The American Film Institute curates lists of the best movies in the history of cinema and has a few lists that break the movies down by genre. While there is no specific list for horror movies, the AFI does have a list titled AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Thrills, and it includes some of Hollywood’s best horror movies mixed in with action and suspense fare.
- Horror movies have gotten more niche in recent years. In 2022 alone, Ty West has two movies released, connected to each other, in X and Pearl, both movies as loving throwbacks to the classic horror movies of the 1970s and 1980s. When it comes to the AFI picks for the best horror movies in cinema history, most fans will have to go back several years because the organization prizes longevity over everything else. This includes additions from the advent of horror in the Universal Horror Monster era, as well as a made-for-TV remake of a classic horror movie that out-shined the original in almost every conceivable manner.
Regarding the horror movies on the list, it includes a strong mix of classics from the early years of Hollywood as well as movies from the 1980s and 1990s. The AFI includes monster movies, ghost stories, demonic thrillers, and serial killer stories among its countdown of the most thrilling movies of all time.
Frankenstein (1931)
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While Dracula was the movie that officially launched the Universal Horror craze in the 1930s, it was the second movie the company released that the AFI praised more. This was Frankenstein, and while many critics felt that the sequel Bride of Frankenstein was the better movie, the first was the more groundbreaking one. The entire theme was what happens when a man plays God.
When Victor Frankenstein created his Monster, it set the template for every mad scientist movie made over the next 90-plus years. What really helps the movie shine was that the Monster was not pure evil, and was a sympathetic horror villain, an innocent creature that people wanted to hunt and kill.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1979)
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The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers came out in 1956, a science fiction film released following World War II that played into the Red Scare. However, a remake made for television in 1978 eclipsed the original in every conceivable way. The story was the same, as an alien invasion was underway, with them replacing humans with exact replicas controlled by the aliens.
The cast was superb, with Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, and Veronica Cartwright in the lead roles. Released during the later years of the Cold War, the movie was just as relevant as the original, and it remains proof that remakes can succeed, and even surpass the movies that they were based on.
Carrie (1976)
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Stephen King’s first novel arrived in 1974 with the book Carrie, and that ended up as his first movie adaptation, released only two years later in 1976.The movie starred a young SIssy Spacek as a high school girl bullied at school who develops telekinetic powers. However, when she lashes out at everyone, including innocent kids and teachers at her school, she crosses a line that turned her from a victim into a monster.
The movie remains influential, as it mixed the struggles of kids coming to terms with their own identities with the terror of the horror genre. Carrie White was someone who just wanted to find acceptance, but between her fanatical mother and the bullies at school, she could never have a happily ever after.
The Terminator (1984)
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The second Terminator movie was a sci-fi action adventure movie. However, the first movie was a pure sci-fi horror movie, and AFI considers it one of the best of its kind. The movie has the basic setup from the franchise, with a murderous cyborg sent back to stop the resistance of the future war.
In this case, the movie was set up as more of a slasher movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator showed up and went to kill John Conner’s mother before she could give birth to the child who would become the resistance leader. Sarah Connor ended up as the FInal Girl of the movie, and led the franchise to great heights as it grew from horror into something more.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
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The Night of the Hunter stars Robert Mitchum as one of the scariest horror villains ever put in a movie. What made him so scary was that he was a faux minister who used the trust people gave him to kill them. Robert Mitchum starred as a man named Harry Powell, a serial killer who targets wealthy widows.
What made the movie so scary was that the killer than began hunting down his most recent victim’s children, when he realized they had the money he so desired. One very impressive thing about this movie is that it was the only movie director Charles Laughton made. The movie entered the National Film Registry in 1992, and it has stood the test of time as one of the best horror movies ever made.
The Shining (1980)
In 1980, The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel, hit theaters. Since its release, King has publicly stated that he hated the movie and many fans of the book agree that Kubrick’s work isn’t a loyal adaptation but a classic piece of horror cinema nonetheless.
It stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a man who takes a winter caretaker job at a hotel, which he moves into with his wife and son. There, Jack faces ghosts and eventually tries to kill his family. The Shining focused on the psychological terror of a man losing his grip on reality, and it remains an iconic haunted house movie.
Deliverance (1972)
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John Boorman has received two Oscar nominations for Best Director, and his first came thanks to the 1972 horror-thriller Deliverance. It stars Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, was also the film debuts for both Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox. The quartet stars as friends who go on a river trip and end up hunted by an unknown assailant.
The movie earned three total Oscar nominations and entered the Library of Congress in 2008 for its cultural significance. Deliverance is a terrifying adventure movie with iconic disturbing scenes that have audiences shuddering at the sound of a banjo to this day.
King Kong (1933)
In 1933, the first King Kong movie arrived in theaters and stands today as one of Hollywood’s most influential horror movies. It featured stop-motion animation work by Willis O’Brien and King Kong is responsible for the monster movies of the 1950s.
The movie introduced the world to the giant King Kong, as he lived in peace until humans arrived on his island, capturing him and bringing him back to the big city. There have been remakes, but the original still stands the test of time.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
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Roman Polanski directed his greatest horror movie in 1968 with Rosemary’s Baby. The movie stars Mia Farrow as a pregnant woman in Manhattan who learns that her baby might not be human, and she faces neighbors that might have disturbing plans for her.
With themes surrounding religion, the occult, and paranoia, Rosemary’s Baby was a massive success with two Oscar nominations and a Best Supporting Actress win for Ruth Gordon. It was also added to the National Film Registry in 2014. For a movie with very little violence, it is one of the horror genre’s most chilling.
The Birds (1963)
Three years after Alfred Hitchcock moved into the horror genre and released Psycho, he decided to make something a little lighter in tone. The Birds was a movie about a small coastal town that found itself under attack by violent and aggressive birds, sweeping in and killing anyone in sight.
The Birds wasn’t highly praised upon its release, earning mixed reviews. However, it quickly gained appreciation when it was released on television a few years later and has since become known as one of the scariest “man vs. animal” stories in Hollywood.
Alien (1979)
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In 1979, Ridley Scott directed the science fiction horror movie Alien. While later sequels moved more into the sci-fi genre, the first movie in the franchise was a straight horror movie, a haunted house story where the house was a spacecraft and the monster was a murderous alien.
Alien received positive critical praise and went on to pick up an Oscar win for Best Visual Effects. The design of the alien and the final girl trope helped the movie win over horror fans as much as it did science fiction fans and the movie led to a successful franchise that stretched out over 30 years.
The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs made horror history. It was the first horror movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture and also swept the major acting categories as well, with wins for Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. The movie was about an FBI agent who needed a convicted cannibal’s help to crack a serial killer case.
Jonathan Demme added a Best Director Oscar win and the screenplay also nabbed that win to help the movie sweep every major Oscar category that year. The AFI also named Hannibal Lecter as the top-ranked villain in movie history with Clarice ranked as the sixth-best hero. Indeed, Hopkins makes for one of the horror genre’s most charismatic villains, and his chemistry with Foster is superb.
The Exorcist (1973)
Based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist was one of the most successful horror movies of the 1970s among critics and fans alike. It centered on two priests called in to exorcise a demon from a young girl and became the movie that all demonic possession stories have to live up to.
The Exorcist was the first horror movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It picked up a total of 10 nominations that year, winning two of them. The movie also entered the Library of Congress in 2010. The Exorcist was also a box office success, the highest-grossing R-rated movie for over 30 years. To this day, new horror fans are having nightmares to Linda Blair’s 360° head rotation.
Jaws (1975)
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Jaws changed everything about the movie industry. This was the movie that made Steven Spielberg one of the hottest names in Hollywood as he defined the summer blockbuster with this movie. It tells the story of a vacation beach town that experiences deadly shark attacks.
The movie was so scary that it reportedly caused many beach towns to lose business after its release and it made several people too afraid to go near the water. Jaws ended up as the highest-grossing movie of all time until Star Wars beat it and it entered the Library of Congress in 2001.
Psycho (1960)
The AFI not only named Psycho the best horror movie of all time, but it was number one on the list of all thrillers, regardless of genre. This was Alfred Hitchcock’s entry to horror and with it, he created a phenomenon — the precursor to the slasher genre that would arrive a decade later. From its iconic shower scene, killing off the protagonist halfway through the movie, it’s hard to think of a more iconic horror movie.
Psycho was about the owner of a motel who killed tenants while fearing his own mother. Hitchcock promoted the movie brilliantly, with ambulances outside theaters to help people who fainted during the scares. The movie also earned Hitchcock an Oscar nomination for Best Director, an award he never won in his career.
