American Horror Films, a list by Adam McGready

8.5

/777532/

82

/14258/

84

/10710/

4.3

/1246057/

97

/118/

95

/10325/

97

/18/

4.0

age 14+

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

88

8.5

/1050883/

83

/33745/

81

/15889/

4.2

/1656240/

93

/207/

94

/22400/

89

/34/

4.0

age 15+

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

88

8.0

/255158/

78

/6231/

78

/4233/

4.2

/522119/

97

/88/

87

/4057/

96

/16/

4.0

age 16+

A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.

87

8.6

/1695090/

85

/35873/

83

/17440/

4.3

/2662249/

95

/157/

95

/29659/

86

/20/

3.5

age 17+

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

86

8.1

/727521/

78

/18212/

77

/11239/

3.9

/1545574/

97

/169/

91

/36180/

87

/21/

4.0

age 12+

When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the beast before it strikes again.

85

7.7

/335395/

75

/11170/

75

/6016/

3.8

/1022456/

97

/92/

89

/15062/

91

/21/

4.0

age 16+

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

85

8.4

/832656/

82

/24827/

80

/10519/

4.1

/835346/

94

/143/

94

/22899/

84

/23/

3.5

age 15+

Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.

85

7.8

/58168/

74

/1385/

75

/1070/

4.0

/122293/

98

/57/

87

/1148/

95

/16/

4.0

age 9+

Dr. Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive after being attacked by an angry mob. The now-chastened scientist attempts to escape his past, but a former mentor forces him to assist with the creation of a new creature.

85

7.9

/95170/

74

/1813/

76

/1569/

3.8

/107709/

97

/116/

86

/3073/

92

/14/

4.0

age 10+

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.

85

8.5

/5488/

80

/402/

78

/168/

3.9

/10182/

100

/9/

94

/196/

For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films.

84

7.6

/9079/

74

/242/

73

/217/

3.9

/17935/

100

/24/

87

/175/

4.0

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.

84

8.0

/66868/

79

/1690/

79

/1121/

4.2

/116337/

91

/53/

91

/1789/

75

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.

84

8.4

/1208964/

81

/29593/

82

/18472/

4.2

/2841750/

84

/111/

93

/28528/

68

/26/

4.0

age 15+

Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.

83

7.8

/149426/

75

/4043/

76

/2638/

3.9

/305402/

95

/82/

87

/6466/

89

/17/

3.5

age 17+

A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.

83

8.1

/492988/

78

/13030/

77

/8407/

4.0

/928214/

78

/178/

87

/18747/

83

/23/

4.0

age 16+

When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

82

IMDb 17

7.5

/227869/

76

/5436/

76

/2593/

3.9

/1857701/

85

/365/

94

/622/

78

/58/

4.0

age 16+

Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

82

7.8

/135474/

75

/3501/

75

/2230/

4.0

/181591/

92

/61/

90

/8033/

71

/14/

4.0

age 16+

During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

82

7.7

/86877/

74

/2244/

75

/1737/

3.8

/167958/

94

/94/

87

/1589/

91

/15/

age 10+

Henry Frankenstein pieces together body parts in the hope of bringing a human-like creature to life. The mad scientist’s dreams are shattered by his monstrous creation awakening with rage to a world that hates and fears him.

82

7.8

/798471/

78

/48266/

76

/18424/

4.1

/3944850/

98

/403/

86

/6257/

85

/48/

3.0

age 15+

Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

82

7.7

/35701/

74

/889/

74

/641/

4.1

/63362/

95

/57/

86

/615/

88

/17/

A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

82

7.7

/36130/

76

/673/

73

/572/

3.9

/39559/

96

/28/

91

/1247/

81

/9/

3.5

After a flight back home, Sam Hendrix returns with a doll he innocently acquired along the way. As it turns out, the doll is actually stuffed with heroin, and a group of criminals led by the ruthless Roat has followed Hendrix back to his place to retrieve it. When Hendrix leaves for business, the crooks make their move -- and find his blind wife, Susy, alone in the apartment. Soon, a life-threatening game begins between Susy and the thugs.

82

7.7

/59055/

74

/1615/

74

/1153/

3.8

/76088/

97

/58/

85

/957/

92

/16/

age 11+

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

81

7.8

/54216/

75

/1370/

78

/1267/

3.9

/102258/

95

/59/

88

/1748/

80

/16/

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

81

7.6

/43594/

73

/1206/

75

/915/

3.9

/93550/

95

/58/

85

/649/

87

/15/

age 11+

After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.

81

7.6

/217990/

75

/5696/

75

/4344/

3.7

/391027/

95

/73/

83

/6881/

90

/16/

age 13+

Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.

81

7.3

/114742/

72

/3691/

70

/1905/

3.8

/103271/

92

/167/

81

/2286/

85

/34/

4.0

age 14+

Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

81

8.0

/879514/

77

/22140/

76

/15236/

4.2

/2746046/

85

/320/

84

/19890/

79

/42/

3.5

age 17+

A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".

80

IMDb 11

7.5

/349631/

76

/16187/

74

/3192/

4.1

/3126357/

97

/425/

96

/9466/

84

/55/

2.5

age 16+

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

80

7.5

/21978/

71

/479/

71

/385/

3.7

/35582/

90

/49/

84

/804/

4.0

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

80

7.3

/445392/

73

/20562/

73

/8288/

3.9

/2417192/

90

/386/

72

/4647/

87

/49/

4.0

age 17+

Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.

80

7.5

/648478/

76

/34267/

73

/14984/

3.6

/1820301/

96

/387/

83

/5928/

82

/55/

3.5

age 14+

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

80

7.4

/225416/

73

/6774/

73

/4163/

3.9

/795479/

94

/81/

77

/8904/

86

/21/

3.5

age 15+

Withdrawn and sensitive teenager Carrie White faces bullying from classmates and abuse from her fanatically pious mother. When she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers, things take a dark and violent turn.

80

7.6

/221427/

75

/7548/

74

/4793/

4.0

/496745/

94

/78/

83

/3630/

81

/12/

age 16+

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

79

IMDb 25

7.5

/285724/

72

/14246/

72

/2684/

3.6

/2333301/

93

/391/

85

/3222/

81

/48/

3.5

age 17+

When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

79

7.3

/64117/

70

/1951/

72

/1330/

3.5

/139854/

96

/52/

82

/1792/

71

/10/

4.0

age 10+

A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves the agent and drives him to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.

79

7.2

/28271/

69

/826/

69

/651/

3.7

/71910/

92

/72/

73

/438/

85

/16/

4.0

A Serbian émigré in Manhattan believes that, because of an ancient curse, any physical intimacy with the man she loves will turn her into a feline predator.

79

7.7

/21186/

76

/1480/

76

/816/

3.9

/115602/

89

/9/

80

/684/

After going their separate ways, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred reunite to investigate the ghost of Moonscar the pirate on a haunted bayou island, but it turns out the swashbuckler's spirit isn't the only creepy character on the island. The sleuths also meet up with cat creatures and zombies... and it looks like for the first time in their lives, these ghouls might actually be real.

78

7.4

/287731/

74

/10216/

73

/5549/

3.7

/726673/

94

/70/

84

/16347/

76

/12/

age 17+

Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...

78

7.2

/141490/

71

/3588/

73

/2661/

3.8

/493650/

87

/84/

82

/4766/

87

/15/

age 16+

First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

78

8.2

/518182/

81

/15670/

80

/7639/

4.3

/1160121/

85

/92/

92

/9668/

57

/13/

2.5

age 17+

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

78

7.6

/1175/

73

/93/

70

/4/

3.8

/4458/

93

/55/

91

/4/

75

/9/

3.0

A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, the last film of Alexandre O. Philippe explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.

79

78

7.6

/17497/

71

/386/

72

/318/

3.8

/25723/

91

/44/

81

/268/

88

/12/

Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two, man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug, it is already too late.

78

7.4

/80117/

73

/2528/

72

/1257/

3.9

/157114/

93

/75/

82

/1379/

75

/15/

age 14+

The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.

78

7.1

/93503/

74

/3760/

70

/1574/

3.9

/249650/

91

/55/

79

/5052/

81

/15/

3.5

age 12+

Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's; a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker, Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day, Seymour finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood and soon begins to sing for it’s supper.

78

7.7

/194244/

75

/6539/

75

/3370/

4.0

/409297/

88

/84/

89

/8053/

72

/18/

3.0

Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda find a log cabin in the woods with a voice recording from an archeologist who had recorded himself reciting ancient chants from "The Book of the Dead." As they play the recording an evil power is unleashed taking over Linda's body.

77

7.1

/255200/

69

/12554/

67

/3357/

3.7

/2408748/

85

/381/

73

/2959/

78

/59/

4.0

age 16+

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

77

6.8

/19870/

67

/1375/

68

/517/

3.8

/141074/

92

/92/

69

/112/

80

/14/

4.0

A figure known as "The Assassin" descends from the heavens into a nightmarish pit full of monsters, titans, and cruelty.

77

7.1

/266359/

73

/16440/

76

/7432/

3.6

/549720/

94

/290/

74

/2314/

71

/43/