Movies · Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
The 50 Best Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
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Psycho, Jaws, Get Out and a silent film from 1919 all made Rotten Tomatoes' 50 best horror movies of all time. Here's the whole countdown, every critic and audience score included, all the way to #1.
Rotten Tomatoes ranks 200 horror movies with a formula that mixes the critics' Tomatometer, the audience's Popcornmeter, how many reviews a film has and when it came out. These are its top 50, and the order starts arguments fast. Halloween, Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs are all in, and so are a few films you've probably never seen.
Old and new split almost down the middle. 21 of the 50 best horror movies came out before 1970, and 20 came out in 2010 or later.
Best Horror Movies #50 to #41, James Whale Twice
The bottom of the top 50 is horror's first golden age. Seven of these ten came out before 1980, and James Whale directed two of them, Frankenstein (1931) at #46 and The Invisible Man (1933) at #41. He's not done, either. Whale's Bride of Frankenstein is waiting at #8.
| Rank | Movie | Tomatometer | Popcornmeter | Reviews | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 |  Us 2019 · Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke | 93% | 62% | 551 | Jordan Peele |
| 49 |  The Cat and the Canary 1927 · Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale | 94% | 76% | 48 | Paul Leni |
| 48 |  Suspiria 1977 · Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini | 94% | 82% | 62 | Dario Argento |
| 47 |  Carrie 1976 · Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie | 94% | 77% | 80 | Brian De Palma |
| 46 |  Frankenstein 1931 · Colin Clive, Mae Clarke | 94% | 87% | 96 | James Whale |
| 45 |  Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma 2026 · Gillian Anderson, Jasmin Savoy Brown | 94% | 66% | 278 | Jane Schoenbrun |
| 44 |  The Fly 1958 · David Hedison, Patricia Owens | 95% | 71% | 42 | Kurt Neumann |
| 43 |  Housebound 2014 · Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata | 95% | 73% | 43 | Gerard Johnstone |
| 42 |  The Innocents 1961 · Deborah Kerr, Martin Stephens | 95% | 86% | 55 | Jack Clayton |
| 41 |  The Invisible Man 1933 · Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart | 95% | 85% | 59 | James Whale |
Us (2019) opens the countdown at #50 with 551 critic reviews, the most of any film on the list. Audiences gave it 62%, the lowest score in this stretch. Jordan Peele fans can relax. His other film is a lot higher up.
Best Horror Movies #40 to #31, Where Critics and Fans Split
Critics and audiences split hardest in this stretch. We Are Still Here (2015) has a 96% Tomatometer and a 47% Popcornmeter, the lowest audience score in the whole top 50. At #35, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) gets 95% from both.
| Rank | Movie | Tomatometer | Popcornmeter | Reviews | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 |  Freaks 1932 · Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova | 95% | 88% | 55 | Tod Browning |
| 39 |  The Birds 1963 · Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren | 96% | 83% | 70 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 38 |  Night of the Living Dead 1968 · Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea | 95% | 87% | 80 | George A. Romero |
| 37 |  The Love Witch 2016 · Samantha Robinson, Gian Keys | 95% | 61% | 114 | Anna Biller |
| 36 |  Train to Busan 2016 · Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi | 95% | 90% | 130 | Yeon Sang-ho |
| 35 |  The Silence of the Lambs 1991 · Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins | 95% | 95% | 161 | Jonathan Demme |
| 34 |  It Follows 2014 · Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist | 95% | 66% | 272 | David Robert Mitchell |
| 33 |  We Are Still Here 2015 · Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig | 96% | 47% | 45 | Ted Geoghegan |
| 32 |  Dead of Night 1945 · Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave | 96% | 86% | 48 | Alberto Cavalcanti, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, Charles Crichton |
| 31 |  The Vanishing 1988 · Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets | 96% | 88% | 48 | George Sluizer |
Alfred Hitchcock checks in at #39 with The Birds (1963), and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) follows at #38. Train to Busan (2016) at #36 is the fan favorite here, with a 90% Popcornmeter.
Best Horror Movies #30 to #21, the Oldest Film on the List
The oldest movie on the list lives here. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) is #27, more than a hundred years old and still at 96% with critics. Dracula (1931) is #30, Tod Browning's second film after Freaks at #40.
| Rank | Movie | Tomatometer | Popcornmeter | Reviews | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 |  Dracula 1931 · Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan | 96% | 82% | 49 | Tod Browning |
| 29 |  Peeping Tom 1960 · Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer | 95% | 85% | 65 | Michael Powell |
| 28 |  Repulsion 1965 · Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneaux | 96% | 86% | 67 | Roman Polanski |
| 27 |  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1919 · Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt | 96% | 89% | 83 | Robert Wiene |
| 26 |  La llorona 2019 · María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz | 96% | 59% | 97 | Jayro Bustamante |
| 25 |  A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 2014 · Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi | 96% | 75% | 136 | Ana Lily Amirpour |
| 24 |  Resident Evil 2026 · Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry | 96% | 86% | 303 | Zach Cregger |
| 23 |  A Quiet Place 2018 · Emily Blunt, John Krasinski | 96% | 83% | 386 | John Krasinski |
| 22 |  Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 · Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter | 96% | 85% | 56 | Don Siegel |
| 21 |  Harpoon 2019 · Munro Chambers, Emily Tyra | 97% | 60% | 59 | Rob Grant |
Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965) is #28, his first of two. A Quiet Place (2018) brings the crowd at #23, with 386 reviews and an 83% Popcornmeter. Is #21 too high for Harpoon (2019)? Its 97% Tomatometer says no, and its 60% audience score says maybe.
Best Horror Movies #20 to #11, Psycho, Jaws and Halloween
Most people's top ten lives in this stretch. Psycho (1960) is #14, Jaws (1975) is #13 and Halloween (1978) is #17. All three score 89% or better with audiences, and Psycho's 95% Popcornmeter ties The Silence of the Lambs for the best audience score in the top 50.
| Rank | Movie | Tomatometer | Popcornmeter | Reviews | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 |  Eyes Without a Face 1960 · Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli | 97% | 87% | 60 | Georges Franju |
| 19 |  Nosferatu 1922 · Max Schreck, Alexander Granach | 97% | 87% | 73 | F.W. Murnau |
| 18 |  Rosemary's Baby 1968 · Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes | 96% | 87% | 85 | Roman Polanski |
| 17 |  Halloween 1978 · Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis | 97% | 89% | 90 | John Carpenter |
| 16 |  Tigers Are Not Afraid 2017 · Paola Lara, Ianis Guerrero | 97% | 79% | 116 | Issa López |
| 15 |  King Kong 1933 · Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot | 97% | 86% | 116 | Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack |
| 14 |  Psycho 1960 · Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh | 97% | 95% | 115 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 13 |  Jaws 1975 · Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw | 97% | 91% | 178 | Steven Spielberg |
| 12 |  Sinners 2025 · Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld | 97% | 90% | 441 | Ryan Coogler |
| 11 |  Vampyr 1932 · Julian West, Henriette Gérard | 98% | 82% | 45 | Carl Theodor Dreyer |
So why aren't they higher? Because the critics' numbers keep climbing. Every film from #10 up scores 97% or better with critics. Sinners (2025) crashes the party at #12 with 441 reviews, the second-most on the list.
Best Horror Movies #10 to #2, the New Wave Takes Over
The top ten belongs to the new guys. Seven of the nine films from #10 to #2 came out in 2008 or later, led by Under the Shadow (2016) at #2 and The Wailing (2016) at #3, both at 99%.
| Rank | Movie | Tomatometer | Popcornmeter | Reviews | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |  Ringu 1998 · Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada | 98% | 81% | 46 | Hideo Nakata |
| 9 |  The Loved Ones 2009 · Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy | 98% | 73% | 60 | Sean Byrne |
| 8 |  Bride of Frankenstein 1935 · Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester | 97% | 88% | 58 | James Whale |
| 7 |  Host 2020 · Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore | 98% | 70% | 98 | Rob Savage |
| 6 |  Let the Right One In 2008 · Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson | 98% | 90% | 193 | Tomas Alfredson |
| 5 |  The Babadook 2014 · Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall | 98% | 72% | 250 | Jennifer Kent |
| 4 |  Get Out 2017 · Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams | 98% | 86% | 403 | Jordan Peele |
| 3 |  The Wailing 2016 · Kwak Do-won, Jun Kunimura | 99% | 81% | 87 | Na Hong-jin |
| 2 |  Under the Shadow 2016 · Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi | 99% | 70% | 93 | Babak Anvari |
Get Out (2017) is #4 with 403 reviews, more than #2 and #3 combined. Let the Right One In (2008) at #6 has the best audience score in this group at 90%. The old guard holds one spot, with Bride of Frankenstein (1935) at #8, James Whale's third film in the top 50.
The #1 Horror Movie of All Time, His House
1. His House
2020 · Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu
- Tomatometer
- 100%
- Popcornmeter
- 72%
- Reviews
- 128
- Director
- Remi Weekes
His House (2020) is the only film in Rotten Tomatoes' top 50 with a perfect 100% Tomatometer, across 128 critic reviews. Remi Weekes made it as his feature debut, starring Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu and Matt Smith, and Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus calls it a terrifying look at the refugee experience.
The case against it is the audience score. Fans gave His House 72%, lower than 38 of the 49 films below it. Psycho fans, start typing.
How the Best Horror Movies of All Time Are Ranked
The list and every score come from Rotten Tomatoes' 200 Best Horror Movies of All Time, as of its October 2026 update. These are its top 50, in its order.
Rotten Tomatoes sorts the 200 by a formula that combines the Tomatometer (critics), the Popcornmeter (audiences), the number of reviews and the year of release, and it picks from Certified Fresh films that have a positive Popcornmeter. That's why a few films sit above others with higher critic scores, like Bride of Frankenstein (97%) at #8 over The Loved Ones (98%) at #9.
Best Horror Movies of All Time Video Chapters
Questions About the Best Horror Movies of All Time
What is the #1 horror movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes?
His House (2020) is #1 in Rotten Tomatoes' ranking of the best horror movies of all time, with a 100% Tomatometer from 128 critic reviews.
Where does Psycho rank among the best horror movies of all time?
Psycho (1960) is #14 on Rotten Tomatoes' list, with a 97% Tomatometer and a 95% Popcornmeter, tied with The Silence of the Lambs for the best audience score in the top 50.
What is the oldest movie among the 50 best horror movies?
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) is the oldest of the 50 best horror movies, at #27 with a 96% Tomatometer.
Which directors have more than one movie in the top 50?
James Whale has three (Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein). Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, Roman Polanski and Tod Browning have two each.
Sources
Posters © their studios and distributors, shown to identify each film.
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