It's a monster task to compile a list of the 50 greatest classic horror movies of the 20th century, and therefore it needs a little explanation. This is intended to be a kind of Horror 101; if you'd never seen a horror movie before in your life and wanted to have a quick, bloody education in this most terrifying of genres, this would be a good place to start.
Every serious horror fan will have seen every film in this list, every movie a classic in its own right. These movies spawned horror icons, grew horror history, pushed boundaries and caused controversy. It's not a list of personal favorites, rather a collection of the most culturally significant horror movies that were important for certain reasons both within their own timeline and the span of cinema history.
How many of the classic horror movies of the 20th century have you seen?
1. Nosferatu
Released: 1922
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Max Schreck as Count Orlok
Director: F.W. Murnau
Related Viewing: Häxan, , The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
2. Dracula
Released: 1931
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula
Director: Tod Browning
Related Viewing: Vampyr, The Phantom of the Opera, The Black Cat
3. Frankenstein
Released: 1931
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Boris Karloff as The Monster
Director: James Whale
Related Viewing: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man
4. Freaks
Released: 1932
Classic Horror Movie Controversy:
Director: Tod Browning
Related Viewing: There's nothing contemporary quite like Freaks either thematically or stylistically, but American Horror Story: Freak Show draws heavily on the imagery and social commentary of Freaks.
5. King Kong
Released: 1933
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Fay Wray as Ann Darrow
Directors: Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack
Related Viewing: White Zombie
6. The Creature From the Black Lagoon
Released: 1954
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Gill-man
Director: Jack Arnold
Related Viewing: The Reptile
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Released: 1956
Classic Horror Movie History: The movie was remade in 1978 starring Donald Sutherland, and is also heavily referenced in 1998's The Faculty.
Director: Don Siegel
Related Viewing: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Faculty, Plan 9 From Outer Space
8. The Mummy
Released: 1959
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Christopher Lee as Kharis
Director: Terence Fisher
Related Viewing: You're always going to have a good time watching a Hammer Horror movie, with highlights including The Horror of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out.
9. Psycho
Released: 1960
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Related Viewing: Frenzy, Rope, The Birds
10. Peeping Tom
Released: 1960
Classic Horror Movie Controversy: Peeping Tom so upset the public that it destroyed director Michael Powell's career.
Director: Michael Powell
Related Viewing: Dressed to Kill, Body Double
11. Les Yeux Sans Visage
Released: 1960
Classic Horror Movie History: Possibly the finest 'mad scientist' movie ever made.
Director: Georges Franju
Related Viewing: The Skin I Live In
12. The Haunting
Released: 1963
Classic Horror Movie History: The Haunting was a box office hit as a remake in 1999
Director: Robert Wise
Related Viewing: The Old Dark House, House on Haunted Hill
13. Repulsion
Released: 1965
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Catherine Deneuve as Carole/Carol Ledoux
Director: Roman Polanski
Related Viewing: Belle de Jour, The Hunger
14. Night of the Living Dead
Released: 1968
Classic Horror Movie Icon: the modern zombie
Director: George Romero
Related Viewing: Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and just about any other zombie movie you can think of.
15. Rosemary's Baby
Released: 1968
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse
Director: Roman Polanski
Related Viewing: House of the Devil
16. Suspiria
Released: 1977
Classic Horror Movie Icon:
Director: Dario Argento
Related Viewing: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, Opera
17. The Last House on the Left
Released: 1972
Classic Horror Movie Controversy: LHOTL was caught up in the 'video nasty' scandal, which almost ruined his career. Years later, Hollywood came crawling back to ask his permission for a big-money remake.
Director: Wes Craven
Related Viewing: Mother's Day
18. The Wicker Man
Released: 1973
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle
Director: Robin Hardy
Related Viewing: Kill List, The Witch
19. Don't Look Now
Released: 1973
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Adelina Poerio as The Dwarf
Director: Nic Roeg
Related Viewing: Walkabout, Picnic at Hanging Rock
20. The Exorcist
Released: 1973
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil
Director: William Friedkin
Related Viewing: The Last Exorcism, The Taking of Deborah Logan
21. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Released: 1974
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface
Director: Tobe Hooper
Related Viewing: Several sequels
22. Jaws
Released: 1975
Classic Horror Movie Icon: An animatronic as Jaws
Director: Steven Spielberg
Related Viewing: Piranhas, Anaconda, Lake Placid, Deep Blue Sea
23. Carrie
Released: 1976
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Sissy Spacek as Carrie White
Director: Brian De Palma
Related Viewing: Jennifer's Body
24. The Omen
Released: 1976
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Harvey Spencer Stephens as Damien Thorn
Director: Richard Donner
Related Viewing: The Omen II and III
25. The Hills Have Eyes
Released: 1977
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Michael Berryman as Pluto
Director: Wes Craven
Related viewing: Deliverance, Wrong Turn
26. House
Released: 1977
Classic Horror Movie Madness: Imagine a Japanese acid trip video for The Monkees and you're halfway there... possibly the most deranged movie ever made.
Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi
Related Viewing: The Happiness of the Katakuris, Uzumaki
27. Halloween
Released: 1978
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Michael Myers, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
Director: John Carpenter
Related Viewing: several marvelous sequels
28. Alien
Released: 1979
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley (and H.R. Giger's Alien)
Director: Ridley Scott
Related Viewing: Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus
29. The Amityville Horror
Released: 1979
Classic Horror Movie History: Jay Anson's original novel of The Amityville Horror was supposedly based on a real life haunting.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Related Viewing: Several sequels and movies like The Conjuring
30. I Spit On Your Grave
Released: 1978
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Camille Keaton as Jennifer Hills
Director: Meir Zarchi
Related Viewing:
31. Phantasm
Released: 1979
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man
Director: Don Coscarelli
Related Viewing: Phantasm II, III, IV and the forthcoming Phantasm V: Ravager
32. Cannibal Holocaust
Released: 1980
Classic Horror Movie Controversy: The gruesome SFX were so extreme that the director was hauled into court on suspicion of having actually killed members of the cast.
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Related Viewing: Cannibal Ferox, Mondo Cannibale
33. Friday the 13th
Released: 1980
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Betsy Palmer as Mrs Voorhees, as well as the legend of Jason Voorhees
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Related Viewing: 11 sequels and counting
34. The Shining
Released: 1980
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, Lisa & Louise Burns as The Grady Twins
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Related Viewing: Room 237
35. Sleepaway Camp
Released: 1983
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Felissa Rose as Angela
Director: Robert Hiltzik
Related Viewing: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
36. Evil Dead
Released: 1981
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Bruce Campbell as Ash
Director: Sam Raimi
Related Viewing: Evil Dead 2 & 3
37. Poltergeist
Released: 1982
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina
Director: Tobe Hooper
Related Viewing: Drag Me To Hell
38. The Thing
Released: 1982
Classic Horror Movie History: The Thing is a remake of the earlier 1951 movie, but was itself remade in 2010.
Director: John Carpenter
Related Viewing: The Fly, The Last Winter
39. Nightmare on Elm Street
Released: 1984
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger
Director: Wes Craven
Related Viewing: There were seven excellent sequels before a rather unpopular reamake in 2010.
40. Re-Animator
Released: 1985
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West
Director: Stuart Gordon
Related Viewing: Bride of Re-Animator, Beyond Re-Animator
41. Hellraiser
Released: 1987
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Doug Bradley as 'Pinhead'
Director: Clive Barker
Related Viewing: Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions
42. Misery
Released: 1987
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes
Director: Rob Reiner
Related Viewing: Pet Sematary, Tommyknockers
43. Child's Play
Released: 1988
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Brad Dourif as Chucky
Director: Tom Holland
Related Viewing: Dolls, Puppet Master, Leprechaun
44. IT
Released: 1990
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Tim Curry as Pennywise
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Related Viewing: Clown, Stitches
45. The Silence of the Lambs
Released: 1991
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter
Director: Jonathan Demme
Related Viewing: Manhunter, Hannibal, Deranged
46. Candyman
Released: 1992
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Tony Todd as the Candyman
Director: Bernard Rose
Related Viewing: Midnight Meat Train
47. Scream
Released: 1996
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Ghostface, Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
Director: Wes Craven
Related Viewing: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Valentine, Urban Legend
48. Funny Games
Released: 1997
Classic Horror Movie History: Funny Games went meta and broke the fourth wall on us, influencing future smart horrors that played with our expectations.
Director: Michael Haneke
Related Viewing: The Last Horror Movie, Cabin in the Woods
49. Ring
Released: 1998
Classic Horror Movie Icon: Rie Inō as Sadako Yamamura
Director: Hideo Nakata
Related Viewing: The Grudge, The Eye, Dark Water
50. Blair Witch Project
Released: 1999
Classic Horror Movie History: Blair Witch Project was the first horror movie to popularize the found footage technique.
Director: Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick
Related Viewing: Paranormal Activity, V/H/S
What do you think is the greatest classic horror movie of the 20th century?