1. The Shining
Still from The Shining via Warner Bros.
The Shining is a movie so smart there are other movies about how many philosophical layers are in it. Was Jack Torrence haunted by the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel—or was his mental health slipping as a result of cabin fever? Was he crazy, or could that happen to any of us? And then there’s the meaning behind some of Kubrick’s directorial decisions to think about.
2. Let The Right One In (2008)
Still from Let the Right One In via Magnet Releasing
This Swedish film about friendship and murder is perfect in its original incarnation. You won’t think kids are so innocent afterwards.
3. Triangle
Still from Triangle via Icon Entertainment International
Triangle isn’t the right kind of movie to watch if you aren’t going to fully pay attention to it. You can’t play on your phone for awhile and then ask whoever you’re watching with to catch you up. A bunch of friends are boating (in the Bermuda Triangle—get it?) when some pretty strange shit starts happening, and for the rest of the movie, it keeps getting weirder.
4. Seven
Still from Seven via New Line Cinema
David Fincher’s psychological thriller holds up 20 years later. Who is John Doe and what could possibly motivate him to pull of such a sick series of murders?
5. The Changeling (1980)
Still from The Changeling via Chessman Park Productions
The Changeling is an intense (and scary) you know it’s based on a real life mystery. Transport yourself to a creepy old Victorian mansion and see if you can solve it.
6. Wicker Man (1973)
Still from The Wicker Man via Warner Bros.
Please don’t watch the American remake with Nic Cage (lol). This British classic is a classic for a reason: it’s weird and terrifying and has a very juicy twist ending.
7. Jacob’s Ladder
Still from Jacob’s Ladder via TriStar Pictures
There should be a support group for people who snuck a VHS of Jacob’s Ladder into a slumber party when they were a kid and it ruined their childhood.
8. Candyman
Still from Candyman via TriStar Pictures
In addition to being absolutely terrifying, Candyman also contains some smart social commentary. What’s easy to pass off as a silly urban legend, the tale of the Candyman, is actually one part history and one part supernatural.
9. Suspiria
Still from Suspiria via International Classics
Suspiria is one of those movies that separates casual horror fans from diehards.
10. Session 9
Still from Session 9 via USA Films
If you can figure out the twist in this movie before it happens, you’re way smarter than most people. The ending aside, the whole movie is brilliant in how creepy it manages to be. Even after it’s all over and the lights are on, Session 9 will linger in your head for a long time.
11. Shaun of the Dead
Still from Shaun of the Dead via Universal Pictures
It takes smart writing to make a movie about dumb characters seem intelligent. Shaun of the Dead pokes fun at all the overdone tropes in the horror genre. We also get a glimpse of a truth often avoided by zombie films—even after the zombie apocalypse our dumb human relationship drama goes on.
12. Funny Games
Still from Funny Games via Attitude Films
This is one American remake that is really decent and stays close to the original. Funny Games is about the sheer terror of a pair of killers without any motive at all.
13. Saw
Still from Saw via Lions Gate Films
Say what you will about the never ending Saw franchise, the first one was just so original. We hadn’t seen anything like this before.
14. The Vanishing (1988)
Still from The Vanishing via Argos Films
You absolutely cannot watch the American remake before you have seen the original The Vanishing, even though Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland are in the remake. The original is universally revered among smart horror fans for being one of the most intense and unsettling movies of all time.
15. The Others
Still of The Others via Dimension Films
A common theme among the “smart” horror movies is they play with epistemology—what is reality? Do we know “what’s real”? Are the lives of the Stewart family real, or those of The Others?
16. American Psycho
Still from American Psycho via Lions Gate Films
Bret Easton Ellis is such an insanely good writer and this story is awesomely messed up. If you haven’t read the book, I strongly urge you to do so, even if you’ve already seen the film.
17. Scream
Still from Scream via Dimension Films
The Scream series is consistently underrated for being a cliche horror movie series when the reality is it’s a horror movie series about cliche horror movie series. It’s meta.
Featured Still from "The Vanishing" via Argos Films
