1. A Tale of Two Sisters

tale of two sisters good horror movies

When it comes to crafting gory suspense that stretches the boundaries of horror, Korean filmmakers know just what they’re doing. Case in point: A Tale of Two Sisters. Often imitated, Ji-woon Kim’s creepy tale about a pair of siblings who leave a mental hospital and enter the house of the devil is one helluva head trip.

2. The Devil’s Backbone

devil's backbone

Leave it to supernatural savant Guillermo del Toro to terrify you like no other. This Spanish Civil War-set fantasy horror centers on a 12-year-old boy sent to a haunted orphanage, who soon encounters a supremely eerie specter. Santi, the spirit in question, was actually inspired from del Toro’s memories of a ghost who frequently paid him visits as a child.

3. Suspiria

really scary movies

A Giallo-genre favorite of fans and critics alike, Dario Argento’s grim fairy tale about a bunch of witches will make your head spin—and not just because its gory mayhem takes place at a German ballet academy. The blood that spills across the screen is enough to keep your noggin flooded with grisly images for weeks.

4. High Tension

really scary movies

Originally called Switchblade Romance, this French slasher follows friends Marie and Alex as they stalk the truck driver who butchered Alex’s family. Plenty of bludgeoning and disemboweling turn the screen crimson, but it’s the high wire tension in between these fits of rage that keeps our palms sweating.

5. The Descent

really scary movies

Viewers encounter with two different nightmares in The Descent: cave-dwelling creatures with a taste for blood, and agonizing claustrophobia. Not long after the film kicks off, protagonist Sarah gets stuck between a rock and hard place when pile of boulders threatens to crush her petite frame. It’s enough to make any genre fan breathless—and the movie hasn’t even met the monsters that dwell below.

6. The Exorcist

really scary movies

Spotting William Friedkin’s 1973 demonic-possession classic on a list of really scary movies is not a shocker. But unless you’re completely desensitized to a little girl hissing sacrilegious obscenities from the black hole in her rotting head, then you know it belongs on this list.

7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

texas chainsaw massacre

We like our horror extra crispy. So, of course, we’re including Tobe Hooper’s 1974 cult classic set on a Texas-fried pig farm. Centering on a group of twentysomethings who are tormented by a family of backwoods cannibals, this high-octane horror remains one of the hardest films to get through. And we pretty much have the sadistic dinner scene to thank for that.

8. The Babadook

the babadook
There’s been some killer cinema coming from the Land Down Under as of late: The Loved Ones, The Snowtown Murders, and Black Water. But the baddest of them all? Jennifer Kent’s fantasy horror that explores the limits of a mother’s love. Amelia’s having a rough go at the whole single-parent thing, and when her son becomes convinced there’s a monster hiding in his closet, things really take a turn for the terrifying—his monster just might be real.

9. Starry Eyes

Fans of Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs will definitely get a sense of déjà vu when they queue up Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch’s occult horror about an actress willing to do anything to get her name in lights—including sell her soul to the devil. It’s a horror film that leaves you needing a shower once the credits roll. For those who haven’t seen Martyrs, do that next, though we recommend at least 24 hours between viewings to let the psychological wounds heal.

10. Inside

Warning: Graphic images abound in this French flick that takes torture porn to smutty new heights. Her first Christmas after her husband’s death, a pregnant Sarah decides to stay home alone—she’s about to give birth after all. Little does she know there’s a baby-napper at her door with a pair of scissors ready to make the first cut. The what, why, who, and how are revealed over the course of the bloodiest 82 minutes in recent memory.

11. Paranormal Activity

Sure, the studios have drained this franchise for all it’s worth. But Oren Peli’s original script-less creation about a couple and their ghost is no cheap thrill. Think back to that first viewing and imagine Katie, possessed by a demon, slowly climbing that dark staircase, each step a resounding boom … boom … boom. Freaked out? Yeah, we thought so.

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Still from "The Devil's Backbone" via Canal+ España; Poster from "A Tale of Two Sisters" via B.O.M. Production Company; Still from "The Devil's Backbone" via Canal+ España; Still from "Suspiria" via International Classics; Still from "High Tension" via Lions Gate Films; Still from "The Descent" via Lions Gate Films; Still from "The Exorcist" via Warner Bros.; Still from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” via Vortex; Still from "The Babadook" via Causeway Films; Still from "Starry Eyes" via Dark Sky Films; Still from "Inside" via Weinstein Company; Still from "Paranormal Activity" via Paramount Pictures

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