Horror movies have been scaring audiences for a very long time and while some of them have been terribly made and looked cheap, a lot of them have had great success and kept viewers on the edge of their seats. Although, some of the best horror movies turned into franchises and even crossed over into each other universes, which sometimes watered down the success of the original film.
While some horror sequels have actually been better than their predecessor, it's usually the first film in a franchise that stands out to most moviegoers. However, it's kind of cool to think about certain horror movie franchises because a lot of the universe-building and crossovers they produced helped inspire a new generation of movie franchises, including the MCU and the DCEU. Yet, the horror movies that influenced the genre and had the most success were usually the originals.
10 Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho Is An Unforgettable Masterpiece That Inspired Many Directors
There's not a movie that has influenced the horror genre as much as the 1960 masterpiece Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho is a movie teachers show in film class because of its editing and musical score, as well as its amazing storytelling and acting performances. Norman Bates is an all-time classic horror movie villain and excellently portrayed by Anthony Perkins, who would go on to star and even direct sequels to Psycho. Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, checks into the Bates Motel and meets the owner, Norman Bates, who invites her to have dinner with him, then he goes back up to his house and argues with his "mother."
Later, Crane is showering in her room when a shadowy figure shows up and starts stabbing her in the shower in one of the most famous movie scenes of all time. While it seems Norman's sick "mother" is the murderer, it's later revealed Norman was dressed up as his mom and even had conversations with himself. The film is an all-time classic and was financially and critically successful.
9 The Exorcist Is A Deeply Disturbing Classic That Will Always Be Unsettling
Thirteen years after Psycho lit the horror movie genre on fire, William Friedkin directed The Exorcist and added more fuel to the fire. The Exorcist tells the story of a young woman that gets possessed and an exorcism has to be performed by two priests at the behest of her mother, played by the great Ellen Burstyn. Although it initially received mixed reviews, the movie would go on to have major success and became the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Up until It came out in 2017, The Exorcist was the highest-grossing R-rated horror film ever made and served as a major influence within pop culture. In addition to its huge success, The Exorcist was so intense that it also caused several viewers to suffer from vomiting, fainting, heart attacks, and even miscarriages. Regardless of the negative feelings, it's perceived to have caused, the movie remains a classic and is considered one of the best movies ever made.
8 Stephen King's Adaption By Stanley Kubrick Makes The Shining One Of The Best Films Ever
Seven years after The Exorcist frightened viewers enough to never eat pea soup again, Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining, a definitive horror movie based on the novel originally written by Stephen King. Jack Nicholson starred as Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer who moves his wife and son up to an isolated hotel for the winter. However, the hotel they stay at seems to be cursed by an evil presence, and Jack, suffering from writer's block, starts hearing voices and slowly begins losing his mind.
Jack's son Danny is gifted with "the shining" and is able to see all the evil and horror the Overlook Hotel provides. Jack begins to really lose it and starts trying to kill his wife and son, which leads to them constantly running and hiding from Jack. The Shining originally received mixed reviews but over time has become a fan favorite and another staple in horror movie history that has influenced other films and pop culture.
7 Steven Speilberg Jaws Still Keeps People Out Of The Ocean To This Very Day
5 years prior to Jack Nicholson's frightening performance in The Shining, another horror movie arrived in theaters and was also based on a best-selling book. Jaws was Steven Spielberg's first large-scale movie and he absolutely knocked it out of the park, absolutely terrifying the viewers to never swim in the ocean again. Some critics consider Jaws more of a thriller or action movie, but horror movies scare the viewer and the original Jaws is terrifying.
The ominous and dark theme by John Williams is iconic and helped add to the scares of the shark itself. Spielberg's decision to not show the shark for most of the movie was genius and opened up the viewer's frightening imaginations. It won several awards for editing and music, and also became the highest-grossing movie ever for two years. In addition to winning awards and making money, Jaws is considered a national treasure and was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the US National Film Registry.
6 The Silence Of The Lambs Was So Frighteningly Good It Won 5 Oscars, Including Best Picture
Definitely, The Silence of the Lambs is the greatest award-winning horror movie of all time, taking home 5 huge Oscar awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, plus Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Actress for Jodie Foster. Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee that is hunting a serial killer, and Hopkins plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a genius psychiatrist who is also a cannibal killer. Jonathan Demme was the amazing director of the movie, which grossed over $272 million and had a budget of barely $19 million.
The Silence of the Lambs is considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the best movies ever made and it spawned three sequels, including 2001s Hannibal and 2002s Red Dragon. Despite it being a gruesome horror movie, it created an intelligent killer that did more than just stab people and walk slowly in the dark. Over the years Hannibal Lecter has even been called an anti-hero, although, the eating of other people probably doesn't help his case.
5 Wes Craven's Scream Reinvigorated The Horror Genre In The 1990s
Wes Craven was not a stranger to the horror genre, he directed A Nightmare On Elm Street and introduced the world to the sadistic Freddy Krueger. Prior to Nightmare, Craven directed mediocre horror movies such as The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House On The Left, showing he knew a thing or two about scaring people. In 1996 he re-lit the fuse of horror when he directed Scream, a creative movie focused on a killer who calls his victims before he murders them.
Scream is the ultimate 1990s horror movie, mixing humor and slashing to perfection, and featuring unique thrills and awe-inspiring action. The cast was young and perfectly suited for their roles, as was directed by the legendary Wes Craven. Craven's vision was unique because the characters referenced a lot of other horror classics and usually committed the same mistakes movie victims from previous films made, although, they knew better.
4 Brutal Violence & A Twisted Story Makes Saw One Of The Most Unique Horror Movies Ever Released
There was some mild success in the horror genre in the late 90s/early 2000s, thanks to the Scream franchise, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the found-footage film, The Blair Witch Project. However, while there were some other minor successes, it wasn't until 2004 when James Wan directed the violent thriller Saw that horror movies were reborn. Saw changed the landscape of horror movies, mixing violent torture with major storytelling twists and action galore.
The story begins with two men who are trapped in an abandoned warehouse bathroom and have no idea how they got there. Wan used flashbacks to tell the men's background stories and also followed some police officers who were dealing with the Jigsaw killer, a murderer who never actually kills his victims but makes them suffer if they don't play his game. The movie was a huge hit, making loads of money off of a small budget, and was well-received by critics and fans alike.
3 Alien Brought The Scares To Space & Has The Perfect Combination Of Sci-Fi & Horror
In 1979 the Sci-Fi genre was on fire thanks to the success of the iconic space opera, Star Wars. Unfortunately, horror movies were hit or miss until, thankfully, Ridley Scott came up with the idea of terrifying people in space. Alien tells the story of the futuristic ship, Nostromo, that lands on a foreign planet and the small crew encounter some strange occurrences, including oozing eggs filled with terrifying little creatures.
In one of the most iconic horror movie scenes, John Hurt's Kane wakes up from a coma caused by a small creature that attached itself to his face but seemed to fall off and die. However, while eating with the crew, Kane starts violently coughing and blood starts splattering out of his shirt, where a small terrifying alien creature pops out and kills Kane. The alien escapes and starts growing quickly, which leads to the creature murdering the crew one by one. It's a frightening film and is considered one of the best Sci-Fi Horror movies ever to be made, even ranking 33rd in Empire's greatest films of all time.
2 1978s Halloween By John Carpenter Inspired A Generation Of Slasher Films
The year before Alien terrified audiences about space, young director John Carpenter released a creepy teen slasher called Halloween. Originally titled "The Babysitter Murders", Halloween tells the story of a mentally unstable boy who kills his own sister and returns to his hometown 15 years later, wreaking havoc after escaping the mental institution. While babysitting some youngsters on Halloween, high school student Laurie Strode is stalked and attacked by the unstable Michael Myers.
While Myers is being pursued by the authorities and his doctor, Sam Loomis, he begins killing people throughout his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Halloween has gone to spawn several sequels and has influenced the genre as a whole, especially slasher films such as Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street. It also made nearly $70 million and had a budget of $300,000, becoming one of the most profitable indie films ever released.
1 The Conjuring Is Based On Real Life Horrors Which Makes It Even Creepier To Watch
Based on true events, The Conjuring tells the story of the Perron family who move into an old farmhouse in Rhode Island and begin to experience paranormal activities. Things quickly begin to spin out of control when their dog dies and the family starts hearing strange noises, as well as one of the daughters who sleepwalks into her closet every night. Feeling like it's getting out of hand, the Perron family contacts well-known paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Ed and Lorraine's stories inspired The Amityville Horror, another classic horror story that became a successful book and film franchise. Receiving mostly positive reviews, The Conjuring is filled with talented performances, strong directing by James Wan, a spooky location, and a hauntingly evil musical score. It grossed $319 million on a $20 million budget and has spawned two follow-up movies, The Conjuring 2 and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.