Gymnopedie's Great Horror Movies
So I created this list in order to separate the good horror movies from the really great horror movies, in my humble opinion. Every film in this list has received an "eight" rating, or higher from me. I figured it would be a useful list in order to separate the horror films that mean the most to me. This list will be ever expanding as I see more films. In no specific order.
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- DirectorAndrew ParkinsonStarsGiles AspenEllen SoftleyDean SiplingA young man gets infected and gradually starts turning into a zombie.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsLili TaylorChristopher WalkenAnnabella SciorraA New York philosophy grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.
- DirectorTony RandelStarsDoug BradleyAshley LaurenceClare HigginsKirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.
- DirectorNathan J. WhiteStarsGregory FortescueStevie LeeSteve DixonThe main character is stricken with a horrible disease, but it doesn't affect him. It spreads to every inamimate object that he touches, and then if another person touches the object, they are dissolved into it. No one knows that Jake is the carrier except him. This brings about the "red objects" that specify every object that he has touched, as discovered by the community with cats. They use cats to test inanimate objects for the disease. And they cover themselves in garbage bags to protect themselves.
- DirectorClive BarkerStarsAndrew RobinsonClare HigginsAshley LaurenceA woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsMariette HartleyKathleen BellerArlen Dean SnyderAmy is the Mannings only daughter. After the death of her rich father, she lives together with her stepmother. Recently she sees a man in black following her, waiting for her in her car, wanting to kill her. The police can't help her. But who is this man in black? Is it the strange young man whom she recently dated? Or the psychologist her mother told her to visit? Or is she really insane...?
- DirectorWillard HuyckGloria KatzStarsMichael GreerMarianna HillJoy BangA young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsUta HagenDiana MuldaurChris UdvarnokyA series of gruesome accidents plague a small American farming community in the summer of 1935, encircling two identical twin brothers and their family.
- DirectorCorrado FarinaStarsAdolfo CeliGeraldine HooperGiuliano EsperatiIn this allegory on capitalism, director of a known car corporation invites one of his employees to his country villa to give him the good news. He just got promoted. However, the old man is not what he seems and promotion has a price.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
- DirectorScott ThomasStarsDavid ChisumKristen KerrKevin J. O'ConnorA mad scientist is transferring a dead woman in a freezer with an armed guard on a plane to Paris. After slight turbulence, the freezer breaks down and she awakens, turns into a zombie, and infects all on board.
- DirectorYves SimoneauStarsJohn C. McGinleyMolly ParkerBlu MankumaA woman spending Thanksgiving at the home of her friend's family in the rural Pacific Northwest finds herself in the clutches of a disturbed serial killer.
- DirectorHolly DaleStarsGordon CurrieLouis FerreiraHelene ClarksonA vampire falls for a woman working at a donut shop.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
- DirectorColin EgglestonStarsJohn HargreavesBriony BehetsMike McEwenWhen a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn't in an accommodating mood.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey StephensMysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsGrant WilliamsRandy StuartApril KentAfter Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsJennifer LawrenceJavier BardemEd HarrisA couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
- DirectorMark TonderaiStarsOmari HardwickLoretta DevineLorraine BurroughsA man crash lands in rural Appalachia and awakens in the attic of a traditional Hoodoo practitioner. He desperately tries to break free from her dark magic and save his family from a sinister ritual before the rise of the blood moon.
- DirectorHoward J. FordJonathan FordStarsRob FreemanPrince David OseiDavid DontohAn American mercenary, the sole survivor of a plane crash, has to run the gauntlet across Africa, battling with the living dead.
- DirectorGregory WilsonStarsWilliam AthertonBlythe AuffarthBlanche BakerFollows the unspeakable torture and abuses committed on a teenage girl in the care of her aunt and the boys who witness and fail to report the crime.
- DirectorScott GlossermanStarsNathan BaeselAngela GoethalsZelda RubinsteinThe next great killer and psychopath has given a documentary film crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the quiet town of Glen Echo.
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsGeoffrey CareyJohn Paul Getty IIIJeffrey KimeA small group of well-to-do vacationers go on a hiking trip into the woods. Foolishly unprepared to deal with Mother Nature and their situation, they wander around lost for days and weeks, becoming more and more fatigued, hungry, and desperate. A brief encounter with a pair of epicureans on a bridge fails to garner them any of the gluttons' feast due to a language barrier. Eventually their party begins to die, and the survivors ration their meat among them, attaching a religious-type ritual to its dispensation.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsChristopher GeorgeCatriona MacCollCarlo De MejoA reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJohn AmplasLincoln MaazelChristine ForrestA young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
- DirectorMark PellingtonStarsRichard GereLaura LinneyDavid EigenbergA reporter is drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsCristina MarsillachIan CharlesonUrbano BarberiniA young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
- DirectorRichard LangStarsDennis WeaverValerie HarperRobin IgnicoA young girl begins seeing the ghost of her sister who died in an accident a year earlier.
- DirectorDan CurtisStarsKaren BlackOliver ReedBurgess MeredithA family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsFlorinda BolkanBarbara BouchetTomas MilianWhen a southern Italian town is rocked by a string of child murders, the police and two urban outcasts search for the culprit amid scapegoating within the superstitious community.
- DirectorDon HaldaneStarsJack CreleyJay ReynoldsTrudy YoungA wealthy lawyer with a short time to live hides a secret--he is the continuation of a line of "reincarnates," and his memory is an accumulation of their memories. He must find a successor to whom he can pass on his memories, and he meets a struggling but ambitious artist who seems to be a likely candidate for the "reincarnation" ritual, which involves sacrificing a virgin.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsStacy ChboskyBen MessmerSamantha RobsonIn an abandoned house in Poughkeepsie, New York murder investigators uncover hundreds of tapes showing decades of a serial killer's work.
- DirectorDanny CarralesStarsDaniel KruseEmilie Jo TisdaleTerry JerniganA man induces cardiac arrest in order to have a near-death experience. His journey takes him to The Gates of Hell.
- DirectorJeff LiebermanStarsAlexander BrickelKatheryn WinnickStephen GrahamA naive young boy unknowingly becomes the pawn of a serial killer.
- DirectorConstantin WernerStarsHaim AbramskyBeth GondekKen CypertJoey snaps when his girlfriend Laura dies. He takes her corpse from New York City to West Virginia. As she decomposes, he slips further into madness.
- DirectorThom EberhardtStarsAnita SkinnerCaren L. LarkeyPeggy McClureA lone survivor of a plane crash is haunted by a feeling unworthy of survival. Dead people start coming after her to collect her.
- DirectorHideshi HinoStarsHiroshi TamuraKirara YûgaoAnja BlagojevicLate at night, a woman is kidnapped by an unknown assailant and taken back to his blood-spattered dungeon, where he turns her into a "flower of blood and flesh" through a series of dismemberment and evisceration.
- CreatorMike FlanaganStarsKate SiegelZach GilfordKristin LehmanAn isolated island community experiences miraculous events - and frightening omens - after the arrival of a charismatic, mysterious young priest.
- DirectorRobert MandelStarsSally KirklandJeffrey DeMunnLouise LathamWhen the Smurl family moves into a duplex, they find out its haunted.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsLara WendelGreg RhodesMary SellersVisions of a deceased girl and her doll bring doom to the visitors of a deserted house.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorGus TrikonisStarsRichard CrennaJoanna PettetAndrew PrineA doctor buys a Civil War era dilapidated mansion, and hires a few friends to fix it up, but the mansion hides a deadly secret.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
- DirectorJemaine ClementTaika WaititiStarsJemaine ClementTaika WaititiCori Gonzalez-MacuerViago, Deacon, and Vladislav are vampires who are struggling with the mundane aspects of modern life, like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.
- DirectorEric EnglandStarsNajarra TownsendCaroline WilliamsAlice MacdonaldAfter being drugged and raped at a party, a young woman contracts what she thinks is an STD; but, it's actually something much worse.
- DirectorAlex ChandonStarsJo HartleyJames DohertySeamus O'NeillFour young offenders and their care workers visit the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself. A minor incident with locals rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsWill RogersKristen ConnollyKether DonohueChaos breaks out in a small Maryland town after an ecological disaster occurs.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
- DirectorRussell KernStarsJames AerniChopper BernetRex CutterThe planet Jupiter has moved closer to the Earth causing an increased gravitation pull which affects the human brain, and people with certain blood types in higher elevations. The result is that the citizens in a town in the Rocky Mountains have become blood-hungry, flesh-eating, and insane.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsMena SuvariStephen ReaRussell HornsbyA young woman commits a hit-and-run, then finds her fate tied to her victim.
- DirectorCarl LindberghStarsJonathan FlaniganBeverly HyndsFred DekomA woodland holiday turns into a hellish trip for a couple who discover a dead body among the branches. However, it transpires that the body is far from dead, and the couple are suddenly infected by a body-ravaging disease.
- DirectorCatherine MillarStarsRebecca GibneyJohn AdamDoris YounaneAfter buying a house, a woman's life is threatened by sinister events that occurred in the house a century previously.
- DirectorMariano BainoStarsLouise SalterVenera SimmonsMariya KapnistA girl travels to an island, after the death of her father, to find out why the father funded a monestary on the island.
- DirectorJay WoelfelStarsNick BaldasareRick KeslerSusan PinskyBen hasn't been able to dream since the deaths of his parents, but as he attempts to make human connections, his nightmares begin to spill over into all of their waking lives.
- DirectorGianfranco GiagniStarsRoland WybengaPaola RinaldiMargareta von KraussAlan Whitmore, a young American researcher, goes to Budapest to visit Professor Roth, with whom he collaborated on a secret project called "Intextus" while a mysterious killer in on the loose...
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTerry PotterPete O'HerneCraig SmithThe population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
- DirectorBigas LunaStarsZelda RubinsteinMichael LernerTalia PaulA controlling mother uses telepathic powers to send her middle-aged son on a killing spree.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampJohnny DeppRobert EnglundTeenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsCharles FieldsLiane LanglandJoyce Van PattenA young boy is taken over by demons who force him to commit murder.
- DirectorArmand WestonStarsRobin GrovesChristopher LoomisMichael David LallyA writer suffering from agoraphobia rents an isolated house so she can concentrate on her writing. She doesn't know that the house is a former brothel, and is inhabited by the ghosts of dead prostitutes.
- DirectorBruno MatteiClaudio FragassoStarsMargie NewtonFranco GarofaloSelan KarayAfter an experiment gone wrong, a virus that turns people into zombies spreads throughout New Guinea. A female reporter and her cameraman, and a team of four commandos sent to investigate try to survive the onslaught.
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsCraig WassonAlice KrigeFred AstaireTwo generations of men find themselves haunted by the presence of a spectral woman. When the son of one of the elderly men returns to his hometown after his brother's mysterious death, they attempt to unravel her story.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.
- DirectorFred WaltonStarsCarol KaneCharles DurningRutanya AldaA psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.
- DirectorPete WalkerStarsJack JonesPamela StephensonDavid DoyleA singer holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. The ghost of his murdered wife begins to haunt him, then the person who actually killed her shows up at the mansion.
- DirectorJames T. FlockerStarsAnn NelsonMatthew BostonJerry JensenA young boy is possessed by the spirit of an Indian medicine man and begins to terrorize the local population.
- DirectorDonald CammellStarsJulie ChristieFritz WeaverGerrit GrahamA scientist creates Proteus--an organic super computer with artificial intelligence which becomes obsessed with human beings, and in particular the creator's wife.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsDavid HemmingsDaria NicolodiGabriele LaviaA jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.
- DirectorAmando de OssorioStarsVíctor PetitMaría KostySandra MozarowskyIn this final installment of the Blind Dead series, a doctor and his wife move to a small inhospitable coastal village where he plans to start a practice only to discover that undead demon-worshiping Templar Knights haunt the place.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
- DirectorJeff GillenAlan OrmsbyStarsRoberts BlossomCosette LeeLeslie CarlsonA deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother, whose corpse he keeps, among others, as his companion in a decaying farmhouse.
- DirectorSutton RoleyStarsJackie CooperAlex CordRichard JaeckelA group of diverse individuals are suddenly taken from their homes and flown via helicopter to a futuristic bomb shelter in the desert, one-third of a mile below the surface of the Earth. There, they learn that a nuclear holocaust is taking place and that they've been "chosen" by computer to survive in the shelter in order to continue the human race. The shelter is designed to allow the people to exist underground comfortably for years, but they are faced with a threat nobody could have predicted: a colony of thousands of bloodthirsty vampire bats finds a way into the shelter and launches a series of vicious attacks where they claim the humans one by one.
- DirectorJulia DucournauStarsGarance MarillierElla RumpfRabah Nait OufellaA young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.
- DirectorMcGStarsJudah LewisSamara WeavingRobbie AmellWhen Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot baby sitter belongs to a satanic cult that will stop at nothing to keep him quiet.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsMatt DillonBruno GanzUma ThurmanIn five episodes, failed architect and vicious sociopath Jack recounts his elaborately orchestrated murders -- each, as he views them, a towering work of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest.
- DirectorPatrick BriceStarsKaran SoniMark DuplassDesiree AkhavanA video artist looking for work drives to a remote house in the forest to meet a man claiming to be a serial killer. But after agreeing to spend the day with him, she soon realizes that she made a deadly mistake.
- DirectorAdam RobitelStarsJill LarsonAnne RamsayMichelle AngAn elderly woman battling Alzheimer's disease agrees to let a film crew document her condition, but what they discover is something far more sinister going on.
- DirectorAna Lily AmirpourStarsSheila VandArash MarandiMarshall ManeshIn the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
- DirectorColin MinihanStuart OrtizThe Vicious BrothersStarsBenjamin WilkinsonSean RogersonAshleigh GryzkoFor their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that's supposedly haunted - and it might prove to be all too true.
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsDaniel RadcliffeJanet McTeerCiarán HindsA young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.
- DirectorSean ByrneStarsXavier SamuelRobin McLeavyJohn BrumptonWhen Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsChris MessinaCaroline DhavernasBokeem WoodbineA group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsJonathan D. MellorManuela VelascoÓscar ZafraIn order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoKim Ok-binChoi Hee-jinThrough a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
- DirectorMaurice DevereauxStarsIlona ElkinNicolas WrightNeil NapierKaren boards a late-night train and fights with several other passengers to survive a murderous night after becoming trapped in a tunnel.
- DirectorEduardo SánchezStarsAdam KaufmanCatherine ManganBrad William HenkeFifteen years ago, a group of men's lives were forever changed by a strange occurrence. Now, the same group of men will spend a night together ... in terror.
- DirectorJulian RichardsStarsKevin HowarthMark StevensonAntonia BeamishA serial killer uses a horror video rental to lure his next victim. What begins as a teen slasher transforms into a disturbing journey through the mind of Max Parry, a mild mannered wedding photographer with a taste for human flesh.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsNanako MatsushimaMiki NakataniYûko TakeuchiA reporter and her ex-husband investigate a cursed video tape that is rumored to kill the viewer seven days after watching it.
- DirectorJeff BurrStarsElizabeth BarondesJohn MeseStephen RootA group of drunk teenagers accidently set free the spirit of a warlock, which possesses a scarecrow. The scarecrow goes on a bloody rampage killing the descendents of the men who had killed the warlock a century before. A newcomer and the daughter of the mayor try to stop it before it is too late and the warlock can reincarnate...
- DirectorLarry FessendenStarsLarry FessendenMeredith SnaiderAaron BeallSet in a gritty, real life New York City, alcoholic Sam meets up with a modern day succubus who marks him and controls his will. As his world unravels he slowly figures out what is happening and has to figure out what to do.
- DirectorMichael AlmereydaStarsElina LöwensohnPeter FondaNic RatnerThis ultra-hip, post-modern vampire tale is set in contemporary New York City. Members of a dysfunctional family of vampires are trying to come to terms with each other, in the wake of their father's death. Meanwhile, they are being hunted by Dr. Van Helsing and his hapless nephew. As in all good vampire movies, forces of love are pitted against forces of destruction.
- DirectorChris WalasStarsBill PaxtonMichael IronsideMarshall BellA business man buys a house, but he has a hard time trying to get rid of its previous tenant, a dirty bum.
- DirectorTed NicolaouStarsAngus ScrimmAnders HoveIrina MovilaThree students get caught in the struggle between a good vampire and his evil brother in the Transylvanian mountains.
- DirectorPhilip RidleyStarsViggo MortensenLindsay DuncanJeremy CooperIn the 1950s, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.
- DirectorCarl SchenkelStarsTim MathesonPamela Sue MartinBarbara BillingsleyA young newlywed couple move into a remote seacoast village only to find a secret coven of witches who want them to join all the fun, or face the consequences.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.