The most popular horror films can be analyzed by box office numbers or critics’ lists. The top ten highest-grossing horror films include Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Sixth Sense. Some classics, like Alien and The Shining, are also popular. Newer films like The Ring and Scream are considered scary, while The Silence of the Lambs won Oscars. Choosing the best horror film is subjective, but the genre knows how to scare us.
There are several ways to analyze the most famous horror films ever made. You can look solely at the numbers and examine the top-grossing horror films, or you can look at the list made by critics to determine some of the scariest and most resonant films in the horror genre. Some popular horror films didn’t perform well at the box office, but have since become established classics. Others were made so long ago that the box office figures are comparable to current box office returns and DVD sales.
From a purely economic point of view, the most popular horror films that have made the most money include this top ten list:
1. Jaws
2. The exorcist
3. The sixth sense
4. The Return of the Mummy
5. Jaws 2
6. The Amityville Horror
7. Alien
8. The mummy
9. What’s underneath
10. The omen
Clearly some of these horror films weren’t going to make anyone’s most popular list, especially the 2000 film What Lies Beneath. It had higher box office returns due to the popularity of its stars, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, than due to a truly terrifying storyline. You’ll only find a few of these movies on the most popular or scariest lists compiled by amateur and professional critics.
Making a definitive list of the most popular horror movies ever made would be impossible, as opinion is subjective. However, you will find that most people will include Alien, The Exorcist and Jaws as favorites. Some also include The Amityville Horror but many critics panned the film. Other classic popular horror movies to look out for are The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining, and Psycho. Some critics go back to the good old monster movies like Nosferatu and early versions of The Thing and The Haunting of Hill House.
Some of the popular new horror films that critics might include were made in the 1990s or 2000s. Certainly The Sixth Sense has had a significant impact, as has The Ring, which many consider one of the scariest horror films. Scream, Wes Craven’s meta-horror film and homage to the classic slasher genre is considered by many to be at least in the top 20. Gorer’s pictures, horror films that some believe are gratuitously gory, such as 28 Days Later and The Saw franchise , are so violent that they might even earn a strong R or NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Some popular horror films are considered excellent films in every respect and are respected by critics and award-giving organizations. The Silence of the Lambs, for example, won Oscars for both Jody Foster and Anthony Hopkins and won Best Picture. Previously, some thriller films received nominations, including Rebecca, Suspicion, Gaslight and Spellbound. Before The Silence of the Lambs, the only true horror film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture was The Exorcist. After The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense was the only other horror film nominated for Best Picture so far.
In all, there are so many choices as to the ‘best’ in this genre, you’ll have a hard time choosing. To quote Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist, the genre “knows what scares you.” Pick your scariest favourites, dim the lights and get ready for a couple of hours of spooky fun.
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