New horror movies may be released throughout the year, but only the best become a regular Halloween staple.
Hannibal Lecter, Michael Myers, and Norman Bates are just a few of the horror characters that have stuck with multiple generations, either through the staying power of their original films or franchise reboots designed to reinvigorate the characters for a new audience.
The best horror movies can be subjective to personal taste, but through the power of aggregated review sites and audience ratings, it is possible to discern some measure of the most respected horror movies out there.
What are the best horror movies of all time?
Centralized site control Rotten tomatoes has compiled a list of the 200 best horror films based on critic rating and audience rating, along with the number of reviews and year of release. You can see the top 20 for 2023 below.
- Alien (1979)
- Leave the correct one in (2008)
- Aliens (1986)
- Jaws (1975)
- Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Get out (2017)
- Psychopath (1960)
- One Cut Of The Dead (2017)
- King Kong (1933)
- A quiet place (2018)
- Carnival (1978)
- Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
- What are we doing in the shadows? (2014)
- Diabolique (1955)
- The Invisible Man (2020)
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
- Rosemary’s baby (1968)
- The crying (2016)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror Alien came out on top, which follows the crew of the Nostromo as they encounter the deadly xenomorph species. The film gave Sigourney Weaver her lead role as Ripley, who went on to star in the sequels Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.
The second is the Swedish vampire horror Leave the correct one in, directed by Tomas Alfredson. An American remake, titled Let me inwas released in 2010 starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
More obscure entries on the list include One Cut Of The Deada Japanese zombie comedy set during the making of a zombie film and 1955 Diaboliquea French psychological horror about a woman and her husband’s mistress who conspire to murder him.
The most modern film to appear in the top 20, however, is the 2020 reboot The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Where can I watch? Alien in the UK?
All Alien movies are available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.
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