7 Most Terrifying Horror Films Of All Time

Us horror goons are a sick group of people.  We watch films that most of society disregards because they contain scenes of rampant sex and violence that we find entertaining.  Movies that leave the masses scared to death on Halloween are our Tuesday night time-wasters.

We like to think we’ve seen it all when it comes to the scares, but every once in a while, a movie comes along that is different than the rest.  It makes even the biggest horror fans uncomfortable, or dare I say… scared.  It reminds us of our youth when we were way too young to be watching horror movies, sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to watch re-runs of Tales from the Crypt on late night HBO.  So after some deep thought, I thought I would present to you a list of 7 Truly Terrifying Horror films that will make even the most seasoned horror veteran jump three feet out of their seat.

Oh yeah, there are SPOILERS ahead, so due a quick glace to make sure you’ve seen them all.  If you haven’t, then shame on you.

7. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Dir: Scott Derrickson – 2005) Why it’s scary:  Exorcisms are always a tricky thing to pull off in films because often they come off as laughably terrible acting.  However in this surprisingly good horror film from 2005, a young college student becomes possessed by an evil spirit and inexplicably dies during the attempted exorcism.   We bounce back between those events and the court proceedings of the priest who performed the exorcism that lead to Emily Rose’s death.  What I found so effective was the way that the “Law and Order” feel of the court scenes worked magnificently to ground the movie in reality.  It also made us question if the girl was possessed at all.

Scariest Scene: When Emily Rose (played by a pre-Dexter Jennifer Carpenter) has a “presence” push down on her while she is lying in her bed.  Something about the way she crumbled onto the floor just got to me.

6. [Rec] (Dir: Jaume Balaguer and Paco Plaza – 2007) Why it’s scary:  The look and style of the film helped added to the realism obviously, let’s just get that ten pound gorilla out of the room.  For those of you that feel the gimmick is overused, you can’t overlook the absolute dread of the situation combined with one of the tensest atmospheres I have ever seen.  Everyone in the apartment is confused and scared out of their mind doing whatever they possibly can to try and hold themselves together but in the end, their inability to distinguish an epidemic from a minor inconvience becomes their downfall.

Scariest Scene:  I know it’s a cheap scare tactic that has been used in a billion films before, but when that body hits the lobby, I had to change my shorts.

5. The Exorcist (Dir: William Blatty – 1973) Why it’s scary:  Considering it was release 36 years ago and it still terrifies people definitely tells me that this movie is not to be taken lightly.  Something about the idea of a young and innocent girl being possessed by pure evil to the point where she jams a crucifix up her…  well you get the point.  It’s still shocking, and Regan’s voice is still creepy to this day.

Scariest Scene:  That little diddy I casually mentioned just now will do, or when she rises the bed four feet off of the ground, or when Regan walks down the stairs in a reverse crab walk… you know what the whole god damn movie is scary.

4. Session 9 (Dir: Brad Anderson – 2001) Why it’s scary:  Atmosphere.  Atmosphere.  Atmosphere.  A giant and abandoned mental hospital (in real life AND the movie) serves as the basis for an asbestos cleaning crew to take care of a difficult removal job in a very limited time frame.  However, the cleaning crew starts to hear and see things.  They become enamored with the building to the point of obsession with each member showing their psychosis differently.  You never know if what you are seeing can be trusted and it will keep you on your toes until the end.

Scariest Scene:  Any scene involving one of the tape playbacks.  Something about the voice changing and the crackle of the old technology give me goose bumps

3. Candyman (Dir: Bernard Rose – 1992) Why it’s scary:  There are not many things more terrifying than the booming voice of Tony Todd as the physical manifestation of the wrongs committed against others in the history of America.  Combine that with the old game “Bloody Mary” and you have one of the smartest and scariest films to come out about the effects of urbanization, out casting members of society, and greed that has ever been released.

Scariest Scene:  When Helen Lyle goes from an almost possessed dream sequence to waking covered in blood at a strange apartment in the projects having no idea how she got there (the blood belonged to a disemboweled dog and a baby).  The scene comes out of nowhere which makes it even more jarring and disorienting.

2. Poltergeist (Dir: Tobe Hooper – 1982) Why it’s scary:  For me, ghost movies are always scary.  I know that a hockey mask wearing psycho isn’t standing n the bushes.  I know that the world isn’t going to be overrun with zombies (probably, I have a plan just in case though) but I do not know for a fact that ghosts do not exist.  Knowing that at any moment when my back is turned that all the chairs in the dining room may impossibly stack them in the blink of an eye still scares me to this day.

Scariest Scene:  The scene that will forever be ingrained in my head is at the very end of the film when Craig T. Nelson confronts his boss on his lawn saying the lines: “You son of a bitch. You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn’t you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved the head stones. You only moved the head stones! WHY!? WHY!?”.  In the shot, we only see a close-up of the boss’s eyes in a paralyzed state of shock and fear.  Absolutely.  Brilliant.

1.      Paranormal Activity (Dir: Oren Peli – 2007) Why it’s scary:  Gutsy as the #1 pick?  You better believe it.  The reason that this takes precedence is not just because it’s fresh in my mind, but because it scared the living crap out of me.  I have seen literally thousands of horror films for over a decade and nothing terrified me more than this movie.  I think it came from the fact that everyone in the world knows someone who heard from someone that they have seen some kind of unexplained ghost related activity.  To see it actually unfold in an unconventional way made it easy to put myself in the movie.  I’m not kidding one bit when I say that this is the most terrifying movie I have ever seen, and maybe will ever see.

Scariest Scene:  I have never been so freaked out before in a theater when the footprints (in powder) walked into the bed room.

Now remember horror and fears are both two extremely personal feelings.  Someone else may look at this list and say that everyone of these movies were lame and not frightening at all and that’s perfectly fine.  In fact, it would be nice if instead of telling me how terrible my picks are and how much of a wuss I am, why don’t we all share what terrifies us?  There can’t be anything emotionally scarring about that?  Right?