Iconic Horror Movies

Nosferatu (1922)

Long before Edward Cullen enraptured moviegoers, there was another kind of vampire causing a stir at the box office when Count Orlok debuted his scary mug in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu. F.W. Murnau's German Expressionist take on Bram Stoker's Dracula saw the director using alternate names for the characters after the studio failed to get the rights to Stoker's story.

Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula in director Tod Browning's 1931 monster masterpiece for Universal will live on forever as one of cinema's most enduring characterizations of the famous fiend.

Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic helped turn Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins into superstars virtually over night.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Director George A. Romero's monster movie about flesh-eating zombies cost a reported $114,000 to make, and has since grossed over $30 million internationally.

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist remains one of the scariest films in cinema history due to director William Friedkin’s bold approach to filmmaking. While making this fright fest, the production was shut down for a day after actress Ellen Burstyn learned after the fact that Friedkin told a stunt-double during a scene to actually sock her to evoke a raw response. Burstyn was not happy … well, not until she was nominated for a best actress Oscar at the 46th Annual Academy Awards in 1973. The film went on the win two Oscars from its 10 nominations.

Halloween (1978)

Who would have ever of thought that a Captain Kirk mask spray-painted ghoulish green-gray could evoke such a terrifying response? When Michel Meyers reared his creepy head in cinemas in 1978, Jason Vorhees was two years away from drowning in Crystal Lake and Freddie Krueger was six years away from materializing in moviegoers’ nightmares. The terror of Haddonfield, Ill., opened the door to a new era of horror films, one that unarguably upped the fright factor courtesy of the addition of an arsenal of hardware.

Poltergeist

Moviegoers witnessed another side of Steven Spielberg’s talent after the release of Poltergeist, the 1982 Tobe Hooper-helmed scary movie that Spielberg wrote, and which forever after made audiences afraid of being alone with their television sets.

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Writer-director Wes Craven gave the movies two welcome additions with his 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street: the debut of a timeless boogey man with charisma and a sense of humor, and the breakout role for one of the movie's most popular leading men, Johnny Depp.

Bram Stoker's: Dracula (1992)

Francis Ford Coppola’s take on Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale not only had an all-star cast that included Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins, it also enlisted Annie Lennox to provide the closing theme, “Love Song for a Vampire.”

Scream (1996)

Director Wes Craven shows Drew Barrymore Scream's masked serial killer's weapon of choice while filming writer Kevin Williamson's 1996 scary spoof of classic horror movies. (Perhaps she should have been studying up on her Friday the 13th trivia instead!)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Producers of The Blair Witch Project used a lot of creepy imagination and a little budget – reportedly somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000 – to scare up nearly $250,000,000 at the global box office.

The Ring (2002)

Just when audiences started trusting their TVs again after the scare from 1982's Poltergeist, along comes Gore Verbinki’s 2002 film The Ring to make audiences once again fear their television sets.

Hostel (2005)

Writer-producer-director Eli Roth gave Jigsaw a run for his money in the realm of gore with the 2005 feature Hostel. Quentin Tarrantino was impressed enough with the script to serve as co-producer. The film earned $80 million at the global box office and led to the 2007 sequel, Hostel 2.

Saw II (2005)

Sequels to hit films can either make or break a franchise. And with 2005’s Saw II, Darren Lynn Bousman fearlessly stepped in for the first film’s director, James Wan, and scored a homerun that paved the way to a solid franchise that is currently topping the box office with its seventh and final sequel, Saw 3D.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

The 2007 Oren Peli-directed film, budgeted at just $15,000, centers on a young couple who are haunted by an unknown presence in their home. It went on to make more than $193 million at the box office.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

The box office success of 2007's Paranormal Activity prompted a prequel, which earned nearly $180 million in receipts. The followup took place two months before the first film and was directed by Tod Williams.