Really Scary Horror Films From The Last 40 Years
I've seen a LOT of horror films so I think it takes a lot to scare me silly. These are my picks for some of the scariest films I've seen in the last 40 years. These are in no particular order.
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- DirectorAlexandre BustilloJulien MauryStarsAlysson ParadisJean-Baptiste TabourinClaude LuléFour months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
- 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?
- DirectorLars JacobsonAmardeep KalekaStarsColleen PorchAiden KershRidge CanipeOn a secluded family farm, a mother suffers a psychotic break due to postpartum depression, forcing the eldest son to protect his siblings from the mother they have always known and loved.One of the few films I've ever seen I will not watch again for any reason.
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsNaomi WattsMartin HendersonBrian CoxA journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsSandra PeabodyLucy GranthamDavid HessTwo teenage girls heading to a rock concert for one's birthday try to score marijuana in the city, where they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsAnthony FranciosaGiuliano GemmaJohn SaxonAn American novelist visiting Rome to promote his latest book is stalked and harassed by an obsessed fan who is committing a string of murders that appear to be tributes to his work.
- StarsDavid SoulJames MasonLance KerwinA novelist and a young horror fan attempt to save a small New England town which has been invaded by vampires.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsVirginia MadsenXander BerkeleyTony ToddThe Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
- DirectorDavid MoreauXavier PaludStarsOlivia BonamyMichaël CohenAdriana MoccaLucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsGeorge C. ScottEd FlandersBrad DourifA police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsLaurence FishburneSam NeillKathleen QuinlanA rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.This one was a complete surprise for me because I'm not a fan of sci-fi at all. It was basically a horror film on a space ship.
- 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.
- DirectorAlexandre AjaStarsCécile de FranceMaïwennPhilippe NahonBest friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
- DirectorEdward AndersonStarsTony CurranPeyton ListCameron GoodmanA late night airport shuttle ride home descends into darkness.Stayed on my mind for days after viewing. The film is not too far from reality.
- DirectorPen DenshamStarsJoanna PaculaMeredith SalengerMimi KuzykAfter the death of her mother, a teenage girl is faced with bizarre supernatural occurrences when her mother's estranged sister arrives and begins to infiltrate her and her father's lives.Scary film I saw in my teens.
- DirectorMichael DuganStarsMarjoe GortnerBobbie BreseeNorman BurtonA 10 year-old girl, mourning the death of her mother, becomes possessed by a demon who has been preying on her female ancestors for centuries. Years later, the demon starts to take over, both mentally and physically.
- DirectorXavier GensStarsKarina TestaAurélien WiikPatrick LigardesA gang of young thieves flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an Inn run by neo-Nazis.Yeah I know, this one is on everyone's list LOL
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsSusanne LotharUlrich MüheArno FrischTwo violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsCharles BronsonLisa EilbacherAndrew StevensAn LAPD detective and his rookie partner are on the trail of a psychopathic young man who is murdering young women.Not really a horror flick but scary nonetheless.
- DirectorJaume Collet-SerraStarsVera FarmigaPeter SarsgaardIsabelle FuhrmanA husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.
- DirectorLewis TeagueStarsDee WallaceDaniel Hugh KellyDanny PintauroCujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.Great film adaptation
- StarsRichard ThomasTim ReidAnnette O'TooleIn 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.
- DirectorDavid SchmoellerStarsKlaus KinskiTalia BalsamBarbara WhinneryA man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices.Klaus Kinski OWNS
- DirectorBreck EisnerStarsRadha MitchellTimothy OlyphantDanielle PanabakerAfter a strange and insecure plane crash, an unusual toxic virus enters a quaint farming town. A young couple are quarantined, but they fight for survival along with help from a couple of people.Remake done right.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLane CarrollWill MacMillanHarold Wayne JonesThe military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.Still love the original
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsOliver ReedSamantha EggarArt HindleA man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
- 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.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsAnthony HopkinsAnn-MargretBurgess MeredithA ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.A young Anthony Hopkins
- DirectorMark RomanekStarsRobin WilliamsConnie NielsenMichael VartanA mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.Another one that's not really horror but really scary nonetheless.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCristina RainesAva GardnerChris SarandonA young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
- DirectorBryan BertinoStarsScott SpeedmanLiv TylerGemma WardA young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.
- 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.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDee WallacePatrick MacneeDennis DuganAfter a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
- DirectorFritz KierschStarsPeter HortonLinda HamiltonR.G. ArmstrongA young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsTony Lo BiancoDeborah RaffinSandy DennisA New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to."
- DirectorRobert HiltzikStarsFelissa RoseJonathan TierstenKaren FieldsBunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.