Favorite Horror Movies?

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I'm fairly new to horror and haven't really seen that many horror movies, since I'm the only one in my family who likes them. I'm looking for recommendations for good horror movies, and/or movies that you would expect me to have seen if I said I was a horror fan.

I don't particularly enjoy movies with lots of sex, might put up with a little harm coming to animals if I know it's coming, but not too much, and prefer movies that have something to think about. I'm completely obsessed with all things Hellraiser (I find the Cenobites fascinating), am enjoying the Saw series, and like A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Cthulhu - Despite it's name, it's a retelling of Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Dagon - Also a retelling of The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Re-Animator - Based on Herbert West - Reanimator.
From Beyond - Based on the story of the same name
The Thing - The John Carpenter remake.
Absentia - Creepy, creepy movie.
The Hitcher - The original.
Nosferatu - Original silent movie.
The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari - Both the original, and the most recent remake.
The Howling - Older werewolf movie that's aged well.
The Shining - One of Stephen King's best film adaptions.
The Black Cat - Part of the Masters Of Horror series, this is based on the Poe story of the same name.

There are certainly many other great horror flicks I'm sure you'd enjoy.

Ooh, I wasn't aware of most of the Lovecraft-based movies you mentioned - I'll have to see if I can find them. Thank you for all the suggestions, that's a lot to add to my list

Idunno about Re-Animator, some of the sex/nudity scenes might be a little uncomfortable.

There's also one scene of violence towards a zombie cat, but it looks so incredibly fake that it's more laughable than anything (IMO).

I'll have to think up a list later, I guess it really depends on the extent to which sexual scenes bother you, because a lot of horror films have at least a little bit.

I've heard Re-Animator is supposed to be kind of goofy, which I don't like mixed in with my horror. I can put up with some sexual stuff, I just don't like tons and tons of it. If it's just a scene or two, that's fine - I'll probably know when to avert my eyes if I'd rather not see it.

Anytime.
By the way, another first rate horror film worth seeing is Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke, and Robert DeNiro.

Yeah, it's a little bit goofy. Certainly not as goofy as the Three Stooges antics of the Evil Dead movies, though. Kind of bad-good, too.

The first two Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies are pretty goofy too, but in a way that sort of makes them more terrifying, if that makes any sense. Clearly a huge influence on Rob Zombie. I'm not interested in the other sequels.

A classic horror that's going to be seasonal pretty soon is the original Black Christmas, which was a huge influence on slashers like Halloween (one of my fav series, 1-5). Rare Exports is a more modern Christmas horror, if you don't mind subtitles. Krampus is kind of cute in a Gremlins/'80s movie sort of way.

I love almost any film from directors like John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Village of the Damned) and George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead '68 and '90, DAWN OF THE DEAD one of my all-time favs, The Crazies, Day of the Dead, etc.).
Love almost anything with Vincent Price in it, especially if Richard Matheson wrote the script (Last Man on Earth, A Comedy of Terrors).
Hitchcock, of course, had plenty of classic horrors, including Psycho.
There are tons of Stephen King adaptations which vary in quality (that's a list in and of itself).
Hammer Films had a ton of great movies, I'd love to get more, I really liked Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter and The Revenge of Frankenstein.

Some of the old Universal Monster films are kind of fun, but deviate from the original source material quite a bit. I really like Kenneth Branagh's 1994 adaptation of Frankenstein. I haven't yet found an adaptation of Dracula that I like.

Love the Childs Play/Chucky series, the Japanese Ring movies (except Ring 2), 28 Days/Weeks Later, Invasion of the Body Snatchers '78. I love the first Warlock, I need to get the boxed set that just came out. I need the Phantasm set too, I've only seen I think 2 and 4.

Some of the King Kong and Godzilla movies are great, if you consider those to be "horror". Cloverfield, too. I think the original Japanese Gojira is more horrifying than most films I've seen (having been heavily inspired by atomic bomb fear), but most of the sequels kind of drop that element in favor of giant fighting rubber suits and giddy children.


Not my favs, but there are classic series like The Exorcist and The Omen.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but this is a pretty big list so far.

Re-Animator was very much intentionally a horror/comedy film. Keeping that in mind, I think the movie works better.

I know. I think she'd still feel pretty uncomfortable about that sex scene, though =) It's in my top 5 for most uncomfortable sexual scenes ever.

Are you talking about the Stanley Kubrick film with Jack Nicholson or the 1997 mini-series? If it's the former, your comment is particularly interesting because King had nothing to do with the production of the film and was very unhappy with the end result (he accused Kubrick of making a horror movie without any understanding of the genre). The mini-series was made with King's involvement (he wrote the screenplay and executive produced) and is much closer to King's original vision. Well worth a watch if you haven't already seen it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very fond of the Kubrick film but it's best treated as a separate entity and a masterpiece in its own right rather than an adaptation of the novel.

I'm recommending this because it comes from the same author Clive Barker who also wrote The Hellbound Heart which was adapted as HELLRAISER.

I was referring to the Kubrick movie, though I have seen the TV mini series with the guy from Wings. I must admit, I much preferred the Kubrick movie, even though I know about King's low opinion of it, and that he had been deeply involved in the making of the TV version. Who knows, maybe if I had seen the TV version first, I'd have a different opinion of it.

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone - I've only seen two or three of the movies that have been mentioned, so you've provided a lot to add to my list of things to watch

The Fountainhead

because some people actually believe it's better for all if an individual, in this case an architect, can create his vision, in this case a public housing project, without regarding any one else's interest, in this case that of the comission paying for the housing project, who add balconies to the apartments, because, you know, it's for people to live in.
the architect gets angry and blows up the construction site.

the film is the best possible argument against this philosophy, yet some people in the US actually believe in it.
it's so scary.

Wow, a lot of the movies recommended are oldies. So I will also recommend an oldie with the original Alien, it is a good classic. The other movies in the franchise can be worth a watch too, Aliens is a more action movie, and the hate people have to the most recent with Prometheus and Alien Covenant is completely unfounded.

More modern:
1408 - Maybe a lesser known Stephen King movie set in a hotel, but I like how it gets into your head.

The Conjuring - Practically started a new wave of horror, where there would not be fake jump scares, and some appreciation of build up can be done.

Cabin in the Woods - A great tribute to much of horror, it has Liam Hemsworth and Joss Whedon was one of the major ones involved. It plays around with expectation while still being good.

Cloverfield - I admit I thought of this because of mentions of Lovecraft, not that it directly takes anything, but I think especially watched while not knowing what is going on makes an interesting case of characters only seeing a smaller piece of a whole that can become filled as one goes.

The Babadook - A good horror movie, and should give you something to think about.

I thought about listing that one, but decided against it for whatever reason. The first Riddick movie (Pitch Black) also has a very similar slasher feel to it. The new Riddick movie almost looks like a remake of the first, but it's still sitting in my "to watch" pile =)


I remember being surprised at how much I liked that movie, but IMO the sequel was incredibly disappointing. Just another one of those "based on true events" films that makes everything unbelievable because the real story isn't very interesting.