Despite the science fiction and superhero blockbusters that dominate today’s landscape, horror remains a long-lasting and fan-favorite genre of film. And whether it features momentarily frightening jump scares or drawn-out scenes of suspense, at least two of the biggest horror movies Hollywood has to offer — critically or commercially — were released in the same year.
Update October 6, 2023: Halloween means looking for horror films to watch, so this article has been updated with even more great years in horror movie history that are worth checking out to get an idea for your watch parties.
Some years throughout Hollywood history have gone down as the consensus best, like 1939, 1967, or 1994. Others are well-known for their science fiction projects, as is the case with 1982. And on a similar end of the genre spectrum, horror has had its share of dominant periods as well. Ranging back to nearly a century ago, these are the fifteen best years for horror movies.
15 2023
If anything, 2023‘s horror offering has been defined as a deep exploration of family relationships mixed with paranormal elements. Talk to Me was the first to explore the trope, with a young woman’s strong desire to be in touch with her late mother again. Skinamarink, Perpetrator, and Beau Is Afraid deal with issues of abandonment and how they affect young children. Huesera: The Bone Woman deals with the impact of postpartum depression and the challenges faced by new mothers.
M3GAN takes the issue even further by mixing AI technology as a newly tooled toy takes on the role of foster sister to a child whose parents die in a car accident. Meanwhile, franchise entries like Evil Dead Rise, Scream VI, Saw X, and Insidious: The Red Door show these series can still endure.
14 1973
It’s fair to say 1973 is the year that elevated horror to a prestige format with the release of The Exorcist. William Friedkin threw a curveball to an audience, not expecting what he had to offer. Nationwide, fear spread through the theaters, with people fainting at the sight of little Regan being possessed by the demon Pazuzu. The movie was made on a budget of $12 million and brought a hefty $440 million in box office revenue. It’s a defining film that opened the door to other high-profile prestige horror productions like The Omen and Carrie.
While The Exorcist certainly was the most high profile, the year also delivered thrillers like The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now, as well as the sci-fi horror film Westworld.
13 2018
Although A24 had been around for some time now, 2018 was the year they blew up as the new studio making actual films that don’t feel like a corporate mandate. The studio had quite a few strong offerings with Under The Skin, Tusk, Lief After Beth, and Ex Machina. It was Hereditary, the movie that finally made everyone realize this production company had something great going on. The film, made on a budget of $10 million, brought $83 million in revenue and made Ari Aster a hot commodity in Hollywood.
The same year, David Gordon Green’s relaunch of Halloween solidified the legacy sequel for horror films in a trend that would continue in the following years with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, and Green’s own The Exorcist: Believer. The Nun, a spin-off of the popular Conjuring movies, opened to the biggest opening weekend in the franchise’s history. It also marked the release of A Quiet Place, the horror film that took the world by storm and became one of the biggest hits of the year and launched a franchise.
12 1997
Two of the biggest stories from 1997 came from a screenwriter named Kevin Williamson. After penning the original Scream, Williamson directly moved on to a pair of slashers that launched his career further into stardom: Scream 2, for starters. But also I Know What You Did Last Summer — while not nearly as acclaimed as the second Scream film, it’s still an entertaining ride for fans of the subgenre.
The Devil’s Advocate by Taylor Hackford performed well at the box office thanks to its stars like Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, and Keanu Reeves, while Mimic by Guillermo del Toro remains the most underrated film in the Mexican director’s catalog. However, the biggest story for horror movies outside of Williamson’s scripts was a foreign film by Kyoshi Kurosawa: Cure. The antagonist is horror personified — if you sleep the night of an initial viewing, you’d surely be in the minority.
11 2002
2002 saw an interesting year for horror films. The year is notable for some of its disappointing entries in long-running franchises like Jason X and Halloween Resurrection. Yet it is also a major turning point in the genre, thanks to the help of films from outside of the United States.
The United Kingdom gave audiences 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers. Both were distinctly British reimagining of classic horror archetypes of zombies and werewolves, respectively and given a very gritty bloody makeover with a cinema verte style of filmmaking to put the audience in the action. In Japan, it was the year Ju-On: The Grudge was released, which would later be remade into the American horror film The Grudge. 2002 was the year international markets gave horror the infusion it would need to endure into a new generation.
10 2013
It is hard to believe that 2013 was ten years ago, and a lot has changed in the past decade. Yet what is more interesting is how much horror films of today owe to 2013. This year marked the release of two major horror franchises, The Conjuring and The Purge.
Two iconic horror directors would also burst out onto the scene this year. Mama was directed by Andy Muschietti, who would later direct It Chapters 1 & 2 as well as the film The Flash. Meanwhile, Mike Flanagan’s Oculus hit theaters later that year. Flanagan is a horror icon known for films like Doctor Sleep and hit horror television shows like The Haunting of Hill House and the upcoming The Fall of the House of Usher. 2013 truly was a landmark year for franchises and horror filmmakers.
9 1982
As already stated, this was the biggest year ever for science fiction movies. But two of them were also of the horror variety. Before getting to the most popular title this year, it’s undoubtedly worth noting the efforts of Tobe Hooper with the release of Poltergeist. With a filmography replete with quality horror films, Hooper will most certainly materialize again before the list is done. And while Poltergeist isn’t among his most important pieces, it helped solidify him as one of the most dominant horror directors Hollywood’s ever produced.
However, the most talked-about horror title from 1982 undoubtedly goes to The Thing, directed by John Carpenter. When discussing the most dominant horror directors, Carpenter is the first name that likely comes to every film fan’s mind. He the crème de la crème, the best of the best, and cult classic with Kurt Russel is perhaps his second-most revered film ever. If not his first, to be honest.
8 1996
1996 saw some of the biggest names in Hollywood helm horror films. Robert Rodriguez took a script from Quentin Tarantino and rendered From Dusk Till Dawn, one of the biggest vampire movies of modern times, while Peter Jackson put out The Frighteners, one of the more underappreciated titles on this list and definitely of its decade.
Then, there’s Scream. The film that revitalized the slasher subgenre and arguably saved the horror category as far as general popularity was concerned for the mid-90s Hollywood. Ghostface’s consistently feeble attempts at killing Sidney Prescott throughout this original Scream, along with its many successful sequels, perfectly facilitate the respective film’s self-referential nature. This is perhaps the most important horror movie since the original Halloween, forever changing the genre’s landscape.
7 1991
While The People Under the Stairs has aged as one of the more overlooked Wes Craven titles, it was actually well-received upon release. Plus, the movie made sufficient money at the box office — $31 million grossed off a budget of $6 million. The films from 1991 to most passionately write home about, however, belong to the psychological horror subgenre. Although, they could also be classified as thrillers in some regards: The Silence of the Lambs by Jonathan Demme and Cape Fear by Martin Scorsese.
The projects were anomalies in the respective directors’ filmography, considering neither man was particularly known for their horror films. But with regard to Demme and The Silence of the Lambs, it’s the most lauded horror movie of the decade, it holds records at the Oscars, and of course, Anthony Hopkins delivered an all-time great performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Nothing else should be said.
6 1980
Two of the most influential horror films of all time were released at the start of this highly iconic decade: The Shining by Stanley Kubrick and Friday the 13th by Sean S. Cunningham. The former was vastly more well-received by critics, but Friday the 13th remains a seminal slasher stint over forty years down the line.
The Shining
is consistently cited among the greatest films the genre has ever seen. Its alluring art direction, the primary performance by Jack Nicholson, and the original material
from Stephen King on which the film was based
— all of these things helped Kubrick piece together a project of cinematic royalty that will forever be the standard of its kind.
5 1931
In the middle of Hollywood’s Golden Age, this year truly popularized the horror genre thanks to the Universal Classic Monsters. A series of horror films mostly produced by Universal Pictures, the Classic Monsters included the likes of The Mummy, The Wolfman, and The Invisible Man. However, while those titles were released in separate years throughout this seminal decade of cinema, three of the studios’ most well-known Monster products were released here in 1931, specifically.
Dracula and Frankenstein were released in the same year, in addition to Paramount Pictures Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, which is a testament to the necessity of this list. It should be talked about more than these films that spawned numerous sequels and inspired even more original projects all came out in 1931, and there’s an argument to be made that the year could place even higher than number four.
4 1974
One release from this year is among the most seminal horror films ever created: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper. It famously helped popularize the slasher subgenre of horror, and for that, it remains one of the most culturally impactful titles on the list. However, it wasn’t the only slasher from 1974.
Directed by Bob Clark, who also directed the underrated Deathdream this same year, put out a film titled Black Christmas. As far as slashers go, this is also among the most underrated ever made. It follows a group of sorority sisters in a house that a masked killer is stalking. On Christmas, no less — in hindsight, a brilliant and original time setting for a horror film. The Point of View from the killer would become a game changer for the genre, used in Halloween, Jaws, and Friday the 13th. Plus, Black Christmas is notable for its use of phone calls to build suspense, which inspired future films like Scream.
3 2022
2022 was one of the best years for horror fans, as it seemed like there was something new for audiences to enjoy each week. It was a great combination of theatrical release and streaming exclusives. The horror industry is absolutely booming right now. One of the biggest stories herein came with Scream, a long-awaited sequel of the fan-favorite slasher franchise.
X and its prequel Pearl received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike and have launched their own horror franchise. But there was also Nope, Prey, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, The Black Phone, Smile, Orphan: First Kill, and the endlessly brilliant Barbarian. While some fans may not realize it just yet, this was an absolutely legendary year for horror films.
2 1999
1999 was a great year for horror films. From Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow to Takashi Mike’s Audition, it was a great year for the genre. Yet two of the biggest horror films of the year and the entire decade opened just weeks apart.
First, there was The Blair Witch Project. It’s commonly cited among the most influential horror movies of all time thanks to its popularization in the West of a particular subgenre: found footage films. It’s a truly well-made independent project, The Blair Witch Project, showing filmmakers around the world that small budgets and fumbling camerawork can sometimes be a benefit.
Then, just a few weeks later, The Sixth Sense opened and shocked the world. The Sixth Sense launched the film career of M. Night Shyamalan and became one of the biggest movies of 1999 and even earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, a rarity for the horror genre. There is no denying that 1999 was a landmark year.
1 1978
By far the most historically reputable year for horror, the most obvious movie to discuss here is John Carpenter’s career-defining — and subgenre-defining, too — Halloween. There’s not much that needs to be said in that regard, though. The series has seen endless commercial success with sequels for over four decades, and this 1978 original remains the absolute pinnacle. However, two other seminal horror titles were released this year: Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Phillip Kaufman and Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero.
And there are two other underrated, critically acclaimed horror projects worth discussing here: for starters, there’s Martin — the aforementioned George A. Romero also directed it, and it holds a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But there’s also Richard Attenborough’s horror project Magic. Commonly known for his historical dramas, Attenborough showed his penchant for genre films with Magic. It’s as underrated as anything on the list and rounds out 1978 to a tee.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
