsaw”. One of the men has to shoot the other, otherwise, Jigsaw will murder their families.

12. The Others (2001)

The ghost story “The Others” takes place shortly after the end of the Second World War and is about the widow Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) who moves to an old house with her children to live undisturbed. The children suffer from an unusual disorder which makes them extremely sensitive to light and the house is therefore in constant darkness. After a while, the kids claim to see seeing other people in the house and slowly but surely Grace begins to understand that they are not alone.

11. Wolf Creek (2005)

Three American backpackers decide to visit beautiful Woolf Creek National Park in the Australian wilderness. The friends soon encounter problems when their car breaks down in the middle of the wilderness, forcing them to seek help from a mysterious man who offers to fix the car. Soon the cozy vacation turns into a terrible nightmare.

10. Paranormal Activity (2007)

A young couple suspects that their house is haunted, and to provide evidence, they install a surveillance camera that records everything that happens, even when they are asleep. What they see on videotapes is worse than they could ever imagine and they soon become convinced that an evil demon is ravaging the house.

9. The Ring (2002)

When it became clear that the Japanese cult horror “Ringu” was going to have a Hollywood sibling, many expressed some skepticism. But Americans succeeded surprisingly well in their interpretation of Oscar-winning Naomi Watts, starring Rachel Keller, a journalist who investigates a mysterious videotape linked to the death of four young people. The videotape is surrounded by a mysterious story and those who watched it immediately afterward receive a phone call explaining that they will die exactly seven days later. When Rachel’s son accidentally watches the videotape, the hunt for the truth about its origins becomes a battle against the clock.

8. The Thing (1982)

A group of American scientists in the Antarctic (one of which is played by Kurt Russell with a matchless beard!) Investigates what happened to a nearby Norwegian base where, for some reason, the scientists have gone crazy and taken their lives. It soon becomes apparent that they were attacked by an unknown enemy who, like a virus, has taken over everything it has come in contact with. A claustrophobic and paranoid nightmare begins when none of the researchers can finally trust each other, while at all times they have to prevent whatever is looking for them from leaving the base.

7. The Conjuring (2013)

“The Conjuring” is based on a real event, which automatically makes it an estimated thousand times scarier. The Perron family moves into a house on solitary Rhode Island, but soon, inexplicable things begin to happen and their lives become increasingly morbid. In desperation, the family contacts two experts on supernatural phenomena who immediately begin to investigate what is going on in the house. They discover that the house was previously a satanic sacrificial site and possessed by an evil spirit who is not interested in moving from there.

6. The Omen (1976)

Katherine and Robert are a happy and successful couple who wants a child more than anything else. When Katherine gets pregnant but has a stillborn baby, Robert, without her knowledge, exchanges it for a little boy whose mother died in the hospital. As time goes on, the couple notices that their son Damien is not like other children. Strange things happen which eventually makes Robert believe that Damien is, in fact, the devil’s son.

5. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Roman Polanski’s unpleasant masterpiece follows Rosemary (Mia Farrow), a woman who, together with her husband, moves into a new apartment in Manhattan. Soon, however, strange things start to happen and Rosemary begins to conspire against her and her unborn child – or has she gone crazy? A close friend ends up in a coma, her husband’s competitor in his career goes blind, a girl Rosemary met downstairs in the laundry room commits suicide – and why does Rosemary’s pregnancy have such different side effects?

4. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

Spanish / Mexican ghost story “The Devil’s Backbone”, directed by Guillermo del Toro, takes place during the Spanish Civil War. When the orphan Carlos arrives at a distant orphanage for boys, he discovers that the other children are in fear of something unknown and he soon realizes that the orphanage is haunted. As he begins to investigate what is going on, he discovers that the place is ruining many terrible secrets.

3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Three youngsters disappear without a trace during the filming of a documentary about a local legend who is said to haunt the forests of Maryland – The Blair Witch. A year later, their camera equipment is found in the forest where the eerie explanation for their disappearance is recorded.

2. Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The chainsaw massacre, or “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” as it is actually called, caused much debate and was banned in several countries during the 1970s because of the violent act. Today, however, the world looks a little different and the classic horror movie has become cult-declared over the years.

A group of young people travels through the Texas desert land to visit their grandfather’s vandalized grave. On the way, they pick up a lift and when they suddenly get gasoline stop they go to a big abandoned house in the hope of finding gasoline. When the youths find corpses in the house, they begin to understand that they have fallen into a trap, and one by one they fall victim to a chainsaw gun and crazy cannibal wearing a mask made of human skin.

1. The Shining (1980)

“Here’s Johnny!” Years go by, but Stanley Kubrick’s classic “The Shining” (based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name) is still as damn creepy every time you see it. Jack Nicholson makes his most unpleasant role interpretation ever in the unsuccessful writer Jack Torrence who, along with his family, enters film history, perhaps the creepiest hotel in the world to get some rest. However, peace and quiet is the last Jack gets at the haunted hotel and his son Danny soon begins to receive notice of the evil that is slowly taking possession of his father.