The first to achieve that blend with absolute certainty was The Exorcist – which perhaps explains its position as the unassailable winner of this poll. The first film to attempt to bring the two together was Rosemary’s Baby, but Polanski’s heart clearly belonged to the surreal. On the other, there were the more outrageous dream-horrors popular in Europe, the work of Hammer Studios in the UK and Mario Bava and Dario Argento in Italy, films that prized artistry, oddity and explicit gore over narrative logic. 🩸 The 15 scariest horror movies based on true storiesĬast: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydowīy the ’70s, horror had divided into two camps: on one hand, there were the ‘real life’ terrors of Psycho and Night of the Living Dead, films that brought horror into the realm of the everyday, making it all the more shocking. 👹 Cinema’s creepiest anthology horror movies Written by Tom Huddleston, Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Nigel Floyd, Phil de Semlyen, David Ehrlich, Joshua Rothkopf, Nigel Floyd, Andy Kryza, Alim Kheraj and Matthew Singer

There is, after all, more than one way to scare someone – and these movies do it better than all others. Some push boundaries in the name of delivering transgressive shocks, yes, but others manage to burrow under your skin using little more than shadows and suggestions. After all, the best horror movies cut deeper to the human condition than just about any other film experience. And if our list of the greatest horror movies ever made proves anything, it’s that horror has always been deserving of better recognition than it’s received. But with its reputation – not to mention box office power – higher than ever before, we wanted to re-evaluate this oft-misunderstood genre. Respect has been hard to come by for horror, which until recently was regarded largely as the realm of hacks and hucksters looking to ride a torrent of blood and guts to make a cheap buck. No wonder, then, that the horror genre has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most successful niches, with the likes of A Quiet Place, Get Out and this year’s M3GAN not just drawing big bucks and rave reviews but becoming certified cultural phenomenons. Not everyone has the stomach for a giallo gorefest – shoot, some of us tap out on anything more terrifying than Goosebumps – but it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t enjoy catching at least a small fright every now and then. Do you like scary movies? Of course you do.

Shadow of doubt small town girl cast