The ‘Recommended Horror Films’ in the following list are those that MOVIES & MANIA suggests are better than the average genre fare and well-worth viewing.
To see our separate list of genre-defining ‘Essential Horror Films’ click here
The Abominable Doctor Phibes – Robert Fuest, UK, 1971
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The Addams Family – Barry Sonnenfeld, USA, 1991
Alligator – Lewis Teague, USA, 1980
Alone in the Dark – Jack Sholder, USA, 1982
American Mary – Jen and Silvia Soska, Canada, 2012
Anatomy – Stefan Ruzowitzky, Germany, 2000
Asylum – Roy Ward Baker, UK, 1972
Basket Case – Frank Henenlotter, USA, 1982
Bell from Hell – Claudio Guerin Hill, Spain, 1973
Beyond the Darkness – Aristide Massaccesi [as Joe D’Amato], Italy, 1979
Black Magic 2 aka Revenge of the Zombies – Ho Meng-Hua, Hong Kong, 1976
Black Sabbath – Mario Bava, Italy, 1963
Black Sheep – Jonathan King, New Zealand, 2006
The Blob – Chuck Russell, USA, 1988
Blood for Dracula – Paul Morrissey, Italy, 1974
The Brides of Dracula -Terence Fisher, UK, 1960
The Brood – David Cronenberg, Canada, 1979
The Burning – Tony Maylam, USA, 1981
Cape Fear – Martin Scorsese, USA, 1991
The Cat and the Canary – Elliott Nugent, USA, 1939
Child’s Play – Tom Holland, USA, 1988
A Christmas Horror Story – Steven Hoban, Grant Harvey and Brett Sullivan, USA, 2015
The City of the Dead – John Llewellyn Moxey, UK, 1960
City of the Living Dead – Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1980
The Cleaning Lady – Jon Knautz, USA, 2018
The Collector – Marcus Dunstan, USA, 2009
The Crazies – Breck Eisner, USA, 2010
Cube – Vincenzo Natali, Canada, 1997
Damien: Omen II – Don Taylor, USA, 1978
Daybreakers – Michael and Peter Spierig, USA, 2009
Dead & Buried – Gary Sherman, USA, 1981
Dead Ringers – David Cronenberg, 1988
Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead – Tommy Wirkola, Norway, 2014
The Dead Zone – David Cronenberg, 1983
Death Line aka Raw Meat – Gary Sherman, UK, 1972
Dellamorte, Dellamore – Michele Soavi, Italy, 1994
Dementia 13 – Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1963
Deranged – Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen, Canada/USA, 1974
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The Devil’s Backbone – Guillermo del Toro, Spain/Mexico, 2001
The Devil’s Candy – Sean Byrne, USA, 2015
The Devil’s Rejects – Rob Zombie, USA, 2005
Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde – Roy Ward Baker, UK, 1971
Donnie Darko – Richard Kelly, USA, 2001
Don’t Kill It – Mike Mendez, 2016
Don’t Torture a Duckling – Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1972
Dracula: Prince of Darkness – Terence Fisher, UK, 1966
Drag Me To Hell – Sam Raimi, USA, 2009
Dream Home – Pang Ho-Cheung, Hong, Kong, 2010
Duel – Steven Spielberg, USA, 1971
Event Horizon – Paul W. S. Anderson, USA, 1997
Evil Dead – Fede Alvarez, USA, 2013
The Evil in Us – Jason William Lee, USA, 2016
The Evil Within – Andrew Getty, 2017
Excision -Richard Bates, Jr, USA, 2012
The Fall of the House of Usher – Jean Epstein, USA, 1928
Fascination – Jean Rollin, France, 1979
Feast – John Gulager, USA, 2005
Fiend Without a Face – Arthur Crabtree, UK, 1958
Flesh for Frankenstein – Paul Morrissey, Italy, 1973
The Fog – John Carpenter, USA, 1980
Fright Night – Tom Holland, USA, 1985
From Dusk Till Dawn – Robert Rodriguez, USA, 1996
Frontier(s) – Xavier Gens, France, 2007
God Told Me To aka Demon – Larry Cohen, USA, 1976
Grabbers – Jon Wright, Ireland/UK, 2016
Gremlins – Joe Dante, USA, 1984
Hands of the Ripper – Peter Sasdy, UK, 1971
The Hills Have Eyes – Alexandre Aja, USA, 2006
The Hitcher – Robert Harmon, USA, 1986 – coming soon
Horror Express – Eugenio Martin, UK-Spain, 1972
Hostel – Eli Roth, USA, 2005
House of Wax – USA, 1953
The House on Haunted Hill – William Castle, USA, 1959
The House on Sorority Row – USA, 1983
Humanoids from the Deep – Barbara Peeters, USA, 1980
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – William Dieterle, USA, 1939
I Drink Your Blood – David Durston, USA, 1971
I Saw the Devil – Kim Ji-woon, South Korea, 2011
Insidious – James Wan, USA, 2010
Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Philip Kaufman, USA, 1978
The Invitation – Karyn Kusama, USA, 2015
Isle of the Dead – Mark Robson, USA, 1945
It – USA, 1990
It Came from Outer Space – Jack Arnold, USA, 1953
Jacob’s Ladder – Adrian Lyne, USA, 1990
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI – Tom McLoughlin, USA, 1986
Jeepers Creepers – Victor Salva, USA, 2011
Jennifer’s Body – Karyn Kusama, USA, 2009
John Dies At the End – Don Coscarelli, USA, 2012
Kairo (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 2001) coming soon
Kill List – Ben Wheatley, UK, 2011
Kong: Skull Island – USA, 2017
Laid to Rest – Robert Hall, USA, 2009
The Lair of the White Worm – Ken Russell, UK, 1988
Land of the Dead – George A. Romero, USA, 2005
The Legend of Hell House – John Hough, UK, 1973
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death – John D. Hancock, USA, 1971
Lifechanger – Justin McConnell, Canada, 2018
Lisa and the Devil – Mario Bava, Italy, 1972
The Little Shop of Horrors – Roger Corman, USA, 1960
A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin – Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1971
Long Weekend – Colin Eggleston, Australia, 1977
The Loved Ones – Sean Byrne, Australia, 2009
M – Fritz Lang, Germany, 1931
Man Bites Dog – Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde, Belgium, 1992
Maniac – Franck Khalfoun, USA, 2012
Matango – Ishirō Honda, Japan, 1963
The Midnight Meat Train – Ryuhei Kitamura, USA, 2009
The Most Dangerous Game – Irving Pichel and
Ernest B. Schoedsack, USA, 1932
The Mummy – Karl Freund, USA, 1932
The Mummy – Terence Fisher, UK, 1959
My Bloody Valentine – George Mihalka, Canada, 1981
Mystery of the Wax Museum – Michael Curtiz, USA, 1933
Night of the Creeps – Fred Dekker, USA, 1986
Night of the Demon aka Curse of the Demon – Jacques Tourneur, UK, 1957
Night of the Living Dead – Tom Savini, USA, 1990
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors – Chuck Russell, USA, 1987
Nosferatu the Vampyre – Werner Herzog, West Germany, 1979
Oculus – Mike Flanagan, USA, 2013
Ouija: Origin of Evil – Mike Flanagan, USA, 2016
Patchwork – Tyler MacIntyre, Canada/USA, 2015
Piranha – Joe Dante, USA, 1978
The Pit and the Pendulum – Roger Corman, USA, 1961
The Plague of the Zombies – John Gilling, UK, 1966
Planet Terror – Robert Rodriguez, USA, 2007
Poltergeist – Tobe Hooper, USA, 1982
Pontypool – Bruce McDonald, Canada, 2009
The Prowler – Joseph Zito, USA, 1981
Psycho II – Richard Franklin, USA, 1983
Pumpkinhead – Stan Winston, USA, 1988
Q aka Q: The Winged Serpent – Larry Cohen, USA, 1982
Rabid – David Cronenberg, Canada, 1977
Ravenous – Antonia Bird, 1999
Ready or Not – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, USA, 2019
Return of the Living Dead III – Brian Yuzna, USA, 1993
Ruin Me – Preston DeFrancis, USA, 2017
Salem’s Lot – Tobe Hooper, USA, 1979
Santa Sangre – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico-Italy, 1989
The Shout – Jerzy Skolimowski, UK, 1978
Sick for Toys – David Del Rio, USA, 2017
SiREN – Gregg Bishop, USA, 2016
Sleepy Hollow – Tim Burton, USA, 1999
Slither – James Gunn, USA, 2006
Shutter – Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom, Thailand, 2004
Society – Brian Yuzna, USA, 1989
Spider Baby – Jack Hill, USA, 1964
Spiral – Japan, 2000
Splinter – Toby Wilkins, USA, 2008
StageFright – Michele Soavi, Italy, 1987
Stake Land – Jim Mickle, USA, 2010
Starry Eyes – USA, 2014
The Stepfather (1986) coming soon
The Strangers – Bryan Bertino, USA, 2008
Street Trash – J. Michael Muro, USA, 1987
Tarantula – Jack Arnold, USA, 1955
Taste the Blood of Dracula – Peter Sasdy, UK, 1969
Teeth – Mitchell Lichtenstein, USA, 2007
The Tenant – Roman Polanski, France, 1976
Terrifier – Damien Leone, USA, 2017
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 – Tobe Hooper, USA, 1986
The Thing from Another World – Christian Nyby, USA, 1951
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse – Jose Mojica Marins, Brazil, 1967
Tombs of the Blind Dead – Amando De Ossorio, Spain, 1971
Theatre of Blood – Douglas Hickox, UK, 1973
Tourist Trap – David Schmoeller, USA, 1979
Train to Busan – Sang-ho Yeon, South Korea, 2016
Tremors – Ron Underwood, USA, 1990
Trick ‘r Treat – Michael Dougherty, USA, 2007
Tucker and Dale vs Evil – Eli Craig, Canada, 2010
Twins of Evil – John Hough, UK, 1971
Two Thousand Maniacs! – Herschell Gordon Lewis, USA, 1964
The Uninvited – USA, 1944
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders – Czechoslovakia, 1970
Vampyres – Jose Larraz, UK, 1974
Verónica – Paco Plaza, Spain, 2017
The Void – Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie, Canada, 2016
Wake in Fright aka Outback – Ted Kotcheff, Australia, 1971
WΔZ aka The Killing Gene – Tom Shankland, UK, 2007
What Have You Done to Solange? – Massimo Dallamano, Italy-West Germany, 1971
What Keeps You Alive – Colin Minihan, Canada, 2018
Whistle and I’ll Come To You – Jonathan Miller, 1968, UK
White Coffin aka Ataúd Blanco: El Juego Diabólico – Daniel de la Vega, Argentina, 2016
The Witch – Robert Eggers, USA-Canada, 2015
Witchfinder General – Michael Reeves, UK, 1968
WolfCop – Lowell Dean, Canada, 2014
The Woman in Black – James Watkins, UK, 2012
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead – Kiah Roache-Turner, Australia, 2014
World War Z – Marc Forster, USA, 2013
X aka X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes – Roger Corman, USA, 1963
You’re Next – Adam Wingard, USA, 2011
Zombie Flesh Eaters aka Zombie – Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1979
Zombieland – Ruben Fleischer, USA, 2009
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