Top 50 Scariest Movies Of All Time (20-11)

October 22, 2010 / 10284

20. ‘Hellraiser’ (1987)

Synopsis: Mix one skinless escapee from Hell, a sexy heroine, and an evil “Rubik’s Cube” and you have the basic recipe for one of the most original horror stories to hit the big screen. Despite a limited budget, “Hellraiser” features striking visuals. Perhaps the most iconic is the Cenobites — a group of demons clad in bondage gear who literally tear their victims apart piece by piece.

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19. ‘The Changeling’ (1980)

Synopsis: George C. Scott plays a man who retreats to a long-abandoned mansion following the accidental death of his family. Did we fail to mention that the mansion is haunted? The movie’s reliance on a creepy atmosphere, as opposed to more visceral fright tactics, makes this a favorite among horror movie junkies.

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18. ‘28 Days Later’ (2002)

Synopsis: For a while we struggled to justify the inclusion of this flick, which is scary in a way that bends the definitions of the horror genre. Sure there are some monsters (mostly of the human variety), and a few moments that had us jumping off our seat, but the fear is generated here by the eerie landscape of a deserted England; by the societal implications of a country torn wide by biological warfare; by the gothic subtext of the penultimate scene. This was where Cillian Murphy got his start, and “28 Days Later” is worth watching for that alone.

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17. ‘Jesus Camp’ (2006)

Synopsis: If this wasn’t a documentary, Minister Becky Fischer (pictured) would go down as one of the greatest comedic roles of all time. Her brand of evangelical Christianity (speaking in tongues, castigating evolution, praying for George Bush) is pure parody. “Harry Potter is a warlock and an enemy of God!” she proclaims to her class. We (the audience) laugh at the absurdity; the children she teaches take it as the gospel truth. Religious zealotry and brainwashing has never been this frightening.

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16. ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)

Synopsis: Tim Robbins stars as a Vietnam vet suffering from disturbing hallucinations. How disturbing you ask? Well, he keeps seeing monstrous figures waving to him from passing trains. Later, at a party, his girlfriend looks like she’s dancing with some sort of alien. The only one he can turn to for help is an angelic chiropractor played by Danny Aiello. Yikes! Now that’s scary.

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15. ‘Jaws’ (1975)

Synopsis: Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Good movie. Scary music. And Roy Scheider, playing a stressed-out sheriff in a small beach community, steals the show here, even when Richard Dreyfuss sticks his mug into the picture. As for the shark, well, yeah, that’s frightening. But who has time to be nervous about sharks? What about jellyfish? They have no brains! Good god, now that’s terrifying.

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14. ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

Synopsis: Spinning heads. Vile expletives. Buckets of vomit. Sound like your last blind date? It was worse for Ellen Burstyn and Max Von Sydow, who had to play opposite Linda Blair in “The Exorcist.” When this puppy first hit the silver screen, people were running out of the theater in droves. Now we call those people sissies. But as approximately 6,453 previous “Scariest Movies of All Time” lists have noted, this movie is scary.

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13. ‘Quatermass and the Pit’ (1968)

Synopsis: Workers building a new London subway station discover a suspicious metal object buried in the earth. A German rocket from WWII? No such luck. It’s an ancient Martian space craft responsible for the neighborhood’s reputation for being haunted. Take our word for it; this flick is way scarier than it sounds.

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12. ‘Cloverfield’ (2008)

Synopsis: One minute you and your friends are hanging out at an awesome party, the next you’re on the roof watching lower Manhattan erupt into flames. Bummer. Part homage to the original “Godzilla,” part allegory (Sept. 11), the film uses shaky home-video footage to give you that “you are really here” feeling as panic ensues while a 200-foot-tall monster flattens the city. And props to anyone who can sit through the subway tunnel scenes without shrieking.

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11. ‘The Shining’ (1980)

Synopsis: It goes without saying that a haunted hotel is going to feature lots of frights, and director Stanley Kubrick doesn’t disappoint. Sure, Jack Nicholson (right) trotting around the empty halls sporting an ax and a demented look in his eyes is pretty scary, but for us the biggest jolt comes when Shelley Duval discovers his new novel consists of the line “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” written over and over and over.

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