Top 10 Scariest Horror Movies Ever

Horror movies are a win-win for viewers. The worst are embarrassingly hilarious and the best are spine-tingling thrilling. But gore factor and silliness aside, this list of top horror movies focuses on the scariest of the scariest.

10. The Shining

Is Jack imagining all these scary things? Or is there a decades-old scene going on in the ballroom while he chats with a bartender whose presence in the inaccessible hotel defies all odds? Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece keeps viewers guessing after the credits have rolled.

9. Dead Ringers

These dependent, lover-sharing twin gynecologists far surpass those girls in "The Shining," but things go from creepy to scary when a woman invades their too-close relationship.

8. Freaks

There has been much criticism about the use of real carnival "freaks" in this horror film, but it's how people treat others based on looks that's truly horrific about it.

7. Alien

"In space no one can hear you scream" when a scary alien hunts you down or its spawn bursts from your chest. The dank, dismal ship evokes a haunted house, but much worse.

6. Night of the Living Dead

Although George A. Romero's slow-moving zombies seem foreign to today's viewers, the undead army's unstoppable craving for human flesh is still incredibly scary and holds its own against today's fast zombies.

5. Psycho

This deliberately cheap Hitchcock flick features an overly nice Anthony Perkins and proves what the mind imagines is much scarier than anything a camera can show.

4. The Hills Have Eyes

In Wes Craven's disturbing original, nearby mutants sabotage and strand a vacationing family's RV in the desert, forcing its inhabitants to fend for themselves in ways that would make McGyver proud.

3. The Exorcist

A mother's or anyone's worst and scariest nightmare is realized when a teenage girl becomes possessed. It's no surprise that disturbed moviegoers reportedly ran out of theaters in response to this unprecedented horror movie.

2. Rosemary's Baby

Poor Rosemary desperately wants a child, but when her struggling actor husband profits from mysterious circumstances and meddling neighbors become too invested in her pregnancy, a normal healthy baby seems impossible.

1. Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The cultural connotations of Texas, chain saws and barbecue have forever changed since its 1974 release that relied heavily on raw, visually striking settings that contain a dilapidated elegance. Any modern attempts to duplicate or surpass this scary movie have failed miserably.