8 Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

Every pick scores 8.4 or higher on movie.guru. Scary, not gross. Lights off, phones down, snacks within reach.

Number one happens on a sunny beach, and it still ruined swimming.

1. 8
   Shaun of the Dead (2004)8.9

   Start here: a zombie movie that's secretly a breakup comedy.

   Simon Pegg's Shaun is so stuck in his rut he misses the apocalypse starting. Nick Frost is the worst best friend alive. Made for $6 million, audiences rank it above 95%.
2. 7
   Train to Busan (2016)8.7

   The pick for friends who swear zombies can't make them cry.

   A distracted fund manager and his daughter board the train to Busan as the outbreak does. 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, $94.1 million worldwide. The selfish executive is a cartoon, and you'll yell anyway.
3. 6
   Weapons (2025)8.4

   Watch this one before the group chat spoils it.

   Almost every kid in one classroom vanishes on the same night, and Julia Garner's teacher gets the blame. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, $270.1 million worldwide on a $38 million budget.
4. 5
   Get Out (2017)8.7

   The scariest thing in it is a polite dinner party.

   Daniel Kaluuya's Chris visits his girlfriend's family for the weekend, and every smile in that house is slightly too wide. 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, made for $4.5 million, $259.7 million worldwide.
5. 4
   Sinners (2025)9.2

   Come for the vampires, stay for the music.

   Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers opening a juke joint in the Delta, and some very pale guests show up uninvited. 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, an A CinemaScore, $371.6 million worldwide.
6. 3
   Psycho (1960)9.6

   Black and white, from 1960, and still scarier than most remakes.

   Anthony Perkins's Norman Bates is so awkward and sweet you want to tip him. That's the problem. 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Bring someone who's never seen it.
7. 2
   Halloween (1978)9.4

   Every slasher since is a cover version of this.

   John Carpenter shoots a sleepy Illinois suburb like something is always standing just out of frame. It's set on Halloween night, so no excuses. Critics rank it above 98% of notable movies.
8. 1
   Jaws (1975)9.6

   The best Halloween movie is a summer beach movie.

   Roy Scheider's police chief tries to keep a beach town open while something huge circles offshore, and the score does half the scaring. 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, $280.1 million domestic.

$4,557 says you answer the door for trick-or-treaters a little slower this year.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it