By Michele D. Baker
October is the perfect time to sit back and enjoy a great scary movie. Here is a list of 31 classic horror, suspense, creature, and sci-fi films you must see before you die! (Images courtesy of IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Getty Images & Harper’s Bazaar)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) – Hypnotist Dr. Caligari (Werner Kraus) uses a somnambulist, Cesare (Conrad Veidt), to commit murders.
Nosferatu (1922) – One of the silent era’s most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu’s eerie, gothic feel – and a chilling performance from Max Schreck as the vampire – set the template for the horror films that followed.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) – A heart-rending take on the classic book with a legendary performance by Lon Chaney as the titular hunchback.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) – An aspiring young opera singer discovers that she has a mysterious admirer (Lon Chaney) intent on helping her become a lead performer.
Related: Rotten Tomatoes Best Horror Movies By Year Since 1922
Frankenstein (1931) – Dr. Henry Frankenstein explores the fine line between genius and madness, reanimating a monstrous creature (Boris Karloff) made of scavenged body parts.
Dracula (1931) – Bela Lugosi sank his fangs into this role of the “epitome of evil” in Tod Browning’s haunting adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic horror novel. This is the film which established the aesthetics of the villain – tuxedo with bowtie and cape and a European accent – and helped catapult the supernatural genre into American theaters.
Did you know? Bram Stoker’s book “Dracula” has been adapted over 200 times into films, stage plays, comic books, toys and games, costumes, breakfast cereal, and many other media (including parodies, cartoons, and even pornographic films)
The Mummy (1932) – Boris Karloff stars as a resurrected Egyptian mummy searching Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
King Kong (1933) – After traveling to a jungle island to shoot a film, the beautiful lead (Fay Wray) is kidnapped by natives who prepare to sacrifice her to the giant ape King Kong. Audiences of the time were terrified and awed by the film’s breakthrough special effects.
Related: Harpers Bazaar’s Lineup of Best Classic Horror Films
The Invisible Man (1933) – A scientist (Claude Rains) find a way of becoming invisible, but the process drives him to murderous insanity.
The Wolf Man (1941) – A handsomely told tale with affecting performances from Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, and Bela Lugosi as the Wolf Man. One of the “creature” classics of the Universal stable.
Cat People (1942) – Influential noir director Jacques Tourneau infused this sexy, moody horror film with some sly commentary about the psychology and the taboos of desire.
Gaslight (1944) – Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca) star in a film of suspense, madness, and the mind games of a manipulative husband.
The Queen of Spades (1949) – Based on a short story by Alexander Pushkin, this creepy drama tells the tale of Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans), an elderly woman who sold her soul to the devil in order to always win at cards.
The Thing (1951) – Scientists at the North Pole find a wrecked spaceship and a humanoid creature (James Arness) frozen in the ice, bringing their discovery back to the base. When the creature is accidentally thawed, it begins wreaking havoc.
War of the Worlds (1953) – When Earth is suddenly invaded by Martians, American scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) searches for any weakness to stop them. Based on the book by H. G. Wells, “The War of the Worlds” has never been out of print: it spawned numerous feature films, radio dramas, a record album, comic book adaptations, television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. It was dramatised in a 1938 radio program directed and narrated by Orson Welles, that reportedly caused panic among listeners who did not know that the events were fictional.
Them! (1954) – Sergeant Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) joins forces with FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) and scientist Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) to destroy a nest of giant ants that have been mutated by atomic radiation.
The Fly (1958) – When scientist Andre Delambre (Al Hedison) tests his matter transporter on himself, an errant housefly makes its way into the machine with disastrous consequences.
Psycho (1960) – Director Alfred Hitchcock’s immortal contribution to the horror genre, starring Anthony Perkins as a mom-murdering innkeeper and Janet Leigh as an unlucky guest.
The Birds (1963) – Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The Last Man on Earth (1964) – Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is a terrified survivor trying to outrun a horde of killer zombies after a global epidemic wipes out humanity. Based on the book “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson, which was also adapted into the films The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston (1971), and I Am Legend starring Will Smith (2007). It was also an inspiration for George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968).
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966) – Four tourists dare to dine and spend the night at Dracula’s (Christopher Lee) castle.
Related: Reader Roundup of IMDB’s Best Horror Films
Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – A young married couple (Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes), recently moved into a “haunted” apartment building, is delighted to learn she’s pregnant. But Rosemary suspects that the Satanists (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer) next door have devilish plans for the baby. Ruth Gordon won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of kindly-neighbor-cum-Satanist Minnie Castevet.
Don’t Look Now (1973) – Still grieving over the accidental death of their daughter, John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura (Julie Christie) head to Venice where they meet two sisters who claim to be in touch with the dead girl’s spirit.
The Exorcist (1973) – Allegedly based on a shocking “true” tale, famed exorcist Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) travels to Washington, DC to comfort actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and battle the demon inhabiting her young daughter Regan (Linda Blair). Directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty based on his 1971 novel. Blatty and Friedkin’s choice of relative unknowns Burstyn, Blair, and Miller, instead of major stars, drew opposition from executives at Warner Bros. Principal photography was also difficult. Many cast and crew were injured, some died, and unusual accidents delayed shooting. Production took twice as long as scheduled and cost almost three times the initial budget; the many mishaps have led to a belief that the film was cursed.
Jaws (1975) – A great white shark terrorizes the waters of a tiny New England town until Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), scientist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a grizzled boat captain Quint (Robert Shaw) are dispatched to deal with the great fish. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Related: Music Flashback: “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett
Carrie (1976) – In this chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel, socially-awkward teen Carrie (Sissy Spacek) faces taunting at school and abuse from her fanatically pious mother (Piper Laurie) at home. But strange occurrences lead Carrie to suspect that she has supernatural powers.
The Omen (1976) – The American ambassador in London Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) and photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner) suspect the Thorns’ adopted son Damien is the Antichrist.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – In San Francisco, Dr. Miles Bennell (Donald Sutherland), Dr. David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy), and Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) discover that an alien species of human duplicates, grown from plant-like pods, is taking over. This 70s classic is a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a 1956 American science-fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter.
Alien (1979) – In deep space, the crew of the starship Nostromo (Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright) is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules to deal with a hostile alien that has hatched from a mysterious egg. This movie was so popular it spawned an entire franchise: 9 feature-length films (including 2 crossover films with the equally-popular “Predator” series), 8 short films, a TV series, and web series.
The Shining (1980) – Though it deviates from Stephen King’s novel, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness – exemplified by unforgettable performances from Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.
Poltergeist (1982) – Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) fight supernatural forces haunting their California home to save their daughter Carol Ann (Heather O’Rourke) from “the TV people” – malevolent ghosts who are trapped in a dimension between the worlds.
