17 horror movies that will genuinely terrify you

You’re probably on the hunt to watch some frightening films to extend the Halloween celebrations.

Mastering a scare is something that only the most gifted of directors can manage – and there are a lot of films out there that fall very short when trying to terrify their audience.

Those that do deliver, though, succeed with aplomb: John Carpenter, George Romero and Get Out director Jordan Peele to name but a few.

For those wanting to be genuinely scared, it can be quite hard to find a film that suits your need, but fret no more – we’ve compiled the scariest horror films on offer, ranging from German Expressionist films from the 1920s to indie smash hit Hereditary.

Below, we run through 17 horror films that will genuinely scare you.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

The Amityville Horror is based on the true story of the Lutzes, a family who were run out of their home after being terrorised by paranormal phenomena in 1975. Just one year before, Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed six members of his family in the same house. James Brolin and Margot Kidder lead this film, which became one of the biggest hits of 1979.

Audition (1999)

Japanese horror Audition follows a widower who meets a woman named Ayoma after staging auditions to meet a potential new partner. Soon, though, her dark past begins to surface, which equates to a pretty disturbing climax.

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The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Although parodied to death, The Blair Witch Project popularised the found-footage format to terrifying degrees in 1999. People genuinely believed they were watching real clips of three student filmmakers being terrorised by a Maryland legend known as the Blair Witch.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

Black-and-white silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is considered the quintessential work of German Expressionism, but also one of the scariest films in cinema history. It follows a hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist to commit murders, and Wiene’s shadowed sets and striking visual style combine to unsettle the viewer in ways most filmmakers only dream of managing.

Funny Games (1997)

Funny Games places the horror in the familiar setting of home. It follows two young men who hold a family hostage and torture them with sadistic games. The result is far scarier than anything featuring ghosts, witches or demons.

Hereditary (2018)

Proving that horror is a force to be reckoned with, Hereditary became independent distributor A24’s highest-grossing film around the world upon its release in 2018. It tells the story of a family who find themselves haunted after the death of their secretive grandmother and features a final act that left many of its viewers with sleepless nights.

It (1986)

Forget the effects-laden remake – this version of It, released as a miniseries in 1986, is the most terrifying adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved novel to date. It follows a shapeshifting demon who takes the form of a sadistic child-killing clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry).

Lake Mungo (2008)

Taking the form of a mockumentary, the little-seen Australian drama Lake Mungo may have received a limited release in 2008, but its story of a family attempting to come to terms with the drowning of their daughter stays with viewers long after.

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The Orphanage (2007)

Produced by Guillermo del Toro, this acclaimed 2007 chiller follows the disappearance of a young boy in an orphanage, which brings many of the building’s terrifying secrets to the fore.

Paranormal Activity (2009)

Could Paranormal Activity be the scariest film of all time? It’s certainly one of them. Just when you thought found-footage had had its day, Oren Peli’s small-budgeted festival favourite became one of 2009’s biggest hits. Audiences lapped up the story of a couple who capture supernatural presences on a camera in their own home.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Paranormal Activity 3 earns its place on this list for its final 10 minutes. Set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films, we see the cause of the curse that follows characters Katie and Kristi for the rest of their lives – and it’s down to a coven of witches led by their grandmother.

[REC] (2007)

Played out in real-time, the claustrophobic Spanish horror film [REC] is one of the better examples of found-footage cinema. Released in 2007, it follows a reporter and her cameraman who follow firefighters to a Barcelona building and soon find themselves locked inside with its occupants who are displaying murderous behaviour.

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Ring (1998)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the story of Ring by now: viewers of a cursed videotape die seven days after watching it. While the inevitable Hollywood remake in 2002 was better than it had any right to be, Nakata’s original is as terrifying as horror films come.

Sinister (2012)

Of all the Blumhouse horror films, 2012 release Sinister – which features the demonic character Bughuul – is the spookiest of them all. It stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies depicting grisly murders in the attic of his new house.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The fictional Texas Chainsaw Massacre, marketed as a true story, follows a group of cannibals – including Leatherface – who relentlessly hunt down a group of friends. Not only is Tobe Hooper’s film one of the most striking horror experiences, but one of the greatest of all time, too

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is deemed the best British horror film of all time for a reason. It tells the story of a Police Sergeant who travels to an isolated island in search of a missing girl, only to find its inhabitants practising a form of Celtic paganism.

The Witch (2015)

For the most part, it’s not what you see in The Witch that terrifies, it’s what you don’t see. Eggers unsettlingly holds his camera a fraction too long in places as he retells the story of a Separatist family who encounter supernatural forces in the woods beyond their farm.

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