Entertainment Weekly put out a surprisingly nice list of the 20 Scariest Movies of All Time. What they didn’t do is rank them. So, for our readers’ enjoyment and for the convenience of not having to click through 20 pages just to see the whole list, here they are, ranked by scary movie experts from across the globe (or at least by me).
The reason that magazines prefer lists over rankings nowadays is because these are opinions and everyone has a different one. They fear people reading the list and say “this is all wrong.” I have no fear of this, as I know that the list is wrong for most people. It’s just the way I see it using their list of movies ranked the way I would have ranked them.
20 – SEVEN (1995)
Directed by David Fincher
It just wasn’t scary to me. Creepy, yes. Disturbing, absolutely. Scare… where? When?
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19 – THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Again, this falls into the ?scary? category. Where are the frights, the chills? Yes, Hannibal was one scary dude in our imagination, but other than the part where he bites the guy’s faces off, there were no moments that made me jump.
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18 – JAWS (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
This definitely deserves to be on the list, but more so for the suspense and the intense fear it provoked in beach-goers AFTER they watched it.
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17 – THE THING (1982)
Directed by John Carpenter
It had its moments. Carpenter has scarier movies, though.
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16 – HALLOWEEN (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter
This one was pretty scary. There’s the axe. The chills. Most importantly, there’s the converted William Shatner mask. Terrifying and memorable.
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15 – PSYCHO (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
The suspense in certain scenes (probably the only shower scene I didn’t really like) and the ever-creepy music makes this a certainty for any list. I didn’t jump out of my pants (luckily for those around me) but it did make me shade my eyes a couple of times.
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14 – THE EVIL DEAD (1982)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Brains. ‘nuf said.
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13 – CARRIE (1976)
Directed by Brian De Palma
The finale made it worthwhile trudging through this lifeless and over-hyped flick.
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12 – AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
Directed by John Landis
Any movie that can make you laugh and scare the crap out of you seconds later – definite winner perfect for the top 20.
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11 – ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Probably the creepiest part of the movie other than the piss-inducing subject matter is the scariness of the director.
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10 – HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1990)
Directed by John McNaughton
The reality aspect of this flick gives it a 5-place bump on the list.
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9 – THE RING (2002)
Directed by Gore Verbinski
If there was ever a creepier way for an evil spirit that doesn’t sleep to attack her victims… well, there just isn’t.
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8 – NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
Directed by George A. Romero
Brains. ‘nuf said again.
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7 – THE OMEN (1976)
Directed by Richard Donner
Bad things should happen to the people who conceived and worked on this demented pic. Oh, wait…
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6 – POLTERGEIST (1982)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
For a movie that wasn’t rated R, there were some pretty terrifying moments. Clowns. Trees. Swimming pools. Ectoplasmic ooze. This classic had it all, even the desecrated Indian burial ground.
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5 – THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
The thump on the head with a hammer – who the hell wouldn’t be scared of inbred freaks in the Longhorn state?
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4 – 28 DAYS LATER (2003)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Modern day classic.
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3 – A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
Directed by Wes Craven
The gutting of Johnny Depp nearly moved this one down on the list, but Freddy held his own.
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2 – THE SHINING (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The man is scary enough in real life. Why did Kubrick have to go and make him nutzerer?
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1 – THE EXORCIST (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
If this one needs an explanation… well, you probably shouldn’t see this movie. In fact, don’t. Pure evil.
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My only question… where’s Friday the 13th?
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This isn’t an Entertainment Blog, but I do like to be entertained, so read it often, please.
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