Summary
Horrorfilms have existed since the dawn of cinema, thrilling and chilling even when movies were black and white and utterly soundless. They continued with the film industry, evolving to adapt the newer technologies involved in the filmmaking process to craft their atmosphere and breathe life into their characters, monsters, and stories.
Several titles stand out from among the thousands for their impact on their genre as a whole, pushing the boundaries of how to illicit fear, dread, and disgust in their audience. It is without a doubt that if these movies didn’t exist,horrormovies would not exist in the same capacity fans take for granted, and are certainly owed accolades and praise for their influence.
10The Conjuring
Spawned Its Own Cinematic Universe
The Perron family moves to a beautiful stately home in the countryside, hoping for a fresh start and to enjoy the clean, country air, but these dreams soon become nightmares. Strange instances occur throughout the home, such as all the clocks stopping at the same time, the family dog turning up dead in their back garden, and the children being terrorized by spirits at night. Carolyn enlists the help of renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who confirm a dark entity has latched itself to the house and its inhabitants and will soon possess the mother.
Ed and Lorraine Warren are in fact real historical figures, and the Perron family might be one of their most infamous cases, after Annabelle of course. This movie was a sensation because of its roots in reality, and the terrifying haunting that is unleashed upon the family with no mercy. Its success was unquestionable and led to the creation ofThe ConjuringUniverse, which now consists of multiple titles including all those in the same-named franchise,The Nunmovies, theAnnabelleseries, andThe Curse of La Llorona. Its influence is felt throughout each of these movies all owe their existence to the first movie.
9The Blair Witch Project
Paved the Way for the Found Footage Genre
Love it or hate it,the found footage subgenreis an essential one in the world of horror. Shaky camera work, a first-person point of view, and the dread of watching a tape unfold while knowing the end is not going to be a happy one. The Blair Witch is arguably the movie that started the craze, as three friends set out to shoot a documentary on the mythical Blair Witch, who is said to dwell inside a forest in Maryland. They find themselves hopelessly lost in the woods, and it would seem as though they aren’t entirely alone, and there may be some truth to the urban legend.
The titular witch is never captured on camera, but the miasma of dread and fear draped around her legend is fully present and on display. Seeing the friendship between the three of them fracture as their nerves unravel truly makes viewers feel the gravity of the situation they have the misfortune of being trapped within. The woods make for a perfectly eerie setting that The Blair Witch Project revels in.
8Nosferatu
Cinema’s First Vampire Sired the Blood-Thirsty Genre
Vampires and horror are just as enmeshed with each other as vampires and romance are, but beforeTwilight, they were squarely painted as monsters that should be feared rather than loved. Nosferatu is the first depiction of vampires on the big screen, depicting the terrifying Count Orlok, who is planning to buy a new property with the help of Thomas Hutter. He quickly learns that his new client may be a vampire, who is felled at the end of the movie by Hutter’s wife, Ellen.
Its similarities to the novelDraculalandedNosferatuin such boiling hot water that Stoker’s heirs demanded that all copies of the movie be destroyed, but thankfully a few survived, allowing people to experience this seminal vampire film, which helped to shape future Gothic vampire movies. With a remake releasing July 09, 2025, there is no denying how long the reach ofNosferatutruly is.
7A Nightmare on Elm Street
Reinvented an Entire Subgenre with its Colorful Antagonist
Normally, most slashers are devoid of personalities outside of their desire to murder their victims or resort to silence, which can add another dimension of terror.A Nightmare on Elm Streetoffers a new bold take on the genre by making Freddy a bit of a chatterbox. As he terrorizes poor Nancy with his knife-fingered glove, he delivers many witty lines and plays twisted pranks on her, a pattern repeated in the subsequent movies in the franchise.
It isn’t a stretch to think that without the wise-cracking Freddy, fans wouldn’t have gotten killers such as Ghostface, who also enjoys one-liners and toying with their prey before coming in for the kill.
6Scream
Introduced Meta-Commentary to Horror
It’s hard to believe a movie villain based on a Halloween costume would become a cultural icon, but that is what Ghostface and theScreamfranchise achieved. This clever slasher franchise originated from its debut film simply titledScream, in which a mysterious masked killer titled the Ghostface begins his reign of terror over Woodsboro. The obvious culprit quickly becomes Billy Loomis, the boyfriend of the main character Sydney Prescott. If it seems a little too obvious, it is, as Billy was not the killer–he was in cahoots with his best friend Stu Macher.
This unexpected twist shocked many viewers, as even if they made it obvious Billy was guilty, who would have predicted he had help all along? But what stands out the most about Scream is its insightful and amusingcommentary on the horror genreand its tropes, using them in a very tongue-in-cheek way as it pokes fun at them. This self-aware satirical slasher paved the way for other modern movies and acts as a source of inspiration for aspiring filmmakers who want to break the mold.
5The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Responsible for Founding Iconic Elements of the Slasher Genre
One of the most brutal films to have ever emerged from the industry,The Texas Chainsaw Massacrewas banned for some time in several countries across the world, believed to be too violent and gruesome for public consumption. And what a grimy and gory movie it was! While on a road trip, a group of friends comes across a large and remote house and the family that owns it, the Sawyers. One of the members of the family is infamous for wearing masks made of skin and killing his victims with a chainsaw.
This movie was responsible for introducing the use of power tools into the slasher franchise, which are more terrifying in this content than knives because of the brutal damage they can do to a person.Texas Chainsawwas also the movie that introduced the concept of the final girl, which has gone on to be a legendary trope in the realm of horror movies. The scene of her riding away from Leatherface covered in blood and hysterically laughing and screaming cemented her as one of themost memorable final girls of all time.
4Halloween
While not the First Slasher Movie, it is One of the Most Definitive
One of the most iconic movies of all time isHalloween. Set on the night it is named after, Michael Myers escapes from the institution he was a patient in for 15 years, resuming his reign of terror with one victim in particular on his murderous mind–Laurie Strode. She fights for her own survival as Doctor Loomis slowly closes in on him, the finale sees Michael shot until he is seemingly dead, but his body disappears at the end of the movie, leaving it open for an inevitable sequel.
ThoughPsychowas the first entry in the slasher genre,Halloweenis just as influential. It inspired many other films totake place during a holidayand solidified many of the core components of the slasher genre, including the masked killer.
3Night of the Living Dead
Grandfathered the Entire Zombie-Movie Craze
There is no denying that George A. Romero is one of the most renowned horror directors of all time, withThe Night of the Living Deadbeing the movie that would define his career. For the time of its release, this was a boundary-breaking movie that truly put the limits of practical effects to the test, resulting in some truly grizzly scenes as zombies tear through the living without remorse. The action picks up pretty quickly in the movie, with Johnny being murdered shortly after the young couple arrive at the cemetery, and as Barbra flees towards what she hopes is safety, she soon beholds the living dead.
As far as influential movies go,The Night of the Living Deadis fairly far up there. It had a huge impact on the zombie genre, defining how they should behave in movies. Though a lot of zombie movies have their own take on the premise, it is fair to say that withoutThe Night of the Living Dead, these movies might not even exist in the first place.
2Psycho
The First Slasher Movie That Started a Craze
Viewed as the movie that birthed the slasher genre,Psychois one of the earliest and greatest horror movies of all time. The Bates Motel became one of the mostinfamous fictional locationsof all time, which is where the crux of this chilling story unfolds. The proprietor, Norman Bates, checks in Marion Crane who is on her way to Fairvale to meet with her boyfriend. He seems like a calm, if a little odd, man at first, with a questionable relationship with his mother. But things quickly take a more sinister turn, resulting in the infamous shower scene that everyone knows.
This scene alone has become famous in and out of the horror scene, parodied in multiple other works, and its music is easily identified even by those who have not seen the movie. An unstable individual wielding a knife has become a staple for the slasher genre, and they can all owe their roots back toPsycho. Without it, this genre might not even exist.
1The Exorcist
This Possession Movie Scared People Witless
The Exorcistwas a cut above all others at the time of its release, and it is still considered one of the best horror movies as of now. Regan is the horrific star of this movie, a young girl who becomes possessed by a demon. Her behavior changes, becoming increasingly violent, demented, and disturbing with no answer to be found in science. And so Regan’s mother looks to the more fantastical answers, seeking help from two Priests to exorcise whatever inhabits her body.
What unfolds during Regan’s possession and exorcism is nothing short of truly terrifying and disgusting, with many moviegoers allegedly fainting, vomiting, or even suffering heart attacks before they were even halfway through the film.The Exorcisttruly pushed the boundaries ofdemonic horror movies, a brilliant demonstration for other studios to push the envelope. Since then, there have been many possession and exorcism movies to pay homage to the classic.
