Every year marks the release of hundreds of new movies and the cinematic experience remains one of the most thrilling forms of entertainment that exists. Each genre is able to connect with audiences in a different way, but horror films always seem to provoke more extreme reactions due to their inherently frightening nature.

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There are some absolutely terrifying horror movies that feature images that will forever stick in the audience’s minds. However, a horror movie doesn’t always need to be nightmare fuel in order to be effective and there are some standout entries in the genre that should be more accessible for those that get easily frightened.

10 Friday The 13th’s Reputation Is Stronger Than Its Scares

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The Friday the 13th slasher series will forever remain a touchstone of the horror genre and the franchise’s machete-wielding Jason Voorhees is one of cinema’s most famous figures. The Friday the 13th movies feature dozens of bloody and creative executions, but the series begins in a considerably tame place. The first is arguably not frightening, yet is still an effective framework for a horror movie. The original Friday the 13th has even less bite than its successors because it doesn’t yet establish Jason or his trademark hockey mask, which leaves it with less haunting imagery to lean on.

9 Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Improves Upon The Formula, But Is Less Frightening

Freddy Krueger pulls victim's head into TV in Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Much like Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street horror franchise is an equally iconic titan of horror. The Nightmare on Elm Street movies contain highly inventive and exaggerated setpieces due to Freddy’s supernatural nature. Curiously, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street does present a very frightening Freddy who doesn’t get consumed by pun-filled one-liners. Freddy becomes more of a caricature with each passing movie, but the third film in the series, Dream Warriors, is especially satisfying from a storytelling standpoint – although isn’t exactly scary.

8 I Know What You Did Last Summer Is A Creepy Concept That Loses Its Bite

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The late 1990s were inundated with a wealth of self-aware and quippy horror films in an attempt to ride on the success of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s genre-breaking Scream. Scream actually creates some tense sequences and its brutal nature combined with the killer’s mask is in fact frightening.

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I Know What You Did Last Summer, also scripted by Kevin Williamson, is more about an engaging premise than anything else. It’s exciting to watch these characters attempt to survive the murderous retribution that comes upon them, but the actual deaths fall short.

7 Get Out Is A Deep, Provoking Horror Film That’s More Thoughtful Than Scary

Get Out won best adapted screenplay

Jordan Peele is quickly making a name for himself as one of the most exciting voices in horror. Get Out is often the most praised of Peele’s pictures and it even made waves at the Academy Awards, which isn’t always easy for the horror genre. Get Out effectively establishes Peele’s voice as a filmmaker who explores horror with prescient social commentary behind it. Get Out works as well as it does because it sadly comes from a real place. Get Out is a horror movie that has engaging visuals and will make the audience think, but it’s not scary on a visceral level.

6 Cabin In The Woods’ Deconstruction Of The Horror Genre Overwhelms Its Scares

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The horror genre has such well-established rules that easily lend themselves to meta and self-aware storytelling. Cabin in the Woods is a sublime genre deconstruction that’s as brilliant as it is fun. There’s no denying that Cabin in the Woods is a horror movie due to its staggering body count and its endless monsters. However, the movie is often engaging in too wild of a satire to actually be scary. Cabin in the Woods is pure joy for any horror fan, but the big obstacles that fill the movie come across like punchlines a lot of the time.

5 Trick 'R Treat Crafts A Creepy Tale That’s Suitable For All Ages

Sam from trick r treat sitting on pumpkins

Horror can come out of anywhere, but there are so many movies that specifically use the spooky holiday of Halloween as the context for a frightening story. Trick 'r Treat is an exceptional horror film that often goes overlooked. The film features some particularly effective and original monster designs and practical effects, not to mention a unique approach to the anthology genre.

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Trick r' Treat's Sam has become the movie's de facto mascot, but he exemplifies that movie's creepy tone, yet one that's not too aggressive and reasonably friendly for children.

4 Happy Death Day Wants The Audience To Laugh More Than Scream

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It’s quite fascinating to see that stories that involve time loops, like Groundhog Day, have become strangely popular and there have been multiple movies that combine the sci-fi concept with contrasting genres, like comedy, or in the case of Happy Death Day, horror. Both Happy Death Day and its sequel create genuinely engaging mysteries around the central time loop device that forces Tree to continually experience her death. The movie embraces its absurdity and isn’t afraid to play its traumatic events for laughs. Happy Death Day has some brutal executions, but the movie’s other tones end up softening their edges.

3 Final Destination 3 Embraces The Random Nature Of The Universe

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The Final Destination series is far better than it has any right to be. There’s such an effective setup and execution for these morbid horror movies that turn death and happenstance into a slasher killer. The Final Destination movies thrive upon messing with the audience’s expectations over how these characters will finally meet their end, but these ridiculous coincidences that thin the herd are seldom actually frightening. Often the opening murderous premonition can be frightening, especially in Final Destination 2. Final Destination 3 is arguably the best entry in the series, but it’s still not an aggressive scare.

2 The Craft Tells A Powerful Parable That’s Light On True Terrors

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The Craft is an integral horror landmark of the ‘90s and its evergreen reputation led to it receiving a recent legacy sequel that doubled as a reboot. The Craft turns a female-focused story about embracing witchcraft and dark forces into a moving coming of age story. The Craft elegantly creates genuine rifts between this group of friends as this newfound power corrupts and affects them all in different ways. The movie has a strong message and is anchored by fantastic performances. The Craft’s teen witches are deadly, but they aren’t scary.

1 Signs Coasts On Tension And The Unknown

Horror alien in Signs

M. Night Shyamalan’s career has had its highs and lows, but the filmmaker is still responsible for some of the biggest cinematic moments of the past few decades. Shyamalan’s movies often get reduced to the effectiveness of their twists even though there can be real substance behind him. Signs is still early in Shyamalan’s career and his approach on aliens, destiny, and a more intimate family drama are very effective. There’s one solid jump scare in the film, when the alien is first seen, but beyond that Signs is not explicitly frightening and is more of a contemplative picture.

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