Wicked Mike's 20 Best Horror Movies
No need to set yourself on fire. These scary movies will burn your senses. No horredy (comedy horror) here - only films to jump your pulse and light your mind
List activity
220 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
20 titles
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsBelén RuedaFernando CayoRoger PríncepA woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.I'm unashamed that 'The Orphanage' made hairy-chested me scared. I danced in those goosebumps, praising the director for having encouraged me to explore foreign language films. These ghosts brought joy to my life.
- 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.From the opening overhead shot of the city, 'Candyman' felt different. In its entirety, it was menacing, ahead of the teen and gore scares of its era. The mind of writer Clive Barker threw horror upside-down. Don't watch the remake!
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsNicole KidmanChristopher EcclestonFionnula FlanaganIn 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.The classiest ghost story. Fantastic twist and Nicole Kidman's finest.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsPerdita WeeksBen FeldmanEdwin HodgeWhen a team of explorers venture into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.It was hard leaving 'Blair Witch' off this list as it made "found footage" horror popular. Nevertheless, time moves on to where 'As Above So Below' is my favourite in the genre.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsFlorence PughJack ReynorVilhelm BlomgrenA couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.Whereas 'Get Out' was fun, 'Midsommar' is disturbia. It must be further worshiped for its originality... and for the fact that the wooden mallet sent someone else's head into yours.
- DirectorJames WanStarsCary ElwesLeigh WhannellDanny GloverTwo strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.The bad people of our world need a lesson. 'Saw' and its sequels are timeous. What makes them more effective is that we've all done something we deserve to be punished for.
- DirectorDavid SladeStarsJosh HartnettMelissa GeorgeDanny HustonAfter an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.'30 Days of Night' was like taking Marilyn Manson out of 'Antichrist Superstar' to drink the blood of Alaska.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.Minimalism makes every fright a gem. The rocks are thirsty...
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsStacy ChboskyBen MessmerSamantha RobsonIn an abandoned house in Poughkeepsie, New York murder investigators uncover hundreds of tapes showing decades of a serial killer's work.Serial killer movies often try to be too intelligent whereas this was an unsettling that lingers longer. Director John Erick Dowdle is the master of the small budget packing a big punch that delivers a knockout profit. I've enjoyed all his movies which makes him a rarity.
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsKelly ReillyMichael FassbenderTara EllisRefusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.One f the best survival movies. I felt her terrified desperation...
- DirectorJohannes GrenzfurthnerStarsEthan HaslamJohannes GrenzfurthnerJason Scott SadofskyConducting a series of experiments in his makeshift home-lab, a skeptic IT worker tries to cure his harrowing hearing impairment.An intelligent, anti-social man searches for the reason for his tinnitus but discovers a fundamental part of our existence. Or does he? The ending is gloriously explosive and cynical.
- DirectorTi WestStarsMia GothJenna OrtegaBrittany SnowIn 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the crew find themselves fighting for their lives.The sexist horror so far. Bouncing skin meets wrinkles in a twisted battle of ageism.
- DirectorGoran StolevskiStarsNoomi RapaceAnamaria MarincaAlice EnglertIn an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young girl is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit.Art, drama, mystery, and terror - this Macedonian movie is unique and beautiful.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.Grief is dangerous!
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.Twisted, sick, deranged, cruel - keep adding metaphors that will turn your guts inside out. This wasn't about being scared, it was about being disturbed.
- DirectorDanny PhilippouMichael PhilippouStarsAri McCarthyHamish PhillipsKit Erhart-BruceWhen a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.For something so teenly formulaic, its surprisingly scary, deserving more screams than the entire 'Scream' series.
- DirectorRichard StanleyStarsNicolas CageJoely RichardsonMadeleine ArthurA secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.The most underrated Nicholas Cave movie. It's new but it feels classic. Love the build-up, love the surreal.
- DirectorScott DerricksonStarsLaura LinneyTom WilkinsonShohreh AghdashlooA lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.'Sinister' was the later smash hit for Director Scott Derrickson but I was more drawn to this exorcism tale. It just pipped 'The Conjuring' and 'Hereditary'to make this list.
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsBrian CoxEmile HirschOphelia LovibondA father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the cause of death of a young woman who was apparently harboring dark secrets.Norwegian director André Øvredal (Trollhunter) makes a creepily successful step into English.
- DirectorDemián RugnaStarsEzequiel RodríguezDemián SalomónSilvina SabaterIn a remote village, two brothers find a demon-infected man just about to "give birth" to evil itself. They decide to get rid of the body, only to end up unintentionally spreading chaos.Something dreadful is happening in rural Argentina.