Top Ten Scariest Movies Of All Time – Jim’s Picks

There are so many movies that have worked there way into my psyche and causing everything from cheap thrills to nightmares.  I must preface my list with the fact that I am not a huge fan of slasher films. I really do not like a lot of horror films tending to prefer films that are in line with thrillers and make you think.

10.  Unbreakable

This is not your typical fright fest and does not have many scary moments in it until the end of the movie.  I think the part where Bruce Willis’ character stands in the station and touches people as they pass by getting glimpses into their lives is pretty frickin eerie!  The part where he follows that evil psycho home is so super cool and then the final unveiling of the evil villain at the end is just earth shattering to me.  This is M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie to date.

9. The Thing

One of John Carpenter’s best scariest films aside from Halloween.  It is supercool with Kurt Russell in it.  I love the fact that it pits everyone against one another and you have no idea who is bad or who is good.

8. The Hitcher

Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell are great in this movie.  This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat as the tension continues to mount during the film.  I hated the remake of this film.

7. The Omen

Watching this movie as a child scared the crap out of me.   Seeing bits and pieces again as an adult has still kept it in my list of scary movies.  There is just something intense about that servant lady jumping off the room at Damien’s birthday party that gets me every time.

6.  High Tension

The storyline is so unique I am not going to begin to attempt to describe it to you.  Lets just say there is one major twist at the end that don’t see coming.  This movie is not only one of the scariest films I have seen but truly gruesome. This French film is not for the faint of heart!

5.  Halloween

John Carpenter has a way with music.  I have noticed the music from The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13 and this are all extremely eerie.  In fact, come to think of it all of his films he does some music for that is heavy in synthesizer and also heavy on eeriness!  Michael Meyers is a truly great villain/killer and the original film never ceases to scare me.

4.  A Nightmare on Elm Street

Wes Craven is a master of horror films and he proves that with A Nightmare on Elmstreet.  He brought one of the scariest characters in Freddy to the big screen terrorizing our dreams both on and off screen.  Unlike many, I am actually excited to see the new film come to life on the big screen.  The main reason is that there seems to be a bit more back story played out on screen about how Freddy came to be.

3. Rosemary’s Baby

This movie is one of the scariest films I have ever seen and that it truly deserves a place in the top five.  I considered putting it at number one but felt it was fine where it currently resides.  Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes are great in this Roman Polanski classic.  The neighbors Minnie and Roman are super duper scary for being old.  This is one movie you have to see if you have not.

2. Dawn of the Dead (1974)

I loved this film when I first saw it on DVD.  It is truly one of the scariest, eeriest films I have seen.  I even love the 2004 remake.  Both films do a great job of showing a world where hope is nearly gone and survival is of the utmost importance.  I guess if I had to try to survive anywhere, a mall would be better than nothing!

1. 28 Days Later

The camera movements and the grittiness of this film is what makes it for me.  The music is also great and the characters are wonderful.  I love Danny Boyle as a director and hope to see more films in this series.  I Boyle comes back to direct.