Last Updated on 26 September 2024

I searched the Internet for lists of the best or greatest horror movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 19 lists. I took the 19 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 250 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 19) were:

  • Halloween (1978) – 19
  • The Exorcist (1973) – 19
  • Psycho (1960) – 18
  • Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – 18
  • The Shining (1980) – 18
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968) – 17
  • The Blair Witch Project (1999) – 17
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – 16
  • Dawn of the Dead (1978) – 16
  • Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – 16
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – 16
  • Suspiria (1977) – 16
  • The Wicker Man (1973) – 16
  • Alien (1979) – 15
  • Carrie (1976) – 15
  • Get Out (2017) – 15
  • Don’t Look Now (1973) – 15
  • The Fly (1986) – 15
  • Let the Right One In (2008) – 15
  • The Babadook (2014) – 15
  • It Follows (2014) – 15
  • The Thing (1982) – 14
  • Nosferatu (1922) – 14
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – 14
  • The Innocents (1961) – 14
  • The Birds (1963) – 14
  • Evil Dead II (1987) – 14
  • 28 Days Later (2002) – 14
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – 14

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

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