They don't make horror movies like these anymore. Sure, recent years have given us a decent supply of nightmare fuel, but they don't come close to the high-octane terrors these classic scarefests deliver.
'Psycho' (1960)
Don't like taking showers? After watching this Hitchcock classic, we can't blame you. The infamous shower scene is a masterpiece of editing sound and image into the stuff nightmares come from.
'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)
It's your classic story: Girl meets guy, falls in love, moves into fancy NYC digs, gets pregnant, and becomes an incubator for a cult's plan to literally unleash the Devil. How are you still here after reading that?! We're fetal'd up, rocking back and forth.
'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974)
One of the most successful indie films ever, this gritty, shot-like-a-snuff-film trip to Human Skin Mask country is equal parts slow-burn terror and shock scares. Despite the title, there is very little gore -- which makes the film all the more unsettling. Especially during that damn dinner scene.
'Suspiria' (1977)
This movie is full of noooope. The over-the-top-ness starts early, with a double murder that paves the way for stabbings, a hanging, and impalements. This Italian classic won't just scare you -- it will mess you up for life.
'Halloween' (1978)
They tried to give Michael Myers a "Batman Begins" origin story. All grounded and gritty and gory. But, not so much. No one really wanted it or liked it enough to stick, mostly because you can't do better than the John Carpenter original. (Though the underrated "Halloween II" is a worthy attempt.)
'Alien' (1979)
Ridley Scott keeps going back to this well, with mixed results. No matter how many times he tries to find new ways to make the xenomorph scary, he will never outdo his first trip to Planet Facehugger.
'The Shining' (1980)
"The blood usually gets off on the third floor." So much here to haunt our forevers: The Room 237 scene (bloated, naked old lady bathtub corpses!), "Here's Johnnny!," those f***ing twins... We picked the wrong week to quit going to therapy.
'The Thing' (1982)
In the summer of 1982, audiences only had room for one alien: E.T. Eventually, they came around to appreciate this close encounter from the alien equivalent of a murder-powered Xerox machine -- it can become anything or person it comes in contact with. But it's no match for MacReady's beard.
'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)
Yup, that's a high schooler's bed turned into a geyser of O-Neg. Freddy's first (and best) nightmare is a bloodier version of "Inception," only his tokens are the souls of his victims. Wes Craven's horror it changed the slasher genre, prompting many imitators but few as good as the original.
'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
More than 25 years after it won the Oscar for Best Picture, Hannibal Lecter's most popular big screen outing is still an all-timer.
'The Fly' (1986)
"Be afraid. Be very afraid." And we have been, for three decades, ever since the release of "The Fly." Upon its release 30 years ago, this remake of the 1958 Vincent Price horror film was recognized instantly as a modern classic, made stars out of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, and became the biggest hit of arty-horror film director David Cronenberg's career.
'Dracula' (1931)
Nearly every vampire movie owes a debt to this Universal Monsters original. While not the scariest film ever made by today's standards, it's moody atmosphere and inspired take on the lead villain are enough to unsettle any viewer.
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
Skip the noble 2016 misfire and revisit the OG of found footage. Three wannabe documentarians wonder into the worst woods ever; they hear screams, laughing kids, and wake up to find a care package of bloody, human bits. And that's all in the first 40 minutes. Gulp.
'The Exorcist' (1973)
Unlike Beetlejuice, this movie does not get funnier for us every single time we see it. Also, why are we -- or you, for that matter -- giving THE demonic possession movie multiple viewings? Sadistic barely covers that.
'Scream' (1996)
Equal parts slasher flick and send-up of the genre, this '90s hit is a modern horror classic thanks in large part to its then-novel self-reverential approach to the tropes of horror movies and an inspired "didn't-see-that-coming" story structure. Oh, and the time capsule-worthy cast is pretty great, too.
