My goal is to list some essentials and hidden gems to help expand your horror movie knowledge, consider this more of a reference guide than a must watch list. Use this to find stuff that you like or to train yourself in the possibilities of horror, for there is much to explore in all kinds of subgenres. Enjoy!

[W] – watchable nowadays, go for it.
[T] – it’s great but a tough watch, easier if you like the subject.
[X] – is for intense out there stuff, beware!

• Some 50 and 60’s basic library, but don’t forget to also watch some random monster stuff in black and white

Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1956] [T]
Dracula AKA Horror of Dracula [1958] [T]
Vertigo [1958] [W]
House on Haunted Hill [1959] [T]
Psycho [1960] [W]
The Pit and the Pendulum [1961] [T]
The Haunting [1963] [W]
Night of the Living Dead [1968] [T]
Rosemary’s Baby [1968] [W]

• The 70’s are extensive, but you can skip a lot of those if they don’t rock your boat

L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo AKA The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [1970] [T]
The Last House on the Left [1972] [T]
The Crazies [1973] [T]
The Exorcist [1973] [W]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre AKA The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [1974] [W]
Shivers AKA They Came from Within [1975] [T]
Carrie [1976] [T]
The Omen [1976] [W]
The Hills Have Eyes [1977] [T]
Hausu AKA House [1977] [T]
Eraserhead [1977] [T]
Day Of The Woman AKA I Spit On Your Grave [1978] [T]
Dawn of the Dead [1978] [W]
Long Weekend [1978] [X]
Halloween [1978] [W]
The Amityville Horror [1979] [T]
Zombie AKA Zombi 2 AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters [1979] [X]
Driller Killer [1979] [T]
Alien [1979] [W]

• The 80’s are when things start to get weird

Alligator [1980] [X]
Friday the 13th [1980] [T]
Dressed to Kill [1980] [T]
The Shining [1980] [W]
The Funhouse [1981] [T]
Friday the 13th Part 2 [1981] [W]
Scanners [1981] [W]
The Evil Dead [1981] [T]
An American Werewolf in London [1981] [W]
Halloween III: Season of the Witch [1982] [X]
Friday the 13th Part III [1982] [W]
Poltergeist [1982] [T]
The Thing [1982] [W]
Christine [1983] [X]
The Dead Zone [1983] [W]
Videodrome [1983] [W]
Gremlins [1984] [W]
A Nightmare on Elm Street [1984] [W]
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge [1985] [W]
The Return of the Living Dead [1985] [W]
Phenomena AKA Creepers [1985] [T]
Day of the Dead [1985] [W]
Re-Animator [1985] [X]
From Beyond [1986] [X]
The Hitcher [1986] [X]
The Fly [1986] [W]
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors [1987] [W]
Near Dark [1987] [W]
Hellraiser [1987] [W]
Angel Heart [1987] [X]
Evil Dead II AKA Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn [1987] [W]
The Blob [1988] [X]
Child’s Play [1988] [W]
Beetlejuice [1988] [W]
Spoorloos AKA The Vanishing [1988] [X]
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan [1989] [W]

• Weird takes place, the 90’s, some of those are experimental already

Begotten [1990] [XX]
Child’s Play 2 [1990] [T]
Gremlins 2: The New Batch [1990] [W]
Arachnophobia [1990] [X]
Flatliners [1990] [W]
Candyman [1992] [W]
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday [1993] [X]
Cemetery Man [1994] [W]
Brainscan [1994] [X]
Scream [1996] [W]
Kyua AKA Cure [1997] [W]
Cube [1997] [W]
Funny Games [1997] [X]
An American Werewolf in Paris [1997] [T]
I Know What You Did Last Summer [1997] [T]
Scream 2 [1997] [W]
Ringu AKA Ring [1998] [W]
Urban Legend [1998] [W]
Ôdishon AKA Audition [1999] [X]
The Blair Witch Project [1999] [T]
eXistenZ [1999] [T]

• Now the [X] means a lot of gore, for the glorious 00’s, a lot of those are up to you really

Final Destination [2000] [W]
Ju-on AKA Ju-on: The Curse [2000] [W]
Jeepers Creepers [2001] [W]
Kairo AKA Pulse [2001] [W]
Session 9 [2001] [W]
El espinazo del diablo AKA The Devil’s Backbone [2001] [T]
The Others [2001] [T]
28 Days Later… [2002] [W]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002] [T]
Ju-on AKA The Grudge [2002] [W]
Chakushin Ari AKA One Missed Call [2003] [T]
Janghwa, Hongryeon AKA A Tale of Two Sisters [2003] [W]
Calvaire AKA The Ordeal [2004] [X]
Saw [2004] [X]
Haute tension AKA High Tension [2003] [XX]
Final Destination 2 [2003] [W]
Shutter [2004] [W]
The Descent [2005] [W]
The Devil’s Rejects [2005] [W]
Fritt vilt AKA Cold Prey [2006] [W]
The Poughkeepsie Tapes [2007] [XX]
Final Destination 3 [2006] [W]
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon [2006] [X]
Taxidermia [2006] [X]
Ils AKA Them [2006] [XX]
Slither [2006] [X]
Teeth [2007] [X]
Frontière(s) AKA Frontiers [2007] [X]
[Rec] AKA REC [2007] [W]
À l’intérieur AKA Inside [2007] [XX]
28 Weeks Later [2007] [W]
Sauna AKA Filth [2008] [X]
Antichrist [2009] [XX]
[Rec] 2 [2009] [W]
Martyrs [2008] [XX]
Låt den rätte komma in AKA Let the Right One In [2008] [W]
Lake Mungo [2008] [W]
The Strangers [2008] [W]
The Loved Ones [2009] [X]

– Just some highlights from the 2010s, you should be good from now on when picking new horror!

Secuestrados AKA Kidnapped [2010] [XX]
The Cabin in the Woods [2011] [W]
Resolution [2012] [X]
Berberian Sound Studio [2012] [X]
The Babadook [2014] [W]
It Follows [2014] [W]
The Invitation [2015] [W]
The VVitch AKA The Witch: A New-England Folktale [2015] [W]
Goksung AKA The Wailing [2016] [X]
It Comes at Night [2017] [W]
November [2017] [X]
Get Out [2017] [W]
Crawl [2019] [X]
Us [2019] [W]
Midsommar [2019] [W]
Come True [2020] [w]
Ku bei AKA The Sadness [2021] [XX]

• And for last, some remakes that don’t suck

Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1978]
Body Snatchers [1993]
The Ring [2002]
Dawn of the Dead [2004]
The Grudge [2004]
The Crazies [2010]

Thanks and be cool.